Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

The Dirt Bike Kid Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 13, 2014

After “A Christmas Story” put him on the map, there were few career steps Peter Billingsley could take. A child actor, Billingsley knew how to perform in front of cameras, but few productions could offer a starring role as juicy as his turn in Bob Clark’s holiday perennial. 1985’s “The Dirt Bike Kid” is an admirable effort to keep the money train moving along, putting the young pre-teen in the driver’s seat of a wily family comedy, a production that trusts in the outrageousness of classic slapstick routines and Hal Needham-style vehicle stunts. It’s the type of movie that includes two scenes that involve food fights and presents a flying motorcycle without explanation. It’s weird stuff, but never clever and rarely enticing, leaving “The Dirt Bike Kid” more of a curiosity for Billingsley completists and those who’ve felt shortchanged by films that only offer a single food fight.

A suburban kid with his head in the clouds, Jack (Peter Billingsley) drives his single mother, Janet (Anne Bloom), crazy. Offered the family’s last bit of cash to collect groceries, Jack instead purchases a dirt bike from a frustrated racer, hoping to fulfill his dreams of motorcycle ownership. Cleaning the dirt bike, Jack discovers the vehicle is alive and hoping to carry its new owner on a run of adventures around town. However, the fun is short-lived, as little league coach and local hot dog restaurateur Mike (Patrick Collins) is close to losing his beloved establishment, with greedy bank president Mr. Hodgkins (Stuart Pankin) ready to foreclose on the eatery to pave way for a new building. Unwilling to allow such an injustice, Jack and his dirt bike tear off on a mission of disruption, hoping to ruin Mr. Hodgkins’s plans with mischief. Unfortunately, Jack also has to deal with a troubles of ownership, watching his disbelieving mother sell the dirt bike, forcing the boy to figure out a way to reclaim his friend and save the day.

The dirt bike of “The Dirt Bike Kid” is one bizarre creation. Introduced to Jack by a suspicious stranger, the vehicle is a sentient being, communicating through whistles and engine revs, possessing vision through two headlights, and periodically unleashing the ability to drive on its own. Jack isn’t taken aback by any of this, with the production treating the union of alive bike and child as an “E.T.” pairing, meant to bring out the cutes as the duo joins together to thwart corporate evil. The bike can fly as well, taking Jack on a scenic tour of Dallas that, again, doesn’t faze our hero, who almost looks as though he expects the vehicle to soar through the sky. The highlight of “The Dirt Bike Kid” is that the screenplay waits until the final moments of the movie before it blows off interest in an origin story with a “well, it’s magic” explanation that might work with the intended viewer demographic of five-year-olds, but doesn’t quite satisfy anyone waiting around for director Hoite C. Caston to cough up a fantasy history that makes sense. This isn’t a question of logic, but one of effort, and “The Dirt Bike Kid” would rather detail shenanigans and overacting than actually solve its own puzzle. Surely a moment could’ve been cooked up that highlights Jack’s amazement with his newfound pal, but no, that type of necessary acknowledgement never arrives.

Did I mention the bike is also capable of communicating through Jack’s computer, encouraging him to hack into Hodgkins’s system and muck up banking accounts? It’s quite a ride.

“The Dirt Bike Kid” is primarily for kids, aggressively so at times. Calling on the powers of silent comedy, Caston (who never directed another movie after this) cranks up the silliness, unleashing Jack (all hopped up on junk food and comic books) and his bike on this candy-coated world. Fueled on business world unfairness and fear of motherly concern, Jack takes on the adult world one wheelie at a time, using the motorcycle to terrorize Hodgkins and save the hot dog restaurant. Along the way, he’s confronted with the wrath of a Hell’s Angels-style gang who can’t stand being humiliated by a kid (the leader gets in Jack’s face and threatens to “set him on fire,” which seems a bit much for a PG-rated effort), and he can’t maintain ownership of the bike for very long, losing it after his mother objects, forcing him to work deliveries for the local repair shop to win back his loyal companion. The villain is Hodgkins, and he’s no ordinary adversary, but an architectural model-loving misogynist who will stop at nothing to destroy the weinery and flatten Jack. Pankin accepts the challenge with big screen bluster, trying his hardest to run away with the picture as Billingsley works to perfect slipping on a safety helmet without breaking his iconic glasses.

The Dirt Bike Kid Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation brings "The Dirt Bike Kid" to HD with wonderful clarity, offering a pleasant sharpness that preserves fine detail, including textures on costumes (including Pankin's climatic hot dog outfit) and facial particulars, allowing viewers to appreciate the cartoon aspects of the performances. Colors are refreshed with comfortable fullness, leaving primaries crisp and clean, sustaining the feature's suburban palette, while skintones are spot-on. Blacks are communicative and stable. Grain is subtle and filmic. The source material is in fine shape, only encountering mild speckling and debris. It's safe to say this is best "The Dirt Bike Kid" has ever looked on home video.

The Dirt Bike Kid Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix keeps to simplicity, offering blunt comedy antics a consistently clean presence, with dutiful emphasis on stunt sequences and motor revs. Dialogue has moments of sharpness, but performances remain in good condition, never swallowed by distortion, while the group dynamic is easy on the ears. Soundtrack cuts offer inherent synth-based thinness, supporting the action as intended, and scoring holds up the same energy, working well with a limited range.

The Dirt Bike Kid Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features director Hoite C. Caston.

• Interview (29:35, HD) with actor Stuart Pankin provides a spirited discussion of "The Dirt Bike Kid," finding the villain comfortable with his part in the production, making sure to explain how he added so much to a thin role. Pankin is an affable guy with a long career to explore, discussing his roles in films such as "Scavenger Hunt" and "The Hollywood Knights," along with extensive work in television, including "Not Necessarily the News," directed by Caston. Interestingly, Pankin is bravely and subtlety dismissive of "A Christmas Story," letting a little pure candor shine through.

• Interview (9:59, HD) with producer/co-writer Julie Corman is a more sedate chat with the veteran filmmaker (and wife of Roger Corman). Extremely proud of "The Dirt Bike Kid" and her involvement with its origins (apparently, the material is inspired by "Jack and the Beanstalk," but that doesn't come through in the feature), Corman explores the production process, curiously breezing past the picture's contractual time on the shelf, released two years after completion. Her enthusiasm for the movie is refreshing, even displaying an award the effort received for exceptional VHS sales.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (1:57, HD) is included.

The Dirt Bike Kid Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"The Dirt Bike Kid" is very broad and juvenile (when we meet Jack's pal Bo, he's ogling jiggling breasts on an older woman), and I wish it was all more endearing. The feature has its charms and decent performances (Bloom is nicely harried as the mom), and the stunt work manages to create a pleasing smash-em tone that helps when the movie slips into chase mode. However, the picture lacks laughs, with the aforementioned food fights more of a pandering move to entice younger viewers than anything organically anarchic. It's such an odd film, but never as engaging as it should be, lacking a thoroughness that comes with inspired family entertainment.