It was originally intended as a film for children, but the age of both the characters and the audience increased along the way. Now it is about three impeccably cool kids who treat Manly (a Sydney suburb) as a playground for them and their bikes, and who happens to catch some bank robbers on the side.
The trio is played by Angelo D'Angelo and James Lugton, besides Kidman, and it was their first film roles. At least it was the boys' first film; Kidman made several films in 1983 and Bush Christmas by Henri Safran, was, I believe, the first. Regardless of that, her future career has been considerably more distinguished than either of the boys.
The director is Brian Trenchard-Smith, who claims he wanted to "capture the spirit of the Ealing comedies" when making BMX Bandits, but this is not obvious. But it was a success in Australia, and got several AACTA nominations (the Australian equivalent of the Academy Awards), including for screenplay, editing and sound.
Trenchard-Smith has a long and varied career, and (according to Entertainment Weekly) he is one of Quentin Tarantino's favourite directors, whatever that means. Besides BMX Bandits, I have not seen much of his work. Some episodes of Five Mile Creek (1983-1985) and Mission: Impossible (1989), as well as his first film The Man from Hong Kong (1975), famous for being one of the films George Lazenby did after having played James Bond. I have also seen Tyrannosaurus Azteca (2007), but I mean, who has not? Or maybe I am the only one. (For your sake, I hope so.) Trenchard-Smith's niche is otherwise Ozploitation films and I suppose that is what Tarantino likes, but I have not seen any of them, and I do not feel tempted either. There are several scenes in BMX Bandits that flirts with horror and Oxploitation, like a scene where the three teens are chased through a graveyard by two goons in scary masks, and Kidman falls down into an open grave. But it is always playful. (She says to one of the guys, who also has fallen into the grave, "You're nice." and he responds, "Nice! Who wants to be nice? I want to be sexy.")
I think BMX Bandits would do well with teenagers today as well. The actors are good and affectionate and it is well-shot and edited. The cinematographer is one of Australia's most distinguished, John Seale, who has shot several films by Peter Weir, George Miller (including Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)), Anthony Minghella and John Boorman. I may not like the film as much now as I did then, but it is fun and very accomplished. Its kinetic energy is exhilarating.
