Haven't looked at the regs on this one radar but it's my understanding that you need a check every 2 years ie the BFR, but if you have done a flight test or rating within the past two years that counts as a Flight review.
A good BFR brings you back into a training environment to bring you up to speed on any changes in regulation or procedures in the last 2 years, and a 1 hour or so flight to check for bad habits and make sure you aren't dangerous and good chance to practice forced landings or stall's with an instructor at your side, which you may or may not have done since your last BFR or flight test.
It doesn't need to be a test but in some cases where the pilot is over a certain age or hasn't flown for a long time perhaps a retest or multiple inflight exercises might be the safe way to go.
[ 28 February 2002: Message edited by: Throttlemonkey ]</p>