The World's Fastest Indian (2005)

Director:

Roger Donaldson

Writer:

Roger Donaldson (writer)

Release Date:

13 October 2005 (New Zealand)

Genre:

Adventure | Biography | Comedy | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

Based On One Hell Of A True Story

Plot:

The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle -- a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967. |

Plot Keywords:

Based On Fact | Beach | Birthday Party | Desert | Ambition

Awards:

9 wins & 5 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. May 17

6:00 AM

SHOW

Cast

Anthony Hopkins	...	Burt Munro
Iain Rea	...	George
Tessa Mitchell	...	Sarah
Aaron Murphy	...	Tom
Tim Shadbolt	...	Frank
Annie Whittle	...	Fran
Greg Johnson	...	Duncan
Antony Starr	...	Jeff
Kate Sullivan	...	Doris
Craig Hall	...	Antarctic Angel
Jim Bowman	...	Cook
Alison Bruce	...	Doctor
Phoebe Falconer	...	Janice
Charles Pierard	...	Bank Manager
Barry Ryan	...	Burt's Neighbour

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief language, drug use and a sexual reference.

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

New Zealand | USA | Switzerland | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:L | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | USA:PG-13 | Ireland:PG | Hong Kong:IIA | Sweden:Btl | Australia:PG | Brazil:18 | Netherlands:AL | Singapore:PG | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

Auckland, New Zealand

Company:

New Zealand Film Commission

Trivia:

Munro's children visited the set one day, when, according to director Roger Donaldson, "Tony (Anthony Hopkins) was having a particularly good Burt day". His performance was so authentic that it moved them to tears.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bert grabs two eggs from the chicken coop they are white but in the next scene they are brown.

Quotes:

Fran: [to a staring crowd] What are you looking at? Dirty old men need love too!

Movie Connections:

References Broken Barrier (1952)

Soundtrack:

Kiss Twist

A Tour de Force on bald tires

Anthony Hopkins is simply astounding. The man can disappear inside of characters so diverse and capture you so completely, that you have to wonder if his well of talent has a bottom.

This film is at turns charming, bawdy, fascinating, riveting, nerve wracking, hilarious, heartwarming and heartbreaking. As Burt Munro -- an aging New Zealand man losing his hearing, short on money, living in a shed surrounded by weeds, considered a lovable if eccentric oddball by all who know him except one small boy, and obsessed with making a 45 year old motorcycle capable of breaking the land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats -- Hopkins takes us along for the ride every minute of this movie. The fact that this film is based on the true story of Burt Munro makes it all the more captivating, but a lesser actor than Hopkins might very well have lost us along the way. It is no wonder that the children of the real-life Burt Munro were moved to tears by Hopkins' portrayal.

There's a clever ongoing bit about the taste of Burt's hot tea, and you will also wonder a bit about how his lemonade might taste. Every scene is a jewel in this movie, and the cumulative effect proves that extraordinary films do not have to cost bazillions of dollars and take two years of computer-generated special effects to WOW their audience.

Burt is challenged by every imaginable obstacle standing between him and his speed dream: his failing heart may give out any minute, the journey around the world to transport the 1920 Indian motorcycle to the USA seems insurmountable, he has no machine shop or whiz-bang tools and equipment to work his engineering miracles, etc. What he DOES have is an indomitable spirit that will never, ever stop trying. Whether he's battling young ruffians who diss his ancient motorcycle or banking, bureaucrats and red tape, he is a wrinkled but worthy warrior.

The supporting cast is as beautiful and bizarre as it gets, and the audience becomes inordinately fond and just about every one of them except for a nasty foreign cabdriver (Carlos Lacamara), but hey, somebody had to be disliked. Great actors in small roles abound, including Diane Ladd as Ada, a frontier gal that's been lonely a while, Saginaw Grant as Jake, an "Indian" with a really distasteful solution to Burt's prostate problems, and Paul Rodriguez as Fernando, a human and humane used car salesman. Perhaps the best scene -- and heart -- stealer is Chris Williams as Tina, a cross-dressing front desk night clerk at a fleabag hooker hotel. You gotta love him. Or her, as the case may be. Stellar performance, and Hopkins' Burt treats Tina with such dignity it defines friendship.

Don't miss this fine, fine film. And if there is justice in the boffo box office world, The World's Fastest Indian will be a true Oscar contender in 2006.