The World's Fastest Indian (DVD, 2006)

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.

This is a great, heartfelt, family movie. There are 2 scenes where the main character wakes up in bed with a woman friend. But it's done without overt sexual content. Actually, they are benign in comparison to most movies these days. I would let my 10 year old grand daughter watch this movie.

This is a true story about Burt Munro, from New Zealand, who bought a 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle, when it was brand new. (It was the 627th Scout built. What a coup!) He raced it during his lifetime, always tweaking the mechanics of it. He even melted scrap metals and poured his own pistons. He borrowed the
neighbor lady's carving knife to carve the treads off his tires! The main story is how he, at about 65 years of age, worked his way to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to finally have his Scout's performance timed. His great dream was realized.

The movie shows a warm relationship between Burt and the 10 year old neighbor boy, who I figure learned a lot of stick-to-it-ivness from Burt. Burt lived in a 'shed' as he called it. It was one room, a shop actually, with a bed, eazy chair and cooking facilities. He lived sparsely but his life was full. What more did he need? The movie doesn't share with us whether he had a bathroom.
It did make a point of him 'watering' his lemon tree every morning. He raised some fowl for his breakfast eggs.

Burt had a great support group of friends. He was challenged to a race by a gang of young bike riding thugs. They make another appearance later in the movie.

When Burt finally gets to America he is struck by the differences in the way of life. He chose the wrong motel, that's a sweet story in itself. And buying a car and building a trailer to pull his Scout to Utah is also a great human interest part of the movie. Of course Burt makes new friends along the way. He is such a down to earth, salt of the earth type of character people cannot resist striking up a friendship.

Well, that's what the movie shows. Check out Wikipedia for a bit more of Burt's story. He was an amazing man who perservered, living his dream. Oh, that the rest of us would do as well!

Anthony Hopkins is a wonderful character actor. He did such a great job as Burt that I forgot he was Anthony Hopkins!! That's the sign of a great actor! It must not have been difficult for Sir Anthony, born in the UK, to master the accent of a New Zealander. It was nice to see Diane Ladd and Christopher Lawford. I loved the character that was played by Chris Williams, he is Vanessa Williams' brother.

All in all, I highly recommend this wonderful movie.

A movie that exudes affection and goodwill, The World's Fastest Indian is an unabashed mash note to a lovely character from New Zealand's recent past. Burt Munro, played by Anthony Hopkins, is a cantankerous Kiwi with an obsession: he's been tinkering with his 1920s-era Indian brand motorcycle for years, pushing it to ever-faster speeds. It's the 1960s, and Burt has the utterly mad idea of taking the bike to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, site of world records for speed racing. The movie takes a while to get to the journey--and then the journey takes a while--but the genial atmosphere prevails. (People of a certain age, for whom the word "Bonneville" evokes pleasant associations with hotrods and world-speed records, will not be disappointed in the film's location shooting, or its sense of awe.) Hopkins is not quite on-the-money casting for the jovial, happy-go-lucky Munro, and his accent wavers, but he nails the emotional scenes and the fascination with speed. Smaller bits are well-filled by Diane Ladd and Christopher Lawford (son of Peter), who looks uncannily of the era. New Zealand director Roger Donaldson doesn't take any chances here, but the story clearly means something to him, and that sense of commitment carries the film through its sleepier moments.

Anthony Hopkins is Burt Munro, the man who RODE the World's Fastest Indian. The Indian in question is an Indian Motorcycle and Burt Munro is a real life New Zealander who rode one again and again to set speed records at Bonneville. Here are the adventures he underwent on his first trip from New Zealand to the states and the resourceful ways in which he managed them. This DVD includes a documentary made by the same director back when Burt was still riding on earth. By all means, watch the movie first, but be sure to see the documentary as well.

Any lesser star than Anthony Hopkins might have doomed this story to oblivion. If you are just discovering it, be glad you haven't missed it- for anyone who likes to see the little guy win, or who likes motorcycles, or who believes, as Burt did, that dirty old men need love too.

I've watch this film a couple of times now with friends and family and we all agree this is a MUST SEE. The extraordinary story of New Zealand legend Bert Munroe's amibition to just see how fast his "Motorcykle" (sic) would go stars Anthony Hopkins. The film seems to truely capture the manner of this incredible man and the director has certainly brought in every aspect of the Kiwi psyche from the pushy biker gang to exasterated neirbours and laid back friends. Having built a picture of the the great man at home he then goes on to portray his journey to a foreign land in pursuit of his lifes dream. This is both amusing and in my personal experience a superb snapshot of America, then of course in the 50's and 60's but just as evocative in the 21st Century.

The Fastest Indian is not just a film about a Motorcycle but the documentation of one mans fantastic adventure in his pursuit of speed. Bert's infectious charm conquers all in his path from his next door neighbours, several women (and one who wasn't!), customs officials and race officials alike, not to mention general apathy and almost a yellow cab driver! Buy the DVD and enjoy!

Oh and don't forget to pee on your Lemon Tree. :-) BRILLIANT!