The World’s Fastest Indian

June 29, 2007

Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 127 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

You live more in five minutes on a bike like this going flat out than some people live in a lifetime. - Burt Munro

The World's Fastest Indian This 2005 movie (DVD released 2006) is the true story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who, in the 1960s when he was in his 60s, set landspeed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats with his heavily modified 1924 Indian motorcycle.

His record still stands today, 200 MPH on a streamlined 1000 CC motorcycle.

This guy is sort of an aging MacGyver. He’s working on a shoestring budget. He makes his tires high-speed safe by cutting off the treads with a kitchen knife. His bike has a latch from his garden-gate on it.

Anthony Hopkins does an excellent job of capturing Burt Munro’s enthusiasm to do something nobody has ever done before, despite the danger.

This is a fun movie, but it’s also an inspirational movie. Despite a smattering of salty language, it’s good for young, and particularly old, alike. It’s a movie about following your dreams and never letting yourself be told you’re too old to do something. Yet it avoids being corny.

The DVD also contains the 1971 documentary about the real Burt Munro by the same director, Roger Donaldson

Posted by Mack Guffin | Filed Under 4 Stars, Anthony Hopkins, Bruce Greenwood, Chris Williams, Christopher Lawford, Comedy, DVD, Diane Ladd, Drama, PG-13