The World's Fastest Indian (5 Stars)

True Stories #38

Name: Burt Munro

Lived: 25 March 1899 – 6 January 1978

Film dates: March to August 1967

Film made in 2005

This is a film that almost wasn't included in my true stories feature. At the end of December I went through my film collection and picked the films I wanted to watch. I stood in front of my bookcases, running my fingers over the Blu-rays first, then the DVDs. I removed every film from the shelf that was a true story. There were about 50 altogether. I put them all on a desk, and went through them, removing films until there were only 30 left. I didn't put the other 20 back in my bookcase. I left them on my desk, which is just as well, because I later decided to increase my feature to 40 films, so I put 10 back in my main pile.

I didn't put the films in any particular order, except I was deliberately leaving the best films until last. Then yesterday I looked at my last three films and thought to myself, "Huh? Where's the World's Fastest Indian?" It was the highest placed true story in my top 100 film list, so why wasn't it in my pile of films? I went back to my bookcases, and there it was, filed under W. How did I possibly miss it? And more to the point, are there any other films I've missed?

That left me with four films, which would have been a total of 41, but I closely checked the other three, and I decided to omit one of them because it's not accurate enough. All true stories have a certain amount of dramatization to make them more interesting, but I don't want to include any films which deviate too far from the truth.

The Indian in the title refers to Burt Munro's 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle. For years he'd been modifying it in his shed in Invercargill, New Zealand, increasing the speed from the original top speed of 54 miles per hour to more than 150 mph. Now, at the age of 68, he finally wanted to travel to the Bonneville Salt Flats in America to set a new land speed record.

The film is a road movie, from New Zealand to America, with a large portion of the film showing his journey from Los Angeles to Bonneville. In my last review I promised that I would post a gallery of the colourful people he met on the way. Here they are in chronological order.

Tom, Burt's next door neighbour and biggest fan.

Tom's parents, who like Burt, except when he revs up his motorbike at 5:30 am.

Burt's girlfriend Fran.

Burt's first contact in America: a grumpy taxi driver who picks him up at the airport in Los Angeles.

Burt's first friend in America: a transvestite called Tina.

A waitress in a Los Angeles diner. 

A used car salesman from El Salvador. Is he honest? Maybe.

An Indian called Jake helps Burt when he breaks down on the way to Bonneville.

Ada seduces Burt after letting him repair his trailer at her house.

Burt stops at a roadside bar to buy a cup of tea. "We ain't seen a cup of tea in here ever", is the reply. The closest the barmaid can serve him is a glass of Coke.

Burt exchanges a few words with a hen-pecked husband called Leroy.

That's the hen. Leroy could do worse.

Rusty picks up a hitchhiker, a young soldier on leave from Vietnam. He talks enthusiastically about his work spreading something called Agent Orange. He tells Burt that the war will be over in six months.

The first person Burt meets in Bonneville is Jim Moffet, who wants to set a speed record with a car. We don't find out whether or not he succeeds. He's highly respected in the racing community, so he manages to pull a few strings to help Burt compete.

Rolly and Marty aren't competitors, they're just spectators who like to watch fast bikes.

This is a better photo of Marty, played by the underrated actor Walton Goggins.

I'm not sure what Wendy and Alice do. They probably work at the Bonneville Salt Flats, but I have no idea what their job is.

They hang out with the competitors. Who wouldn't want to sit with a beautiful woman?

And here's one last photo of the amazing Anthony Hopkins.

This is a heart-warming film. It's not enough to say that it's a feel-good movie. That's an overused expression. In my first review I wrote, "When the final credits roll you will close your eyes and feel glad to be alive". That's no exaggeration. If you don't believe me, watch it for yourself.

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk