The World's Fastest Indian
a speed-obsessed Kiwi sets his sites on breaking a speed record
Anthony Hopkins stars as the speed-obsessed Kiwi New Zealand with his sites set on breaking the world land speed record on his 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle
The World’s Fastest Indian
Magnolia Pictures; 2005
The World’s Fastest Indian, stars Anthony Hopkins as a speed-obsessed Kiwi from Invercargill, New Zealand with his sites set on breaking the world land speed record on his 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle.
Based on the true antics, adventures and accomplishments of Burt Munro, The World’s Fastest Indian follows Munro’s journey from his homeland “down under” to the annual “Speed Week” gathering of greats at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.
Munro, who bought his first Indian Scout motorcycle in 1920 and has been modifying it ever since, has set speed records in his home country, been named New Zealand’s fastest Indian, been profiled in Popular Mechanics, and now as he’s coming to realize that he’s on the downward slope of his life, feels the need to make a pilgrimage to the Mecca of speed: Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.
A man of modest means and great ingenuity, Munro mortgages his home and works his way to America as a cook on a freighter. With is beloved Indian crated, protected and safely secured in the ships hull, he traverses half the globe, arriving in the Port of Los Angeles an old salt of the sea, but ever so happy to set foot on land again.
His arrival to “Hollyweird” tests his ingenuity in ways beyond mechanics as he adjusts to the American culture; befriending both the rich and the down-trodden as he road-trips from the Port of Los Angeles to Utah. Meeting hustlers and transsexuals; American Indians and Rednecks; bureaucrats, moguls and maidens; all are bemused by Munro and his quest to break the 200 mph mark, and help as they can to keep him moving safely along his journey.
Living for days out of his car, Munro finally arrives at Bonneville; only to discover that more obstacles lie ahead. Scoffed at by self-impressed speed track officials, Munro’s built with love and a shoe-string budget Indian, is viewed with both dismay and admiration. In the litigious American culture affronting Munro, it seems that safety is valued more highly than setting speed records, and Munro must cajole, con and conspire to finally gain access to the speed track and the chance to “see just how fast she’ll go”.
With the support of befriended “Speed Week” hot shots, Munro is allowed to run his Indian in a “handling run” to prove both he and she are both road worthy. With a shaky, sputtering start, Munro leaves the officials and judges in the dust; and without a doubt that both he and is 1920 Indian Scout are something special.
