The World's Fastest Indian (2005) is a movie based on the true story of Burt Munro from Invercargill, New Zealand, who personally modified his old 1920s Indian motorcycle into a 200+ mph record-breaking machine. He broke the world land speed record for motorcycles with engines less than 1000cc at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in the 1960s. The film stars Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins and was written and directed by Roger Donaldson.

Donaldson had previously made a documentary involving Munro, Offerings to the God of Speed, in 1973.

Burt Munro is a friendly New-Zealander who has a passion for speed, particularly his Indian motorcycle. Burt is befriended by the boy next door, Tom (Aaron Murphy). It has been Burt's dream for some time to travel to the Bonneville Salt Flats to see how much speed his Indian motorcycle could gain. Although there were many setbacks along the way, Burt garners support from the locals of Invercargill and raises enough money to travel to Bonneville.

While in America, Burt meets and befriends many odd and eccentric characters, including a transvestite. Much of the movie focuses on his journey to Bonneville, the people he meets, and the problems he faces on his journey. One of these problems is his failing heart, as whenever he feels a pain in his chest, he takes a pill.

Eventually, he arrives at Bonneville but is initially turned away by the Speed Week officials, who cite the fact that he didn't register. After a day of uncertainty, the officials allow Burt to race. On one of his runs, his Indian reaches speeds of over 200 m/h, earning it the title of "World's Fastest Indian".

Trivia

• The scenes showing Burt's motorbike being "unloaded" at Long Beach, CA were actually done in Timaru, New Zealand.
• When viewing the film, one can tell that the budget largely went into the North American part of the film. Everything there looked period. In New Zealand however, one could notice the odd modern Japanese hatchback, and modern underground powerpoles, slipping into the background.

External links

• Official Movie site

2005 films | Adventure films | Drama films | Sports films | Films based on actual events

Burt Munro (film)