FASTER

Year: 2003
USA: Slamdance
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Valentino Rossi, Max Biaggi, Garry McCoy, Steve Bennet, Jeremy Burgess, Loris Capirossi, Carlos Checa, Peter Clifford, Dr Caldio Costa, Mick Doohan, Olivier Jacque, Hamish Jamieson, Eddie Lawson, Bob MacLean, Lou Martin, Trevor Morris, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts, Phil Roe, Graziano Rossi, Julian Ryder, Kevin Schwantz, Michael Scott, Barry Sheene, Phillippe Vidal, Gemma Voces
Director: Mark Neale
Country: USA
USA: 103 mins
USA Release Date: 22 April 2004

Synopsis

FASTER is a documentary but it doesn't feel like one. It has the energy and intensity of a Hollywood action movie, with the difference that in FASTER the action and danger are for real. FASTER is the first feature-length documentary to go inside the MotoGP world since television took a sport watched by a few thousand spectators at race tracks and turned it into prime-time entertainment for over 350 million people worldwide. FASTER was produced by Los Angeles-based Spark Productions in association with Dorna Sports SL, the rights-holder for MotoGP and the driving force behind the sport's explosive growth over the last decade.

The MotoGP world championship is the pinnacle of motorcycle sport, a series of sixteen races on five continents contested by twenty-four of the world's top riders. Filmed around the world during the 2001 and 2002 seasons, FASTER asks this question: How do you go faster than the rest, how do you win at this glamorous, dangerous game?

The movie could be subtitled: How do you beat Valentino Rossi? The 24 year-old Italian, world champion in 2001 and 2002, currently dominates MotoGP. He is the biggest star the sport has ever seen and the charismatic centre of the film. In addition to Rossi, FASTER focuses on three other MotoGP riders: Rossi's bitter rival Max Biaggi; the brilliant but injury-prone Garry McCoy; and the rising teenage star John Hopkins. Their stories reveal both the ecstasy and the terror of life in the insanely fast lane, as do the tales told by a supporting cast of former world champions including Mick Doohan, Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene.

All of this makes FASTER much more than a film about the current MotoGP scene. It is the definitive story of motorcycle racing at the highest level, and of the handful of men who have what it takes to win.

FASTER: Two wheels. 200 mph. Every man for himself.