THE WORLD'S FASTEST INDIAN
Year: 2005
USA: Magnolia Pictures
UK: Icon Film Distribution
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Diane Ladd, Paul Rodriguez, Aaron Murphy, Annie Whittle, Chris Bruno, Carlos La Camara, Jessica Cauffield, Patrick Flueger, Walton Goggins, Bruce Greenwood, Joe Howard, Chris Lawford, Gavin Grazer, William Lucking, Eric Pierpoint, Laurel Moglen, Chris Williams
Director: Roger Donaldson
Countries: New Zealand / USA
USA & UK: 126 mins
USA Rated: PG-13 for brief language, drug use and a sexual reference
UK Certificate: 12A contains one use of moderate language
USA Release Date: 3 February 2006 (Limited Release - wider)
USA Release Date: 9 December 2005 Limited Release - Los Angeles)
UK Release Date: 10 March 2006
UK Distributor
Synopsis
Anthony Hopkins stars as Burt Munro, a man who never let the dreams of youth fade.
In the late 1960's, after a lifetime of perfecting his classic Indian motorcycle, Burt sets off from the bottom of the world, Invercargill, New Zealand, to clock his bike at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. With all odds against him, Burt puts his irrepressible kiwi spirit to the test, braving the new world on a shoestring budget. He makes fast friends of many he encounters along the way who find themselves swept up in his energy and singular determination. Burt's quest culminates in an unlikely conclusion and remains legendary within the motorcycle community to this day.
Burt Munro was the quintessential New Zealander. Born and raised in Invercargill, New Zealand, he dreamed of making his 1920 Indian Twin Scout the fastest bike on earth. Roger Donaldson (whose credits include THIRTEEN DAYS, NO WAY OUT, THE BOUNTY), himself from Australia and New Zealand, is a local boy made good in the world of Hollywood. Anthony Hopkins is one of the world's great actors (who first worked with Donaldson 20 years ago, starring in THE BOUNTY, opposite Mel Gibson).
During the production of THE WORLD'S FASTEST INDIAN, the paths of these three men crossed on the white sands of Bonneville, Utah and the windswept shores of Oreti Beach in Invercargill, New Zealand. For Donaldson this was to be the culmination of a dream he has held for more than 30 years. As a young filmmaker (working on the documentary, OFFERINGS TO THE GOD OF SPEED), Donaldson met a local Invercargill man with a remarkable story.
THE WORLD'S FASTEST INDIAN is a script based on Burt Munro's journeys to Bonneville during the 1960's. It follows the road to fulfilling a dream - and the magic in the true story of a man who believed, "If it's hard, work harder; if it's impossible, work harder still. Give it whatever it takes, but do it."