Geezer with a Grudge: The World's Fastest Indian

Jul 26, 2013

The World's Fastest Indian

I'd read a review, in a local news rag that I'll leave unnamed (bullshit, it was City Pages), that really panned this film and had almost convinced me to take a pass on it. The reviewer said that Sir Anthony Hopkins made an "unconvincing" Indian. I hadn't read anything else about the story, so I assumed that Hopkins made as unconvincing an Indian as he had a serial murderer in "Hannibal." A few days later, at a theater preview, I discovered what the movie was really about. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the "Indian" in The World's Fastest Indian was a motorcycle. As terrific an actor as Hopkins can be, I'm pretty sure he couldn't believably impersonate a motorcycle, so I have to assume the reviewer was motorcycle-impaired.

Like most things that aren't right in front of me, I promptly forgot about watching for the film to appear locally. One evening a friend called to rave about The World's Fastest Indian, a few days after the film opened here. My wife and I saw it a few days later and we both loved the film. My friend, apparently, thinks that I doubt his judgment, because when I told him that we appreciated his recommendation he was really surprised. I did, though. I think this was as good a film as I've seen in many years. Even if a Harley biker, half-deaf drummer, turned me on to the movie.

I have a habit of chasing down historical sources, when a book or a movie introduces me to a new subject. Indian caused that kind of activity in the following weeks. Movies tend to believe that viewers are incapable of accepting the incredible stories of real life and this film is another example of that bet-hedging. The real story of Burt Munro is probably too amazing to be believed. That doesn't stop me from wishing the movie had been a little closer to reality, though.

Burt Munro was born in 1899, just in time to see the beginning of the internal combustion age. Burt was a mechanical wizard, self-taught and intuitively brilliant. He started a love affair with an Indian Scout that began in the early 1920s and kept that flame burning until he died in 1978. The movie pictures him as being a poor hobbyist with a Bonneville dream, which is only a little true. Munro was setting New Zealand speed records as early as 1957 (131.38 mph at Oreti Beach¹). The movie has Munro busting 200mph on his first try at Bonneville. His 1962 850cc world record of 178.971 mph was pretty incredible but not quite as incredible or simple as the movie would have you believe.

What the movie does incredibly well is portray this man's spirit, ingenuity, and resourcefulness. Munro did build his own cylinders out of scrap iron and he fabricated his own cooling fins for the cylinders. He designed, from intuition and experiments, his bike's aerodynamic bodywork. He rode that cobbled-together piece of backyard engineering past 200 mph multiple times, including at least one 200+ mph Bonneville crash that was incredibly portrayed in the movie.

This is not just an Anthony Hopkins movie, either. Every character in the film, from the New Zealand bikers Munro blasts past on the beach to his New Zealand friends and supporters to the so-far-from-today's U.S. port authority officials to the wild 1960's L.A. and desert folks who help and hinder his quest, adds something approaching the best in humanity to the story. The community of go-faster folks at Bonneville will make you wish you could go back 40 years in time, just to be there when it all happens.

The worst documentary "sins" of the The World's Fastest Indian are sins of passion. The film maker and Hopkins busted their asses to make a movie that would put you inside of Munro's head. Vicariously, we experience a little of the adventure he took on when he boxed up his beloved Indian and shipped it to America to take on the world's fastest terrain. It's practically unimaginable, completely inspiring, and terrific fun. You will love this film, I guarantee it.

¹ Check out http://www.indianmotorbikes.com/features/munro/munro.htm for a terrific history of this incredible homespun motorcycle engineer and rider.

From: Charles Hannah
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 7:33 PM

Dear Thomas

Many thanks for sending us your review. While Roger took some poetic licence in telling the story of Burt Munro, for more than 30 years (he first wrote the script in the early 70's having made a documentary with Burt) he resisted pressure from numerous film companies to make Burt younger and dramatically change the facts. Let me comment on some of the things you say in your review:

I have a habit of chasing down historical sources when a book or a movie introduces me to a new subject. Indian caused that kind of activity in the following weeks. Movies tend to believe that viewers are incapable of accepting the incredible stories of real life and this film is another example of that bet-hedging. The real story of Burt Munro is probably too amazing to be believed. That doesn’t stop me from wishing the movie had been a little closer to reality, though. THAT'S A LITTLE TOUGH.

Burt Munro was born in 1899, just in time to see the beginning of the internal combustion age. Burt was a mechanical wizard, self-taught and intuitively brilliant. TRUE - DOESN'T THE FILM SHOW THIS? He started a love affair with an Indian Scout that began in the early 1920s and kept that flame burning until he died in 1978. ALSO TRUE. The movie pictures him as being a poor hobbyist with a Bonneville dream, which is only a little true. WHY DON'T YOU GET HOLD OF ROGER'S 30-YEAR OLD DOCUMENTARY ABOUT BURT - I BELIEVE MAGNOLIA WILL BE INCLUDING IT IN THEIR DVD - AND YOU WILL SEE THAT WHEN HE WENT TO BONNEVILLE HE WAS LIVING IN A CINDER BLOCK HOUSE EXACTLY LIKE THE ONE IN THE FILM. IN FACT, ROGER INSISTED THAT IT WAS IDENTICAL - MUCH TO THE CONCERN OF OUR WONDERFUL CAMERAMAN WHO WOULD HAVE LOVED AN ADDITIONAL LIGHT SOURCE. BY THIS TIME, BURT'S PASSION FOR HIS BIKE HAD MEANT THAT HIS WIFE HAD THROWN HIM OUT AND HE REALLY WAS LIVING ON VERY LITTLE. Munro was setting New Zealand speed records as early as 1957 (131.38 mph at Oreti Beach*). TRUE BUT DOES THE FILM SUGGEST OTHERWISE? The movie has Munro busting 200mph on his first try at Bonneville. OK, THIS WAS FOR DRAMATIC PURPOSES - THE FILM IS ALREADY 2 HOURS LONG AND ANY LONGER WOULD HAVE PUT AUDIENCES OFF. His 1962 850cc world record of 178.971 mph was pretty incredible but not quite as incredible or simple as the movie would have you believe.

But overall, your review was positive and we're happy about that.

With thanks

Charles

Charles Hannah, Executive Producer

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The Geezer Story

I stumbled upon this column name (Geezer with a Grudge) almost 20 years ago, in 1999. The first Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly editor I worked with, in late 1999, complained that the magazine was getting no mail and the editors wanted to know if any readers were still out there. I fired off a sarcastic note, as a joke, intended to provide a little humor and some feedback. He published it as an article and later called me to say he'd received more mail on that letter than he'd received in the past year! I followed that with an offer to write a monthly column attempting to piss off a particular section of the magazine's readership to see if that tactic would generate some mail.

It did, probably more regularly than the magazine wanted at times, and I wrote a monthly column for MMM until the magazine died in 2018.

I plan to post an occasional old Geezer article into the blog, followed by short comments about the current status of my perspective on our activity/sport/vehicle of choice.