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Anthony Hopkins Stars as Real Senior Hero in
'World's Fastest Indian'
It's been the best film
I've been in, says Hopkins
By Tucker Sutherland,
editor
 Jan. 25, 2006 It's certainly not often that we
are treated to a movie that features a senior citizen as the hero. Well,
fellow seniors, mark your calendar for February 3, 2006, because a good
one is coming. Anthony Hopkins stars in "The World's Fastest Indian" as
the obsessed and somewhat quirky true-life senior citizen, Burt Munro,
who was determined to set the world speed record on a motorcycle
and
he did at 68.
In the late 1960s, after a lifetime of perfecting
his classic Indian motorcycle and using his retirement money to finish
the job, Munro sets off from the bottom of the world, Invercargill, New
Zealand. He wants 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.
Described as a man "who never let the dreams of
youth fade," Munro became a legend along with his bike.
Burts quest in the movie culminates in an unlikely
conclusion and remains legendary within the motorcycle community to this
day.
Munro's 1967 world record remains unbroken.
His visits to the Utah were not without incident,
according to a report in IndianMotorBikes.com.
In issue no. 1 of Motorcycle New Zealand, published
in 1973 Burt is quoted as follows:
"At the Salt in 1967 we were going like a bomb.
Then she got the wobbles just over half way through the run. To slow her
down I sat up. The wind tore my goggles off and the blast forced my
eyeballs back into my head - couldn't see a thing. We were so far off
the black line that we missed a steel marker stake by inches. I put her
down - a few scratches all round but nothing much else".
At the time Burt was traveling at close to 206 mph!
Hopkins said about the role:
"I started laughing when I read the script for The
World's Fastest Indian," he says. "I thought, this is no way for a
67-year-old man to behave!
"It's been the best film I've been in and Roger
Donaldson is one of the best directors I've worked with.
"I originally got the script thought it was just
terrific. It was just well written, very very well written, beautifully
written, and so refreshing. Its not the bang bang, of big Hollywood
movies.
"Its got much more variety and for me its a big
change because its a real winner of a guy. Ive had a good career
playing psychopaths or uptight people, and Im fed up with those, I
dont want to play any more of them.
"This is my life now, Im a very happy guy and Burt
Munros philosophy and character suits my temperament."
The world premiere for "The World's Fastest Indian"
was 13 October 2005 in Invercargill, Munro's hometown and the
southernmost city of New Zealand (and at the time of story southernmost
city of the British Empire).
One of those who reviewed the movie in New Zealand
said, "Burt was an extremely eccentric man and a driven one, but with
tons of natural charm. His escapades on and off two wheels makes a good
story. Just when you think you have seen everything, he does something
even more outrageous.
"The movie certainly shows us this.
"The movie shows his sweet talk, kiwi ingenuity and
sometimes naivete. But it is a cool story, and in true geek style he
plays with his toy - the Indian motorcycle - tweaking it from a standard
55mph until it reaches the world record for land speed."
The "World's Fastest Indian" opens nationwide in
the U.S. on Feb. 3, 2006.
● You will enjoy this trailer on the film that is
available online
Click Here
● It is also available on a New Zealand Website
click here.
● Main Movie Web site -
http://www.worldsfastestindian.com/
● For more of the story about Munro, there is an
excellent Web site, IndianMotorBikes.com. The lead article and photos
are provided by Dave Blackwell, member of the New Zealand Racing 'Team
Indian', founder of
IORNZ (Indian Owners Register of New Zealand).
Click here to site.
 Interview with Wayne Alexander,
builder of the replica Indians for "The World's Fastest Indian."
When it came time to
prepare for shooting the movie Murray Frances, the line producer, called
on Wayne Alexander of Christchurch, New Zealand, for his long experience
in motorcycle fabrication. He asked Alexander to build two replicas of
the 1920 Indian motorcycle on which Burt Munro had set a world speed
record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967. That record still stands.
How did you
happen to be chosen for this project--what is your background?
"I'm
located in Christchurch, New Zealand, and am with Britten Motorcycles. I
was in the business with John Britten, now work in what was the original
factory, and was involved in the race team in 1993 when I was the race
and prototype manager.
"The movie
people had a plan in mind to do a replica and Murray Frances, the line
producer for New Zealand, contacted me in June. They had an incredibly
tight schedule, as for a race meeting, and the cost of missing the date
was really high. They planned to start shooting that September.
"The first
replica bike was built in six weeks, taken to the States for early
filming in September, and the second was built in four weeks."
 Why did you build
two replicas?
"To get
insurance for a movie in which there is total reliance on a mechanical
object, you need two. We used both hard and long."
Where is the
actual bike ridden by Burt Munro today?
"The
actual bike has been restored and is with Tom Henly's collection in
California. I only saw photos of it, but we had the actual motor and the
streamlined tail section.
What was involved
in building these replicas?
"We
started with a donor bike, and bought a set of engine cases from a
contact in New Zealand; in fact we got everything from New Zealand
except the oil pumps. Burt's bike was a 1920, and the cases on the
replicas were from a 1924 and a '26, which were essentially the same
except for the serial numbers.
"We needed
Scout front ends, and engine and gearbox cases. The rear wheel was a
Powerplus hub, and everything else we made including the frame, shift
and brake levers. The thought really was to make it as close to Burt's
as possible . . . but without the fragility.
"We had
Burt's original engine here from Norman Hayes--the actual Bonneville
engine--so we had the exact external dimensions and rocker gear. There
was a second engine that Burt had sent to America and cobbled together,
and that's the one that wound up in the Henly bike.
"There's
nothing on the original engine that wasn't modified. He made the
flywheels, rods, pistons, rocker gear, he cast the head. The carburetor
was split in two with a hacksaw; he dropped in a 3/16-inch brass rod and
made it larger. That engine was crucial to us. Burt went 187 mph on it
in 1967! I figure it was knocking on 100 horsepower.
"The
streamlined body was 11 feet, nine inches long, it was only 22 inches
from the ground to the top of the engine, and the bike had a 60.5-inch
wheelbase. He ran it on 18- or 19-inch tires. For the movie we used
trials tires and a grinding jig to grind them down to get that lovely,
round case profile."
Give me a quick
timeline on Burt Munro.
"Burt was
born in New Zealand in 1899, and his parents came from Scotland. He
bought this bike new in 1920 from an Indian dealership. He built an
overhead cam for it, and ran it as a single with a dummy rear cylinder
in back on grass tracks. It was a Charley Franklin engine; he was
Indian's first educated engineer. It was gear-driven from the crank to
the primary and into the clutch, so though it was a pre-unit engine it
was gear driven so it behaved like a unit engine.
"Burt went
to Bonneville nine times in 11 years, running both cylinders of course,
and he would leave the bike there but take the engine back to New
Zealand every year to work on it.
"He was
remarkable in that he didn't do a lot of drawings. He could hold huge
images in his head. He would put in 30 or 40 hours hand-filing a piece
that he could have done on a mill in a half hour. He stayed at it 57
years, and had some accidents that would have killed a lesser man. Burt
died in 1978 of a heart condition."
Who did the
actual riding for the movie? Do you appear in it?
"I rode
the bike to record the sound track, but Perry Moore (an Indian
aficionado) was the right shape and size, and rode it in the movie. The
clutch was operated with the left foot and the gear change with the
right foot, and it was nice to ride, a docile steerer; I felt
comfortable on it.
"For the
sound track we wanted to record the bike tapped out, but we only had a
2.6-kilometer straight and essentially no brakes, so we geared it down.
It had plenty of power, but it only did 113 mph for the sound track with
the low gearing."
What was the most
difficult aspect of building these replicas?
"The most
problems were with the gearbox. It had a 15-horsepower gearbox and a
50-horsepower motor. Burt had more time to solve the problems than we
did.
"The key
things were the heads and rocker gear. The internal dimensions were not
as critical. The replicas were slightly taller in the engines so we
could use proprietary rods; Burt made his own.
"Burt
changed the engine over the years. The Scout started as a 600cc, but
grew constantly. It ended up as a 1,000cc, but our replica was 883cc, or
55 cubic inches. It was a replica of his 1962 bike.
"We got
the original 1962 tailpiece from Norman Hayes, who has all of Burt's
stuff. The streamliner tail was actually three tails. He used it one
year, but it wobbled badly. The pressure was hunting from one side of
the tail to the other. We effectively took out one degree from each of
the outside blades to make it steer straight. Burt wouldn't have done
that; it dragged a little more air and would have slowed him down.
Having the replica was crucial for scaling.
"The
streamlined shell was modeled on a goldfish. Burt liked the shape. In
the replica we added an inch in the hips to accommodate Tony Hopkins;
he'd put on a few pounds. We had to be sure it didn't move the pressure
too far back.
"Other
than that, nothing was really difficult except the time. In a way that
helped, as we had to stay on it. There was no choice. Our team included
Sean Chamberlain, who has been with me and Britten for nine years, and
Kerry Norriss, who has done a lot of composite work. He built the
bodywork from a handful of photos.
Where are the
replicas now? Will they play a part in the movie promotions?
"One is in
Invercargill and the other in Auckland, New Zealand. As they say in the
movie, Burt spelled Invercargill with one "l" to save money. The replica
in Auckland is returning to me soon, and it will be in Daytona for Bike
Week."
What was it like
to work with actor Anthony Hopkins?
"Let me
tell you a story. The only time the bike didn't start was with a stunt
double on it, and the scene was lost. It was with the setting sun, and
he over-choked and over-throttled it; you have to do it properly for it
to start. Roger Donaldson, the director, bit a chunk out of my ass over
that--we never thought that putting a stunt double on it was a good
idea.
"We took
it out again at sunset after making some changes, and I explained to
Tony Hopkins how he had to pull a few levers, and do this, walked him
through it. He did everything seamlessly and, bang, it started! He was
supposed to blip the throttle in the scene to wake the neighbors, but
instead he pinned it--held it wide open! It sounded fantastic, but you
could just hear the engine straining; you can see the scene in the
movie. It was right at its limit. I was afraid it was going to blow up.
"After the
scene Tony was so proud of himself he bolted off to the lean-to to watch
the film, and while he was gone Roger asked me what I thought of it. I
said, 'Well, I wouldn't lend him my car!' Later Tony came out and
someone repeated what I'd said and everyone laughed. We all cringed, as
Tony had been very pampered on the set. But Tony loved it that people
were laughing about it. He'd made some noise, and was now one of the
boys!"
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