7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.4 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
In the late 1960s, 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.
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Diane Ladd, Paul Rodriguez, Aaron Murphy, Annie WhittleBiography | 100% |
Sport | 80% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD HR 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Winner of seven awards, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay, granted by the New Zealand Screen Awards Board, Roger Donaldson’s "The World’s Fastest Indian" (2005) follows the true life story of Burt Monroe, a bike enthusiast from the land down under, who set the under 1000 cc motorcycle land speed record in 1967. Forty one years later, the kiwi’s achievement remains untouched. Region-Free.
Racing for the record
The World's Fastest Indian was shot and projected at theaters around the world in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Somewhat surprisingly, however, the director of the film Roger Donaldson decided to alter the film's aspect ratio to 1.78:1 for the home entertainment market and as a result the BD/DVD/and HDDVD releases all ended up receiving the director's preferred version. Given the large panoramic vistas I mentioned in the synopsis above I am somewhat torn as to whether or not this was a sound decision but it is what it is – 1.78:1 is what the director settled on and we are simply going to have to respect his wish. Plan and simple. This being said, Magnolia Pictures offer The World's Fastest Indian encoded in MPEG-2 and boasting a solid 1080p picture quality. Colors here are incredibly well-rendered and truthful to the theatrical look of the film. Contrast is also pleasing maintaining good balance between the greener scenes from New Zealand and the salty white fields of Utah. Film grain is also intact and as far as I am concerned DNR has not been extensively applied to this transfer. The actual master print on the other hand must have been in top-notch condition as what this BD offers is an all around clean and very tight image quality. In fact, as the story progresses you shall notice a subtle difference in detail (particularly between the softer night scenes and sharper daylight scenes) which is once again truthful to what the theatrical print reveals. To sum it all up, the BD produced by Magnolia Pictures is of exceptionally high quality maintaining the film's nuanced look perfectly. There are no issues to report here whatsoever.
Magnolia Pictures have provided two tracks for this disc: English: DTS-HD Master 5.1 and English Dolby Digital 5.1. Of course, the preferred mix here is the DTS-HD Master 5.1. When this disc was initially released a lot of the BD hardware on the market was not capable of decoding the advanced audio coded but suffice to say a lot has changed since then. There is also a lot that audiophiles were missing at the time – a deep and roaring bass during the testing scenes, excellent activity with the rear speakers, crisp and clear dialog. The main difference you shall notice between the two tracks, however, is most easily detectable during the second half of the film. As I noted earlier, the Utah scenes is where it becomes obvious how superior the DTS HD Master audio is. To test and hear a good example of a noticeable difference between the two tracks compare the record-setting scene where Hopkins approaches the final pole and falls off the Indian. This being said, I could not detect any disturbing hissing, cracks, or pop-ups. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are provided.
There are a number of extras on this disc. First is Roger Donaldson's documentary "Offerings to the Gods of Speed" (1971) which was the sole motivator behind The World's Fastest Indian. There is plenty of footage here with Burt Monroe where he addresses his passion for racing as well as plenty of interesting stories pertaining to the New Zealander's encounters with people who helped him along the way. There are also plenty of comments from his friends. Having said that some of the similarities between Burt Monroe and Anthony Hopkins are absolutely staggering (especially when it comes to the colorful accent you would have a very difficult time telling who the kiwi is). Next on the disc is "The Making of The World's Fastest Indian" where a second camera follows the cast and crew as they prepare and work on the film. There are sporadic bits of comments here as well but more or less this is a standard featurette which isn't as enticing as Roger Donaldson's documentary. Next, there is a very short collage of deleted scenes where fragments of footage that did not make it to the final version of the film are offered. None of these add anything substantial to the character developments but they are nevertheless nice to have archived. The disc also offers access to an excellent commentary by the director of The World's Fastest Indian. This is an incredibly detailed account of all of the events the story covers with plenty of information pertaining to the director's documentary as well. If you enjoyed the film as much as I did then I strongly recommend that you listen to the entire commentary. Finally, in addition to the original theatrical trailer the disc also provides some informative promo materials from Burt Monroe's home town of Invercargill.
A beautiful and spirited film about a simple man's desire to live his dream The World's Fastest Indian is without a doubt Anthony Hopkins' strongest contribution to cinema in well over a decade. His impersonation of Burt Monroe is flawless. The BD package by Magnolia Pictures is of very high-quality presenting the film without any technical sacrifices or omissions. The supplemental materials on the other hand are just as impressive adding additional flavor to an already spectacular presentation. Highly Recommended.
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