Movie recommendation

For some reason "World's Fastest Indian" was a "limited release" movie and never made it to the screen in this area. I don't understand that. Why was that particular move not shown everywhere while the likes of "Broke Back Mountain" was a "full release" and shown everywhere?

"Worlds Fastest Indian" can be preordered now from Amazon; and they will ship it when they get it.. Release is June 13. There was supposed to be a DVD version of "Worlds Fastest Indian" with "Offerings To The God Of Speed", the 1971 documentary about Burt Munro, also directed by Roger Donaldson, but I don't see it yet. Mike M.

'World's Fastest Indian' played here this week. It played in a small theater, but I don't think I have have ever seen so many people in that theater. Nor have I heard such applause there at the end of a movie. Obviously the folks here loved it. I notice it got an 8.0 out of 10 on IMDB, a very high rating on that site for such an offbeat movie. But then again, Hopkins himself has been quoted s saying it is his best effort to date. Which is saying something, as he arguably one of the finest character actors around.

Unfortunately I don't think you can enjoy it near as well on a DVD version unless you have a very large screen. If you have never been there, trust me, those are huge vistas out there west of Salt Lake City. You really need Cinemascope for this film...............

See it somehow!

-- wf.

Yes, I recommended it back on March 13th of this year. I waited a year and a half for it to debut here. I've seen it 4 times already (I'm a salt racing fan), everyone who sees it loves it - even the ladies. I predict it will be a cult classic in the vein of "American Graffitti"

(1) There is a Stude in it - Gene Burklands old '53 (flamed red coupe with a streamlined front end). Look for it (quickly) in the background during pit shots.

(2) It was limited because it's a foreign film (from a New Zealand company) intended for the arthouse crowd. However, a concerted email & phone call effort by American gearheads brought it to our shores.

(3)WFI did not "die at the box office". It showed for 12 weeks here in Wichita, and did very well in Salt Lake, Denver, Chicago, Dallas, etc. The movie houses loved having it because they didn't have to spend money on advertising. Word of mouth brought in the bodies.

(4)The U.S. DVD will be released on June 13th. You can buy Euro and Aussie versions on evilBay right now.

(5) As for Cinemascope - let's face it, folks - Bonneville IS wide screen!

Good, good, I missed your recommendation.

I have not seen that one. I did a quick lookup of that film on Imdb and I think rather that WFI is a lot closer to that other cult classic, 'The Straight Story'. Both are very deep character stories with outstanding character actors in the lead roles.

Aha, missed that, I'll rent it and check again. BTW, it is my understanding that all the racers used in the film were the actual race cars from that era, not reproductions. Also the 'junk' in Burt's garage was his actual 'junk'!

From what I read Hopkin's did a pretty good job on a kiwi accent.

Heh.