The World’s Fastest Indian (Blu-ray/HD-DVD/DVD-Video)
Picture:
B+/B+/B- Sound: B+/B+/B- Extras: B- Film: B+
For
decades, Anthony Hopkins has been one of the greatest actors alive, though it
took playing Hannibal Lecture for him to finally get the commercial and
international notice he deserved, long overdue.
But like all great actors, diversity is the key and along with his
brilliant work as the repressed butler in Remains Of The Day, his portrayal of
real-life motorbike racer Burt Monro in Roger Donaldson’s The World’s Fastest Indian (2005) ranks as one of the greatest
performances in a long and distinguished career.
Burt is a
whiz with mechanical things and that includes motors. Specifically, he loves motorcycles and loves
racing them. One in particular he loves
is his especially customized Indian make, with special extras that he intends
to run in professional races in The United States. He decides to get all of the money he can and
finally go out there to follow this ambitious dream, despite the fact that he
is a senior citizen and it is now the 1960s.
What
follows is one of the most charming, funny and poignant road movies of the last
30 years, having joy like Rain Man
and a boldness going back all the way to Easy
Rider. Burt is a practical and
somewhat eccentric man, but he knows what he knows and though he hits a few
bumps on the way, half the fun is definitely watching him get there.
When he
finally gets to the U.S. (specifically the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah), even
his intent in what he declares makes for another great scene, something this
film is full of and the reason why people love movies to begin with. Then they add up to the kind of life
experience films used to be about all the time.
Besides a mostly unknown supporting cast, there is no doubt Hopkins is
having fun and enjoying his work here.
Like Jack Nicholson, when an actor this great gets in this mode, look
out! You get great surprises left and
right, all of which makes this under-seen and grossly underrated gem very
rewatchable. If this had been a major
studio film, Hopkins would have received a Best Actor Oscar nomination, plus
the film merits other fine work that makes it one of the best theatrical
releases of 2006. It is also proof that
Hopkins can play a good guy to the hilt as brilliantly as an evil one.
The film
was shot for theatrical 2.35 X 1 presentation in Super 35mm which is how it was
issued in film prints, but Donaldson has decided to frame the film at 1.78 X 1,
which means we are getting a little more frame than in theaters. Shot well by Director of Photography David
Gribble, this film makes New Zealand look good and the editing by John Gilbert
makes the race sequences have maximum impact with out trickery, while the
less-kinetic scenes are also very good looking and smooth in pace. There is some grain to be noticed, but the
great detail, richness and naturalistic color scheme more than make up for it.
The DVD
shows this nicely with its anamorphically enhanced 480-line 1.78 X 1 image, but
the Blu-ray and HD-DVD at 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition race right
past it with improved depth, Video Black, detail and color all around. At his best, Donaldson delivers some amazing
visuals, as White Sands (1991)
continues to attest to. This has enough
solid moments to be demonstration quality for HDTVs.
The sound
is also good, with well-recorded dialogue, J. Peter Robinson’s effective music
score and a sound design that has good ambience and other nice touches, but (as
expected) really kicks in when the races are on. The DVD-Video has adequate, standard Dolby
Digital 5.1, but the Blu-ray delivers a more impactful DTS HD (96/24) 5.1 mix
and the HD-DVD a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix that really (especially with the HD picture)
puts us in Burt’s dream-as-reality of racing.
Donaldson’s best films have great sound design (White Sands, The Getaway
remake, Species, Dante’s Peak) and at its best, this is
on that level.
Extras
are the same for all three, even if the newer formats offer smoother
navigation. The goodies include nice
deleted scenes, a solid making-of featurette, Southland: Burt’s Hometown Of Invercargill featurette, a terrific
feature-length audio commentary by Donaldson and original Bonus Film
documentary from 1971 Offerings To The
Gods Of Speed featuring the real Burt Munro and actually directed by
Donaldson. All in all, this is Magnolia
Picture’s greatest cinematic triumph yet, all the way to home video and
HD. Don’t miss it!
- Nicholas Sheffo
