I love that movie. Before I watched it, I didn't think it would be all that great, but I have to admit that it is one of my favorite movies.
Great movie, and a really likeable character. Watching him deal with all the little hardships along the way without batting an eye was pretty awesome.
I bought Two Lane Blacktop b/c it was supposed to be a great car flick, and WFI has it beat hands down. One of the best stories ever, one of the best actors ever, and it is not all over the top "I need more NOS" hollywood, but to each his own. James Taylor is a pussy.
very cool movie, i love the way those drag bikes look with the front end so short. didnt someone build a replica of the bike from the movie? a hot rodder? i remember seeing pics of it on here last year, from Viva maybe? anyone have a link?
I really enjoyed the movie as well. I still wonder how they did the Challenger shots. Is that car still drivable? I would think it was a total museum piece by now. The shot from above the Challenger to the pull back shot from the rear of the challenger was just spectacular.
I was not there but I remember reading a article in one of my old mags that the tongue of the trailer was short and when they turned a sharp corner the front of the challenger hit the tow car which I beleive was a 40 coupe and thats how is got screwed up.
Mild-mannered acceptance AND an absolute iron will to follow his crazy hotrod quest no matter what...bunch of useful lessons in that.
I was on the salt the first year Bert showed up. He was every bit as big a character as portrayed in the movie. Hopkins did a wonderful job capturing Bert's personality. I heard Bert tell the stories in the Weendover Motel room that Sammy Pierce paid for. It was nice to see the scenes in Bert's shop. From his accounts of making the pistons, rods and cylinders, it was pretty much how I had pictured it. I thought the movie did a great dis service to Sammy Pierce. Unless I missed something, the fact that Sammy took Bert under his wing once he arrived here, was not mentioned. As others said, there was a lot of "compression" in the time line of Bert's Bonneville experiences. Having been on the salt every year Bert was there, I question whether he ever actually was officially timed over 200. Mid 190's were the highest speeds I heard at the time, and it wasn't on his first trip. One part that wasn't Hollywood crap was the tire deal. My brother and I watched dumbstruck as Bert deftly applied the shoe polish over the cracks in his well used tires. I still cannot believe SCTA bought that! About Rollie Free. The old Wendover Cafe had wonderful pictures on the booth dividers of cars running on the salt. One was of Rollie stripped down to his briefs, body oiled, laying on the seat of his bike, legs streached out behind him, running 156 MPH! Rollie wasn't a large as portrayed in the movie, but his cajones were!! Over all, for any gearhead, it's a hugely entertaining movie. I have the DVD with the original Bert Munro interviews from the 70's on the tail end. One comment: Well worth twice the price!!! Shame on anyone who calls themselves a rodder and dosen't have a copy!! For more info try Googling "Bert Munro". There's hours worth of reading about him on the net.
I remember him just from a small mention in HRM when I was maybe 13...I still remember the do-it-yourself casting and advice to use tractor rather than car axles to forge connecting rods...ever since then I have wanted actual tech on the stuff he did. It's pretty obvious from the pictures that there was probably nothing but the crankcase left of the original motor, and everything else was Burt special.
And in light of this quote, the FNG designation looks a little odd! " was on the salt the first year Bert showed up..."
I got mine on Amazon.com Friendly price too even with shipping. I see new copies for 8.29 + 2.98 shipping. and up from there. It's one of my favorite gearhead movies and one of the few I watched at home and sat all the way through.
Hey, I didn't put the "FNG" there, but rules is rules. No biggie. We were on the salt from '59 to '69. I saw all of Bert's trips. All good but the last one. He hadn't received the new SCTA/AMA rules outlawing upright streamlined bikes in '67. When he showed up, they told him the only way he could run was remove the body. He made one pass a bit over 170, then went home. You could tell, they took the fight out of him. He left the bike at Pierce's San Gabriel Indian shop where it was found in the mid 90's out back in a heap of junk by the demolition crew. FYI: All the Bonneville runs were with the engine in push rod configuration. As you'll see if you Google Bert, before he died, he had built 2 and 4 cam versions of his beloved Indian! Too bad he didn't have a cammer on the salt!!
Thanks for your observations, Dean. I do have the movie; like someone else said, just the few seconds of the other cars is worth it and Hopkins is a great actor. I'm still waiting for the "best" hot rod movie though. "Two-lane Blacktop" was a waste of time. So was "Vanishing Point" even for a Mopar guy like me. "American Graffitti" is as close as I expect to get in my lifetime.
A friend of ours Tom Hensley and his family own the Burt Munro Indian ( or one of the main body/frames ) and resides in the central coast of California. His brother purchased most of the bike back in the 1980's. All of the bikes you see in the movie were "props". And yes, this was the bike that was on display at VLV last year. There is much controversy over who owns the "real" bike. Some say its in New Zealand . From what i understand The Hensley family own 95% of the real bike, a Kiwi motorcycle buff owns one of Munro's original engines and built a replica bike around it.
QFT: Only fifteen hours? Hell, I gotta' pack my dad up and go next speed week. I feel like a moslem who's never been to Mecca. -bill
There are some pics of your friend and the restored bike here: http://www.vft.org/RouitMuseum/2006/2006Rouit_Indian.html When I was at the WFs and they were filming, I saw 2 bikes, one was just a empty shell and the other was powered. The one under the canopy was the shell and the other was the powered one, I believe the guy in the green/black was the stunt rider, I never saw in run. I was told that it was powered by a late model Honda motor but don't know that for sure. Try this link, go to 2006 open house. http://www.vft.org/rouit.html
I rented it thinking it was about Geronimo. Boy was I suprised. Bitchen movie, right up there with Heart Like A Wheel.
Like I said, Google Bert Munro. The info you will find is staggering. One site tells all about the movie bikes. They are Ducati powered. A friend of mine has a streetized Ducati ex road racer. As close as I can remember, it sounds damn close to the sound of Bert's old Indian powering throught the 5th mile. Probably why they chose Ducati engines. ......."his post count isn't high enough"....... Give me time guys, give me time.
Bert Monroe lived the dream. Imagine living in your garage next to your machine(s), with all day, every day to build, modify, test and tune. No Wife and Kids to limit or distract your process. Then taking it all to Speed Week, defying the odds and the "authorities" to set a record that has stood for over thirty years. I'm happy with my life and love my Wife and Son, but did fantisise about the possabilities after watching the movie. I'm sure wasn't the only one, after all this is the HAMB.
The book was good,but the first half was LONG. The movie had to cover a lot of material in a short time.
i really enjoyed this movie. he shrugged off a lot of stuff where i would of quit. he was living the hotrodders. going to salt flats, burning his lawn instead of mowing it, peeing on lemon trees.
Bert had a wife and kids, but that's a whole different story. And just to clarify Doc the dingo's remark, Hopkins had his accent nailed. They speak like that in Invercargill. Rolling the "r's" etc. When the movie happened here I was lucky enough to be involved in the promotion of it via displaying the replica bike and doing some limited edition t-shirts to sell thru retail outlets. It was really cool seeing the amount of people who came out of the woodwork who knew Bert personally, knew of Bert or lived down the road as a kid etc and had stories to tell about him. He was an amazing character and Sir Anthony did a sterling job of playing him. I know lots of people that were inspired to visit Bonneville following the movie. Even my 7 yr old son loves watching it and wants to go there one day. Just check out how many Kiwi teams and supporters will be at Bonneville this year and you'll understand! If you go, you'll see and hear them. Go up and say Kia Ora (pronounced Kee Orda). It's Maori (NZ's native language) for hello.
If you have gas in your veins,like I do,you have to love that movie! I don't care if it's accurate. I care more if it's entertaining and pretty close to how it was back then. I watch it at least once a week and whenever it's on cable. I just can't get enough of the part when they let him take a "shake down" run,and he leaves them with their jaws hanging,HA HA! We need to get TikiDiablo to set up a HAMB Drive-in night and show it on the big screen....
i went to the hot rod reunion in cali, in 06 the indian was on display in the nhra museum, it is a great movie.
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