Soundtrack Review: The World's Fastest Indian

By Jessica Adams Mar 15, 2006, 20:23 GMT

Soundtrack for the movie World\'s Fastest Indian ...more

Don't let the unconvincingly awkward title drive you away: "The World's Fastest Indian" is a film that is crafted around great acting, a convincing musical score and a true-life story that Hollywood dreams of making. The always magnificent and universally revered Anthony Hopkins stars as Burt Munco, who is still one of New Zealand's most well known racing legends. Born in 1899, it was predicted that Munco would not live past the age of two, later he would triumph against all odds; growing up in poverty, Munco was twenty-one years old when he first laid eyes on, and ultimately purchased, the Indian Scout, which would later be known as the World's Fastest Indian.

The film, directed Roger Donaldson ("The Recruit," "Species"), follows Munco's journey as he rebuilds the 1920's Indian motorcycle which would eventually help him set a world record in land speed racing.

The score, set by J. Peter Robinson, orchestrally moves through the movie so that it takes the listener on a musical journey along with Munco. While the liner credits note that Donaldson and Robinson "attempted to send files and notes back and forth via the Internet but [they] didn't have the intimacy and creative response that working together in the same provides," the listener would never know that the majority of the score was written without having seen the film.

You are almost able to envision Hopkins starting his racing quest in "Bike Shop" and feeling his first failure in "Disappointment." Just as Robinson says it's "delightful…[to see] a man fulfilling his dream that was unfolding before my eyes," it's refreshing as a listener to experience a score of music that allows the film the spirit and message of the film unfold even over iTunes.