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View Full Version : Last Hurrah DVD Screenings Across New Zealand



merv
30th October 2006, 07:36
Just in from LB she has asked me to post this as requested by Des Molloy. Here's your chance to see the Last Hurrah DVD if you haven't seen it yet. We had a great night at the launch in Wellington http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=31424

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=35406&d=1151284957

Here's the story and the dates:


Des Molloy and Dick Huurdeman look like the sort of guys who should be sedately steering a sleigh in a Santa parade, not riding old single-banger British bikes half way across the world through some of the most difficult and remote terrain imaginable. Des's son Steve joined this intrepid pair as cameraman and general factotum for the highs and lows of an incident-packed three-month trek from Beijing to Arnhem on ‘Penelope’, a 1965 Yorkshire-made 650cc Panther, and ‘Dutch Courage’, a 1954 Norton 600.

The route took them across the Northern-most of the Old Silk Roads over the roof of the world through China, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, the burning deserts in Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Germany and finally to Arnhem in Holland – nearly 20,000 kilometres. They did the last 5,000 Kilometres in about a week, riding up to 18 hours a day! The journey was traumatic as it was inspiring! Was this idiocy or odyssey? Decide for yourself as you watch the account of their adventures and misadventures. And meet them in person with their old war horses.

Des Molloy lives large in the annals of Panther heroes, having taken the same bike the length of Central and South America in the 1970s. A career, wife, several children and numerous bikes later, the plan was hatched for one last tilt at the world before it all becomes too accessible…

Dick Huurdeman came to New Zealand in 1956, already an experienced motorcyclist. For the 50 years since, he has raced and race prepared motorcycles as varied as his home built Manx Norton DHS ‘Bucephallus’ and the legendary Ducati raced by the late Robert Holden on the world stage. He has also ridden almost every road that New Zealand contains.

Most of Steve Molloy’s two-wheeled adventures have necessitated self power. He has carted his Cannondale to Europe to follow le Tour and he has pedalled his way across Nepal, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. He grabbed the opportunity to ride along, recording the adventure of a lifetime for us all to share.

DVD screenings across New Zealand in November and December 2006:
Gisborne Odeon Multiplex 6 Nov 7.30 pm
Whangarei Cinema City 5, 7 Nov 7.30 pm
Takapuna Berkeley Theatre 9 Nov 8.15 pm
Napier Century Theatre 12 Nov 7.30 pm
Palmerston North Convention Centre 14 Nov 7.30 pm
New Plymouth Top Town Cinemas 15 Nov 7.30 pm
Invercargill Reading Cinema 20 Nov 8.00 pm
Dunedin Academy Cinema 22 Nov 7.30 & 9.00 pm
Auckland Auckland Art Gallery 26 Nov 6.15 & 8.00 pm
Hamilton Rialto 27 Nov 8.30 pm
Tauranga Rialto 29 Nov 7.30 pm
Geraldine Geraldine Cinema 5 Dec 7.30 pm
Nelson State Cinema Centre 12 Dec 8.00 pm
Hokitika Regent Theatre 13 Dec 7.30 pm
Christchurch Academy Cinema 14 Dec 7.30 pm
Kaikoura Mayfair Theatre 15 Dec 7.30 pm

PLUG
30th October 2006, 07:48
... cheers Merv ... sure to take in the ch-ch showing ... seem to remember something about this on tv a while ago ... 60 minutes or simlar ... he/they were taking the scenic route to his sisters birthday ???

Paul in NZ
30th October 2006, 08:53
... cheers Merv ... sure to take in the ch-ch showing ... seem to remember something about this on tv a while ago ... 60 minutes or simlar ... he/they were taking the scenic route to his sisters birthday ???

Thats the one - trust me it's well worth the effort and the book is a bloody good read as well. This is not a big budget blockbuster but a couple of Kiwi blokes doing it hard and I found it inspirational.

Go see it, you won't regret it.

Paul N

ps - buy the book as well - fabulous birthday pressie even for non motorcyclists

Wolf
30th October 2006, 09:55
I'm in for the Hamilton session. Any idea on cost of entry? Also cost of the book and the DVD?

merv
30th October 2006, 12:28
Check out the Last Hurrah website here http://www.thelasthurrah.co.nz/

There it lists the price of the book as $31 and the DVD at $28 or $50 for both.

As for attending the screenings I presume they will be standard prices at those venues, probably about $15. In Wellington we paid a bit extra to be at the premiere and to partake of drink and nibbles put on for the occasion. For these screenings I'm guessing buy your own Jaffas.

Mark the dates for it in your town.

merv
30th October 2006, 18:47
Ok, OK I've taken pity on you and seeing there's nothing much to watch on TV on Monday night I've loaded a calendar entry for every one of these film showings. So tap in there for your town, request a reminder and arrange a ride to the event and make a night of it like happened at the launch in Wellington. No excuses, this film is well worth seeing for those interested in bikes and foreign adventure.

SDU
30th October 2006, 19:29
Awesome thanks for the heads up:rockon:

merv
30th October 2006, 19:42
Yeah I found it a fun movie to watch, more bike oriented than the Silk Riders DVD which was more Gareth's commentary on the politics and social side of the countries they visited. With Des and Dick you see more of the bike riding and the hassles they had to overcome.

clint640
1st November 2006, 10:41
Looks good, hopefully Rosie & I will be able to make the Tauranga showing.

Cheers
Clint

merv
5th November 2006, 20:01
Hey dudes remember these start this week - Monday night in Gisborne. Check the calendar on the KiwiBiker home page as a reminder.

merv
9th November 2006, 19:08
Hey did anyone get to the showings in Gisborne and Whangarei so far?

Any feedback on what you thought of the movie?

Gineen
12th November 2006, 00:32
Excuse my ignorance, but where and how do I book for The Last Hurrah in Palmerston North on Tuesday? And how much is it?

Cheers Gineen

merv
12th November 2006, 08:49
I don't know your venue at the Convention Centre but I think price is something like $12.50 (most movies are about $15 or less these days) and I'd suggest your drop in just a bit early, even the day before to see if you can buy a ticket. Even in Wellington which was the premiere with food and drink included in the price ($20 here) I bought my ticket the day before at the theatre and that was fine.

We are getting no feedback about this round of showings. Has anyone been - how crowded are the venues so how much support is Des getting?

The Big J
12th November 2006, 16:19
Any feedback on what you thought of the movie?

I was at the Wellington premiere - thought the movie was really good.
I felt it went into a lot of details on the bikes and the shots of riding the bikes was good. I thought towards the end it rushed through a bit.

The style of travelling with the two of them was well done. Certainly the medical/mechanical situations made you feel how hard parts of the journey were.

If it were bigger budget I would expect it to be more balanced in that it just shot straight through Turkey and then bang they were at Arnhem whereas some parts of the world dominated a lot of the time. Am not sure how to say it exactly but I hope you know what I'm getting at. Maybe that was related to them doing long milage towards the end and shooting less film.

The one scene that I thought was a bit odd was where Des hops in the water under the bridge. It took me about a minute to figure out that he was doing this because of the heat.

While I feel it had shortcomings I thought it was excellent. A real kiwi story.
My thoughts.

If you're involved with the team good luck with other screenings. I'm heading off on my first adventure and hope I can do it as well as those guys at their age.

fazer
12th November 2006, 20:18
Just been to the Napier screening, good film only an hour long so doesn`t obvously indicate too much of the tour suffice to say they are bloody mad!!! shame there were only 22 in the cinema though. Glad I went if only to put me off going to Mongolia!

merv
12th November 2006, 21:56
Yeah well when LB asked me to post this and I was just the messenger and went to the trouble of posting the screenings in the calendar for every venue I am a bit disappointed more didn't go and we aren't getting much feedback. The premiere in Wellington had a packed theatre.

My Bro' was at the Napier screening and he thought it was only him and the rest were from the Classic Club so fazer are you from Classic or did he not notice you. 20 or so in a 300 seat theatre is a bit of a shame because it is a great motorcycling story that I thought more would want to see.

fazer
12th November 2006, 22:29
No, I`m not in the classic, am not known to any kb`ers as yet. Des does gives inspiration, not sure I`d want to leave it till that age though.

Gineen
12th November 2006, 23:43
Even if I'm the only one there. Our pathetic Palmy Convention Centre site hasn't even got it listed as an event. :angry:

merv
13th November 2006, 07:09
My Bro' said it was similar in Napier, no advertising at all, but once he turned up at the theatre there was a poster for it.

Des got us to list it on KB and I've seen it on other biker websites, it just seems like he didn't do a very good job with local publicity.

In Welly as you saw from my photos on another thread we treated it like a biker night out and a good crowd did turn up.

Wolf
13th November 2006, 11:16
I'm planning that strayjuliet and I will get a cub-minder for the night and go to the Hamilton one. I'm hoping to squirrel-away enough to afford the DVD and book and get them autographed. Who else in the local area is planning to go to the Hamilscum screening? Perhaps we could hook up and descend en masse upon the Rialto...

far queue
13th November 2006, 16:37
Any of you Chch guys n gals interested in going to our session at the Academy on 14/12 at 1930 and then a pint of whatever takes yours fancy at the Dux afterwards?

Gineen
13th November 2006, 23:54
So how many KB'rs am I going to see at the Convention centre tonight in Palmy? $12.50, 7.30pm, 1 hour long. Will report back after the viewing.

miSTa
14th November 2006, 20:30
Any of you Chch guys n gals interested in going to our session at the Academy on 14/12 at 1930 and then a pint of whatever takes yours fancy at the Dux afterwards?

Sounds good to me

Ghost Lemur
14th November 2006, 20:50
Sounds good to me

Ditto.

Might even bring the wife if one of the nana's are available for minding duty.

Gineen
14th November 2006, 21:08
Only 14 turned up to see Des, ( pity! lack of advertising me thinks), and his incredulous journey on DVD, in Palmy tonight. With only 1 hour from 40 hours of film footage, I felt it did not do justice to this amazing epic journey, fraught with mechanical and health problems, amongst endless trials and tribulations, highs and lows, beurocratic obstacles, and time restraints, that these incredibly tenacious old codgers endured, and were determined to overcome. Humbling and inspiring ! Would love to see the other 39 hours!!

Loved the bulldozer / grader bit!

Was great to meet the man himself also ( Des). Well worth seeing.

A longer version is apparently being planned - hope it eventuates

And the book looks great - lots of lovely colour pics - available from www.lasthurrah.co.nz and also the DVD.

Well done guys, and thanks for the experience. Pity you didn't have real roads to ride on - you needed dirt bikes!

Gineen
14th November 2006, 21:18
Oops www.thelasthurrah.co.nz

:slap:

cooneyr
15th November 2006, 07:03
Any of you Chch guys n gals interested in going to our session at the Academy on 14/12 at 1930 and then a pint of whatever takes yours fancy at the Dux afterwards?

I'm in. Sounds like good stuff.

R

SDU
15th November 2006, 11:22
Originally Posted by far queue
Any of you Chch guys n gals interested in going to our session at the Academy on 14/12 at 1930 and then a pint of whatever takes yours fancy at the Dux afterwards?

Would luv to see it but it depends on if I can get away from work on time.

Alice
15th November 2006, 11:52
Dam,
missed the Napier screening cause I did not get to read this thread until today.Will have to buy the book, should be a good read, and will track down the DVD.Love watching those adventures.

The book "The Worlds Fastest Indian" was a good read, more detail than the movie.He was certainly a character, love the bit where he took the family for a day out, kids sitting in the trailer towed behind his bike, he managed to tip them out a couple of times on the way.You certainly would not get away with that today.Har har, funny and no damage done.Also he made a cannon, poor blimin dog, if you have not red the book you will not know what I am on about, will not give all the details in case you do.That was not funny.One way to get rid of a working dog that has gone past his useful working life.

I guess a lot of you have seem The DVD Long Way Round.You want to see bad roads ! well they do not get any worse than that.

Alice
15th November 2006, 13:02
While you are on the subject of movies, a movie that should be of interest to everyone is "An Inconvenant Truth," a lecture style movie narrated by Al Gore.It is a movie about global warming and really brings home the reality of global warming, and the fact that we all need to consider our consumer choices more carefully.One of the consequences for NZ will be an increase in the wind as global warming accelerates.Now that should concern everyone out there in motorcycle land.

I wonder what percentage of the general population take global warming seriously, I have the feeling a lot of people are not aware of what it is going to mean for the human race.

Al Gore was in NZ yesterday and gave a lecture similiar to his movie to politicians and leading buisness people.It would be interesting to know what there response to his message was.

Anyway I urge you all to go see the movie.It is thought provoking, I find it terribley sad the amount of damage and loss of natural diversity that we have caused the planet in our pursuit of material comforts and in the name of progress.I have nothing against progress but to often the consequences are ill considered and the main drive is $$$

Beemer
15th November 2006, 22:26
Gee Merv, if you'd posted this anywhere other than in the bloody adventure bikes section I'd bet Des would have had a larger crowd in Palmy last night, that's for sure! We found out through our bike club and 9 of the 14 there were our members!

Very poor showing from Palmy - and the worst part was, nobody seemed to know about it. There was one other couple - obviously KBers, and an old guy, and that was it. That was the main reason I didn't post it in the events section because that seemed to be mostly rides.

Geordie
17th November 2006, 14:56
Hey, whoevers organizing it? They can have a copy of my seven minute short movie on DVD, 'The Worlds Fastest Mexican' to play along with it. make a night of it, its a spoof of that other famous film 'Worlds Fastest Indian'. storyline - Pepe Lopez, a Mexican lawnmower mechanic, dreams of going to New Zealand and race his homemade motorcycle and breaking the 100 MPH speed record...

Geordie
18th November 2006, 12:50
Hey, whoevers organizing it? They can have a copy of my seven minute short movie on DVD, 'The Worlds Fastest Mexican' to play along with it. make a night of it, its a spoof of that other famous film 'Worlds Fastest Indian'. storyline - Pepe Lopez, a Mexican lawnmower mechanic, dreams of going to New Zealand and race his homemade motorcycle and breaking the 100 MPH speed record... see picture of the star Pepe,

merv
24th November 2006, 16:37
Gee Merv, if you'd posted this anywhere other than in the bloody adventure bikes section I'd bet Des would have had a larger crowd in Palmy last night, that's for sure! We found out through our bike club and 9 of the 14 there were our members!


Hi back from Aussie, shame to see the turnouts poor.

I put in it the group I thought it belonged in and imagined most were like me and just always look at the new posts anyway so to counter that I went to the trouble of listing every single showing in the calendar of events so they were popping up on the home page every day right in front of your nose - geez what more can a guy do and then I was only doing it for everyone else's benefit as I'd already seen the DVD at the launch down here.

It was advertised through other motorcycle clubs too but still the turnout was poor - so how come we got a packed theatre in Wellington of about 500 or so as the advertising was no better for that?

Warr
25th November 2006, 10:59
Please remove ... Ment to post into Waikato thread .. Ops

NZHog
26th November 2006, 22:40
Thansk for the heads up on this Merv. I went to the 8pm showing in Auckland tonight. EXCELLENT! Very happy to recommend it. The 6pm showing was better attended but it was definately worth having a look at.
Amazing achievement. I have been very blessed to meet some great motorcyclists who inspire & encourage you to embrace & enjoy life! Granted it will make you feel like a soft arsed piker LOL.
Way too adventurous for me!

Crisis management
27th November 2006, 06:59
I haven't been to the screenings, just bought the book & DVD.... I've only seen the DVD so far but can only imagine how hard that must have been in real life.
This week the book!

It's only $50 for both, get out there and buy!

merv
27th November 2006, 18:13
Good to hear some feedback and for those that still have a screening coming to their town just be there!

Wolf
28th November 2006, 09:41
Went to the Hamilton screening last night and thoroughly enjoyed watching the DVD and meeting Des - I could have listened to him speak for hours!

Turnout was piss-poor despite Warr's extensive texting campaign. I didn't count heads but I could have... few enough there I could have just as easily counted the legs and divided by 2...

And I was the only one to turn up on a motorbike! I expected the bike park on Worley Place to be nearly full but when I got there there was only a scooter and some mouth-breathing in-breed had parked his fucking cage in the bike park, taking up half of it. The scooter rider obviously wasn't at the screening as I was the only one with a helmet and the mouth breather wasn't there because a) there was no one there with six toes on each foot and a drooling problem and b) wankers who park cages motorbike parks are not the sort to go to motorcycle movies.

Those in towns yet to be visited: I highly recommend you grab the opportunity to see this DVD meet Des.

It was fascinating - from the point of view of one who would love to make similar tours - to learn the rigamarole they had to go through to ride their own bikes in China and Mongolia (technically you can't, and they had to be registered as a tour company, get their bikes registered in China and Mongolia, sit local riding licences, have support vehicles and tour guides etc.)

Really sorry to learn of Dick's stroke and glad to hear he's recovered enough to be riding again.

Strayjuliet wasn't there because she had another commitment but I bought the book and the DVD so we sat up until half past one this morning watching the DVD and I tried to fill in the details that Des told us while it was all fresh in my mind.

Thoroughly enjoyed watching the DVD ("Katrina's story", as Des calls it) and I look forward to reading Des' story in the book.

clint640
6th December 2006, 13:54
Didn't make the Tauranga showing as I was planning to as I'm stuck in D'Auckland for work, but a mate who I had mentioned it to went along & said it was packed out with more people queing up in case some one who had booked didn't turn up. Luckily he had called up 1st & got tickets.

He reckoned it was bloody good & bought both the book & DVD afterwards.

Cheers
Clint

merv
7th December 2006, 19:59
So Tauranga must be the adventure capital of NZ after Wellington then. Glad you guys enjoyed this.

I'm just amazed after posting so much on here about the DVD and the showings and putting the dates in the calendar on the home page we weren't able to drum up more interest in a NZ biker story.

warewolf
13th December 2006, 08:14
Went to the Nelson screening last night. Good stuff!

Due to demand they added a second screening in another smaller theatre, and that one only had a handful of seats left, too. There was a small article on page 2 of last week's freebie paper, and an ad inside the back page. No doubt helped to drum up viewers.

Dick certainly wins the prize for the best comments.

NordieBoy
16th December 2006, 15:47
Hmmm...
4 days ago...
Damn...

Home page?
Bugger...

merv
16th December 2006, 16:53
Yes Nordie keep an eye out on the home page for the calendar of events.

bell
16th December 2006, 21:55
Well worth seeing. These guys gave real meaning to 'following your dream' and 'courageous' and 'adventure' and so on. Left the theatre thinking it was a privelege to have shared their story. Go see it if you can.