[03x16] April 2nd, 2013

[03x16] April 2nd, 2013

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Viper007Bond

Viper007Bond

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That... was epic. No scripted shenanigans, an incredibly dangerous challenge in an incredibly beautiful location, everyone doing their best to succeed without going overboard, good music, three charismatic vehicles... this was what a Top Gear epic road trip should be.

Easily the best TGUS has put out, and I'd rate it as being up there with the Polar Special. But then, I'm easily amused, so...
 
Yeah that was a damn good episode, I give it a nine.
 
Excellent episode albeit a bit anti-climatic. Maybe it was just because everything was white and it was hard to see where they actually were. Still a great ending to a pretty solid season.

Adam mentioned during his Q&A on jalopnik that one of their first episodes in Season 4 will be a supercar road trip. They also should be taking care of the situation with Tanner only being allowed to test the award car. Definitely looking forward to it.
 
I absolutely LOVE snowy cold weather so this ep was a treat for me. really good chemistry between the guys :)
 
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One of my favorites. 10 from me.

Possibly the best TGUS so far.
 
The episode was entertaining enough, but I'm a bit offended, as an Icelander, by a number of inaccurate descriptions and false statements. To say they were the first on the summit is a bit funny, as I would think there are tens if not hundreds of cars there every week and even another car-show with the same name have been there. But one should not believe what one sees on TV anyway.
 
^^ You apparently missed the part about "first to the summit since the eruption of 2010".
 
The Spie said:
^^ You apparently missed the part about "first to the summit since the eruption of 2010".
Click to expand...
...No. No he did not.

This picture was taken last June (in 2012)
667732.jpg


Also the owner of said picture specifically stated that he was not the first one up there, plenty of people have driven up to the summit before him. Hell, there's a SUV tour group that offers rides up to the summit.

At any rate this episode is so heavily inaccurate that it practically makes my head spin. Being a huge fan of the British Top Gear, I can't really say that they're doing the franchise much justice.

I mean, the first thing that they say they're gonna do is head over the site of the Viking senate (called ?ingvellir). It's true that's about 20 minutes north from the capital. That is why I raise an eyebrow when I notice them driving along the south coast to get there.

Thetriptothevikingcouncil_zpsd8a6da72.jpg


The red line shows you the path they drove, where they admire the black beach sand. I mean, look at this! This is no mere detour that they're taking! They actually drive all the way over to the volcano that they're later trying to get on top of. Seven minutes in, you can see in the background the very same waterfall that they're worrying over later in the show.

My second moment of eyebrow exercising came when I notice the dreaded valley of doom on the map. Hell, with that so prominently featured, I'm kinda surprise that there wasn't a red X somewhere, stating "Here be dragons."

Fact is, there's no such thing as "valley of doom". There is however "D?madalur", which loosely translated would mean "Valley of Judgment". The name dates back to the viking era, after serving as a site for a legal dispute between two villages.

Thedreadedvalleyofdoom_zpsb31d70be.jpg


Like the arrow points out, "D?madalur" isn't actually located where the dreaded valley of Doom is supposed to be but the guys actually drove through it before they hit the first cabin. That means that when they're spending a good minute continuously emphasizing on that scary, scary name, the actual valley that they're talking about is already behind them.

Of course, this wouldn't be complete without a moment of pure facepalming, when the boys get themselves stuck on the last leg and loop around back to the road, that they already drove on earlier, during their black beach adventure. Taking this path happens to be the easiest and speediest way to get up to the glacier. The cherry on the top was when they started talking about how this detour would force them to drive over a glacier that's due to erupt, any minute now.

Youknowthatvolcanothatsabouttoexplodeandkillusall_zps2e11a777.jpg


Around the same time that waterfall, from earlier made its second debut, the guys are quaking over the very same glacier that they were trying to get on top of earlier. They never get nowhere close to driving on top of the other glacier.

So while I'm sure all of this made the show that much more dramatic and entertaining, the inaccuracies proved a little too distracting for me. It's kinda the same effect of knowing German and watching those "Hitler finds out..." videos. The silliest part is that allot of these inaccuracies could have been easily fixed, without sacrificing the entertainment value.
 
I don't remember James actually getting to the summit since it was still erupting at the time. Both good episodes anyway.
 
Judging by comments and photos in other forums, locals and volcanologists in 4x4s have been going there so often since the eruption that there's even a carpark near the rim and very close to a lava flow. For the TGUS's 'first' claim, I can only assume that someone was keeping count of every vehicle heading up there from all sides for the last couple of years, winter and summer, so their 'first' is for 'old American 4x4s since 2010'. Surely they don't think TGUS viewers are gullible and happily accept these claims?

Also I've watched the end of the show 2 - 3 times, but I've yet to actually see them and the crater rim in the same shot - no smoke, fumes, glow or lava ... hmmm. I do hope the whole volcano thing wasn't just an excuse to flatten someone's bicycle, squeeze by some parked cars in Reykjav?k and to drive about in a blizzard after dark. At least TGUK's pre-main eruption visit (surely much riskier despite technically not reaching the very edge!) saw James May parked on volcanic ejecta that was so hot his tires caught fire and molten lava bombs were seen to be landing all around him. I had been enjoying the earlier TGUS shows this season, but sadly their Iceland trip seemed a little bit too staged for me. Still entertaining at times maybe, but spoilt by unnecessary claims and planned 'surprises'.
 
probably the best one ... in this season at least

you can see that it was aimed at americans
 
Dear Top Gear UK: this is how you do a special!
10/10. For the first time ever for an episode of TG US
 
Wing Nut said:
Judging by comments and photos in other forums, locals and volcanologists in 4x4s have been going there so often since the eruption that there's even a carpark near the rim and very close to a lava flow. For the TGUS's 'first' claim, I can only assume that someone was keeping count of every vehicle heading up there from all sides for the last couple of years, winter and summer, so their 'first' is for 'old American 4x4s since 2010'. Surely they don't think TGUS viewers are gullible and happily accept these claims?

Also I've watched the end of the show 2 - 3 times, but I've yet to actually see them and the crater rim in the same shot - no smoke, fumes, glow or lava ... hmmm. I do hope the whole volcano thing wasn't just an excuse to flatten someone's bicycle, squeeze by some parked cars in Reykjav?k and to drive about in a blizzard after dark. At least TGUK's pre-main eruption visit (surely much riskier despite technically not reaching the very edge!) saw James May parked on volcanic ejecta that was so hot his tires caught fire and molten lava bombs were seen to be landing all around him. I had been enjoying the earlier TGUS shows this season, but sadly their Iceland trip seemed a little bit too staged for me. Still entertaining at times maybe, but spoilt by unnecessary claims and planned 'surprises'.
Click to expand...

This claim is a bit staged, to be honest. But i wouldn't be surprised if they had been the first up there in the winter of 2012, so what. Still amazing.
If you listened carfeully, TG UK guys claimed they were to the "North Pole". WHiyl they actually "just" had been to the magnetic pole.

And just because an volcano is active, it doesn not mean it's spitting lava all the time. The volcanos in the Timanfaya-Region on Lanzarote are active for some hundreds of years. By now, you can go there by coach though.
At this distinctive volcano which I can't spell correctly, there hasn't been an eruption since 2010.

As you can see here, it is not erupting at the moment: http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/news.html
 
They forgot to mention that the filming crew were in Toyotas

The Spie said:
^^ You apparently missed the part about "first to the summit since the eruption of 2010".
Click to expand...

no he didnt. He lives here and knows that there have been people there since the eruption.

I personally know people who have been there after the eruption, the earlier eruption on Fimmvorduhals was on a hiking route.
As for the glacier itself, there are many companies that offer tours up there.

Google it, not hard.
 
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