[12x08] December 28th, 2008 [Vietnam Special]

[controlspecimen]

Originally Posted by skylock

10/10
Andy is beginning to reind me of Alfred Hitchcock with his small appearances in the films. I love it.

What?? When was he in this film? What others has he appeared in? I never noticed.

[iam-nobody]

Originally Posted by controlspecimen

What?? When was he in this film? What others has he appeared in? I never noticed.

He was a polish builder in the ground force special.

[skylock]

Originally Posted by controlspecimen

What?? When was he in this film? What others has he appeared in? I never noticed.

He was the one standing in front of the "USA" bike.

In Top Gear Ground Force he was one of the "Polish" workers helping James put his shed up.

[FordGT]

I gave it a 6. I didn't really care for it. I went into it thinking, OK, this is going to be more about Jezza, Richard and James more than the transportation aspect. The problem was that is wasn't even about that. It wasn't about the presenters. It wasn't about Vietnam. It wasn't even about the motorbikes.

Honestly, I think they needed a full two hours to pull this off. Just too much going on and too much to see in an hour and fifteen. Andy was right. It must have been hard to cut it down. Unfortunately the result was a big mess. Little bits and pieces scattered of them riding with the stupid present buying crap stuck in between. It wasn't even funny.

[roundhead]

i know i'm going against the grain here, but that didn't do much for me. 6/10. it seemed far too "sitcomy" for me, and they completely forgot the point of the show. the "challenges" were contrived and not once did i ever think about the result. sure, i laughed quite a lot, but they forgot that one of the things that makes top gear so special is that the presenters never seem above the show. normally top gear doesn't feel like it's all about them... i know that they make the show, but it doesn't come across that way; they are just part of the machine. it's like all those terrible american car shows where the host is not interested but tries to be overly personable just so he can put the gig on on his CV.

i would have enjoyed it more if it was a charity special or something. but as a normal top gear episode, for me, it's below average.

it's not the end of the world and i realise that going by the poll, i am in a small minority. horses for courses... looking forward to next series .

[edkwon]

Originally Posted by tone76

Epic. I now want to go to Vietnam and ride around on a Minsk!

This might sound ignorant, but I was expecting Vietnam to look a lot more like the Third World. Sure, it's not quite the same as Australia or the UK or whatever, but I wasn't expecting there to be so many good roads etc.

10/10

Much of it is still very third world, but the country has changed pretty dramatically in just the last 6-7 years, its a very different place from when Clarkson reviewed it back in the Motorworld series in 2000

[dnats]

I gave it a 10 (even though I think it's a 9 max) cuz I'm vietnamese, ok shame on me
I must give credit to the gang b/c riding a motorbike is fuckshit scary to death in the cities. They must have balls-of-iron to ride around in the cities. Country-side not so much, but remember that's where the most people die in crashes. I've only ridden moto in the country side(when I was there for vaca) and yea it oh so cool if you do it the first time.

So, I'm a little skeptical that Jezze ever made out of Saigon on the Vespa. And infact if they ever continuously rode on a motobike from Saigon all the way to Hue.

I do wish they come out an director cut version of this bc I think so much was left out on their way to Hue, there's so much to see and do on the way. Especially Da Lat, it's a lovely city. Weather kinda like San Francisco with incredible romantic atmosphere. So this episode is to expose what Vietnam offers rather about the motorbikes, which I'm ok with. And unless you're vietnamese or "you were there" as Jeramy said for the end line, you probably missed some of the funny bit that these jokes were to be understood.

And for those think Vietnam is great place (beside a scenic vacation) I beg to differ, it oh so corrupted on every level and no freedom of speech, religion, the press whatsoever. The only reason I'm here in the U.S. Vietnam is improving(economic-wise) since it got into the WTO, but I still wish the commie isn't there to lead the way. The last 30 years they led the structure backward to the middle age and only forwarding recently.

Oh, one more thing, I'm so GLAD that they call it Saigon(real name of the city) bc now the commie named it after the devil HoChiMinh that he was.

[Dogbert]

9/10, and only because I reserve 10's for episodes I know I'm going to watch over and over again. An amazing episode with the best soundtrack I've ever heard for a 75 minute program, probably the best episode of the season... but it just lacked that little something (whatever it is) that makes me want to watch an episode over and over.

[chitownjeff]

I thought this was okay, but I was expecting it to be much better than it turned out to be. The polar special was a lot better.

I’m not sure why the need to dig at America repeatedly, but I can look past that because normally it’s just a passing joke. In this case it was the running theme, and they had their facts wrong.

My biggest disappointment is that these specials always leave me wondering how much is really faked – and in this special I’m thinking that almost all of it was, and that’s really sad.

[MH07]

They should show all the stuff they cut out and put it on a 2 hour special DVD.

It needs it, its great, but can be easily epic, they need more time

[Cobol74]

Yes, it could stand a 2 hour DVD this one. Plus "making of" background and director/Producer comments.

[jasoos]

I gave it a ten because it was sooo funny seeing Jezza fall off a bike. Even if that had been the only funny thing I still would have given it a ten, but the other bits were good.

And as for having bikes on the show, only if Jezza is allowed to have on eof those power saws used to cut cars in half!

[evorobin]

Great episode. Lots of funny moments and superb scenery and sweet soundtrack. Gave it a 10 I don't expect perfection but this was excellent.

[KevinE]

Loved the episode. Perfect for the holiday

[FordGT]

I'm a little worried to be honest. I read on here and other places how people loved it because Jezza "fell off a motorbike" and "oh it rained on him!".

What? What happened to caring about content? Even just a little? Maybe I need to watch it again.

[idk]

Originally Posted by Bomber

She sounded Australian to me so I would assume she was a tourist. She also had knowledge of scooters so perhaps she was a backpacker or lived there (in Saigon).

You were right
http://forums.finalgear.com/top-gear...97/#post872614

[unbreakable]

Originally Posted by FordGT

I'm a little worried to be honest. I read on here and other places how people loved it because Jezza "fell off a motorbike" and "oh it rained on him!".

What? What happened to caring about content? Even just a little? Maybe I need to watch it again.

top gear is now more about entertainment. If you want something factual, watch 5th Gear. If top gear entertains you, be it because of the cars, the presenters, or the location, then it has done its job well, because no longer are they trying to hide that they really are an entertainment program.

[Roadster44]

I give 10 out 10 communist stars. Episode was super! They really put in the parts which mattered the most, as a matter of fact I would love to watch it from beginning to end once again. Contrary to what many may think, I found it to be random, funny, educational in some ways, and not overly scripted. The breakdowns, May's underpowered Honda, helmets, clothes, practical jokes, pouring rain, Vietnamese food and Hammond's dislike for it, the sights - the list just goes on and on. This is a fantastic episode, those who paid attention to smallest details, appreciated cinematography, liked TG being put outside of their comfort zone, only those will agree this was a 10 out of 10.

This will be one of those jewels right up with DB9 race to Monaco, Amphibious Cars, Polar Special, and of course the Toyota Hilux episode!

And excuse me...the whole Daily Mail thing - how utterly pathetic can they be...those buffoons are worse than The Detroit News. Yes Clarkson is dismal at bike riding even though he has done it before, but come on - they are blatantly making a story out of nothing. As for the jab at America, how can that be left out of the show?! It's the big elephant in the room and they made light hearted humor out of it.

[VigCS]

So my brother and I are planning a trip to Vietnam for this coming summer now, haha..

Awesome episode. 10/10.

[MoNnY]

clarkson on a bike crashing.
worth going up to 9/10 for that