The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly discussion thread

[BerserkerCatSplat]

See this thread for DL link.

This thread is to discuss it so all download speed talk can remain in the other thread.

-SL65


I'd like to take this juction to say that I'm halfway through the video, and this is unquestionably the worst Clarkson video ever. I've sat through 40 minutes of undisguised America-bashing and utterly brainless comparisons and I am thoroughly, utterly disappointed.

Jeremy Clarkson, you've run out of ideas. I mean, seriously, could you think of nothing better than racing a Lotus against a Mustang, again?

"This Roush Mustang is slower than the Z06, but it's better as a daily driver, so it's better. Oh, wait! This Exige S is faster because we drove the Mustang off the track, so it must be better! Completely disregard anything I've said about driveablility and daily useablility! Or price!"

"Let's race a Land Rover against a H2 and an Escalade in a poorly-defined race, and then have the Escalade driver run it straight at an embankment, and then have the Hummer mysteriously break down while in the lead!"

I absolutely despise Hummers and Escalades with a passion, and I still thought the test was terrible!


Update: Oh, great! Now Jeremy thinks he's Rick Mercer on "Talking to Americans"! And he's still recycling old Top Gear lines!

"In Europe, we can get that kind of power from a pencil sharpener vacuum cleaner!"

A drag race between a $40,000 Chrysler and a $80,000 BMW! Great idea!

Let's compare the sounds between a Mustang V8 and a Ferrari one - and pretend that we know one is better! To prove this, we'll have Jeremy dance around like a fairy!


I'm going to go finish watching it, and the second half had better suck a whole lot less than the first.

Ugh, I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.


Another update: Leaf spring jokes! And inbreeding jokes while reviewing a pickup! Didn't see that one coming at all!

Yet another update: Jeremy Clarkson has just compared a lap on a race track by a Dodge Ram pickup to one by an Ariel Atom.

Jeremy Clarkson, you have officially jumped the shark.


Another update - He's using the exact same Dodge Viper "Health and Safety" jokes that he did on Top Gear. Good lord. Run out of material, much?


And, as a final disappointment, he says the Ford GT is a great car - and then pretends it isn't American. Which it is.

And thus, this video confirms a sneaking, niggling suspicion that I've had for some time.

Without a Top Gear script, without James and Richard balancing him out, Jeremy Clarkson is rubbish. He got preachy, he got ridiculous, and most of the video wasn't even halfway entertaining.

This video should have been titled "Jeremy Clarkson Bashes America, American Cars, and Makes the Same Jokes He's Been Making On Top Gear Over and Over Again. Please Buy My DVD So I Can Make More Money."

What a disappointment.

[py2e]

Yea, the tests were very entertaining... but some of them were highly unfair. Still, the horse bit was great... and the Ford GT was quite awesome as well.

[TomCat]

Originally Posted by BerserkerCatSplat

I'd like to take this juction to say that I'm halfway through the video, and this is unquestionably the worst Clarkson video ever. I've sat through 40 minutes of undisgused America-bashing and utterly brainless comparisons and I am thoroughly disappointed.

Jeremy Clarkson, you've run out of ideas. I mean, seriously, could you think of nothing better than racing a Lotus aganst a Mustang, again?

"This Roush Mustang is slower than the Z06, but it's better as a daily driver, so it's better. Oh, wait! This Exige S is faster because we drove the Mustang off the track, so it must be better! Completely disregard anything I've said about driveablility and daily useablility! Or price!"

"Let's race a Land Rover against a H2 and an Escalade in a poorly-defined race, and then have the Escalade driver run it at an embankment, and then have the Hummer mysteriously break down while in the lead!"

I absolutely despise Hummers and Escalades with a passion, and I thought the test was terrible!


Update: Oh, great! Now Jeremy thinks he's Rick Mercer on "Talking to Americans"! And he's still recycling old Top Gear lines!

"In Europe, we can get that kind of power from a pencil sharpener vacuum cleaner!"

A drag race between a $40,000 Chrysler and a $80,000 BMW! Great idea!

Let's compare the sounds between a Mustang V8 and a Ferrari one - and pretend that we know one is better! To prove this, we'll have Jeremy dance around like a fairy!


I'm going to go finish watching it, and the second half had better suck a whole lot less than the first.

Update: If anything, it's getting worse. Now Jeremy thinks he's Rick Mercer on "Talking to Americans."

And look! He's recycling more old Top Gear lines! "In Europe, we can get that kind of power from a pencil sharpener vacuum cleaner!"

Ugh, I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.

Tell me about it. He can't even get through the factual parts of his test.

Drives a V6 Mustang and tells us it's a 4.6L V8.

Drives a 5.4L Shelby and tells us it's a 4.6L V8.

Tells us the Shelby's suspension and brakes haven't been touched.

Drag races a 500hp luxo sedan against a 400hp luxo sedan...

Fills cars with water to judge build quality?

I mean, I knew what to expect, but Clarkson is an even bigger ass then usual.

[bartboy9891]

the only thing i dont like about these vids is that the reviews feel recycled. I can understand that its supposed to be separate from TopGear, but still

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally Posted by TomCat

Tell me about it. He can't even get through the factual parts of his test.

Drives a V6 Mustang and tells us it's a 4.6L V8.

Drives a 5.4L Shelby and tells us it's a 4.6L V8.
usual.

No kidding, pretending the languishing base V6 was the GT was just terrible. I mean, how hard is it to Google it?

[TomCat]

I do find it funny that Clarkson basically thinks the British are responsible for every great thing in the world. The British don't even have an auto industry. The Ford GT is more American then the Lotus Exige is British, not that he cares. And his insistence that the Z06 "doesn't work" on the road, even though his Lotus and Ford GT are far, far worse. He really knows nothing about cars.

The little off-roading... thing... was confusing as well. Word of advice, at least attempt to make the staged races look legitimate.

[bartboy9891]

just watched it and i thought it was much better than "Heaven and Hell"
300C SRT-8/M5 part was pointless and "both ends of the spectrum" test with the Ram and Atom was unnecessary.

But i found the rest of it to be quite entertaining. Clarkson should've gotten the 'Stang stats right though.

And i dont think the off-road race was staged. The escalade is more or less useless offroad, the H2 is more competent, but really needs some aftermarket upgrades to be on the same level as the Range Rover.

[fbc]

I've only watched 35mins of it - and I just knew how people were going to react... Guys, it's JC, in America, testing American cars - of course it was going to be like this - I mean what did you expect? We all knows facts and lack-of-bias play no part in the JC world. And yes, I'd be saying the exact same thing if he was doing this to Australian / French / German / Italian cars. Sure he gets his facts wrong, and exaggerates, and turns a blind eye to faults in products he likes - but that's all part of what makes him the entertainer he is.

FWIW - I want that Roush 'stang, those looks, with that supercharger whine, ooooooh baby, come to daddy.

[TomCat]

Originally Posted by bartboy9891

And i dont think the off-road race was staged. The escalade is more or less useless offroad, the H2 is more competent, but really needs some aftermarket upgrades to be on the same level as the Range Rover.

Oh, I know what all 3 are capable of. But it was most certainly staged, just like all the other races, with the possible exception of the Viper vs. BMW. The Hummer was winning when it "broke down" for some unknown and unexplained reason. The Cadillac was attempting to climb a small cliff for no apparent reason and decided to dig itself to China rather then... reverse. That whole segment was a joke, which fit right in with all the other segments.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally Posted by fbc

I've only watched 35mins of it - and I just knew how people were going to react... Guys, it's JC, in America, testing American cars - of course it was going to be like this - I mean what did you expect? We all knows facts and lack-of-bias play no part in the JC world. And yes, I'd be saying the exact same thing if he was doing this to Australian / French / German / Italian cars. Sure he gets his facts wrong, and exaggerates, and turns a blind eye to faults in products he likes - but that's all part of what makes him the entertainer he is.

I'm fully aware of how Jeremy Clarkson functions. However, a person isn't very entertaining when he uses the same jokes, and the same cliches, and the same insults over and over and over and over again until you'd almost rather go and watch Road and Track Television just so you don't have to hear him say "Leaf spring" and "inbred" one more godforsaken time. It was funny the first time. It was mildly humorous the second. But after that, a good entertainer knows when to retire a joke, or a line, or a catchphrase. Jeremy doesn't seem to understand that.

[nomix]

I think that Jezza uses these films to be more judgemental and more straight-from-the-liver than he can be as his politicly correct alter ego Top Gear-Clarkson.

[TomCat]

Originally Posted by fbc

I've only watched 35mins of it - and I just knew how people were going to react... Guys, it's JC, in America, testing American cars - of course it was going to be like this - I mean what did you expect? We all knows facts and lack-of-bias play no part in the JC world. And yes, I'd be saying the exact same thing if he was doing this to Australian / French / German / Italian cars. Sure he gets his facts wrong, and exaggerates, and turns a blind eye to faults in products he likes - but that's all part of what makes him the entertainer he is.

FWIW - I want that Roush 'stang, those looks, with that supercharger whine, ooooooh baby, come to daddy.

Yeah, but at least all Clarkson's other DVDs had some credibility. I like Clarkson and his work, but if you're planning on making a car show, take it easy on the brainless bits. It's all well and good to be funny and make fun of certain cars, but there is a limit at which reality ends and "fantasy world" begins. Almost every single car Clarkson put up against the Americans out-priced them by an order of magnitude. And putting pickup trucks against glorified go-karts, and Mustangs against Ferrari and Lotus, etc etc. The whole thing is a bit of a joke really, which is a shame.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally Posted by nomix

I think that Jezza uses these films to be more judgemental and more straight-from-the-liver than he can be as his politicly correct alter ego Top Gear-Clarkson.

I'm sorry - did you just call Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear politically correct? Are you watching the same Top Gear the rest of us are? The one where he openly makes Nazi jokes about German cars?

[matt2000]

i have all the other DVDs, and i think they are great, and i will be buying this one too because i'm sure i will enjoy it. more explosions? Yes please! the Range Rover race looks good too. only time will tell i guess...

[SL65]

I'm really interested to know if this DVD is better than others in his DVD series. I've added a poll. Please vote if you've watched it.

[Hidden_Hunter]

It's alright nothing special, even I found the American car bashing a little dumb at times (and I'm certainatlely not a fan of most American cars)

America isn't the target audience for this DVD and Europe is, so of course he is going to say UK/Europe cars are the greatest ever.

[fbc]

Okay, finished watching it - and yes it's clearly American-bashing, but as I said earlier what else would you expect? Sure the comparisons were meaningless and ridiculous, but I still found them entertaining perhaps because they were so stupid.

So yes, I enjoyed it - provided you don't take it (or yourself...) too seriously it's good fun.

[SPG900]

Originally Posted by BerserkerCatSplat

Without a Top Gear script, without James and Richard balancing him out, Jeremy Clarkson is rubbish. He got preachy, he got ridiculous, and most of the video wasn't even halfway entertaining.

It's sad cause he used to be good on his own as well, I still really like the motorworld series for instance. And as for the downward spiral in his dvds, I'm afraid it's a general thing, affecting the top gear series as well. It's all a routine. You can't blame him though, there's only so much you can say about cars and your opinion about them. After a few years, it's only normal that you start repeating yourself. That's why it's such a shame that James wasn't getting a lot of reviews in the last series. His views aren't quite as worn out yet.

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally Posted by fbc

I've only watched 35mins of it - and I just knew how people were going to react... Guys, it's JC, in America, testing American cars - of course it was going to be like this - I mean what did you expect? We all knows facts and lack-of-bias play no part in the JC world. And yes, I'd be saying the exact same thing if he was doing this to Australian / French / German / Italian cars. Sure he gets his facts wrong, and exaggerates, and turns a blind eye to faults in products he likes - but that's all part of what makes him the entertainer he is.

FWIW - I want that Roush 'stang, those looks, with that supercharger whine, ooooooh baby, come to daddy.

as its bashing americans i highly doubt many american viewers will like it. for us across the pond it will probably be hilarious.

but you cant deny his patriotism, in this country (UK) the politically correct crew pretty much destroyed patriotism becuase you'l be seen as offending the free-loading yuppies that come here in their droves. the fact that clarkson can stand up on TV/DVD and demonstrate his patriotism without being locked down is great.

he is a true brit, the americans did "borrow" afew of ideas they claim to be theirs in past years - (moving tail plane parts instead of elevators on aircraft were the key to going supersonic, there is footage shot of the idea put into practice, americans collaborate with brits, brit governent pulls plug after brits share info, americans piss off dont share info back and the idea ends up on the bell X1, also the revolver, colt? went to england and had seen ideas for a revolving gun, comes back and uses his marketing genius to produce it in hand canon form) - and although its just not the case now, clarkson likes to lean on it.

its easy for me to say to you yanks not to take it seriously, but then the jokes and diggs arent aimed at me theyre aimed at you so its alot easier for me to take no notice.

for me thoug his much older videos are the best, especialy the one called apocolypse clarkson where he has a young richard burns (late great british WRC champ) and one of the more famous BTCC drivers of the time. they put lots of cars round a track each to find which is the best, its actually a good video and he does give alot of credit to the US

citing the space shuttle, caddilacs amazing V8's that can run without water in the desert all day, the F-16. he says america understands beauty, and they definately understand how to name a car (viper, corvette, stingray, charger, mustang, firebird etc)

but then he does go on to say how the US doesnt really understand sports cars (which is fair enough given the british idea for a sports car follows the great colin chapmans (lotus) ideas and the american idea involves oodles of power and imposing force)

(i thought the GT's chassis was british?)

[nomix]

Originally Posted by BerserkerCatSplat

I'm sorry - did you just call Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear politically correct? Are you watching the same Top Gear the rest of us are? The one where he openly makes Nazi jokes about German cars?

I think you might have confused me, with someone who's allways serious.