The Best Top Gear Special of all time?

The Best Top Gear Special of all time?


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North Pole special is now level pegging with Bolivia, I wonder if thats because some people are voting for the Polar special without having seen Bolivia yet?
I think it's the other way around. A lot of people had freshly seen the Bolivia special and thus voted for it because it was shiny and new and the current object of discussion. Now they are remembering the quality of the other specials and give them their votes respectively.

Therefore, I think that now we have a more representative view on what FinalGear thinks of the Top Gear specials, as opposed to shortly after the latest one had aired.
 
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I think it's the other way around. A lot of people had freshly seen the Bolivia special and thus voted for it because it was shiny and new and the current object of discussion. Now they are remembering the quality of the other specials and give them their votes respectively.

NAIL ON THE HEAD.
 
I think it's the other way around. A lot of people had freshly seen the Bolivia special and thus voted for it because it was shiny and new and the current object of discussion. Now they are remembering the quality of the other specials and give them their votes respectively.

Therefore, I think that now we have a more representative view on what FinalGear thinks of the Top Gear specials, as opposed to shortly after the latest one had aired.

It's the other way for me, I make out the next special to be the end-all-be-all, and they always disappoint me a little until the second time I watch it.
 
My favorite episode of all time is Vietnam, I love the country, the cars, the challenge(s) and every scene was memorable for one thing or another.
Then has to be the Polar tied with Bolivia. Both very very good episodes, amazing scenery etc. Also probably the two most difficult for the presenters, Jeremy said that Bolivia was the hardest in the ep (if I remember correctly) but he should probably think back to digging out that truck too:p
Botswana was also incredible, loved the cars and scenery. The whole Oliver thing was hilarious and the group element really shone through.
American south was good, just not as memorable a location which took away from it. I can't stand Florida personally, its almost as shit as where I live. Not quite though.
The winter olympics wasn't that great, it seems to me that it was far back enough that it was before the show was strictly cocking about, so they weren't as good at it. As much as people here want it to go back to those days for the average episode, which is fair enough if thats what they want, it just doesn't work as well for specials.
 
Bolivia - 10/10 scenery + the most challenging
Vietnam - 9.5/10 the best scenery
Botswana - 9.5/10 seriously wild
America - 9.5/10 lots of fun
Pole - 9/10 epic, challenging, but too much white :)
Winter Olympics - 4/10 nothing special really
 
In order of my personal preference:

Botswana: 10/10
North Pole: 10/10
Vietnam: 9/10
Bolivia: 9/10
American Deep South Special: 8/10
American 'Factual' Special: 8/10 (i'm assuming this is what the OP meant by 'America Southwest Special')
TG Winter Olympics: 7/10

Botswana is my all time favourite. North Pole is a very close second, but the boys work best when it's the 3 of them together with cheap shitboxes. Despite this, the Jezza/May 'odd couple' dynamic was real and hilarious, and it was (possibly still is) the most audacious challenge ever undertaken by TG.

Both Vietnam and Bolivia were stunning and had some genuine edge-of-the-seat moments, but both seemed a little too polished compared to Botswana and the North Pole. Both are still amazing films, and crap all over pretty much anything Hollywood has churned out in the last 10 years.

The two US films, whilst quite amusing in parts, were a bit contrived. Particularly the Deep South special - it just seemed like they were going for the low hanging fruit in respect to cheap laughs.

Finally, the Winter Olympics special. I reckon this would have worked better if they'd used some of the better segments (such as the Mini on the ski jump) in regular TG episodes rather than try to make a special out of it. It just seemed a little too full of filler to be an epic special. In TG's defence, it was their first attempt as a special, and they clearly learned plenty from the experience, so I'm still glad they made it. It's just the other specials have made the TG Winter Olympics special look quite pale in comparison.
 
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  1. 09.5/10 - [12x08] 12.28.2008 Vietnam Special
  2. 09.0/10 - [09x03] 02.11.2007 American Southwest Special
  3. 08.8/10 - [08x00] 02.12.2006 Winter Olympics Special
  4. 08.6/10 - [10x04] 11.04.2007 Botswana special
  5. 08.5/10 - [10x00] 07.25.2007 Polar Challenge Special
  6. 08.4/10 - [14x06] 12.27.2009 Bolivian Special
  7. 07.9/10 - [12x02] 11.09.2008 American Northwest (Not A) Special
  8. Biblically Bad/10 - [11x00] 03.14.2008 Ground Force Sports Relief Special

Thanks for posting that, I am about to watch them all again, you just made my life so much easier.
 
Polar, Botswana, Bolivia and much more distantly the Vietnam special.

Been asking myself why in that order, and the answer I came up with is that the Polar special feels the least over-produced, where as the Vietnam special feels the most. The episodes that carry a tone closer to that of a documentary seem to pack more 'oomph' in the dramatic moments.
 
their opinions can't be different from yours? so they must be doing it wrong?

Some one in this thread has already stated they have voted in this poll without even seeing the Bolivian special yet, this is what I was talking about.

I was wondering if many others had voted without seeing the Bolivian special as well, if they had this would skew the poll against Bolivia as they wouldnt know what to rate it.
 
The Vietnam Special, I think, had the most impact on me, mainly because it helped persuade me to get a motorcycle this summer.

Botswana was a close second, but I'm thinking about the Extended Length edition with DVD commentary.

Polar Special is third, and again I'm thinking about the extended length DVD.
 
Some one in this thread has already stated they have voted in this poll without even seeing the Bolivian special yet, this is what I was talking about.

I was wondering if many others had voted without seeing the Bolivian special as well, if they had this would skew the poll against Bolivia as they wouldnt know what to rate it.
I read all posts, and I found only shesquint stating that she hadn't seen the Bolivia special at the time. But then she never voted in this poll, so she didn't alter the result.

My friend, for creating a poll that is supposed to mirror the opinions of FG members, you are quite pushy towards the Bolivia special. Are you interested in an actual result, or did you just want to see people agree with you?
 
Poll would be nice, gives a more graphical representation of things rather than having to scroll down and read individual posts. :)

Bolivia - 10/10
Vietnam - 9.5/10
America - 9.5/10
Botswana - 9/10
Pole - 9/10
Winter Olympics - 6/10

this is my list. i loved vietnam, but Bolivia was just breaktaking
 
Well, surprisingly I found it extremely difficult to choose a favourite, in fact I chose both the African and American specials on the basis that I've rewatched those the most. They just have the best flow somehow.

I might define "best" as having the least annoying bits in it. So putting the specials in order of that:

Botswana special - nothing annoying about it at all. Basically perfect.
American Southwest Special - roadkill camping and Alabama. Skip those and it's pretty much perfect.
Vietnam Special - have to skip everything until they set off, and then JC obviously deliberately choosing a scooter and then bitching about it.
Bolivian Special - taking so long getting the cars off the raft when you could've just driven them off, Hammond's screaming in horror and other lunacy making it into the final cut, JC leaving them on the death road, May choosing an illogical option (I can't believe there weren't any old Jeeps for sale), and all round very generic music.
North Pole Special - have to skip everything until they set off, and after that I find the premise of racing some dogs a bit stupid. Wish they'd raced snowmobiles.
Winter Olympics Special - haven't rewatched this once I think. Or maybe just once. Reading about it here sounds like there was some genuine shit in there.

Interestingly, if I were to rate all these eps, I think the Bolivian special would receive the highest rating, because I always rate TG on other criteria: how it makes me feel, and for obvious reasons usually only in the context of the running season. The latest special was a genuine rollercoaster of emotion from annoyed, to happy, sad, amazed, scared, excited, relieved, envious, not in any particular order. And since S14 has been mostly shit the episode really stands out as a 10/10.
 
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My favourite - just - is Botswana, with the Polar special and Bolivia just about level with each other below it. The others come in no particular order below that, but I'll gladly watch all of them repeatedly with one exception.

The exception is Vietnam. There are parts of it that were absolutely wonderful, and it blew me away; I looked at last year's poll and I gave it a 10 at the time. I might stick it on this afternoon and see if I can figure out what put me off, but I think there were just too many things that, on reflection, made me cringe. I think Hmm, I'll watch Vietnam... ah, but then there's 'that' bit and 'that' bit and 'that' bit... no, I can't be arsed. It's not that I hate it - I loved it at the time - but I just don't want to rewatch it.

(I know this isn't going to be the case with Bolivia, because I've rewatched that one already)
 
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I just watched Top Garden Ground Gear Force special after managing to avoid it. Oh lord, that's as bad as TG gets, the worst, most disingenuous, staged pseudo-humor I've ever seen. Howard Stern did more sophisticated stuff on his Channel 9 show. Dangling a chicken off a fishing pole in front of a fat person is genius compared to this.

I really was better off having never seen it. I wish I could un-see it.
 
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