Where's the Top Gear Korea love?

Last edited:
I was able to get Jung and Jin from the interstitials that were on the rip, but Kap I still had no clue. Well, pos-rep anyway for the effort.

Well, at least they separated themselves from TGUK a bit in the latest episode. It was Jin and Jung who did the Cool Wall (we've seen other Walls done by James and Richard, but never the Cool Wall), and they did two things that TGUK would never, ever do: put the latest Disco into Seriously Uncool and a Kia into Sub-Zero.
 
Hi folks, I just signed up to Final Gear to show some love for Top Gear Korea.

Episode 3 is the best yet. GREAT cheap car challenge. Loved the obstacle course with shopping carts and barrels etc...

The series so far shows a lot of promise.
Impressive production quality.
Of course, being monolingual doesn't help, but it's fun figuring out from context what they are likely to be saying (like when "glasses guy" was describing / displaying the ride height and short wheelbase of the Lotus).
Nice that at least there are a few key bits of English that get thrown up on screen like the car names and lap times.

I could live without the silly sound effects, but I understand that is sort of a cultural thing.
The only other nit-pick I have is the same with all of the "Other Top Gears" the commercial interruptions ruin the flow of the show and cause unnecessary cut offs and repeats of things we just saw. (Top Gear America seems to be by FAR the worst with this problem though).
 
The Spie said:
and a Kia into Sub-Zero.
Click to expand...

Do they also have a fridge? Probably a Hyundai Sonata in there.

:jc: Hellooo you industrious little fellows!
 
This is going to sound weird, but...watching the latest episode (another great effort; I love how they're taking the effort to put the right presenter to review the right car, and the Clarkson name-check was unexpected), I think I've figured out what the nationalizations are:

Top Gear Australia is Top Gear Past
Top Gear US is Top Gear Present
Top Gear Korea is Top Gear Future

And the future's looking pretty good.
 
Top Gear Korea's "old dude"

is probably by far the coolest guy on the show.

He's a seasoned actor over there and rides Harleys and listens to 50 Cent, because he used to really like Eminem but Eminem got a little too angry.

I can't even make that up.
 
Well, if Kap is a comic actor (which he might be; from the laughter, he seems to have great comic timing), that means we've got another Identikit Top Gear Cast: comic actor, racing driver, and car expert. I'm not complaining, because it's working in the US and probably would have worked in Australia if not for the Nein Factor. But it is the first time we've seen the Identikit Cast in a sixty-minute format (minimal commercials compared to US and AUS), and they're able to carry the show well with a very fast pace.

My only question is, how did they pull this off from the get-go with no real teething pains? Everything's executed so beautifully and with such precision it's almost mind-boggling, yet the spirit of Top Gear is there. They've combined, for lack of a better simile, the technical aspects of an MP4-12C with the soul of a 458.
 
The Spie said:
My only question is, how did they pull this off from the get-go with no real teething pains? Everything's executed so beautifully and with such precision it's almost mind-boggling, yet the spirit of Top Gear is there. They've combined, for lack of a better simile, the technical aspects of an MP4-12C with the soul of a 458.
Click to expand...

Perhaps they hired a German to produce it? :)
 
Kap is not a comedic actor. Comedy is something he only started getting into in the past year or so. Prior to that he was (and still is) a very serious kind of fella. Kim Jin Pyo originally was a singer who originated in the 90s and is moving slowly towards broadcasting.

Yun Jung Hoon is both a television and movie actor.

They're rather different folks that work in different areas of the Korean entertainment industry--they just really like their cars.
 
For those who haven't seen it or looked through the internet, there is an actual official Youtube channel of them, I would recommend watching through most of them (no subtitles though), they are really off to a great start! :3

http://www.youtube.com/user/XTMTopGearKorea

Never knew about the SM7. <.<!
 
Please, will some considerate Korean & English speaking forum member translate so we can get the full TGKorea monty? Pretty please? With sugar on top?
 
201110012313261001_1.jpg


Guest this week.

She owns a CLS55 AMG because she likes the sound of the engine and exhaust under throttle.
 

Attachments

  • 201110012313261001_1.jpg
    201110012313261001_1.jpg
    387.6 KB · Views: 78
bryanbeachboy1970 said:
Also, I saw this comment elsewhere and found it funny:

kim-jong-il-twn.jpg


Top Gear North Korea!
Click to expand...




I have watched some Top Gear Australia as it's airing here in Finland with Top Gear UK, also checked couple episoed of Top Gear USA, but this seems to have go it! Funnily enough i don't of course understand a word and it's my favorite of them (or is it because of just that?).
Damn it they should air that here with subtitles!
 
Let me start by saying..that this Top Gear Korea is actually less an entertainment show and more focused on car reviews simply because there are no other car shows in Korea for them to have to differentiate against. It still has the entertainment bits but as some of you have seen there are more actual car review segments on Top Gear Korea with more in depth critical commentary and even visuals than I would normally see on any of the other Top Gears (UK included)

To also try to assign "roles" by superficial visual and age based comparisons to the UK is also very very very wrong. Kim Jin Pyo (the youngish man with glasses) has surprised me right out of the gate with his very strong and surprisingly critical reviews of cars; his Jeremy-like wording and passionate (even headstrong) espousing of certain positions that are slightly counter to mainstream Korean perspectives. He would be the one who is closest to Jeremy; if you were to stupidly try to assign some comparison. His not always justified attachment to Porsches and Maserati is also endearing to a petrolhead. Oh and he doesn't quite agree with Jeremy's assessment of the Jaguar XJ...to the point that other presenters were teasing him about it. But in certain comic bits he does occupy Richard's place as exemplified by his bringing of the utterly problematic Firebird to the Personal Childhood Dream car competition.

Kim Kap Soo (the elder) is closest to Captain Slow in terms of his utter devotion to um..slow and big sedans (his devotion to Benzes is rapidly on its way to becoming a meme) and the fact that in many of the challenges he is utterly careful but not always the quickest. But even there the comparison doesn't really fit because he is more apt to be more in tune with the celebrity guests especially the female ones than well James would ever be. He is not the slightly odd one and in fact is more Jeremy-like with the guests. His car reviews however have been really far too complimentary.

Yoon Jung Hoon (the metrosexual one) is nothing like Richard however. In fact hard to really compare him to any UK presenter. He has been the most balanced with his car review segments but also the most sensible one when it comes to comic segments.

They do share the patriotism (displayed by the UK presenters towards UK cars) in regards to Korean cars (but absolutely hate the Hyundai Veloster)and have been making slight digs at British cars (*ahem* Jaguar and Mini) and blatant disregard for some US cars (the same way the UK crew looks at cars from Mexico) in terms of their build quality, utility, performance. So there are those overall thematic similarities *snicker*

and it gets annoying whenever Korea is mentioned..someone has to trot out a picture of Kim Jong Il. I have declared a new law (similar to Godwin's law): " Any conversation involving Korea will inevitably result in some reference to Kim Jong Il and will signal the utter absence of anything significant to say on the part of the Kim Jong Il referer" It's like posting a picture of a really fat person anytime the USA is mentioned.

The chemistry between all three presenters has been really strong out of the gate; and the commentary, interplay has been less slapstick than UK and more underplayed wit. The camera work has been very strong..and you feel like they have actually been given quite a budget (unlike the US version). One quibble has been the sound..but having worked in Korea in associated fields...there are very few sound engineers in Korea worth a damn.

I am already in love with Top Gear Korea which has pleasantly completely exceeded my expectations.
 
Last edited:
To bring this thread up-to-date:

AsiaTorrents has 450-480p rips of all of Season 1 (minus the "specials" and the pre-season preview) in a torrent here:
http://www.asiatorrents.com/index.php?page=torrent-details&id=bfbe1c02b74702e5706ffd0b0ffb439cda16dbf1

It seems that TGK has a new MC:
http://www.allkpop.com/2012/04/cho-min-ki-wants-to-invite-2ne1-for-top-gear-korea-2

I read elsewhere that Min Ki Cho is actually the new MC in-place-of Gap Soo Kim (aka "The Old Guy").

After Googling for: "topgear korea" kuni 450p 120408
I managed to find a torrent of the first episode (there was also a preview for the current season on 120331) and am downloading it now to check it out.

HTH
 
wow. impressed by the production and everything. i REALLY wish someone would do subtitles tho. maybe post them on subtitle source??
hell if they can get a few ppl to translate a Japanese rpg game over the course of 5-10YEARS we can get someone to translate a freaking car show right?? :)
 
It's been 4-5 years since I posted here last =p but since my login still works.... I uploaded Top Gear Korea - Season 2 eps 1-5 in 720p =p
Asiatorrents
The production is actually REALLY impressive, pretty close to the UK ver, better than australia and US of course. Nope I dont understand a single word and I haven't seen any subtitles anywhere either. I'll continue to post the torrents to asiatorrent as they air on TV. They're a every Sunday show. (Btw Ep 6 was a "special" kind of recap and I couldn't find 720p yet.

Pictures would explain better...

T3KhM.jpg


BAVCM.jpg


Rai80.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top