[04x03] September 17th, 2013

[04x03] September 17th, 2013


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Viper007Bond

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That? Was pretty epic, IMO.
 
That was easily a 10 and probably my favorite TG episode along with the TGUK Winter Olympics Special.

I don't like comparing TGUS with its British counterpart because I think the show is far past that, but TGUS' approach is so much less depressing than TGUK's bleak vision of the automotive industry, where constructors spend decades developing million dollar cars that will end up gathering dust in a museum and where they compare hatchbacks on a tragic abandoned airport where they have to stay as if they were in some sort of containment area to keep them from bothering other people.

TGUS shows a world where cars aren't merely status symbols that people buy to try and make their lives less miserable. They simply drive them and breathe life into them.

They even made the Aston Martin Vanquish, in my opinion the douchiest and most obnoxious car imaginable, look like a noble performance machine.
 
That was AWESOME. The easiest 10 rating I've ever given. In the future whenever someone complains about TGUS having a professional driver as a host I'm going to point them to this episode, because everything about it was epic.

[...] TGUS' approach is so much less depressing than TGUK's bleak vision of the automotive industry, where constructors spend decades developing million dollar cars that will end up gathering dust in a museum and where they compare hatchbacks on a tragic abandoned airport where they have to stay as if they were in some sort of containment area to keep them from bothering other people.

TGUS shows a world where cars aren't merely status symbols that people buy to try and make their lives less miserable. They simply drive them and breathe life into them.

...I didn't realize how true this rang until now. You make a great point.
 
I gave up on this show last season because I got sick of them destroying cars instead of talking about them. THIS is what Top Gear should be. If this episode is any indication of what's to come, then I'll definitely be watching. This was even better than most of the UK episodes.

Side note: It's awesome that they had a "real" race (however scripted it was or wasn't) by closing the roads instead of just sticking to the speed limit. Those big cross-country/town races are neat but not nearly as exciting to watch.

LAG, based on your post I'm not sure if I believe you've watched either show, lol.
 
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Should have to pay $1000 to charity everytime they say 'rally racing' or call a rally driver a 'racing driver'
 
I liked! It was a really nice show, and that boat was insane O_O

Altough I laughed a little every time they showed Tanner and the other dude as "Professional rally drivers", as someone who follows WRC I can only imagine what Sebastien Loeb, or Jari Matti Latvala would do if they made a surprise appearance :D
 
Rallying has 10 times the TV-viewership as Nascar? Wut?

An explaining what Rallying is could have been better.
 
Something wrong with the Aston Martin odometer film editing
First screen shot says 10743. Second, third and fourth shots say 10744 which they are fine. At the fifth shot, it says 10738! Nice odometer rollback!

The rally driving school part seems like it was filmed a few months before the race not 24 hours stated in the show. Green forest at rally school vs yellow brownish background in the race.

Overall, this episode is not bad.
 
The rally driving school part seems like it was filmed a few months before the race not 24 hours stated in the show. Green forest at rally school vs yellow brownish background in the race.
That's the difference between west Washington and east Washington/Idaho border. The west side gets a lot of rain and is mostly green. The east side near Idaho and Hells Gate Canyon is very dry and looks brown for most of the year.
 
I enjoyed that more than any TGUK episode from the past 4, maybe even 5-6 seasons. That was awesome from beginning to end. Easiest 10 I've ever given to any TG episode.
 
How did Tanner get David Higgins's rally car? I don't Subaru would just hand over there STI rally car to him since he races for Rockstar. But, nice driving Tanner!
 
this is easily, my favorite episode of the entire series. I love rally racing and a huge fan of Global Rally Cross. in fact, i'm watching the episode again right now.


10/10
 
How did Tanner get David Higgins's rally car? I don't Subaru would just hand over there STI rally car to him since he races for Rockstar. But, nice driving Tanner!

IIRC Tanner used to race for Subaru back in the day, so I guess there's a certain degree of trust already there.
 
As much as I thought this was a good episode for Top Gear USA and it's certainly the direction they should take in the future for the show I still maintain that their shooting isn't ambitious enough their grading is boring and they are still making a show which has the same boring atmosphere as any other crappy show you would find on the history channel or discovery.
it's good show but it's just not reaching the calibre that I expect from an episode of Top Gear.
 
Fantastic! The editing and cinematography was amazing. Some epic moments along with inspiring driving.
Easily the best this year.

Four Five Eight you are indeed a hard man to please. Sorry, but I completely disagree with you.
 
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Whilst they may have put a lot of effort into the final race the rest of the episode was just standard everyday history channel shooting, no creativity what so ever, I'll use just one aspect as an example... The Grade.

 
That doesn't make it more interesting for me. That's just some filter stuck on top, in the middle of action/race. Use fewer filters while we're trying to see actual things, like how close the chase car is to the presenter's car. Or, if they're going to use a filter there, it should be something that'll help that rear car pop out and be visible while at the same time being artistic.

The way to make the chase segment more interesting from a cinematography perspective, to me, is to use more cameras mounted in more places. Give us a Coyote view as he's trying to pass. Give us a bunny's tail view as the Coyote starts to catch. A rear view from Adam's car showing empty track, turn a corner, then suddenly BIG FAT SUBARU BUMPER! That'd be great. Yes, that'd be rougher, but that's ok - that's part of the drama. The dust might have been enough to block that... but I suspect we didn't get it either because of lack of creativity or cameras are expensive (which... shuttup and use a gopro. I know they're not pro cameras, but make the "artistry" of the scene the gritty chase and that becomes a feature).
 
Like I said, the grade is just one aspect, you may see it and say "Oh it's just a filter" but it adds atmosphere which the show is lacking, there is also the other aspects to make the show more creative such as the shooting style, the choice of music. I want epic, big, ambitious and more often then not they find some cheesy comedy stock tune which cheapens the show.
Go Pros are plenty professional, maybe not for shooting then entire program but certainly for shooting some inserts for action shots, I think Top Gear UK uses Go Pros so it wouldn't surprise me if Top Gear USA used them somewhere but probably for something really boring because they have no creativity.
 
It's not that I disagree, Four Five Eight, but rather that I think doing it well is harder than you seem to be implying, and doing it poorly would make the show worse than it is. As an example, their music selections are limited by the different licensing agreements in the US as opposed to the UK. I suspect they often can't find something epic, big, and ambitious that is within their budget to license (or create). I wouldn't expect them to have the resources of the original Top Gear, at this point, and they definitely don't have the BBC's music licensing agreements, and that puts them at a significant disadvantage.

They do need more creative talent behind the scenes to keep the show improving.
 
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