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

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

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Well i was happily watching this episode on youtube when i got to part 5 and found the BBC had deleted all the Top Gear Vietnam video's.
 
i also noticed they had mounted camera's on the bikes, but only a few seconds of footage had been used.
Maybe the trip was just too long for 1 episode?
 
kura99103 said:
Any news on Richard's suit? name? where can i get?!
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read back to message 126 If you ask a question you've gotta read the replies!


Quote:
Originally Posted by kura99103
Any news on what and where to get that suit Richard Hammond wore?

Go to Hoi An in Vietnam and get one tailor-made. That, I reckon, is the only way
 
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idk said:
Who was that? From the production team?

http://img114.imageshack.**/img114/976/vlcsnap00110cy6.jpg

I think she's really cute <3
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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).
 
I thought this special was good, but the American special was better. There's not much related to cars and they didn't know much about motorcycles, so that makes it a little bit less interesting. And even though they got some good mountain passes, they can't really do anything there, May's bike barely made it uphill. While it's funny, it would've been better if they have allowed to buy some slightly better motorcycles and have a bit of fun there. The view is beautiful from up the mountains and on the islands, I really liked the shots. But this is a motoring show not a travel show, so if they would've focused a bit more on the motoring side it would've been nice.

I hope they do a South Korea special in the future. Korea has a pretty good automotive industry, so they would probably have more interesting stuff to film.
 
They took a risk making an episode that wasn't about cars and I feel it paid off big time. They reached a new level with this one. They've truly gone from the best auto program in the world to the best program in the world full stop. 10 out 10.
 
Brilliant episode, 10/10 for me.

I didn't mind the absence of cars, I like motorcycles too and trips like these. I have actually owned a Honda like James had (Honda C50) for a while, a great machine.
Although I would have really bought a motorcycle instead of something with 50cc's. You can get a really decent one for a thousand dollars, certainly in Vietnam. I'm surprised how crap their bikes looked, those couldn't have cost more then half of their budget.

I have never laughed so much in one episode. My father actually came in to ask what was wrong with me when Richard lifted his galleon into the fan above him.
 
Very good, I gave it a 9. Jeremy's knowledge of Vietnamese really surprised me, but I guess he's been there before and he had just been there on vacation before saying "pack your bags, it's 1 hour special time" and they flew right back. The trip was very beautiful, but a lot of the pretenses weren't exactly true. Do you really believe that no one realized that they would not be able to buy a car? They have a huge tax which would be very easy to research and Clarkson has been there before, and also very recently. A white lie there. Also, I didn't understand the train to Hanoi. It was edited very strangely so it made it seem that they just decided over dinner to jump on a train and then somehow got to Hanoi with all the camera crew even though they were in their own "van" (the term James used). But the floating bar part was great, and I was really glad they took the history of the war seriously.
 
EPIC. Purely and utterly EPIC.

Watching this episode I realized that Top Gear has evolved into something much bigger and different. Watching this episdoe was like being there, living the experience, suffering, enjoying the views etc.

This year has probably been the best Top gear year IMHO. The GT-R race, the american muscle car race, the Vietnamese challenge...

A big 10 for the last episode of this season.
 
10/10, not for a car show, but for a show about 3 friends doing a roadtrip. Basically like long way round with more humor.

and btw, you bastards made the http://www.manifoldonline.co.uk/ website go offline due to exceeded bandwidth just when I wanted to look for that shirt :p
 
so does this mean they were motoring through Vietnam without the proper licenses prior to taking the test? Well, at least James and Richard passed...
 
God I love Top Gear.

Great job to all involved.

Great to see Clarkson on two wheels.
 
90999904390493204/10 EPIC!!!! absolutely the best special ever. It was tought to beat polar and botswana one but I havent laugh so hard in a long time. And I hate bikes myself :D
 
ANyone else notice that they had music from vietnam war movies. Apocalypse now, full metal jacket, platoon and deer hunter.

I think this special wasn't as good as the other ones, but it was still very entertaining.
 
Wow.... I sooo miss vietnam after watching that episode... My dad used to work there but now transferred to Australia.

I used to visit Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) like 2-3x a year, but last December, we went on a tour to Hanoi, Sapa, and Ha Long...


Ha Long was simply majestic... Allow me to share some pix:
View of Ha Long Bay from above with Chinese Junk ships serving as cruise ships.
IMG-4163-1.jpg


Here's a pic of the boat people coming beside our cruise ship (Emeraude) to sell souvenirs. They friggin charged me $1 for taking their picture!!! Talk about taking advantage of tourists.
IMG-4108.jpg




Anyway, the episode was epic! Although I too did think that Richard hitting the ceiling fan was a bit too scripted. I still laughed anyway... 10/10
 
This... is NOT a car programme. There are no cushions, there is no rag-rolling, James will sing, and at the end of the series, he will not have a recording contract. Vietnam is our new base, and this are our purpose-built test bikes. There are no traffic jams here, ooh... apart from the bikes one, and no bus-lanes either. This... is Top Gear!

that sums it up 9/10
 
I say more bikes on Top Gear !!!


Cars are just so boring.
 
I thought it was really terrific.
Didn't really miss the cars, either.
The local footage was beautiful, the camaraderie was great.
The 70's era music was epic as well.

"It's like being on holiday with two idiots..." :lol::lol::lol:
I'd have loved to have seen more drinking/smashing Hammond's helmet type of footage.

Still think Polar and Botswana were more "epic" as they were so beautiful, moving, and interesting without the tacked-on anti-Americanism.
Believe me, I am a dyed in the wool Bush-hater, but Top Gear sometimes reaches for the cheap "embarrass the Americans" joke a bit too often.
It's not necessary - they are talented enough on their own.

That said, I loved this episode. 9/10.
 
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