[15x05] July 25th, 2010

[15x05] July 25th, 2010

  • 10

    Votes: 556 66.8%
  • 9

    Votes: 165 19.8%
  • 8

    Votes: 60 7.2%
  • 7

    Votes: 24 2.9%
  • 6

    Votes: 5 0.6%
  • 5

    Votes: 10 1.2%
  • 4

    Votes: 4 0.5%
  • 3

    Votes: 6 0.7%
  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1

    Votes: 2 0.2%

  • Total voters
    832
I`m watching right now. I can`t understand who - according do James in the news - is average Top Gear viewer ?? 12:50 min.
 
And I will add, I got the impression that Hamilton was acting, by being so excited to drive that older F1 car. Why choose Hamilton anyway? Is he the biggest Senna fan in he sport or something? No, he is a McLaren driver, driving a former McLaren car.

Overrated episode. The first three of the season were better than the last two imo.

Why not Hamilton? He's a current F1 driver who many people know, and is known for being a Senna fan. He was probably scheduled to drive the car anyway in preparation for Goodwood and Top Gear just popped along to do some filming.

I'm sure if the film was about Prost, Button would have been in the film instead of Hamilton.
 
I`m watching right now. I can`t understand who - according do James in the news - is average Top Gear viewer ?? 12:50 min.

Germaine Greer, a feminist that gets a lot of publicity in Australia and in the UK.
 
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best episode evar since season 4! :bow::bow::bow:
 
One of the best episodes I've ever seen, fantastic. 10/10

Ayrton film = inspiring.


This.. As you can tell by my post count I don't bother posting much, but my god this episode was fantastic.

PS Paul the Aussie I also have an XR5 T :D
 
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Not best episode but a damn good one.

The Senna film would have been good had they left Lewis "The CHEAT" Hamilton out of it.
But then again Senna was a dirty cheater aswell.

I liked the serious approach by Jezza and not kocking about.


8 out of 10 because of them Promoting a crap movie and Lewis Hamilton.
Who aint the biggest Senna fan out there.
 
The Senna film was noticeably missing the Murray Walker classic "Spin, spin, spin! - 'round, 'round, 'round he goes!" from the 1986 Adelaide Grand Prix. Still a brilliant piece though.

(Edit: I cannot find any video of this, so maybe I go the year wrong)
 
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now that ive calmed down a bit... a proper review:

i didnt even really know what to expect in this ep, i only knew who the guests were thanks to watching the news one morning. The show started innocently enough, with the toureg. the toureg is a boring car... i mean if you arent that arsed about image or price and just want a well made off roader to pootle about in then fine. but thats all you need to know. the side step from that into driving a wildcat impersonating dakar machine was very clean. the segment was shot and edited immaculately as usual and hammond didnt ham it up, he came across pretty genuine. refreshing.

so so far so ordinary.

the news was ample and the peddle powered 911 got just the right amount of air time. doing a power lap in it just rounded it off nicely.

Mays veyron SS piece was again perfectly timed. not too long, not too short and again the videography was first rate. especially the static shots. it was just no nonsense shock n awe and the follow up in the studio was excellent, with the 268mph reveal and suprisingly (because they had to borrow a private car last time) a power lap.... i guess bugatti either reckoned on them getting hold of one anyway or they were 100% confident that the overpowered heffalump would top the timing board.

i was feeling pretty rosy about the ep up till that point. and waited for the demise with the guests.... while slightly unbearable at times with the cringe worthy hi-fiving and immaculate teeth, the interview went well and tom's attempt at gambon is surely the best since the man himself had a go. it was pleasant. at this point id say 7 to 8 out of 10.

then...and completely by surprise for me....the senna piece. if you arent a mega F1 fan or even not a motorsport fan in general then i appreciate you probably couldnt give a rats about senna. however if you are a big motorsports man then this piece was just magical. its also proof JC doesnt need to be an idiot on camera for people to like what he does. he's far more convincing, enjoyable and aweinducing to watch when he makes pieces like this. if you want to know what i mean go watch his WWII pieces or his great britons piece on Brunel. his high level of interest and enthusiasm for such topics is blatant and it makes the videos so much more than an exercise in fact finding. seriously JC can be good with his silly adjectives whilst hooning around an airfield...but if you want JC at his most astonishing, then its these documentary style films that you need to watch. engrossing is an understatement.

that last piece and the no frills ending elevated a 7/10 to a 10/10. this is only TG ive downloaded this season just so i can re-watch.

the senna film was so good, even my GF who knows little of F1 or its history and isnt really bothered about the racing was intrigued.... she even youtube'd senna afterwards and wanted me to explain how he died and all the other mental things he did. surely thats a mark of complete success...getting someone who knows nothing, to actually give enough of a shit to go do their own investigating off the back of a 15min video. just brilliant.
 
Good review, and I'd have said that getting your grandfather to watch TG is an achievement in itself, although if he knows about youtube he's probably quite a cool grandpops!

;)
 
Okay, I'll bite.

For me the single greatest episode of all time was and still is - evena fter yesterday - 07x03. The episode when the trio took three supercars to the Millau Bridge. That single episode, for me, is perfection. It had on of the best car reviews they have done, the Ford Focus ST. Not some fancyass million dollar supercar, but an ordinary hot hatchback but the review was made great with Jeremy's enthusiastic commentary, simple yet great camerawork and good music. It was an entertaining car review, something that has gone missing since. The news were hilarious, had actualy automotive news content and the Emmy-award, which gave more lighthearted touch. The guest was wonderful, Belsebub himeself, the transport minister Mr. Ladyman.

All those make uo for a very good, solid Top Gear but the main segment is what really hit it home. The roadtrip with three supercars defines what Top Gear is in my mind- it is three ordinary blokes, talking about cars, bickering and debating, driving fast and most importantly genuinely enjoying it and having fun.

"I need to be made to feel like I'm ten in a supercar. If don't feel like I'm sitting here in short trousers with my mouth open going WOOOOW then it's..failed"

"You can't rationalise supercars like this, you buy them with your heart because you love them. And who can explain love ? All I know is, I love this big Ford more than I love the othes

Brian Eno's "Ending" on the backround, those words, that scenery with the three cars and all three guys smiling, happy....you can see that they do enjoy the moment, they are doing what they love. And that is why I love cars, that is what I feel when I see a Lamborghini driving down a road. I don't think" Yeees, that's a good engine, but slightly unreliable". No, in my own head I feel like a child again. Seeing cars like that, old trains, planes or other things like that make me feel just....happy.

That is what yesterday's TG was. It was the first time in I think since Clarkson's CLK 63 Black-segment and the V12 Vantage since I have actually felt the love of cars. This was a real back to basics approachm they had left all the falling over bits and instead it was all about cars and what makes them awesome. With the Tourage it was that childish joy of toying around, with the Veyron the sheer mindblowing specs and numbers and the Senna-piece really does not need any explanation.

Just like when they went to Millau Bridge, this showed genuine and real feel and emotion towards everything that is automotive. And that is what makes Top Gear great. I know that's only my humble opinion, but as a car nut that is what matters to me the most. Not the falling over, not the written comedy, but the love of cars.

I'm completely with you on this, I think this episode was, for the petrol heads among us at least, almost as good as 7x03. Those who speak of the Senna film as "too long and uninteresting" are of no interest to me.

We finally have an episode about cars and not about cars falling off cliffs and TG showed they still know how to do it.
 
Thanks to the Senna film, I'm more curious than ever to know about F1 in the 80s. It sounded so much better than it is today (although a lot dangerous too).
 
Those who speak of the Senna film as "too long and uninteresting" are of no interest to me.

Very correct. They could have made that film into a full episode and it would only have added to the film's quality... although I'm guessing that it was due to cost that they restricted it to the 15 minutes.
 
Hah! My hopes for this series weren't disappointed - that was a truly great show. The race was the weakest bit I thought, I just can't believe that VW would let RH drive that car under these conditions. But that's a small complaint compared to the rest of the show. I never was much of a Senna-fan, but the tribute to him was truly great. The guests were a real surpise, although I think they shouldn't have announced them in the pre-credit-sequence - would've made an even bigger surprise if they hadn't. Also JC was kinda sucking up a bit too much to both of them, but considering the caliber of these two stars, I can forgive him .. ;). The Veyron was awesome .. I never expected it to beat that Gumpert downforce-machine. Plus: This show seemed to have tons of material in it, because they kept the individual bits pretty short - a welcome return to TG-form of old. All in all one of the best TG-shows ever - and I have them all on my HDD. If they've got a cool epic race coming up in S15, this will be one of the best series in the whole run.
 
Fan-bloody-tastic.

I've never watched F1 with anything more than a unfocused passive interest, yet in 15 minutes I went from having only a vague knowledge of who Ayrton Senna was to sitting upright, mouth open, eyes bulging with respect for the man. Only Clarkson could do that, just like in his incredible war documentaries. This Christmas he should skip the annual supercar DVD and instead make a new documentary focusing on a subject of his choice; then release it with The Victoria Cross: For Valour and The Greatest Raid Of All Time as a boxset.

The race was excellent. Those of you doubting whether Hammond was driving in all the external shots seem to have forgotten how these pieces are made. Obviously they don't scatter countless cameras over the track, so they get the result of the race first then go back and film the required outside bits. Who cares if he wasn't driving from the outside? He still won, which alone made the segment worth having.

May's Veyron maxing was an absolute treat. I know he repeated some of the facts and such from before, but not all Top Gear viewers have seen every episode before. The original was from season 9 - given the physical limitations of what they were doing that's more than a big enough time gap to justify it to me. News was great as ever (did you see how red May's face went laughing at his own joke!) and the SIARPCs came across as entertaining, enthusiastic people.

Definitely the best 'regular' episode of Top Gear for a long long time.
 
Senna film easily overshadowed anything else. The Veyron film was acceptable, and the Touareg really was same old same old. The SIARPC guests and the Senna piece made the show, 10/10 from me. It wasn't perfect enough to deserve a 10, but it wasn't bad enough to give it a 9.
 
perfect episode.

goosebumps from watching the show has yet to disappear.

laughed, cheered, entertained, awed and cried.
 
I just remembered when Clarkson asked Diaz to say (something/something) Carburetor for a 66 Vette. :lol:

Also, there are some people doubting the legitimacy of Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz's laps. Lets not forget, they are big names and have done some serious driving in films before and will therefore have had some serious driver training, you don't just forget that kind of stuff. With that kind of experience, teamed with the Stigs tuition, I'm not at all surprised that they posted times as fast as they did.
That is all.

I've only remembered twice where I saw Cameron Diaz doing some serious driving, once driving a 360 Modena in Charlie's Angels for about two minutes and this Top Gear episode. Now, if only they got Charlize Theron on this show, she did all the driving herself in The Italian Job, I thought that was pretty cool, perhaps she might be able to post a blistering lap
 
You mistunderstood me a bit. Overall I loved the episode. Best one this serious.
The two only things that dont make this one of the best top gear ever are Tom Cruise and the Senna part.
I personally dislike, more like hate, Tom Cruise and I really do not care about Senna. For me those were 15 minutes of precious top gear time wasted.

With no disrespect intended.....

I understand being a fan of Senna...

I understand loathing Senna....

But not caring....? Sir, do you belong here? If you do not "care" about Senna, I have to question your interest in any motorsport.
 
truly epic, one of the best episodes of top gear in a very long time and in fact of all time. cruise and diaz weren't particularly chatty but they annihilated the track record
 
And I will add, I got the impression that Hamilton was acting, by being so excited to drive that older F1 car. Why choose Hamilton anyway? Is he the biggest Senna fan in he sport or something? No, he is a McLaren driver, driving a former McLaren car.

Hamilton is on record as saying Senna was his boyhood idol and no small part of the reason he got into racing. Doubt there was much acting required.
 
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