[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
Loved the Senna tribute. I got into F1 a long time ago as a little kid and had the bit of luck to attend races where Senna drove. Australian GP in Adelaide and US Grand Prix in Phoenix. And remember watching F1 coverage in the US on CBS - Bob Varsha was commentating even back then - with Senna behind the wheel of the MP4-4. To say he is the best of all time is an understatement. To drive Monaco with one hand on the shifter and the other on the steering wheel is absolutely epic and mind boggling. So much control over a car that seems out of control most of the time. RIP.
 
Hey, hey, I have to be a partisan here and defend my man Fangio... Senna was the best modern driver but I dont know "The best of all time is an understatement"
They were friends in real life and respected eachother.

I hope they release the full footage of Hamilton driving with his car, as they released more bits that they left out in other episodes...
 
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PFAAAAAA!Absolutely superb !
There's no way in hell they're gonna top this one! Unless...they use two Bugattis and two Lamborghinis with machine guns and knives on them playing "chicken"...and invite Kate Beckinsale and Eva Longoria to do a really hot lap.

I'd just like to say:
"I'll kill myself and then her" =))

How many times did the guests use the word "fun" ? a thousand, two?

A,and to those who said a 1200Hp Bugatti will not be built as it would overheat(Veyron vs McLaren F1 thread)...you were right,it will never happen.

P.S.:when Jeremy said it was an honor to meet Tom,Cameron made an angry"what about me" face.
P.P.S.:I remember reading in one of Jeremy's Top Gear editorials about how much he liked Tom Cruise films;what a day this must have been for Jeremy
PPPS:I like how you can see "SUB ZERO"(from cool wall) between Cameron and Tom,as they are invited to take a seat...sums up the whole episode
 
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Hmm, certainly a lot of posts in this thread, I kinda got the idea at page 7 that people liked it. Well, that's nice and sure enough the Senna bit was sorta what's been missing from the show for 3-4 years, like someone else said.

I thought the documentary clip ended very abruptly, as if a huge source of emotion was taken from me with a swift whip of a hand. That lingering emotion is showing in all these posts, as people were still riding their rollercoaster while writing their comments and voting. If any, this episode would've deserved a little cooldown period after airing before people could start voting on it.
Might have been done on purpose. Think of how abrupt Senna's life ended, and what happened.
 
I remember an analogy Clarkson once used, about a certain band. I think it applies quite nicely to Top Gear as well:

You know they've sold out, you know you're supposed to hate them. But then you listen to their latest album and you just have to acknowledge.. "they've done it again."



11/10
 
I honestly believe that Top Gear is almost as best as it was in seasons 5-9. Almost, but not quite yet. Awesome episode!
 
I remember an analogy Clarkson once used, about a certain band. I think it applies quite nicely to Top Gear as well:

You know they've sold out, you know you're supposed to hate them. But then you listen to their latest album and you just have to acknowledge.. "they've done it again."

That's Hammond's line actually. from BMW 320d E90 Review, but I agree with you.
 
Very good! Only thing missing was them three doing a film together. But then, the humor in those films doesn't always work for me, so maybe it's for the better.

That Veyron just thrashes all the competition. I like it.
 
Guests were fun but I will never understand how people find Cameron that beautiful.

Because there is more to beauty than just looks. A sense of humor, a great personailty, and not being afraid to get dirt under your nails go a long way. That's why she's a beautiful person. The blonde hair doesn't hurt, either. :mrgreen:
 
The snowmobile/tuareg bit ... awsome. And I like the level of unseriousness it was made with. At no moment of that film could you have had any other impression that this wasn?t a serious test or a serious race. Just a funto watch Eye-fuck ... and what a fun eye-fuck it was ...

News (or the "newsrelated segment") were very good.

Veyron Supersport vs James May ... haven?t stopped drooling yet. Good segment, a little bit behind James last go with the Veyron, but still awsome. And Stiggie got to play with it? Nice.

Diaz and Cruize ... actually pretty entertaining ... Cameron Diaz comes across like on Drugs a bit and Tom Cruize can?t quite shake the "He?s a fucking robot" image for most time ... but together on the couch, that was a seriously good mix. "Even Tom Cruize leans forward" lol.

Ayrton Senna tribute ... nice one. A bit of a hard change to the rest of the show, but It still worked. I guess this is the segment everyone was screaming for when Colin McRea died. Excellent editing, great commentary.

And I don?t care how much you guys talk about staging/faking the laptimes for the Supersport and Cruize and Diaz (haven?t checked, but I?d bet some money on that discussion going on in here somewhere) ... it was an amazingly entertaining show.

10/10
 
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that right there was one of the best hours of television i have seen in my 22 years on this earth.

i nearly cried during the last 10 minutes. and i dont even watch F1

So. Series 15 is going down as one of the best yet IMO.
 
I remember an analogy Clarkson once used, about a certain band. I think it applies quite nicely to Top Gear as well:

You know they've sold out, you know you're supposed to hate them. But then you listen to their latest album and you just have to acknowledge.. "they've done it again."

Was it U2? my money is on U2... gonna watch the youtube link.

edit: yaaaay
 
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That's correct. And I feel dirty just knowing that out of my head.
 
I can't give this anything less than a 10. The race was a bit "meh," but it just built from there. News was good. Watching the Super Sport was just unbelieveable. It wouldn't have been right if it wasn't on top. I was really worried about the SIARPC segment being complete shit, but it went better than I had expected. And to see them both break the lap record and for Cruise to break Diaz's time by a full second is unbelieveable. And I agree with what someone said earlier about renaming Gambon corner after Cruise's ride through there.

And then the Senna film. I didn't get into F1 until after he died, but I knew how great he was. Actually, I should say I thought I knew how great he was until seeing that film. It was a very fitting tribute to, arguably, the greatest racer ever.

All in all, one of the best Top Gear episodes ever.
 
I just re-watched 15x05 as a 720p rip, so here is my verdict. But before we get to the action, I must say that reading this thread before I watched the episode built a lot of anticipation. So many FinalGear users rating it so highly, I expected it to be brilliant throughout...

Touareg vs. snowmobiles:
That said, the first segment was a bit of a letdown. It started off well: Hammond giving the new Touareg a shot, talking about the differences to the old one and some truly beautiful cinematography. Great! But it started to go downhill the moment Hammond revealed that he will not be using the car he just thoroughly introduced. The "I made this over night" joke didn't do it for me at all. Of course he was joking, but I had rather seen him announce the change of vehicles in a wittier way.

Example: Hammond standing beside the street Touareg saying: "So this is the car ... on which this car is based" and the camera suddenly pans to the racing Touareg and the background music stalls. This is a carbon copy of a joke Hammond pulled when they set the world record for rolling a car, but I'd still have like that miles better than "I had so say something to justify me using the racing car, so I just say whatever and we're done with it". Sorry, that's not even trying.

And it went on when they showed the map where Hammond neatly demonstrated that the race route basically is all over the place. At this point it was pretty apparent that this will not be a serious race rather than some quickly-cut action shots with a shaky camera and some stunts by the snowmobile guys. Trying to wrap that into a race is a bit pointless in my eyes. Sure, you need to justify the piece in some way, but this is not the Top Gear Live World Tour. Jumping a couple of snowmobiles and powersliding a racing Touareg is fun to see when its live, and the scenery sure was impressive, but with the opportunity being able to plan, cut and edit such a piece, I simply expect more. They have demonstrated years ago that they can do pretty much the same thing much much better (Evo vs. bobsled, s05e08), so one would expect them to be at least on par with that.

And I support the belief some posters mentioned that Hammond wasn't actually driving the car at all times. The pieces on that narrow road in the woods, flicking the car around with ultimate precision ... done by Hammond? I'm sure the man drives miles better than me, but this needs some serious skill and experience. Also, Hammond spitting out the stats during the "race", I would have expected him to explain a few differences between the snowmobiles and a car, and why the former are so good in these conditions except on ice.

Hammond mowing down the downhill poles chasing some snowboarders kind of reminded me of the Evo-vs-Army bit with Clarkson. Hammond "took a shortcut" and accidently ended up there, doing that - please! The whole thing was a thoughougly planned, cleverly edited fabrication of happenings cloaked as a race. Hard words, I know, but what can I say? Beautiful pictures and good music though...

The News:
... were lacking car info. I was surprised by the substance of the news in the former episodes of this season, so this edition was not as good as I expected it to be. The "ice" discussion was almost painful to watch: perfectly planned in advance and properly executed ... which is the problem.

Of course I am distracted by nice ladies on the street when I'm driving. Of course a sales director called Peugeot working for Citroen is beyond irony. Of course a pedal car 911 is funny. Great! So let's start with actual car news now ... oh wait, the segment is over. <_<

The Veyron Supersport:
So finally, the episode is literally picking up speed. A very nice, well laid-out segment with stunning cinematography. I'm not too fond of the looks of this version (the orange playing a part in that), but it is an awesome car. And Captain slow took his time to explain everything you need to know.

Obviously, it was inevitable to not rehash some of the stuff from his first run at Ehra-Lessien, him having been there in almost the same car doing the same thing. But still, a couple of unnecessary CGI effects aside (lens flair and speed effects), it was beautifully shot, well made and impressive to see. The great lap time was the cherry on top of this delicious dessert.

Tom Cruise & Cameron Diaz:
I'm not too fond of both of these, but Hollowood stars on Top Gear has to be an awesome sight. And it was. Cruise is a bit too dry and serious for my taste, but Diaz is nice: always on the edge, swearing a lot, just enjoying to be herself. Those Hollywood stars are a bit too much in-your-face for my liking, but it was still very interesting so see simply because you usually don't see these guys in such a situation. Seeing Clarkson's face being powerslid around the track in a Jag by Cameron Diaz was awesome. He said numerous times he has a crush on her, so this must have been a wet dream come true for him. :lol:

I found the laptimes to be believeable, too. Granted, they both mis-shifted. But if you looked at the driving, they did everything you need to do with an underpowered FWD car: keep momentum in the corners, use the whole track width, accelerate early, avoid harsh maneuvers. Also, they both cut the final two corners severely, this is where most people lose valuable time. Thus I wouldn't say this was fabricated, they really were flying out there, both of'em. I'm sure we will see even faster times in this car, but they both were very good and interesting to see, even if the interview itself was a tad choppy. Oh, and I didn't really mind the plug, although I understand everyone who dislikes that.

Senna tribute:
I am shocked at how many people here do not even know Ayrton Senna. I mean I am only 32, and I started watching Formula 1 seriously right before when Schumacher joined in in 1991. I remember seeing Senna crash in Imola in '94 vividly. You lot, some not even knowing that he existed, make me feel like I'm 112 years old.

Anyway, the piece. I understand that it was spoiled for some by the presence of Lewis Hamilton. And although I have nothing against the man, this would be my only point of criticism ... if I wanted to criticise it. But I don't, because this for sure was one of the best pieces Top Gear has produced in the last years. It was like a documentary, simply beautifully put together and calmly paced. Seeing Senna racing was beyond awesome, and all those F1 drivers put him at the #1 spot for a reason. This was one quick man, and controversial, too.

At the same time, allow me to point you towards the late Stefan Bellof, who, hadn't he died in a crash in Spa in '85, probably would have been a great rival for Senna. Unfortunately, he never had the opportunity to really show his talent. Only in the famous '84 grand prix of Monaco, soaking with rain, his skills shone through. With many drivers having stuck their cars into the barriers and the rain effectively rendering the turbo power useless, Bellof closed in on the race leader Prost as well as Senna on 2nd place before the race was red-flagged. Being able to do this in a hopelessly inferior Tyrell showed true skill. I really don't want to take away anything of Ayrton Senna's shine, he truly was awesome. But with Bellof missing, we were robbed of what could have been the biggest duel in F1 ever to see the light of day.

... where were we? Ah right, the episode. Well, judging the rather weak start but then picking up the pace to end with a truly great piece, I give this episode an 8/10. It was a good one overall, but the Touareg as well as the news prevented the full score. Also, I can not agree with this being the best episode ever. This might just end up in my top 10, but I'm not even sure of that. Still, 8/10 is not bad, is it?
 
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