[17x04] July 17th, 2011

[17x04] July 17th, 2011

  • Total voters
    344
Being a long term viewer of Top Gear I have come to a conclusion. Even the WORST episode of Top Gear is way more entertaining then any other car show by a long ways. I have never felt bored with Top Gear. This may have been a simpletons episode but it was still good fun. Yeah okay so we all groaned a bit at the fire but then again all comedians reuse material. Also they don't take themselves too seriously, so its perfectly okay for them to have moments of dreadful acting. I get the impression that they do that completely on purpose, just for its charms. I gave it a 9/10 and I suspect I would have done, with or without the fire.
 
Last edited:
I would have rather had a "who can build the fastest train car" competition.
 
I personally thought that was the most entertaining, complete episode since 15x05. The fire and destruction right at the end where a bit of a flop/repetation, but the rest was fantastic.
 
Sik Pony said:
i just dont understand why everyone had so much issue with the fire. Its Top Gear for gods sake, did you expect it to end on a happy fun and educational note? WTF!
Click to expand...

It's not a huge deal. But it's just that they keep on beating the same dead joke. We all know it's scripted anyway because there's no way health and safety would allow it.

Ok, so the train running though it was also scripted, but hey, that's not something you see every day!
 
I liked it. The GTR vs XKRS was awesome and the Nissan is truly amazing. That damn machine bothers me so much for being so fast. It just doesn't seem possible. It's too big, too ugly, but it's cheap, well appointed, and insanely quick. I want one. The Jag on the other hand was a bit unimpressive in comparison. I'd sooner take a regular XKR. Still, it wasn't bad.

The news was funny and I for one thought the Abarth wood crate was kinda cool. :mrgreen: Although listening to Hammond go on about cardboard boxes wasn't very funny after the first 30 seconds, they should have cut that down a bit, I think. But the rest of the news was great.

Rowan! Always was a fan of his, enjoyed the SIARPC this week as a result. Quick lap too.

Now the trains. Well, it wasn't too bad really. I've seen big Ford trucks converted to run on railroad tracks out in the desert here, so it's not a new concept to me. It was fun to see what TG came up with. The whole point was to do it cheap, so they did a good job with that, but it really was rubbish. Ambitious, but still rubbish. :p I'm very happy the Jaguar and Audi S8 survived though. I know the Jag XJS isn't the most pretty or well built Jag, but that was a very nice example they found and it would have been a shame to see it destroyed when they could have gotten a rusty example. But they didn't, so why am I going on about it. Gah.

Anyway, I give it an 8/10. If it wasn't for the fire, I would have given it a 9/10.

Sik Pony said:
i just dont understand why everyone had so much issue with the fire. Its Top Gear for gods sake, did you expect it to end on a happy fun and educational note? WTF!
Click to expand...
For me, it's a matter of suspending disbelief. It was great seeing the boys working on the Jag in the beginning, but you know that they probably went in there for 10 minutes to get some camera shots, and then left so the experts can build everything themselves. Although it's more fun to pretend the boys did all the work themselves. But with the fire and the crash... it just reminds you that it's all fake. The crash I didn't mind because it came right at the end, like a punchline. There was no time for it to ruin anything. But the fire was predictable and fake looking. Takes away some of the... err... magic, I guess. :lol:
 
I gave it a 6.

The four wheel drive GTR beats the RWD Jag...in the pouring rain? Never would have guessed.

The news was pretty standard.

Rowan Atkinson was a great guest.

The train segment was...well, a summary of where Top Gear has been going wrong for the past 6 or so seasons, and a prime example of why I don't look forward to any of the challenges these days. They can't write a funny segment without burning or destroying something anymore. Hell, the funniest stuff is always unscripted. But now it's as if they've put together a film solely from bits that have "worked in the past". Does anyone really think Clarkson wrote "and then I'm going to put a cow on the roof of my car" in the script for the first America special? But I'd be very surprised if the script for today's episode didn't include, in its first rendition, "Caravan starts on fire" and "Caravan gets hit by train".

This episode was complete rubbish.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TC
TomCat said:
but you know that they probably went in there for 10 minutes to get some camera shots, and then left so the experts can build everything themselves. Although it's more fun to pretend the boys did all the work themselves.
Click to expand...

As soon as i saw those wheels i knew they didnt do that. Now, its not to say they didnt help but i really doubt they have the skill set to build something like that. I expected that it was fake. I dont mind


But with the fire and the crash... it just reminds you that it's all fake. The crash I didn't mind because it came right at the end, like a punchline. There was no time for it to ruin anything. But the fire was predictable and fake looking. Takes away some of the... err... magic, I guess. :lol:
Click to expand...

Actually, the way shit was falling in there i almost wonder if the fire was an accident. I wonder if it happened and they said "shit! Go with it!". I just loved when Jezza said "your trains on fire" and May didnt believe him, lol. The part at the end with the train hit was very fake but still great, like a punchline is a great way to put it.

The bottom line for me is, most of the people on here seem to hate the the TG boys do something predictably, well, TG. It is what has made them who they are, its what made this show a worldwide sensation and its partially why this site is even here. Yes, i expected a fire and a train crash because thats what they do and you know what? i loved it. I say this atleast once per series, why cant we just watch it to have a good time? why do we have to tear it apart for flaws every week? Yes, ill admit there was one bad season but most will agree, this is one of the better series so far. Anyways, thats my view. I look to be entertained and thats what i get (almost) every week. :)

Oh, and i must ad to my initial review:

The shots on the rain with the GTR and the way they used the spray from the tires in the film to supplement was wonderful. not overproduced at all, just seemed almost natural. Nice one guys.
 
Last edited:
Sik Pony said:
Actually, the way shit was falling in there i almost wonder if the fire was an accident. I wonder if it happened and they said "shit! Go with it!".
Click to expand...
Doubtful. You must have missed the part where Hammond put a large pot on the burner and filled it with oil so he can fry some chips/fries. It was the boiling hot pot of oil that caught fire. Once I saw Hammond pouring oil in that pot, I immediately knew where the "small fire" Jeremy mentioned in the last episode was going to start. I figured maybe the car/locomotive would overheat or something. But anyway.

Sik Pony said:
Anyways, thats my view. I look to be entertained and thats what i get (almost) every week. :)
Click to expand...
And that's all that really matters in the end. I can only speak for myself. To me reality is always more entertaining than artificial/fake stuff. Many of my favorite TG moments are only my favorite because I believe they are real. I don't think I ever laughed so hard in my life than when Jeremy rolled the original Toyboata while coming in for a win at the boat ramp and docks, with Hammond in the back with him. Funniest damn moment in TG history, if you ask me. But if I find out that it was staged, that Jeremy was told to roll it, then most of the hilarity of that scene will be lost for me, I'm afraid. Someone purposefully rolling their car isn't nearly as scary/funny/entertaining as when someone does it by accident.
 
Last edited:
TomCat said:
Someone purposefully rolling their car isn't as scary/funny/entertaining as when someone does it by accident.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. Contrast the Toybota rolling with Hammond rolling his van in the White van man challenge, and it's clear that one is legit and the other was expected and prepared for. You can usually tell when something like that is real based on the camerawork. When the Toybota rolls, you can see the camera bobbing up and down as the cameraman sprints down the dock to get a closer shot. Think of the tussle in the first America challenge. How about when James smashed his head in the three wise men challenge? How anyone can believe that all this crazy stuff happens, and the cameras are there just for the perfect shot, is beyond me.

EDIT: I thought of another one, James' accident in the Romania grand tour.

EDIT: Another one, when Clarkson crashed his Vespa in the Vietnam special.
 
Last edited:
TomCat said:
I don't think I ever laughed so hard in my life than when Jeremy rolled the original Toyboata while coming in for a win at the boat ramp and docks, with Hammond in the back with him. Funniest damn moment in TG history, if you ask me. But if I find out that it was staged, that Jeremy was told to roll it, then most of the hilarity of that scene will be lost for me, I'm afraid. Someone purposefully rolling their car isn't nearly as scary/funny/entertaining as when someone does it by accident.
Click to expand...

I disagree, it would still be funny as S^%&. Im very glad you reminded me of that, I just laughed when i read that. Honestly, as long as its fun then i really dont care if its scripted or not. Its all good though, thats the whole reason we have these talks. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: TC
lold at the seaside lady face. ... just started watching.

loved the last two. ...
 
Great episode I think. The fire at the end in the caravan was predictable and some of the jokes were old (i.e. the squirrel bit). But, I enjoyed seeing the Top Gear Challenges. 8/10
 
TomCat said:
I don't think I ever laughed so hard in my life than when Jeremy rolled the original Toyboata while coming in for a win at the boat ramp and docks, with Hammond in the back with him. Funniest damn moment in TG history, if you ask me. But if I find out that it was staged, that Jeremy was told to roll it, then most of the hilarity of that scene will be lost for me, I'm afraid. Someone purposefully rolling their car isn't nearly as scary/funny/entertaining as when someone does it by accident.
Click to expand...

DUDE! You just made me watch that episode again, now I'm laughing my arse off here :D
 
Another thing I liked about this episode, was the excellent points about launch control during the news. I always thought launch control was a bit dumb, since you can only use it under very specific circumstances. Mainly at the drag strip. You can't really use it on road courses unless their is a standing start, which there usually isn't. And on the streets you'd look like a cock reving the nuts off your engine at a red light waiting for the green. Not to mention you can get nailed by the police if they catch you using it on a public road. Reckless driving/endangerment is what they would call it here.

Mr Himura said:
DUDE! You just made me watch that episode again, now I'm laughing my arse off here :D
Click to expand...

Glad I can be of service. :p
 
I voted 7/10 by accident (I meant to click 8).

Anyway...

Jag vs GT-R - 8/10
News - 8/10
SIARPC - 10/10
Train - 7/10 (fun, but a bit too predictable as everyone is saying)

I was expecting the episode to end with Jeremy being hit head on by a locomotive when he went for the overtake of James and Rich.
To me that would have been a good ending. This way Rich could've said, "And finally Jeremy has been killed. And on that bombshell..."
Not expressing any hate towards Jeremy, he is my favorite of the 3 (even thought they are all excellent and without one of them the show wouldn't work), I just thought it would be a good line to end the show with.

In all honesty though, as soon as I saw the caravans I knew one would catch fire, especially after Jeremy saying last week that there would be a small fire.
 
Last edited:
7/10 for me.

The Jag/GT-R film was a proper TG car review film. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Rowan Atkinson was Rowan Atkinson and that's always good. The train bit....I dunno, they've certainly done worse in the past (Art Gallery anyone?) and on paper this should have been brilliant. Bits of it were but it was too long and was dragging too much. The first part was actually interesting/funny etc, the second, rather meh. As soon as Hammond started carefully arranging his Buffet Cart in most obviously ridiculous way, I cringed awaiting yet more scripted situation comedy. Wasn't much off the mark. I suppose I could live with OMG destruction of the caravans because they're caravans and have quite a bit of history on TG but even the train doing a proper job of one did not save it for me.
 
I stopped watching before the second train challenge went too far; I'll wait until I watch it with my usual TG-watching group, as they're not as petroheady as me, and they appreciate the cocking about more than I do. All I want now is there to be an extended Rowan Atkinson interview posted on the TG site. There's got to be some great juicy bits that they had to cut out for time reasons. Pleeeeeaaase?
 
9/10 for me. The speed with which the GT-R gets off the line is amazing. I was expecting Jezza to tell us the GT-R was too much of a video game and lacked the "soul" and "personality" that you got with the Jyaaaaag. That he didn't made it all the more interesting. Watching new Stig drift it around Gambon, especially given all it's electronics and precision, made it feel like he really was pushing it to the limit. But then again, new Stig has been very drift-happy compared to Stig mark 2. Perhaps it's a mutation.

Rowan Atkinson was a great guest. Great time. Surprised it took this long to get him on.

The train challenge was fun for me because I enjoy trains on their own. The sight of those cars on tracks was a mind-bending moment. I'd love to know what kind of red tape the TG producers had to go through to film that segment, especially crashing an engine through the caravan at the end. I wonder how much effort went into making those caravans safe. I can't imagine railway officials willing to get on board anything that was even remotely unsafe. The caravan fire was inevitable, but the sight of Jezza's passengers as they drove by the inferno previously known as a caravan was frightening and wonderful. These are images that will almost certainly never occur again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top