[21x06] March 9th, 2014 [Burma Special, Part 1]

[21x06] March 9th, 2014 [Burma Special, Part 1]

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I want that pink teddy bear.

8/10
 
Does anyone know where that place is with the many stupas? I'd like to go back to Myanmar to see it.

Also, quite good episode, mainly because Burma is beautiful and it's making me nostalgic for it. Otherwise, too many scripted moments. Especially the narrow street one. There are so many wide streets which you can take, even in downtown Yangon.
 
A solid 8 from me. This is now what TG does best in my opinion, so much so that when a new series comes around it's the end of series specials I'm looking forward to, more so than the series itself. It's the escapism of it all I enjoy so much; a travel show hosted by three mates dicking about.

However, I do agree with Dr Grip to a large extent. The set-pieces he mentioned don't hold the appeal they used to, because you know they're all manufactured. Top Gear is never better than when genuine spontaneity is happening, and even though by its very definition that can't be controlled, I just wish the makers would tone down the scripted stuff and give that spontaneity more of a chance.
 
8/10

I think if you get stuck on what's real and what's not in every shot you'll never be able to have any fun watching television and that's sad.

I like some of the old-school music being brought back in this series. James' Caterham review had a lot of old Amon Tobin and was a call-back to old series 5-7 shows. Then in this episode they're using some of the music they had form the Hilux films from way way back.

James' "ows" had be laughing harder than I have in a few years.

Jezza's mods to his lorry were brilliant. That shot of him in a room of white staring out at the landscape was almost like he was looking at a beautiful painting on a wall.

Perhaps it's time to amend the Top Gear drinking game rules to include a shot every time animal genitalia are on screen.

For the curious, the cemetery/memorial the boys visited in Burma is the Rangoon Memorial maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
 
Trollbooth said:
James' "ows" had be laughing harder than I have in a few years.
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Yes, especially when he 'crashed' into Jezza's horse, causing a fit of giggles in him :D
 
Despite going into it expecting it to be really bad, I genuinely liked the episode. As others said, it started out a bit slow but soon picked up pace. Yes, there is a slight excess in contrived and overly-scriped "accidents", but that's been part of Top Gear for years now. Pretty entertaining episode despite minor flaws, and really looking forward to the next one. The guys' brief adventure with Tesco and the Five-Legged Stallion was absolutely hilarious.

If this is indeed the "bad" one and the Part-II is the "good" episode, I can't wait to see it!
 
I'm not as excited about the second part of this as I was the first, because the journey's over.
 
02122 said:
. The worst part for me was when they were driving down that narrow street, like they couldn't have just stopped and backed out when they went around the corner and saw the street was too narrow, and found a wider street.
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Why don't the good guys kill the bad guys when they had a chance in the first 15 minutes of a movie? Because it wouldn't make a good movie.

Oh this streets too narrow... lets film them driving along a normal street instead.
 
DubyaStep said:
The real question is WHO GIVES A FUCK! Just enjopy the damn show and dont go looking for "scripted moments". Why must people keep doing this?
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Don't have a problem with scripted moments (and never have). Problem is even scripted stuff has to be entertaining. The person who capitalised 'boring' has it spot on.

Unoriginal - all been done before, and it was obvious in the editing that the producers were aware of that.

TG still has the power to surprise and entertain while being familiar. This is the series that brought us the Alfa 4C race, which was familiar elements (think Ferrari Daytona versus speedboat) with new twists.

New twists were seriously lacking in this special. Instead it had all the appearance of 'we have to do a 2 part road trip special because people expect it', and they forgot there's more to it than that. More formulaic than a Roger Moore James Bond film. Even fate was getting in on the act of repetition (the hospital trip for Hammond, but with less suspense in the editing because it had been done before with May and the Holy Land special!)

As I said - I hope part 2 has the entertainment, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
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OurJud said:
I just wish the makers would tone down the scripted stuff and give that spontaneity more of a chance.
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I think the problem is that they leave the good stuff in the 'cutting' room, thinking it's rubbish and boring.
I've seen my fair share of outtakes where they're just being themselves and genuine moments that made it to the final product, and whether it's just because I'm a massive fan or isn't, I can honestly say I could watch them for days on end.
You can't keep shooting spontaneous stuff hoping exciting yet real stuff happens, I think that would take way too long. But I'd very much prefer listening to one of James's lectures about how engines work than to cringe at a scripted scene where he, incidently, is the one to hide his reluctance to be a part of it the worst.



Trollbooth said:
I think if you get stuck on what's real and what's not in every shot you'll never be able to have any fun watching television.
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DubyaStep said:
The real question is WHO GIVES A FUCK! Just enjopy the damn show and dont go looking for "scripted moments". Why must people keep doing this?
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This man deserves a Duff!!! Now!!!

Being honest, this is exactly the reason for which I do not think that TGUK producers waste much time on FG. Too much biased complaints. Everyone has an opinion, but sometimes the FG crowds go nuts on a certain point, or episode in general, then rate the episode with 7,8,9 or even 10. You think they can improve? Good. Most of us do. Our prayers have been heard and this season is a great one compared to recent ones. Are they perfect? Nothing is.

My point is, enjoy the show, and if you do not like it for whatever reason, send Andy a letter or whatnot. But do not go "script seeking" on every episode.

EDIT: Dubya I am going to use this as mi signature, as soon as I work out this ultra slow pc...
 
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buzz2910 said:
why all the torrent files in SD, 720p or 1080i are unreadable, I'm using Flashget :(
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Working fine here. Try using a real BitTorrent client such as uTorrent. ;)
 
I just watched the Polar Special from series 9 and it had so many hilarious/interesting moments.
Great comedic timing, and Hammond was more subdued.

By comparison, this Burma Special is about a 3/10 (so far).
 
I just don't understand all the low ratings for this show. I'm curious, those who rated it low, what would you consider a "10"? I'm serious, I'm not being a dick, I'm genuinely curious.
 
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