Series 11 and 12 DVD Sets -- Review

TopGearNorthAmerica

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Well, they arrived a few days ago, and these are the Region 1 NTSC coded versions, so they show up with a bit more resolution on my DVD player.

There are a few problems with chapter breaks (they didn't include one for the segment of touring car drivers with buses, for example), and a few other things got cut (the two Top Gear Stuntman segments).

They do, however, include the bonus materials that were previously found in the Challenges 3 disc set, and the commentaries for the Vietnam and Botswana Specials.

And the Botswana Special is the extended version, in case you felt ripped off by the truncated one you got in the Series 10 set.

The only major complaint I have is that they really buggered up the music tracks. While I perfectly understand *why* they can't use the originals, it loses something when you substitute generic beach music for "My Little Honda," and the Star-Spangled Banner for "Born in the USA."

Is it enough to stop you from getting the set? No, not really, you just need to be forewarned about what exactly you're getting.
 
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The only major complaint I have is that they really buggered up the music tracks. While I perfectly understand *why* they can't use the originals, it loses something when you substitute generic beach music for "My Little Honda," and the Star-Spangled Banner for "Born in the USA.".

Now, that's weird.

My version also took out the "My Little Honda", but I still have "Born in the USA"....

I suddenly have visions of all the different 'versions' I have bought over the years of the Star Wars movies....:blink:
 
Just got mine yesterday from Amazon, I was excited to see that there's versions of the Botswana and Vietnam specials with commentary from Andy and the crew-haven't seen them yet. Hopefully that'll make up for the music swaps- the "Star Spangled Banner" for "Born in the USA" just sounds awful :puke:
 
Well now that I know the shows are effectively "content complete", I'll order them to compliment my iTunes downloads for friends who like the show, but don't have component inputs on their TVs for me to hook my iPhone into and show it. :)
 
I'm watching the Vietnam Special on BBC America right now, and they are playing "Born in the USA". :?
 
I watched the extras on season 12 disc 3 with the extended Top Gear 2008 awards, finally got to see the reason JK had the duffel bag which was full of xmas gifts for all the presenters.
 
I'm watching the Vietnam Special on BBC America right now, and they are playing "Born in the USA". :?

I noticed that too, but when I played the DVD version with the commentary (it's not listed by itself on the menu, you have to click on the episode itself, then there's another menu with the commentary and deleted scenes, whereas the Botswana and other extras are their own menu items), it seemed that the usa motorbike had the star spangled banner playing when it was on screen. It was hard to tell, however, because I was having to concentrate pretty hard to listen to the commentary because of the british accents (well, duh) and mumbling, not that I expected the crew to be precise at speaking on tape. I think I'll try the subtitles to see if that helps, because the commentary had lots of good stuff in it!
I really enjoyed the "awards you've didn't see" because it just seemed that the guys were interacting naturally, is it that the editing process breaks that up so that it doesn't flow as well in the final product? I'd rather they just let the camera roll...
 
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