I like how they were all waxing poetic about how great their trucks were until the got to the big dune. After the decent, they were not so enamored any more.
Awesome Top Gear across Bolivia. A Range Rover VS a Landcruiser VS a Samurai....
- Thread starter Civick_Spyder
- Start date
Ballah06 said:
Seriously? You must not have a soul or a sense of humor. They had to build the bridge so they could get their crew car (a Sequoia) through.
A good deal of the show is scripted and fake but it's still the best show on TV. I'd watch it for the cinematography alone. I loved the episode. It was painful to watch him butcher that RRC though.
Last edited:
i dunno that "ruf" in the beginning got my attention, straight away
"Air, its like breathing soup."
"Air, its like breathing soup."
Last edited:
You have to take it for what it is.
Scripting a humorous romp through a rain forest isn't the same as doing it. Sure, they have some jokes written down, and sure, the challenges are contrived and set up to be close finishes, and they absolutely have some idea of what's going to happen before it does, but that's not the point.
The action is real. The humor is real, and the challenges are indeed quite dangerous at times, or at least incredibly irritating for the inhabitants of the land they invade for the episode. They don't pretend to be action heroes, they pretend to be television presenters.
What they don't need to pretend to be are three klutzes with millions in the bank doing incredibly funny things involving manly pursuits. It doesn't matter what they do, it's going to be funny, informative, and entertaining. Yes, I said informative.
I've driven a lot of cars, and done a lot of stupid things in various places. There is one skill they possess that is above achievement by any other program. They get the feel across. From the cinematography, the cutting room, and even to dubbing, enhancing, and trying something many different ways, they show you how things feel, in the best way possible short of experiencing it yourself.
If you haven't driven a car, and want to know what it's like, the first thing you need to do is see if they have reviewed it or used it in a challenge. You want to know what it's like to pilot a Ford GT, a Jaguar Xk, a Classic Mustang, or even a Ferrari? Watch the program. Crank the volume, use the biggest television in the house, and they will pour the experience out of the television and drench you with it.
EVERYTHING changes for each car. Everything. And all that adds up to an artistic, accurate representation of that automobile that is designed to tickle as many senses as television allows.
A fine example is the Aston Martin V12 Vantage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgZlpRdQlRI
Another great example is the Morgan Aero 8, though I can't find a video of the review to link. They perfectly captured the menacing, bulging, muscle bound meanness of the anachronistic monolith that is the Aero.
In their America special, many Americans learned what lurks just beyond the highway they travel down every day. You may not like it, but what you saw IS America. It was a vibrant, if harsh look at the massive, held together with hope and strings land that we call home. In their Africa special, the feel of the continent, at least the part they were in, was captured beautifully. You could almost feel the heat and smell the singed corn husks.
It goes for everything they depict on the show. Never mind the nonsense, the comedy, or the scripted antics. The overall effect is what they should be well proud of. They take all those bits, nail them together, and teach you something about the subject of their interest by masterfully blending all the aspects of script, improvisation, and production values together into what equates to impressionist art on television.
When you look at this:
http://healthcarerelated.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/fe_da_080428anxiety_51714.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anxiety
You learn something about anxiety. It can be uncomfortable, it has it's causes and cures, and it can be studied. You are educated by looking at the things in those links.
When you look at this, however:
http://z.about.com/d/arthistory/1/0/Y/p/bem_aic_09_12.jpg
http://www.oxideradio.co.uk/shows/contemporary_scandinavian_music/TheScream.jpg
You fucking FEEL it. You haven't learned anything. You were simply exposed to a very small facet of the experience, the best our available media can provide.
That's why I watch Top Gear. They let me feel a part of what they are doing, no matter how pointless it is. Never has buying a junk car been more appealing than watching their road trips. Never has owning a boat made more sense than riding along as those buffoons tried to cross the English channel.
Well... That, and they are funny as all hell.
Cheers,
Kennith
Scripting a humorous romp through a rain forest isn't the same as doing it. Sure, they have some jokes written down, and sure, the challenges are contrived and set up to be close finishes, and they absolutely have some idea of what's going to happen before it does, but that's not the point.
The action is real. The humor is real, and the challenges are indeed quite dangerous at times, or at least incredibly irritating for the inhabitants of the land they invade for the episode. They don't pretend to be action heroes, they pretend to be television presenters.
What they don't need to pretend to be are three klutzes with millions in the bank doing incredibly funny things involving manly pursuits. It doesn't matter what they do, it's going to be funny, informative, and entertaining. Yes, I said informative.
I've driven a lot of cars, and done a lot of stupid things in various places. There is one skill they possess that is above achievement by any other program. They get the feel across. From the cinematography, the cutting room, and even to dubbing, enhancing, and trying something many different ways, they show you how things feel, in the best way possible short of experiencing it yourself.
If you haven't driven a car, and want to know what it's like, the first thing you need to do is see if they have reviewed it or used it in a challenge. You want to know what it's like to pilot a Ford GT, a Jaguar Xk, a Classic Mustang, or even a Ferrari? Watch the program. Crank the volume, use the biggest television in the house, and they will pour the experience out of the television and drench you with it.
EVERYTHING changes for each car. Everything. And all that adds up to an artistic, accurate representation of that automobile that is designed to tickle as many senses as television allows.
A fine example is the Aston Martin V12 Vantage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgZlpRdQlRI
Another great example is the Morgan Aero 8, though I can't find a video of the review to link. They perfectly captured the menacing, bulging, muscle bound meanness of the anachronistic monolith that is the Aero.
In their America special, many Americans learned what lurks just beyond the highway they travel down every day. You may not like it, but what you saw IS America. It was a vibrant, if harsh look at the massive, held together with hope and strings land that we call home. In their Africa special, the feel of the continent, at least the part they were in, was captured beautifully. You could almost feel the heat and smell the singed corn husks.
It goes for everything they depict on the show. Never mind the nonsense, the comedy, or the scripted antics. The overall effect is what they should be well proud of. They take all those bits, nail them together, and teach you something about the subject of their interest by masterfully blending all the aspects of script, improvisation, and production values together into what equates to impressionist art on television.
When you look at this:
http://healthcarerelated.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/fe_da_080428anxiety_51714.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anxiety
You learn something about anxiety. It can be uncomfortable, it has it's causes and cures, and it can be studied. You are educated by looking at the things in those links.
When you look at this, however:
http://z.about.com/d/arthistory/1/0/Y/p/bem_aic_09_12.jpg
http://www.oxideradio.co.uk/shows/contemporary_scandinavian_music/TheScream.jpg
You fucking FEEL it. You haven't learned anything. You were simply exposed to a very small facet of the experience, the best our available media can provide.
That's why I watch Top Gear. They let me feel a part of what they are doing, no matter how pointless it is. Never has buying a junk car been more appealing than watching their road trips. Never has owning a boat made more sense than riding along as those buffoons tried to cross the English channel.
Well... That, and they are funny as all hell.
Cheers,
Kennith
I finally got to watch the whole thing. It was awesome. I'm proud of the Classic and surprised by the FJ's problems. However, I'd still bet on the FJ any day of the week.
I was surprised none of them got a truck with a diesel engine. Maybe there were none available for their budget.
Justin_Sherfy said:
One of the guys involved in fabricating the roll cage wrote on FinalGear.com that the FJ was just in terrible shape. It had been driven hard and many of the prior repairs were 50%, tape and twine, solutions.
They might work, for a little while, with a little luck.
Justin_Sherfy said:
I used to wheel with a buncha FJ40's and they had as many issues if not more then the scouts and old bronco's that wheeled with us.
the across the board worship of the toyota brand is getting kinda funny on the internet these days. I like toyota and I wheel with them all the time but to claim they never have issues is kinda funny because they do have issues for sure. The old FJ40's had alot of issues because they were so underpowered you needed to drive them really hard to lug those heavy things around. The hot ticket was swapping in a chevy V8 and that made them 100% better because they then had enough grunt to crawl them and allow the suspension to work. You also needed to replace the factory springs with ones that had a military wrap in them because they broke the factory springs at the shackles on a pretty regular basis as did the one in that top gear.
MUSKYMAN said:
Maybe so, but it is no coincidence that Land Rover is losing more and more of a foot hold even in the old British colonies of Africa. Toyota reigns supreme with our non-standard military vehicles (SEALs , Rangers, etc), NGOs world wide, etc for a reason. Not only do they have far better servicability on just about every continent than the Land Rovers, but their reliabilty and durability is unmatched.
I've worked with enough Toyota's and Land Rover's over the past 5+ years with training to see the difference.
Maybe it's just good marketing by Toyota, but that only takes you so far. You better back up your product, which they do.
It's also the vehicle of choice by the two big armor protected vehicle companies.
The Hilux has yet to be duplicated, though the new Ford Ranger diesel is hoping to put some pressure on them. This won't likely be the case, but I think it will take another bite out of the Defenders waining presence.
The Defenders are still used by some of our troops, but usually as a staff vehicle at FOBs, etc.
i forced my dad to sit down and watch it with me (he isn't a gear head but he drives a rover), both of us thought it was friggin hilarious.
Excellent point Garrett. It's true - Toyota Hiluxes are practically indestructible. ...as Top Gear has also shown us.
Speak about Toyotas, had a few of the older and newer Land Cruisers overseas and with only minor upkeep from time to time those things ran pretty good. I dont think i would have wanted to drive a Disco in the same situation. They yotas just kept on going no matter what.
garrett said:
Actually, I think marketing is the only thing Land Rover has gotten right otherwise they wouldn't sell any trucks at all in my opinion.