[14x04] December 6th, 2009

[14x04] December 6th, 2009

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Maybe I'm tired

Maybe the films were lacking something

Maybe it's because it's been cold and depressing in San Diego and it's going to rain the next 3 days.

I don't know.

All I know is, that was awful.

6/10
 
Easily a nice, solid 7/10. Yes, oddball truck races have been done to death. But there did seem to be some genuine give and take (dare I say enthusiasm?) when they were poring over the Range Rover in the studio. Clarkson made some good points about those two over the top sport utes.

But I don't understand the point behind destroying a new car. Just idiotic.
 
I thought it was the best of the series so far. A step in the right direction towards what top gear used to be. More about actual cars than this fake I can see this joke coming a mile away stuff most fans seem to like now.
 
pahak said:
I thought it was the best of the series so far. A step in the right direction towards what top gear used to be. More about actual cars than this fake I can see this joke coming a mile away stuff most fans seem to like now.
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welcome, and that was a pleanant intelligent first post, very appreciated.
 
I thought it was a mediocre episode. Airport racing was fun, but too similar to the bus racing they had a couple seasons back. I'm glad they finally had one Guy Ritchie, a British director I've been waiting for them to have on for quite awhile. His movie "Snatch" I could watch incessently. The SUV portion was okay, though all vehicles were outlandish in at least one respect or another. The Twingo segment was interesting, but seemed a little too played out for the targeted audience.
 
I gave it an 8. Guy Ritchie was a bit of a letdown, and there was a lack of James. Otherwise it was a better effort than 14X02.

The Daily Fail's shit-eating monkeys "writers" are going to have a field day with this episode. Are they going to go with "GOOD GOD THE TWINGO BIT AT THE END WAS SCRIPTED!!" or "TOP GEAR IS FULL OF HOMOPHOBES!!"
 
Personally, I thought it was a quite nice episode. While I am a relative newcomer to watching Top Gear on a regular basis (I started watching consistently about a year and a half ago), I haven't noticed a real big change in things... at most, nowadays they seem to be celebrating car culture rather than worshiping the car itself. I think I like last week's episode a bit more, though this is quite strong, especially the Renault feature, and the well done demonstration of the Land Rover.
 
ozgirl said:
I was rewatching the Pendine Sands ep today - so much better!
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4x05 (sports coupes) or 5x01 (muscle cars)? Because I watched 4x05 a bit earlier myself. (Also: Fixed.)

Viper007Bond said:
7 or 8. Still deciding, but probably an 8. I don't see why you guys are hating on it so much.
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Different strokes for different folks.

I'd give it a 7/10 as well. I think Twingo in the tunnel was one of the best parts. That said, I also agree it needed more James. (Hopefully in a fortnight!)

The Bloody Awful said:
I can't remember any time that you have ever rated a Top Gear episode highly. I have always wondered why you are a member of this forum.

Probably a Fifth Gear nutter, spamming the TG board no doubt.
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Let's put it this way: I wouldn't call a fella who has been here a hell of a lot longer than you, and who has contributed a hell of a lot more to these boards than you, and is very much a TG fan (MWF just doesn't like the way it's going at the moment) a spammer.
 
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9/10, A on the letter grade system.

This episode should appeal to some of the FG users who constantly complain about a lack of cars, or a lack of decent reviews. It had a bit of both, with some fun thrown in for good measure. Yes, it's a bit of a rehash of things we've already seen, done over in different situations with different vehicles. But, does it really matter? It was funny and even somewhat informative. Most television shows regularly regurgitate things that they did just a short time ago, the late night shows are notorious for that.

This was very well done, like Bob Dylan doing a polished cover of his own 'Everything is Broken'. I was also excited to see a Renault Twingo review. I'd write a better more complete review, but it's 2 in the morning, so I'll just end with the statement that it was a good show, and I'm surprised with the negative reviews people have given to this point. I found it to be good enough to rate it at 9 out of 10, it was thoroughly enjoyable and deserved it.
 
That twingo bit was awesome. Amazed he did the loop. :lol:
Had a good laugh at the Village people also.

News has been a bit meh for a while tho.

8/10
 
Gave it a 6/10 and in a way, I think I'm being harsh with that. The airport race was...well, predictible. I did like their response to the anti-gay couples story. And hey, there was actual car news in the news! The SUV review was ok, but I bet it could've been better had it been a decent day out so I can't mark them down for that. Guy Richie was kind of boring, but I liked his...um...enthusiasm. The Renault review just felt like a complete rehash of the Ford Fiesta film from last year, just with different stunts (one stunt not so different from a past stunt) and a man in the boot.

It wasn't complete shit like episode 2, but it wasn't as good as episodes 1 and 3.
 
I gave it an 8. It was solid Top Gear and I learned to never evaluate an episode after the first viewing.

There is only one thing that starts to annoy me: Their love for the Range Rover. We got the point, folks! It's one of the last real British cars out there and you are proud of it. Enjoy it as long as it lasts, because Ranger Rover will go bust in the near future, too (nothing but heavy, gas guzzling SUV's is not the right product lineup at the moment).

But for folks like me it is (and always has been) just a plain, old, heavy box on wheels. A luxurious one, yes, but a box. With the kind of luxury you admire for half a year or so, because after that it starts falling apart. Meant for people who have more money than brains. And seriously: They complain about BMW fitting a Mini with tea time utilities and then praise the alcohol cupboard in the Range Rover??? What do they wanna say? "Booze is more British than tea"? I don't want to imagine how much those drawers rattle with their contents, when you drive to a picnic -- which obviously is the sole purpose of the Range Rover...

The BMW X5 and the Audi Q7 are not ugly cars. If I wanna name an ugly SUV, I think frog-faced Hyundai Tucson! Just to put it into the right perspective.

Also the part with that amazing video screen that displays different picture for driver and passenger. Wooow... except that the Mercedes S-Class has that feature for some time, too. But strangely James didn't mention it during his S-Class review in episode 14/1.

I hope this was the last time they bothered me (us) with their biased adoration for the Range Rover.
 
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not terribly interesting, just 6/10 from me.

-Airport racing bit was allright and funny for a while, but to me it went on for too long and got too daft in the end, with too much predictibility (oh noes the racing drivers are crashing on purpose? :roll: )

- daft 4x4 bit. This was sort of OK, but why did they compare it to the RR in the end and then not drive it around the track? The conclusion was a bit of a letdown either, yes we know these cars make no sense, but which is best?

- the news : apart from the Village People showing up it was unfunny and too short

- SIARPC : expected a lot from this guy and was let down. Whatever, don't care about SIARPC anyways

- Twingo review started off well, then went a bit overboard. Also, do you HAVE to crash the Twingo into everything on purpose just to make a point about how cheap parts are? The ridiculous jump at the end was overkill
 
the problem Im having with it now is ... there aren't very many proper car reviews. James May doesn't do enough( if he was running the show it would probably be mroe interesting imo.] I'd like to see a more Chris Harris style of car review. ...

The other problem I have with it is ... JEremy criticizes the stupidity of so many things while he contributes to the dumbing down of society with the direction he is taking top gear by eliminating facts.
 
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Missed the Airport racing (forgot it was on early) just watched it now and tbh dont feel like I missed much yesterday.

News, some good, some bad as per usual. the Morrisons reference was pretty good, the problem I have with the news is that I cant help but think there is better stuff going on there that has been cut out (certainly back when the extras on the website were extended news there used to be some pretty good stuff cut.)

4x4 review - dull and pointless, right up to when they brought out the H&H Rangerover. very very nice (but I think that I prefer Jeremy's one with the sliding gun tray.) Completely agree with his comments that the new Rangy has gone a bit Cheshire :(

SIARPC - dull dull dull, back to getting guests who dont care about cars and are just on to plug their latest book/film/etc. I DONT CARE!!!

Renault - quite good, but suffered from being a car that I dislike, and a feature that just wasnt a patch on the Fiesta
 
Not a great episode tbh. 4/10

The airport racing thing has been done with buses, MPVs, camper vans etc and it wasn't that funny to begin with.

The 4x4 review could have been better than Richard and James taken a car each. Remember like they used to do in the good old days. Although I did like the Range Rover of the three, and the Overfinch version was the sweetest of the bunch. But then that's like picking the winner from a dog turd beauty competition :D

The news was pretty dull. Why don't they just sit there and talk about new cars, instead of commenting on what the media have to say about them.

SIARPC was bad. Mr Richie had little to say other than about his new film. I didn't think the BBC plugged books/films/albums etc. What a shame he didn't roll it over.

The Twingo review wasn't bad. With the best bit being when he was trying to get to the ferry back home. The camera work and driver was nice to watch. Made a pleasant change from watching them trash round a track.
 
My least favorite of the series I'm afraid, and I'm always super easy on TG.

Airport scene was fun with the fire engine parts but the rest just felt samey. If it was shorter though, and been done more in the style of a spoof of that cadbury's advert with the airport trucks, it would have been funnier.

News, as said by Spitfire1500 I now think they cut the more interesting car news out just so it can be one big segment of just Jeremy being controversial. Shame, as it was always my favorite part. Did like it when they talked about F1 liveries though. I'd like to see a William Hill sponsored car as it's basically Rothmans colours.

Guy Ritchie has made some of my favorite gangster movies but yes, dull as shit.

Twingo was alright, I guess. Ross Kemp randomly being in the boot was easily the funniest part of the episode for me, maybe the whole series. Bu I hated where Jeremy smashed it up then it got crashed into the sea though. The Fiesta bit was possibly the best Top Gear segment ever because it just seemed to work, and made the Fiesta, a car I wasn't hugely interested in at the time, look so cool..
This was just hard to watch, I just guess there's something in me that hates seeing a good 12 grand car get a good review then get destroyed for no reason.

I don't like the cars from the 4X4 part but I liked how they compared the Range Rovers in the studio. It's been a long time since they compared cars while in the studio, I think it was a lot funnier than other parts because it was recorded live and they acted themselves. I'd like to see more of that.
 
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