Shows about automobiles normally look like an issue of Consumer Reports in motion. We learn how the new models handle turns and discover their true gas mileage. Theyre rather dry affairs meant to give the facts to viewers thinking about replacing their Ford Taurus with a Saturn. Top Gear is the BBCs series that blows the doors off staid auto review shows. Top Gear 10: The Complete Season 10 is a thrill ride across Europe and Africa with a few stars thrown into the mix.
What makes the show work is the three hosts arent overly professional in their interaction. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May give each other the business. This isnt the usual morning show banter. They get nasty with their snipes. None of them want to lose any of the challenges. Theyre as entertaining as the cars they drive. The fourth member is guy called The Stig. Hes a completely anonymous test driver who puts the cars though extreme laps on a track. The series is on a quest to uncover the fastest street legal car. Amazingly enough, no Yugos cracked the Top 10.
Famous folks are invited to race a car around the test track. This season puts Jennifer Suanders, Keith Allen, David Tennant and Jools Holland behind the wheel. Somehow Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood sobered up long enough to steer the course. Helen Mirren clocks a respectable time even though her favorite mode of transportation is a public bus. How come I never see mature women like Mirren in the seat across from me? The surprise is Simon Cowell. He turns in a remarkable time and takes a moment to rag on Gordon Ramsay. Cowell is a jerk on either side of the ocean.
The hosts have various auto related challenges during the season. They drag race a guy on rollerskates. Wheres the fun in that? The rollerskating guy wears a rocket. They take three high performance cars across Europe in search of the perfect road. They use various modes of transportation to see what gets you across London the fastest during rush hour. The Stig is forced to take the bus and subway. The best segment is when they demonstrate the sport of mobile home racing. Its the way they should run a demolition derby race. The RVs get shredded as the checkered flag is brought out. This ought to be a real sport instead of the faux-trucks sanctioned by NASCAR. Although I dont foresee anyone wanting to buy front row seats with the amount of debris that flew from the back of a camper.
The big highlight of the season is a semi-rally across the length of Botswana. Instead of loading up in expensive Range Rovers, the trio have to buy three extremely used cars. They want to prove that the suburban 4X4 crowd are sissies. They end up having to strip down the nearly antique cars to complete the challenge. Its almost like the Road Warrior except the producers provide them with petrol. Naturalists will go nuts when they drive across a salt flat and leave tire tracks. Its still a remarkable feat to traverse such a wasteland. This is an awfully big adventure. The guys do their hardest to keep their motors running because the replacement auto is a VW Bug.
The tension gets accelerated when Clarkson is allowed to drive the Caparo T1. This a street legal car that can go over 200 mph. The super fast race car has a history of destroying drivers. The BBC has a full emergency crew in case the car acts up. Beyond a few EMTs, they booked a fire engine, the jaws of life, a medical hospital and a priest. At any moment, you expect the Caparo to go airborne and explode. This near-death trap of sportscar costs half a million bucks. It can probably fit inside your coffin after impact.
The cinematography and editing of Top Gear makes this series visually appealing. The show is as sleek as any of the high performance vehicles. The level of sophistication on most of these segments outshines many Hollywood action film. The RV race was more thrilling than anything found on the recent Death Race. Top Gear 10: The Complete Season 10 is perfect for people who have the need for speed, but arent complete insane gear heads.
The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The transfers makes this TV show are beyond sharp. You get a real feel for the speeds achieved. The audio is Dolby Digital stereo. You will feel the motors rumbling in your woofer. The episodes are subtitled in English in case you cant understand these BBC hosts.
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Top Gear 10: The Complete Season 10 does a car show right. The series is pure excitement. The hosts know how to push each others buttons so you know they wont back off the accelerator.
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BBC Video presents Top Gear 10: The Complete Season 10. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Boxset Contents: 10 episodes on 3 DVDs. Released on DVD: April 21, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
