Top Gear-The Great Adventures: Burma Special: Extended Edition (2014)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Featurette-Behind The Scenes Gallery-Photo Trailer DVD-ROM Extras-Wallpapers
Rating
Year Of Production	2014
Running Time	135:18
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Jeremy Clarkson Richard Hammond James May
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The Top Gear adventures series have taken the three presenters to many places including the North Pole, Africa, India and the Middle East. Their latest adventure was Burma, which was included in an edited version in the recent Series 21 set, split over two episodes. This latest release includes a significantly extended version of the adventure without any in-studio pieces. Here the adventure runs as one feature clocking in at 135 minutes which probably includes about 30 minutes of extra footage. The extra material is great and I certainly enjoyed seeing this adventure again, which is certainly better than the recent India adventure. This time the premise is that the boys need to become long distance lorry drivers by each buying a used lorry in Burma and then driving it across Burma to the River Kwai (which is actually in Thailand). There they need to build a bridge across the river which can hold the weight of their trucks and they cannot go home until they successfully drive their trucks across. Of course, things don't always go to plan and they have trouble with sleeping facilities, the locals, accidents, breakdowns and more.

     This particular adventure is lots of fun and they seem to be really dealing with the problems themselves (plus a small crew), although funds obviously come in handy at times. They play tricks on each other, modify their trucks, get lost and attend a party seemingly run by the local warring factions in The Shan.

     Top Gear has been on UK Television on and off since 1978, however, most people probably associate the name more with the current incarnation featuring Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May which has been running since 2002 (although May didn't join until 2003).

     This adventure is even better in this extended version and this release would certainly be a good choice for those who are a little sick of the episodes but still enjoy the antics of the presenters. Probably a good choice for father's day too! It is available on DVD and Blu-ray locally. This review is for the DVD version.

     Recommended.

Video

     The video quality is pretty good and a bit better than the previous season.

     The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was reasonably clear and sharp throughout although it was affected by lack of detail in longer shots. The shadow detail was good.

     The colour was good but there was some chroma noise at times.

     There was some minor aliasing and jagged edges.

     There are subtitles available in English for the Hearing Impaired which are clear and easy to read. I did notice a couple of minor errors.

     There are no obvious layer change during playback.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is good.

    This disc contains a English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0. There was some nice front separation at times.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to hear and understand.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     A few extras of mixed quality.

Menu

     The menu included music and motion.

Behind the Scenes (19:51)

     This includes various behind the scenes segments on the road featuring the crew, problems, preparation, shooting challenges, truck repairs and general silliness. Not great.

Photo Gallery (2:02)

     Various stills.

Race The Stig Trailers (1:38)

     Game Trailers.

Wallpapers - DVD-ROM

    PC Wallpapers can be downloaded from the disc.

    This release is available in the same format in the UK. Buy local.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall