Top Gear-Revved Up |
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Top Gear-Revved Up |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Documentary | Main Menu Audio | |
| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | ? | ||
| Running Time | 103:38 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | None Given |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring | None Given |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip | ||
| RPI | $19.95 | Music | None Given |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) | |
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | Unknown | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English for the Hearing Impaired | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Top Gear is an incredibly fun and extremely engaging BBC show about cars. It airs here on SBS and it draws a decent audience. People who otherwise have no real interest in cars love watching it - my mother doesn't miss the show, and my 7 year old daughter loves it too. It's a car show for the whole family.
Top Gear is hosted by Richard Hammond (the main host on the show) with Jeremy Clarkson and James May to help out. The three have a great chemistry and it's obvious they all have a genuine love of cars. Essentially it's boys playing with expensive toys.
This DVD is essentially a highlight reel of some of the craziest, most creative and more interesting stunts.
Some of the best moments from this disc include;
- Pendine Sands: The boys race a Porsche, Jaguar and a BMW 6 series on wet sand. It looks like a lot of fun.
- DB9 vs. train: An amazing race to the South of France: Jeremy drives an Aston Martin while Richard and James take the train. Who will win the race and get to the South of France first?
- The Invincible Truck: The boys throw everything at it to try and destroy a Toyota pickup truck. You'll be amazed to see what it can survive!
- Cross wind: How do cars handle driving behind a commercial airliner with its jets at maximum thrust?
It's a great collection of some of the best moments of the show and a lot of fun.
Highly recommended!
The show is displayed at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is a16x9 enhanced PAL disc.
In the UK and Australia this show is broadcast digitally, so I was expecting a good looking DVD. I wasn't disappointed.
The picture is quite sharp and for the most part is crystal clear.
Colours look good, skin tones are natural and shadow detail is good enough. Most importantly the cars look spectacular.
There is no grain.
There is a bit of edge enhancement and my only other complaint is that in some outdoor scenes there can be a little MPEG artefact shimmer. It never lasts long though. The cars zip by too fast for that!
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The audio is a English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) track.
This track is a very competent one.
The dialogue was fine and for the most part came through pretty clearly. Remember sometimes these guys are yelling above roaring engines to be heard.
There were no sync, drop out or pop issues.
Even though there was no surround use I found the track to be pretty immersive; with engines blazing, cars whizzing past and even an Apache helicopter there was certainly a lot to get into.
No subwoofer (would've been fun though.)
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| Overall | |
No special features would usually be a let down, but there were some previously unaired scenes and some bloopers at the end of the main feature.
They easily could've been cut out of that and inserted into a 'special features menu' so I don't feel that the disc is hurt too much.
Some sports compilations are 30 to 40 minutes and this comes in at 103 so I won't complain!
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
There is no R1 release so R4 wins.
Overall, this show is a lot of fun and so is this disc. In fact, it is packed full of great driving that everyone will enjoy.
The video is very good.
The audio is good too.
No special features as such, but I'm not complaining.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Marantz DV4300, using Component output |
| Display | Sony VPL HS10 projector on 100 inch 16x9 screen + Palsonic 76WSHD. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Sony STR-DE685. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. |
| Amplification | Pioneer |
| Speakers | DB Dynamics VEGA series floor standers + centre, DB bipole rears, 10" 100W DB Dynamics sub |