Top Gear-Winter Olympics (2006)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Main Menu Audio Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Unique Footage Of The Stig's Training Regime Outtakes-Hilarious Out-Takes Never Seen Before On TV
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	59:02 (Case: 74)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Jeremy Clarkson Richard Hammond James May
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
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	Yes, if you count all the cars...
		Action In or After Credits	No

'The cutting edge of cocking about'

    Top Gear is the best show ever about cars - no ifs, ands or buts. It can be enjoyed by anyone whether a rev head or not. It is an English show from the BBC and features three hosts; Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond & James May along with their fearless test driver, The Stig. Generally, the show itself is a combination of test drives in fast cars, car reviews, competitions amongst the hosts and silly stunts. This particular disc is a special which they made early this year during the northern winter to coincide with the Winter Olympics in Turin. Instead of heading to Turin, they head for Norway to stage their own winter events. This one is more silly stunts and competitions than anything else, but it's still a lot of fun.

    There are a number of segments which include:

• Biathlon - It's James vs Jeremy in a driving and shooting event with four wheel drives and Olympic shooting. The cars are the new Audi Q7 & a Volvo XC90.
• A test of who breaks first in extreme cold, man or machine. It's Richard vs a Citroen C1.
• A race between a speed skater and Jeremy driving a Jaguar XK8 on an ice rink. Silly.
• Ice Lake Driving - James in a 4WD Land Rover vs Jeremy in the Jaguar. One of the highlights.
• Bobsleigh vs Mitsubishi Evo WRC. This is a segment from the series added into this special. Great stuff.
• Suzuki Swift Ice Hockey.
• Mini Minor Ski Jumping. Great stuff involving rockets!
• The Stig ski jumps on a snow mobile.

    Not quite as good as the series itself but still a lot of fun and certainly lives up to the quote above. My only real criticism is that the show only runs 59 minutes which seems a little short.

Video

    The video quality is very good.

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

    The picture was very clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was very good. There were some short sections which were a little grainy, seemingly where hand held cameras were involved.

    The colour was very good although faces did seem somewhat pale - this could well be a function of the temperature in Norway during winter.

    The only noticeable artefact was a few bits of aliasing such as on a grille at 11:46 and stairs at 41:33.

    There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired. The subtitles were clear and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is good.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu was a one page affair allowing for access to the show and extras plus the turning on and off of subtitles.

The Stig (11:49)

    Training footage of The Stig doing test laps of their normal circuit in a variety of cars including a Ford GT, Lamborghini Gallardo, Ascari AZ1 & the Enzo Ferrari. He also does some mucking about in the Vauxhall Monaro which is of course our Holden Monaro. 16x9 enhanced.

Outtakes (3:38)

    A collection of amusing stuff-ups from the TV series, mostly of Jeremy fluffing things. 16x9 enhanced.

    This DVD is available in the same format in Region 2 and not available in Region 1.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

    Two decent extras are included.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall