Top Gear-Collector's Box Set (2002)

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    This set contains the three previously released Top Gear discs (detailed below) in a cardboard slipcover. The discs themselves are exactly the same as they were previously. The only thing which is slightly annoying is that one segment from the earliest disc, Revved Up is repeated on the Winter Olympics disc, the car vs bobsleigh race. Released concurrently there is a deluxe version of this set which includes the same discs, packaged in a long form box which also includes a Top Gear number plate and some postcard style photographs of cars. This deluxe version costs about $25 extra but would certainly make for a great Father's day gift. This set would also make a great gift for the rev-head in your life who does not already own the individual discs.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Top Gear-Back in the Fast Lane: The Best of Series 1 and 2 (2002)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Main Menu Audio Notes-Car Fact Files Gallery-Photo
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	95:20
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Jeremy Clarkson Richard Hammond
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	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	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

'Trees wither as they hear this car approach'

    Top Gear is the best show ever about cars, no ifs, ands or buts. It can be enjoyed by anyone, whether they are a rev-head or not. It is an English show from the BBC and features (at least on this disc) two hosts, Jeremy Clarkson & Richard Hammond along with their fearless test driver, The Stig (who fans will note used to dress in all black). This disc is a collection of highlights from the first two seasons of the show after it reappeared in 2002. James May turns up in one segment but did not become a full time host until after these series were finished. This disc runs for 90+ minutes and is separated into a number of sections which replicate the sections of a normal show.

    The sections include

• Power Cars - Pagani Zonda, Jaguar, Lamborgini, Aston Martin, etc.
• Star Guests - Patrick Stewart, Jamie Oliver making salad while being driven around the track by The Stig and Jeremy talking dirty to a supermodel.
• Reasonably Priced Car - Celebrity time trials including evidence for why the last corner on their test track is called Gambon.
• Road Tests - Richard going nuts in a Bowler 4WD, Rolls Royce, Ferrari with Damon Hill, the Bentley which elicits the above quote from Jeremy and Murray Walker sacred out of his head in a Maclaren F1.
• Stunts - A great selection of silly stunts including a bus jumping motorbikes, grannies doing doughnuts and a race between different clergymen.
• The Stig - Highlights and outtakes.

    This feels very much like an extended episode and is certainly lots of fun for fans of the show especially those who may have started watching it lately. They are currently showing the 9th season in the UK and the 8th here on TV. It is not quite as much fun as the Winter Olympics disc, however, this one has more for the car nut as it focuses more on car tests and less on silly stunts. Recommended.

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 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 stock footage was involved.

    The colour was very good although I did notice a little cross colourisation especially on the car grille around 39:00 and a couple of spots of chroma noise.

    The only noticeable artefacts were aliasing and jagged edges. These were never really obvious but were regular.

    There are no subtitles.

    This is a single layer disc so there is no layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is surprisingly good.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s. Despite the encoding this soundtrack was surprisingly immersive with lots of wonderful engine and tyre noises. During studio scenes the surrounds carried obvious crowd noise.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync. There was one short sequence where Richard Hammond's dialogue was a little quiet at 53:00.

    The subwoofer was used to add grunt to the engine noises. This was a function of my amp's bass management.

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. It was still.

Fact Files

    Text and Photos of most of the cars featured in the show. Includes vital performance stats for each car.

Photo Gallery

    30 or so action shots.

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

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is surprisingly good.

    Two average quality extras are included.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Top Gear-Revved Up

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	?
Running Time	103:38
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	None Given
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
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!

Video

    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!

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    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.)

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Audio

    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!

    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

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