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The Grand Tour – Amazon Prime Video from 18th November 2016 |
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#1001 |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Middleton
Posts: 13,830
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Quote:
So we really believe that they spent the entire night sleeping on the ground in the desert alone without any food? Where did the big filming and support crew go?
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#1002 |
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Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Midlands
Posts: 2,030
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Easily the best two shows it was a classic of old, I wish they were all specials.
For the record, my husband loves ice cream and is not and never has been gay. Years ago there was a book out called 'Real Men Don't Eat Quiche' and I remember thinking, how stupid - real men eat anything going, especially if there's meat involved! |
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#1003 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 528
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Quote:
So we really believe that they spent the entire night sleeping on the ground in the desert alone without any food? Where did the big filming and support crew go?
Surprises me that it's actually entertaining to anyone |
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#1004 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,407
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Quote:
To be fair it's easily the most heavily scripted programme ever made. It's more scripted than professional wrestling.
Surprises me that it's actually entertaining to anyone It's entertaining to me hence why I paid for an Amazon Prime sub to watch this, nothing surprising about it, just isn't for you clearly. |
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#1005 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Middleton
Posts: 13,830
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Quote:
To be fair it's easily the most heavily scripted programme ever made. It's more scripted than professional wrestling.
Surprises me that it's actually entertaining to anyone |
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#1006 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 528
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Quote:
Probably because everyone who watches it knows it is scripted, just like how it was on Top Gear.
It's entertaining to me hence why I paid for an Amazon Prime sub to watch this, nothing surprising about it, just isn't for you clearly. |
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#1007 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,407
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No need to pay. It's free if you look online.
Yeah I know, I have kodi but I prefer to pay for the things I like. Only use kodi if there's nothing I can find to watch on sky, netflix or amazon videos. |
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#1008 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Scotland
Posts: 6,967
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Quote:
To be fair it's easily the most heavily scripted programme ever made. It's more scripted than professional wrestling.
Surprises me that it's actually entertaining to anyone |
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#1009 |
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Burton upon Trent
Posts: 1,929
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"Most heavily scripted programme ever made"
What a ridiculous statement. Yes, it's scripted. Sure, they don't do everything they imply they do - there's a "stunt team" listed in the credits. Clarkson himself has stated on screen during Top Gear there's a script. But there are far more heavily scripted programmes out there. Or do "normal" TV programmes not have a script which is followed to the letter? |
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#1010 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 53,385
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It's weird but for me the scripted nature of it all seemed to work on Top Gear.... with this it just feels so painfully obvious. Hammond in particular is far too much of a "character" now for me.. as if he's not even acting his natural self anymore. It just feels weird.
I'm not saying I didn't think "Oh that's scripted" watching Top Gear... but something just made it work. With TGT it just feels .... really awkward. I can't work out if that's because of the show or because we've just seen it all before and don't take any of it remotely seriously anymore. I used to love the specials but this one isn't doing it for me sadly. |
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#1011 |
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Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 2,616
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Just seen the two part special. Quite honestly, I'm a little bit disappointed.
The problem with TGT is that it's had too much money spent on it. One of the highlights of the Top Gear specials is that the vehicles were bought with a £1000 and they regularly went wrong and broke down. With GT, the buggies had clearly been professionally built to the wishes of Clarkson, Hammond and May. Also, because of the setting, it felt like they never really went anywhere. It was just desert, then desert, then desert, a town, then desert, then the waterfalls. It didn't feel like an actual "journey". The aerial lift at the end was ridiculous, and didn't really add anything. Obviously Top Gear was partly fake, and you had to suspend your disbelief, but not to the extent that you have to do with TGT. It felt like every little bit of the program was pre-planned, and not just the presenters being set a challenge and seeing what happens. |
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#1012 |
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 53,385
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Quote:
Also, because of the setting, it felt like they never really went anywhere. It was just desert, then desert, then desert, a town, then desert, then the waterfalls. It didn't feel like an actual "journey". The aerial lift at the end was ridiculous, and didn't really add anything.
Obviously Top Gear was partly fake, and you had to suspend your disbelief, but not to the extent that you have to do with TGT. It felt like every little bit of the program was pre-planned, and not just the presenters being set a challenge and seeing what happens. |
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#1013 |
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Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,217
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Well i thought it was great.
But then i treat it as a throwaway bit of fun to watch. |
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#1014 |
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 28
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Obviously Top Gear was partly fake, and you had to suspend your disbelief, but not to the extent that you have to do with TGT. It felt like every little bit of the program was pre-planned, and not just the presenters being set a challenge and seeing what happens.
The Grand Tour is so obviously fully scripted, and they are terrible actors so they can't pull it off. Maybe because the stunts cost more, they feel nothing can be left to chance, but it is painful to watch at times. |
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#1015 |
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Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 3,713
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The problem I had with this special, is that surely they got to this place in the first place, so why didn't they just co back that way instead of spending most of the first episode driving round in circles getting lost?
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#1016 |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 691
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Initially I thought this could turn out to be another classic like my (and according to Jeremy their) all time favourite episode the Botswana Special, but although enjoyable and one of the better TGT episodes so far it still fell short of the trio's best. There was too much waste, e.g endless driving around in circles in a featureless desert + the unfunny rhino poacher hunt. This should have been trimmed into a one hour special instead of the 45+60 minute 2 parter. As for obvious scripting, James said in an interview they spend most of their time getting the writing just right, sometimes spending hours on one sentence where moving one word from the beginning to the end of a sentence can make all the difference. Yes James, it shows, but not in a good way. Quote:
The problem I had with this special, is that surely they got to this place in the first place, so why didn't they just co back that way instead of spending most of the first episode driving round in circles getting lost?
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#1017 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 2,616
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Exactly, old Top Gear was scripted, in that they were fed a few lines and the scenes had bullet points for what should happen, but other than that they were left to their own devices to improvise off each other. (This was confirmed in a book written by one of the writers IIRC). You could tell the situations were setup, but that a lot of the conversation was natural and they had a rapport.
The Grand Tour is so obviously fully scripted, and they are terrible actors so they can't pull it off. Maybe because the stunts cost more, they feel nothing can be left to chance, but it is painful to watch at times. The worst example is probably from the Christmas episode inside the tent when Jeremy fell over into the crowd (which looked a little bit realistic), before then falling again. The second fall was totally, totally fake and it showed. Even Clarkson himself didn't look comfortable doing it. The more the show goes on, the more it feels like it's catering for 8-12 year olds unfortunately. |
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#1018 |
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Bolton. lancs
Posts: 5,746
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With GT, the buggies had clearly been professionally built to the wishes of Clarkson, Hammond and May.
OK, hands up. Who thought Jeremy Clarkson actually made the Toyboata, for example? I'll let you into a secret - they never made any of the cars they 'made' or 'bought' themselves. You know the bits occasionally where they go just off the entrance to the test track and there's an industrial building which mysteriously had some of their cars parked out side it? That building was full of clever engineering people who made all their stuff for them, be it campervan canalboats or caravan cannons. They also have researchers to go and search car auctions to buy cars for them. Cars which will match the on screen personas they each express, yes, but nevertheless, they have people to do this stuff for them because those people will do it for much less money. So in fact the beach buggies were no different to several things they've done before. The one criticism you possibly can throw at TGT is it is really is just more Top Gear under a different name. But the idea they didn't ever have a massive budget is living in a dreamland. Top Gear has pretty much always had a budget proportional to it's audience, until it went to Amazon, anyway. If you're making £50m a year profit or whatever, you have a strong argument for a big lump of that going towards making more of the show. |
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#1019 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 564
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The TG episode you refer to with the boat-cars they were at least helping to build them, they showed that in the programme. In TGT they clearly just give some instructions and then just turn up on the day, as was obvious in the episode with the Eco cars.
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#1020 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Bolton. lancs
Posts: 5,746
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Quote:
The TG episode you refer to with the boat-cars they were at least helping to build them, they showed that in the programme. In TGT they clearly just give some instructions and then just turn up on the day, as was obvious in the episode with the Eco cars.
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#1021 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,865
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The Namibia special was fine...the whole of the series has been fine. A perfectly decent, acceptable series of Top Gear...sorry, the Grand Tour. But the problem is, no matter how much money you throw at it, the programme only works if the ideas are good enough. The Clarkson/Hammond/May version of Top Gear has been going for a long time and was getting a little tired. The production team for the Grand Tour, which is basically Top Gear Mark II, are only going to make a success of it if the ideas are good. So far, the ideas have been okay, but hardly spectacular. I'm enjoying it, but it's not earth-shattering, nor was it ever likely to be.
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#1022 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 79
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the special was fine, the series has been fine, its still better than alot of the stuff that gets put on tv, its just it has felt, like alot of the driving in Namibia just going round in circles.
maybe it was because I watched both parts back to back, but the TG specials mostly always seemed to have a clear objective, get to this point, its a long way there will be challenges, your cars will likely break etc. this was well drive round in circles for two days, find the bumpiest roads you can, wander off shopping, or rhino hunter hunting, and then build a literal cable car car. however entertaining driving around sand dunes are is nowhere near as entertaining as watching them. I dont know it just felt like they were struggling for ideas with it, so it then feels padded |
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#1023 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 2,281
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1hr 45m was definitely too much, parts of it were good but other parts 'oh no we've accidentally shot Hammond hahahahaha!' didn't really work as well
It will be interesting to see how the second series comes out, what I have noticed as this series has gone on is each episode just edges ever more slightly towards the 'sod it just go into Top Gear mode and hope the BBC lawyers aren't watching'
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#1024 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,425
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Thought the special was pretty poor. The first episode just seemed to consist of them driving up and down the same stretch of beach for 45mins and was very boring.
Second episode, slightly better, but was too ridiculous in places and the desert didn't really offer anything spectacular that we haven't already seen before. |
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#1025 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Pimlico, central London, UK
Posts: 14,872
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I think it will be interesting to see how the second series of the Grand Tour pans out.
I think this first series has been reasonably good, but no more than that - and there have been a couple of really bad sections, such as the notorious action film style segment in episode 2. They have already said they will sit down at the end of this series and see what works and what doesn't, and shape this into series 2. I think the biggest disappointment to me is that we were led to think that the show would be a real step forward from Top Gear in terms of being very modern and fresh feeling, when in fact it just seems like Top Gear with a bigger budget. Although the show looks great in terms of camera work and editing, as many others have said, it just feels so incredibly scripted now. |
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