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The Grand Tour – Amazon Prime Video from 18th November 2016 |
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#1026 |
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 68,698
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Quote:
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.
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#1027 |
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Join Date: Mar 2010
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I have watched Top Gear for Years and I absolutely loved it but towards the end (before the punch up) it was starting to get a bit lame but I watched it because I just did.
When the new lot took over, it wasnt great, but wasnt that bad to be fair. This week I took up Amazon Prime and thought I would watch The Grand Tour, half way through episode one i thought is it me or is actually not that great. Episode two half way through maybe not even that and I thought this is too stupid to be even funny and switched off. They cant interview stars etc, so they fudge it with this silly mind game thing, the conversation corner is ok. The tasks are more of the same with a bigger budget and more supidness thrown in, with even less emphasis on the cars than before. |
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#1028 |
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Bolton. lancs
Posts: 5,746
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Now I thought that the premise was that it would be "three men cocking about in cars", and as close to TG as they could legally get. I can't remember any reports or quotes that indicated that they would go for a "very modern & fresh feel".
So if you change the format you also have to change the hosts. Then you have something which is nothing at all like Top Gear/TGT any more and which about 12 people will bother watching, as has happened with every single other 'car magazine' show for about the last decade. You either have TG/TGT, which lots and lots of people love and will watch even though it's in fact pretty stale, or you have 'not TG' which will almost inevitably fail and nobody will care about. Which stands more chance of actually being made? Maybe there is a 'fresh and modern' car show to be made which will catch the public mood and build an audience a TV channel might actually consider worth attracting. But everyone so far other than CMHW that's tried has failed, which suggests if it's possible it's really, really hard. Or maybe, given the way we consume content has changed, it simply isn't possible to build a loyal audience on the TG/TGT scale any more. There was a window for it to happen and CMHW just happened to luck into launching and building their show in that window. Maybe if you made a new car show now - no matter how good - the best audience it's ever going to get is a fraction of what TG got at it's peak. |
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#1029 |
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,396
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Quote:
I have watched Top Gear for Years and I absolutely loved it but towards the end (before the punch up) it was starting to get a bit lame but I watched it because I just did.
When the new lot took over, it wasnt great, but wasnt that bad to be fair. This week I took up Amazon Prime and thought I would watch The Grand Tour, half way through episode one i thought is it me or is actually not that great. Episode two half way through maybe not even that and I thought this is too stupid to be even funny and switched off. They cant interview stars etc, so they fudge it with this silly mind game thing, the conversation corner is ok. The tasks are more of the same with a bigger budget and more supidness thrown in, with even less emphasis on the cars than before. I was at the point of giving up with it but saw some good reviews for episode 6 just before Christmas and it was much better, as was the two-part special. |
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#1030 |
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 24,424
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#1031 |
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: West Highlands
Posts: 8,009
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In a list of Top Gear Specials, that would be very near the bottom. I am disappointed as the show has been getting better week by week. This didn't work. It was far too long. It could have worked as a one hour special but even then it might have been stretched too far. Beach Buggies driving on sand is hardly a new concept yet, that is all the first episode consisted of. There were some LOL moments but it really could have been a twenty minute piece in the regular series without losing anything. The poaching segment was ridiculous and the setting something on fire with an angle grinder has been done much better before. After the last few weeks, I expected better.
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#1032 |
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Bolton. lancs
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Quote:
In a list of Top Gear Specials, that would be very near the bottom..
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#1033 |
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: West Highlands
Posts: 8,009
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I can only point you towards the India special.
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#1034 |
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Bristol
Posts: 9,437
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I thought it was good and entertaining, but considering there were presumably no legal restrictions dictating what they could and couldn't do with this two-parter (and I say that on the basis that their TG specials didn't seem to be especially unique to TG; it was basically obtain a certain type of vehicle and get it by hook or by crook to this end point), it was curiously under-whelming, and I can't believe that would have been the end product had they still been doing TG on BBC2.
Nothing happened in part one, it was just drive in this direction, get lost or blocked, try another direction, repeat until they found a road. Funny in parts, but, just like CHM, it went nowhere. When it ended, I was thinking 'Is that it (for this episode)?'. Part two was a vast improvement, with it being more varied. I especially liked the camping shopping trip. I thought the explanation of the rhino poaching was poignant, and the sort of 'raising awareness' they've done in previous specials, but what was the poacher hunting all about? Is it something Clarkson genuinely feels strongly about and wanted to get in the show, or was it just the means - via 'shooting' Hammond - to justify why he was suspended in his buggy from a helicopter?! Note to Clarkson - just because you have $1m per episode (or whatever stupidly high figure it is), doesn't mean you necesarily have to spend a million ! ![]() The cable car bit was interesting, but why not work the building of it into the show? Was that a local issue? Too similar to the Burma ep. maybe? And what was with the ending? The whole (pointless) point of it was to get all three buggies to the beach. Did they really hit issues with getting Hammond off the cable car that just couldn't be shown, or were they trying to be 'quirky' by ending it with him dangling? Like I say, not a bad show in itself, but I don't believe they'd have been happy with turning that in to the BBC. |
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#1035 |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,423
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#1036 |
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,167
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It very "meh" for me. I didn't dislike it to the point of which I'd wish I could get those 2 hours of my life back, but it was far from great either.
PT1 was definitely a slow burner, but PT2 had a few moments of gold where I LOL'd at the "dick shift", LOL'd again when it smacked Jeremy in the face, LOL'd when Hammond cried "f--- me" from the helicopter ride, and was impressed with the cable car rigging which must have really taken major stunt work in terms of safety etc. I'd go with about 6/10 but I was hoping for a 9/10. I watched a lot of the old TG specials over xmas and many of them stood up well to repeat viewing, but I doubt I could say the same about this one. |
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#1037 |
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 24,424
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I've watched the special 3 times it was that good. I would buy it on DVD if they release it.
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#1038 |
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 7,401
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I've enjoyed every episode of TGT so far, it was exactly what I expected when I signed up to Prime to watch it (and cancelled my overpriced Netflix subscription).
The special wasn't a classic and I think could have been condensed into one hour, but I enjoyed it. I actually preferred Part 1 as there seemed to be a genuine sense of danger, annoyance and frustration from the guys. |
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#1039 |
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Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 2,616
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I've enjoyed every episode of TGT so far, it was exactly what I expected when I signed up to Prime to watch it (and cancelled my overpriced Netflix subscription).
The special wasn't a classic and I think could have been condensed into one hour, but I enjoyed it. I actually preferred Part 1 as there seemed to be a genuine sense of danger, annoyance and frustration from the guys. I think Prime Video is overpriced, when the TGT is the only half decent thing on there. |
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#1040 |
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 7,401
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Netflix is overpriced?
I think Prime Video is overpriced, when the TGT is the only half decent thing on there. For my £7.99 a month to Netflix I get a service that is badly hampered by UK rights restrictions and instead filled with an increasingly large library of home produced content, some of which is great, most of which definitely isn't. So I thought screw that - I worked out a way of getting Amazon and NowTV together for the same price I was paying for netflix alone and I have more than enough quality entertainment to get me by. |
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#1041 |
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,407
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Netflix is overpriced?
I think Prime Video is overpriced, when the TGT is the only half decent thing on there. But Netflix does produce quite a lot of their own shows and films so I wouldn't call it over priced, although when you compare Netflix UK with the US one than we do miss out on a lot of content they get. |
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#1042 |
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Join Date: Nov 2016
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I watched a repeat of one of the old TGs on Dave today and while I think their new shows are improving, they haven't reached the same level of enjoyment for me.
After thinking about the Namibia two-parter, so much of it could have been filmed anywhere with a long beach. We saw virtually nothing of the country or its people (with the exception of dancing naked breasted women providing Hammond with an opportunity to snigger like a schoolboy) and the initial driving up and down the beach was repetitive and boring. I know it is scripted, so was Top Gear but the delivery of their lines seem a bit stilted and desperate for a laugh. I don't know what the solution is but I hope they find it in the second series because I really want them to succeed in making something as good and enjoyable as Top Gear used to be. |
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#1043 |
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,091
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This week's films must have been a collection of their most boring. Even they mentioned in the taping that the Honda segment was pointless, and then the other two modification segments had nothing entertaining associated at all. Such a dire episode.
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#1044 |
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,407
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Another great episode, loved it
![]() Really like how they give us some driving laws about the country they're in, like you'll get less points if you overtake on the hard should rather than the inside lane lol. |
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#1045 |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,423
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Really enjoyed it had some LOL moments especially the body falling off of Clarksons MGSUV
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