Originally posted at TheTelevixen.com
To be completely honest, I’m not a fan of reality shows at all. In fact, if we’re going to be really honest, I can’t stand them. And while I’m in the sharing mood, I also know don’t know much about cars either beyond which side of the road to be on and where the gas and brake are. So I wasn’t sure what I would think of Top Gear, the US version of the acclaimed British series (which, oddly enough, falls under the category of things I know nothing about as well). Season 1 was released on DVD and Blu-Ray July 19th, and I had the chance to check it out.
The premise involves three hosts, professional driver Tanner Foust, actor Adam Ferrara (Rescue Me), and automotive analyst Rutledge Wood, discussing and reviewing cars. But, much more than that, it often sees the trio coming up with a lot of unique scenarios to test and challenge different cars as well as the people driving them. For example, seeing who can find the best car with a $1000 budget. Or racing a Dodge Viper through a track while being chased … by a military helicopter. Did I mention it has missiles? Or my personal favorite, finding the best pickup truck for under $3000 and pushing its limits in the Alaskan wilderness. There are also weekly celebrity guests, such as Buzz Aldrin and Dominic Monaghan, who each perform test runs in a Suzuki SS4 in the Big Star, Small Car segment and their mystery driver, the Stig, that also performs test runs on vehicles discussed throughout the show.
During the challenges, the cinematography is pretty amazing. The colors really pop and makes the cars look extremely sexy, even if it’s a 1984 Nissan. The show travels to a number of cool locations throughout the US, and the geography looks gorgeous everywhere they go. I wish I had seen this on Blu-ray because it looks fantastic on normal DVD. The sound production is also very well done and makes me wish I had a sound system that could take advantage of all of those rumbling engines.
The show’s hosts are quite good. The chemistry doesn’t always feel completely natural and is a bit forced at times, but there are times when they seem to be having a great deal of fun, and as the show goes on they seem to gel better as a team. In fact, their constant sparring at each other becomes fun to watch the further you get into the series. Seeing them all get drunk while doing a prohibition run – and discovering how flammable moonshine is at the same time – was pretty awesome.
The ten Season 1 episodes are spread over three DVDs. Episodes on the DVD menu are broken up and labeled by segment which allows you to easily see what is on an episode and jump to the section you want to see. There are also some additional special features. There are a handful of Webisodes, about 15 min in length total, that have a good mix of outtakes and on-set shenanigans. There are also about another 30 minutes of segments called Poolside Chats which has the hosts covering a number of random topics off the top of their heads.
Overall, I really enjoyed the Season 1 set. If you’d like to get your hands on your very own copy of the DVDs, check out their official site for details. I won’t be rethinking my stance on reality TV but I will be looking out for Season 2 of Top Gear. Speaking of which, Season 2 kicked off on July 24 on the History channel in the US and airs Sundays at 10pm. You can even catch full episodes on the History channel website – even in Canada!
Photos Courtesy of BBC
