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Top Gear - Back In The Fast Lane: The Best Of Series 1 & 2


Review by Sean Lynch

I'll get this out in the open right now. I know nothing of cars. I don't care for them, they possess very little interest for me, I wouldn't know what a crank shaft was if it hit my mother in the face and I own a 1985 Ford Laser Hatch - yep, a vagina with wheels.

But for some unknown reason, I am completely and utterly addicted to watching Top Gear.

Top Gear

I don't know what it is. I don't know why it appeals to me so much - but all I know is my girlfriend seems to respect me more - which is always an up! Yep, it's all that car mumbo jumbo without the tech talk that folks like myself can't understand. In fact, all you need to understand in order to enjoy Top Gear is that things that go fast, are generally, pretty damn cool.

This latest Top Gear collection - a follow up to the huge DVD success' of  a few previous compilations - combines the best bits from the first two series of this cult program which is steadily gaining a cult audience on SBS in Australia.

Theres some of the fastest, flashiest, loudest, most expensive cars ever put on display throughout the first few series - and basically the only real technical info you'll ever hear out of our good hosts mouth's are phrases like "Faster than a leopard with jet boots on", or "The speed will make your pants fly off with excitement". In fact, for the majority of the time, the narration's are almost incomprehensibly ridiculous - but that's yet another appeal of the show.

Along with the regular Road Tests and Speed Trials, there is also a lot of fun to be had with Top Gear. From crashing through caravans ("Hamster Hammond" seems to have a fetish for the destruction of them), to Grannies doing Donuts, to Stars in Reasonably Priced Cars - there's pretty much every base covered when it comes to no-brainer mechanics, explosions and shiny things.

One of the most enjoyable aspects, I find, of Top Gear is the relationship between the three hosts in Jeremy Clarkson (who left the show in the late 90's - leading to a drop of almost 3 million viewers - only to return in 2002 with an enormous ratings bump), Richard Hammond (the English Michael J. Fox) and James May (somewhat useless). And, unfortunately, the connection just doesn't translate onto DVD, due in part to the segmented presentation of the DVD - Ie: Road Tests all in one block, Time Trials all in one block, etc, etc.

But that's a minor problem which simply doesn't compare to the fun that's to be had. And the best part of it all, the newer episodes just seem to get better - meaning there will be plenty more great cars and stories to come!

A REV-oloutionary piece of TV Entertainment.

DVD Extras

Not much on offer besides some "Fun Facts" on each of the cars and a photo gallery which will really only excite enthusiasts.

Conclusion: Movie 75% Extras: 40%


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