Amazon just released a trailer for "The Grand Tour," the e-commerce company's version of "Top Gear." With its imminent launch, can Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond re-capture the millions of fans they gained from their previous show?
'The Grand Tour' First Trailer
The first full-length trailer of "The Grand Tour" has just been launched, showing how crazy and expansive the new "Top Gear" is going to be. In the video below, we can see the Clarkson, May and Hammond trio playing with fancy and exotic cars alike.
We see the usual sports cars - not much of a big deal. But then we see camels, tanks, and some heavy stuff. Intense, right? But is it something we have never seen before? Not really. But it does confirm one thing - "The Grand Tour" is just a rehash of BBC's "Top Gear" on a grander scale, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
'The Grand Tour' vs 'Top Gear'
First of all, the main selling point of "The Grand Tour" is that the trio takes the audience into different places - four continents, in fact, according to the trailer. We can expect exotic places and perhaps something more that we haven't seen before. With a huge budget of £4.5 million (or about $5 million) per episode, Amazon better show us more exciting adventures with more exciting cars.
But, of course, there's still the familiar feel of "Top Gear." There is a studio with the audience, there's the usual shenanigans of Clarkson, May and Hammond, and lots of vehicles. To reiterate on that last note, about 150 cars and six jet planes will be featured on the opening scene alone, along with a couple thousand acrobats.
"The Grand Tour" is basically "Top Gear" in a different station with more budget and less of Stig. Which means it won't be too far-fetched to say that we'll also love this new show this early.
'The Grand Tour' On Amazon Prime
So when will we see "The Grand Tour" on TV screens? Well, we won't. It is an Amazon Prime show, which means that only subscribers can tune in. According to Daily Star, this may pose a problem in a huge chunk of their fanbase.
Watching via Amazon Prime Video means that the episode will be streamed via the internet. Having slow internet speeds would then be a huge disadvantage. Imagine going through all those buffers while trying to watch Clarkson in his natural habitat? Doesn't really make for an enjoyable show, does it?
What's more is that to catch the weekly episode, you must pay for membership, which falls at $99 per year or $10.99 per month. However, the price includes all Prime benefits and not just video subscription. You can get free two-day shipping and the likes.
'The Grand Tour' Release Date
"The Grand Tour" premiers on Amazon Prime on Nov. 18. It will then be aired weekly with a grand total of 36 episodes of pure crazy motoring antics with none other than Clarkson, Hammond and May.
