Gymkhana 5 Released: Thankfully, no flying monkeys

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Yes, Ken Block isn't the greatest rally driver ever. Yes, he did lose the X-Games Rallycross to Loeb (but everyone loses to Loeb. It's the law... and Block had a flat tire and still finished in front of the rest of the monkeys). And, yes, the Gymkhana films tend to be over-rehearsed and over-produced. But I like this one. It has some interesting elements. Mixes it up a little. Moves away from the gimmicky previous film and returns to the spirit of G3. Adds new stuff... tabletop jumps, jump drifts, cable cars... And... oh... he actually does some Gymkhana in it... reverse gate entries, double-box donuts.

If you hate Block, pass. If you like Block, watch. If you're undecided, this is probably one of his best videos, yet.
 
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I'm kind of impressed he has the power to rent parts of SF and the bridge for this.

His driving is still a bit lack luster, but it is fun to watch, if over produced a bit. Do we really need a dozen camera views for every jump? :p
 
Gotta make the most footage out of ever shot... can't keep the streets closed forever. :p

I guess if they were given even freer reign, they could have had even more sequences instead of doubling up a few, but closing streets costs a lot of money.

Thankfully, they're throttling back a bit from overproducing and over-rehearsing. The high-speeds all look like first take passes, and in some of the box-stunts, you see him nudging cones and losing GoPros. Better than the ultra-neat G4.
 
Would have been nice to get Pastrana and his Dodge to jump around with him a bit... you know, a Ford and a Dodge jumping around SF, that's never been done before. ;) The jumps were pretty hardcore, I read somewhere he actually did break the car during filming. It seems a bit re-hashed, though... There's only so much you can do with a car before it gets repetitive.

In the end you just have to take it for what it is, entertainment.
 
Quite enjoyed it. Lost interest in the Gymkhanas a bit for a while but the world and his dog was posting the vid yesterday so I took another look, and didn't regret it.

The huge jump from uphill to downhill made me laugh as it reminded me of GTA: San Andreas, and the bit with Pastrana was cool too. And drifting up Lombard Street.

It also reminds me that I've not spent nearly enough time in 'Frisco and really must rectify that.

It also reminds me that the reason Block is a bit crap on actual stages is probably because he can't rehearse each stage a dozen times first. Though you can't really question his car control.
 
I'm still a little on the fence with this latest Gymkhana. I really liked it don't get me wrong, but for some reason I was expecting a tiny bit more.

That jump drift entry was beautiful!
 
I guess it depends on where you're coming from... being moderately disappointed by Gymkhana 4, I was moderately surprised about this one.

To be fair to Block, he did relatively well in Rally America before switching to the new Fiesta program, and in that loss to Loeb, he was right on Loeb's tail for three laps before the blowout occurred. (and you could argue, really, that the Citroen was the superior car)... but yes, his rally results really haven't kept up with the hype.

Still... lovely vids to watch.
 
I think this is probably the best video so far. Sure, it's easy to say that after each new release, but I admit I was disappointed by Gymkhana Three and Four. Three was let down by the choice of venue, which meant there wasn't really a whole lot for Block to do, and Four was a case of style over substance. But I see Gymkhana Five as really delivering on the promise that the original videos showed.

Of course, I fully expect it to suffer from the Christopher Nolan Effect - as soon as someone or something reaches mainstream popularity, the original fans turn on it because they don't want to be mainstream.
 
Oh, I don't think this is a new phenomenon for Block. I'm expecting the Nolan Effect in this video primarily because the previous video suffered from it.
 
I like the previous ones, more for a bit of entertainment than a serious motoring video. Will have to check out this new one.
 
I thin'k that's his best one so far ,loved it .jumping drifts and the Travis Pastrana bit lighted my inner WOW COOL kid in me ,Expected abit more from Pastrana mind but probably Ken didn't want him to steal the show.

Kudos to him and DC shoes though,I think they are opening here in Egypt this summer and Ken is somewhat known here so no matter how cool it is ,Gymkhana is certainly a Positive attention grabber for DC.
 
Oops I posted this in the cool and amazing videos thread. He sure pulls off some incredible driving skills. I love watching those videos. And usually the stuff he does inspires similar features in games. Forza 3, Forza 4, Grid, Dirt.....
 

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