The Gymkhana Files Season 1 Review

 

 

 

Season 1

Episode Guide

At The Peak
The Motor City
In The Dirt
It All Falls Apart
It Is What It Is
On Thin Ice
Get Yourself A Truck
Where It All Began

 

 

The Gymkhana Files is an unscripted documentary series telling the story of entrepreneur and famed motorcar driver Ken Block and his journey to producing Gymkhana 10. Split across 8 episodes, the series depicts what goes into performing these impressive videos, mixing breathtaking scenery with wild stunts and all the trials and tribulations along the way. Slickly produced and incredibly endearing, The Gymkhana Files is the perfect documentary for motorcar enthusiasts.

The first episode introduces Ken Block and briefly looks at his background and history before prepping for what’s to come in the episodes ahead. With 9 successful viral videos under his belt, the world eagerly awaits Gymkhana 10 with Block and his team feeling the pressure mount on their shoulders to produce something special that’s never been seen before.

The rest of the episodes follow a similar format, looking at the different components that go into making Gymkhana 10 as well as showing never-before-seen footage for the making of previous Gymkhana videos too.

With a 30 minute run time, each episode has a good pacing to it, switching from face to face interviews to slickly produced real-time footage complete with pixelated text and electronic music. The series does well to build drama up in every episode too, interviewing key people in Ken’s team as well as Ken Block himself of course.

Although at times the drama does feels a little superficial and contrived, it does work well to reinforce the high stakes and expectation the crew find themselves under constantly. From filming a segment in a narrow window of time in the snow-capped mountains to a dangerous segment involving dodging moving obstacles on a dirt track, The Gymkhana Files does a great job showing how far the team are willing to go to capture the perfect shot.

For those who have followed Ken Block’s illustrious career or want to see how he puts these extravagant and impressive viral videos together, Amazon’s The Gymkhana Files is well worth checking out. The documentary series is slickly produced, well shot and informative through each of its 8 episodes. While some of the drama borders on melodramatic and superficial at times, it does work well to reinforce the pressure Ken Block and his team are under to produce a showstopping spectacle. Say what you will about motor sports or Ken Block himself, when it comes to the Gymkhana videos it’s hard not to be impressed by what he’s managed to achieved here.