Ice Road Truckers Season 3 - DVD

Content: The Ice Road Truckers are back. And in their third year, the tough-as-nails heavy haulers are headed from frigid Canada to no less frigid Alaska. And that's not all: they also get a new member - a woman of all people! With Lisa Kelly (28) Hugh Rowland, Alex Debogorski and Co. get attractive and tough support, which is underestimated by their male colleagues at the beginning. In addition, George Spears (59), veteran on Alaska's Ice Roads, the newcomer Tim Freeman, Jr. (23) or the experienced Jack Jesse (38), who faces very special challenges, are new on board the TV Ice Road Truckers.

The drivers face an extremely difficult and dangerous task. A whole 6000 freights have to be transported from Fairbanks to the oil production sites in Alaska's North Slope region, which are up to 600km away. To do this, they have to drive along the Dalton Road, which is often referred to as a roller coaster in some places due to its extreme gradients and slopes. In other places the road is so smooth that it has been given the name "oil carpet". Again and again the Dalton Road claims its victims, sometimes only material damage, but unfortunately far too often also human lives. That's why this job pays extremely well. Drivers can earn up to $120,000 in the few weeks of the season.

Over the course of the 13 episodes of season three, the riders get to deal with all sorts of dangers, with weather conditions being just the tip of the iceberg. Avalanches, whiteouts, snowstorms, sudden temperature rises, crashed vehicles and even polar bears keep the adrenaline pumping for the drivers - and the viewers - throughout. But the wrong way to brake on downhill sections can also have fatal consequences when the trailers fold forward (called "The Pocketknife"). Of course, even in the third season of the docu-series, some moments feel a bit staged, but that's not a bad thing. Because what definitely can't be staged is exciting enough to console over the series' minor flaws.

For instance, it's already enormously interesting to see loads of enormous length being loaded onto the trucks' trailers and how damn expensive it can get if the load isn't balanced properly. How valuable some loads are and how expensive it is just to fill the tanks of the trucks. When heavily loaded trucks thunder across the frozen sea and the ice groans loudly under the heavy load, an oppressive feeling arises just by watching. Interesting, exciting, amusing and extremely engaging, that's how the "Ice Road Truckers" present themselves in their 3rd season. The extreme highway in Alaska make the 13 new episodes a real treat for all fans. Absolutely recommended!

Picture + Sound: The sound, dominated by the dialogue, comes clear and coherently mixed from the speakers. The largely clean picture is on a good TV level and pleases with a consistently decent level of sharpness and satisfactory contrast. Good!

Extras: Unlike the second season, which has very extensive bonus material to offer, season 3 has only some unused scenes to offer. These are quite extensive with just under 29 minutes and some of the scenes are also quite worth seeing, such as the introduction of the workers who make sure that the Ice Road is cleared, or but a visit to the last truck stop before the drivers have only icy wilderness ahead. But overall, the unfortunately unsubtitled extras are rather disappointing compared to the previous box sets.

Conclusion: Also the third season of the "Ice Road Truckers" can entertain well thanks to the gripping concept of the documentary series and the engaging characters. Especially the change to Alaska and the participation of the first female trucker within the series make season 3 absolutely worth watching. Technically, the 13 new episodes are also on a good level, only the bonus material shows this time clearly slimmed down. Nevertheless: for all Ice Road fans an absolute must!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp