Knight Rider Season 4

This show is my all time favorite, however Universal has once again dicked it up, just like they did with SEASON 3 and left out various sound effects and some teasers, but with this set, it is the ultimate let down, MONO sound when it was originally in STEREO!

DVD is meant to bring out the best in media, not the worst, how could they downgrade the sound? Unbelievable! Just doesn't seem possible...

UNIVERSAL PLEASE READ THIS AND RE-RELEASE SEASON 3 AND 4 ALREADY, THE FANS ARE EXTREMELY PISSED OFF!

"Knight Rider" has finally wrapped itself up with all of its seasons now available on DVD. But all is not well in TV on DVD land. At first, Universal's announcement that Season 4 was to be released within two months of Season 3 was a delight to "Knight Rider" fans. However, it is now apparent that this has resulted in a rushed DVD set.

Season 4 is, without a doubt, the weakest in the series. But that's not to say that it's a bad season as it is still quite enjoyable. A new character, Reginald Cornelius III (RC3 for short), has been added to the cast to create new storylines. K.I.T.T. has also received a radical new change in his appearance, with the new addition of Super Pursuit Mode and its corresponding Emergency Braking System. By this season the show had also taken on a slightly darker tone, but was unfortunately plagued with numerous sub-par plots. However, the bright spots in this season were some of the best epsiodes in the series ("The Scent Of Roses" being one in particular). Other bright spots in this season include: "Knight Of the Juggernaut," "KITTnap," "Killer K.I.T.T.," "Knight Behind Bars," "Many Happy Returns," "Out Of the Woods," and "Deadly Knightshade."

Now, the DVD flaws...

First off, the episode synopsis has been removed from each epsiode, as has the chapter selection menu. While these synopses are included on the back of each DVD case, some consistency with the first three seasons would have been nice. Secondly, the opening teasers are inexplicably missing from two of the episodes: "Knight Song" and "The Scent Of Roses." As if that weren't enough, there's overcropped shots, particularly noticeable in each opening credit sequence. The results are shots that appear to be way too zoomed in. Next comes the downgrade in sound. Season 4 was originally the only season of the show broadcast in Stereo. The DVD set states that the sound is now Mono, which has resulted in dead flat sound. In fact, my 20-year-old VHS tape of some original Season 4 airings seems to have richer sound which is pathetic. And speaking of sound, once again there are certain sound effects missing (as there were on the Season 3 set), which are most noticeable in the season premiere, "Knight Of the Juggernaut." Yet another problem with this set: cheap, double-sided, made in Mexico discs, which are becoming more and more frequently defective. I actually had to exchange this set due to my players not being able to read certain episodes. Universal is in the process of redoing the Season 3 sets, and hopefully they will do the same thing with the Season 4 set.

However, on the positive side, this is surprisingly the first season since Season 1 that has all of its original music intact. Of course, "Knight Rider" was always unique in the fact that it mostly utilized cover songs, so it must never have been too much of a problem for Universal to afford most of the songs in this series. But thankfully, Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero" is still included in the season premiere (probably the most important song next to "White Bird" in "The Scent Of Roses"), which was not a cover. Also on the positive side, there are a couple of bonus features. These are "The Great '80s TV Flashback" (which is included on all of the latest Universal season releases), and K.I.T.T. Blueprints (which, in actuality, is a copy of the "K.I.T.T. Kit," previously a blueprint manual that was released during the show's original run). And fans who will watch "The Great '80s TV Flashback" just for the brief "Knight Rider" segment will be disappointed. The segment consists of mostly interviews taken directly from the Season 1 set, which most fans probably have already bought. So it's pretty much a repeat of what most fans already have. Since this was the final season of the show, obviously Universal couldn't cop-out and put an episode of the next season to call a "bonus feature." The extras are nothing great (especially if you own other Universal shows which have the same featurette), but they are better than nothing. And they come at the expense of many flaws with this DVD set.

Again, picture quality is decent, but not perfect, and for the first time the episodes do not appear dark like the first three sets. Unfortunately there are still a lot of shots with visible dust and dirt specs, which is a disappointment considering that Season 1 didn't seem to be as plagued with this problem. But the fact of the matter is that this is still the best that "Knight Rider" has ever looked compared to syndication, VHS tapes, or the old Columbia House DVD releases. It's just a shame that once again Universal has released a half-hearted DVD set. By this point it's painfully obvious that they just don't care about their shows. It's a tragedy that this company owns some of the best TV/movie franchises ever, as they in some way screw up nearly all of their DVD releases... If none of these DVD issues bother you, then by all means pick up this set despite the fact that Universal doesn't deserve the money.

Absolutley love this season. Yeah, Super Pursuit Mode can be perceived as cheesy now, but 20 years ago, it was the best. You can say a lot of things from the 80's were cheesy, but let's get back to Knight Rider.

I was 9 years old when this show came out. And when you are that age, and a TV show comes out with a talking car and a driver with the same first name as you (Michael), you're sure to become a huge fan.

In addition to SPM, they got EBS and a new convertible roof for K.I.T.T.! And how could we forget, Michael and Stevie finally get married in the episode titled "The Scent of Roses." "Killer K.I.T.T." was great too. Gotta own this season. It's a must have. Hasselhoff for president!

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