Customer Reviews

Knight Rider - Season Four

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

I am probably one of the few people who thought Knight Rider deserved more than four seasons and I remember the day that it was announced that Knight Rider was going on hiatus. NBC should have kept Knight Rider going longer than four seasons. Seasons 2,3 and 4 are my favorite seasons. Knight of the Juggernaut starts the series off with a bang when KITT is destroyed by an armoured vehicle. The last episode, Voodoo Knight is the worst episode in the series and I've heard that they are going to put Knight Rider on the big screen. Let's hope it's better than the Dukes of Hazzard movie. The actors who played Bo and Luke- were horrible. Casting ben Affleck as Michael Knight is a bad move. Michael Knight is one character that only Hasseloff can play.

Knight Rider season four is brilliant and the best season. MY only problem is Voodoo Knight.

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!

The KR legend concludes with this bittersweet season, as KITT gets a major overhaul with the Super-Pursuit Mode and Peter Parros brings a much welcome African-American presence to the FLAG team with his RC3 character. I agree with the other reviewer that this show deserved more than 4 seasons, but then again so many good shows were axed in their prime by NBC. Remember ST:TOS and Miami Vice? And who could forget what NBC did to Seaquest DSV. Then you see idiotic shows like the Simpsons go on for 17 seasons. What are people watching these days???

Instead they focus on trash television like The Apprentice. No wonder I dont watch that network.

NBC...youre fired!!!...by me!

I admit that 4th season isn't the greatest of the show, and it certainly has it's dorky moments, but it's still fun to watch and it's still Knight Rider at heart. True fans will buy this regardless, and new fans should watch this just to finish up the show.

I buy many many DVDs, some I question afterwards, but I've never doubted Knight Rider for a moment.

I just recently purchased Knight Rider Season 4 and it left me wanting to see more of Michael Knight and his talking car K.I.T.T. This season is definitely great in wrapping up the show but it could have gone on for a few more seasons. A lot happens in this season: Michael Knight gets married, K.I.T.T. nearly becomes destroyed and a new central character is added to the show. If you have watched the first three seasons of Knight Rider, then you must watch the Fourth and Final Season of Knight Rider!

This is the third of this series and is as good as the rest. It's different than whats on tv now.

The program seems written for pre-teens, but my husband and I enjoy remembering the 80s by watching these episodes. No criminal is ever too scary, and it's fun to laugh at the unrealistic technology. The good guys always win and even the bad guys rarely die. We enjoy it so much that we have collected the whole series.

I always like watch Knight Rider when i was younger. Iwas glad when I found the series on DVD and I went ahead and puchased the complete collection. All four seasons brought back memories and it shows how advance TV and special effects have come. It was a great season for Knight Rider and I'm sorry the series did not continue .