Knight Rider Season 1 DVD Review - by Neil Epstein

For years one question would always be asked about Knight Rider, where could one get episodes of the series? It used to be that the only way to see an episode in it's original entirety would be for you to subscribe to an over priced mail order, import select episodes on DVD or get ripped off on eBay by homemade collectiors generations part original in quality. Finally these times are slowly coming to an end thanks to Universal who on August 3rd releases Knight Rider Season 1 DVD.

If your reading a review on a Knight Rider site, the chances are pretty good that you are well aware of the back story, so I'm going to spare you with a summary of the show itself. (If not, feel free to check here). The basics are this, one man fights to make the a difference with his super car. In this first season of four, we see the introduction of Michael, KITT, Devon, and Bonnie who is KITTs beautiful mechanic and scientist. We meet Stevie for the first time as well as the prototype of the future and KITTs predecessor KARR. It was the highest rated season of the series, and the quality of the show is obvious from episode to episode

Packaging:
The packaging for the set is very impressive and stands out well in your DVD collection. From a Red and Blue shimmering metallic exterior slides out a five fold sleeve with every surface covered with imagery and iconography of the series. A real appreciation to the series is evident upon opening this package. Images from different moments in the series are laid out over the box. A couple images happen to not be from the first season but it doesn't distract from the overall package, and the goods are really what is on the disc. Some may comment that the packaging lacks the trademark Knight Rider font, but that's doesn't bother me as this updated version sells it pretty well. However, all the menus on the disc use the classic Knight Rider font, and that creates an inconsistency that does bother me bit, but more on those later.

Navigation:
While the package itself is very impressive, the inside package is equally so. For the menu a video montage of typical Knight Rider moments play on a loop while a Red scanner appears and swooshes in, complete with sound effect every 30 seconds or so; all the while the Knight Rider theme plays in the background. Each disc has a selection of 4 basic choices. The "Play All" feature plays all the episodes on that side in sequence, when the Pilot ends Deadly Maneuvers begins on the next second. The "Episode Index" section allows you to play one episode at a time. Each episode has a brief synopsis before selection. "Bonus Materials" is available even on discs with out the features. It shows you what materials are on the DVD set, allowing you to highlight only those which are on your current disc, if your disc has no bonus features only the option to return to the menu is selectable. "Languages" allows you to choose your spoken language track (for the pilot) and closed caption on (english) or subtitles (spanish or french).

The navigation during the actual episodes is a bit disappointing, as it seems to be limited to just a few each episode. When you play an episode the teaser for that episode begins to play before the episode. However if you hit chapter advance to get past it, the next chapter stop is after the first commercial break, meaning that you skip past the credits and the first portion of the episode. So you are forced to just fast forward through the parts or sit through it. Each episode only has 4 chapter marks. Which is most annoying for an episode such as the Pilot which is under two hours in length and only has 4 chapter marks. By comparison the Region 2 release of the Pilot episode on DVD has 11 chapter marks. Even the one hour episodes on the Region 2 discs had 8 breaks, here they too have 4 chapter breaks. Yes, the beauty of DVD is that you don't have to spend time rewinding or fast forwarding the same way you had to do with VHS, but still such a simple addition would make it easier.

Video:
As you can see by Video Comparison the quality is much improved from previous releases such as the Region 2 disc. You simply could have not asked for a better picture. Everything has been improved across the board; the greens are greener and the reds are redder. While the color in the Region 2 disc was flat, here everything has more depth, it is more vibrant and more defined. It still looks dated, there is only so much that can be done with the stock that a 1980s TV series would film with, but it is much improved. People and objects separate from the background instead of fading into it. It's Knight Rider like you've never seen before. Where ones eyes looked muted in color in Region 2, you can distinctly recognize the blue in ones eyes. Not that it is necessary for you to see the true color of the eyes, but it helps to define the detail that you can see in the new collection. Dust and scratches have also been reduced significantly but is still visible from time to time, especially on stock footage that they used in certain episodes.

Audio:
As with most shows of the decade, the audio was recorded and presented in Mono audio. No enhancements to the audio have been noticed, but the overall quality appears crisp and clear.

Extras:
Disc one contains my favorite feature on the set, the audio commentary by David Hasselhoff and Series Creator and Executive Producer Glen Larson. While the commentary does have a good amount of dead air, when they do talk they say pretty interesting things. Hasselhoff is very energetic and enthused about future Knight Rider projects, while Larson plays off him pretty well with some sarcastic humor. What initially feels like attacks against Hasselhoff grows to feel like a mutual respect for one another. Details are revealed on the genesis of the series, filming locations, stunts, musical choices, casting, bad line readings and other areas. On Disc 3 is "Knight Moves" a 6 minute documentary on the various stunts and jumps, "Knight Sounds" also about 6 minutes talks about the theme and the sounds of the show. Disc 4 has the 1990 "Knight Rider 2000" movie, which is a welcomed, but questionable addition. Questionable because the movie takes place after Season 4, so it would make sense to have it in that Season, not Season 1. Also on the fourth and labeled "Bonus Disc" is "Knight Rider Under the Hood" just under 20 minutes which features interviews with Hasselhoff, Larson, Jack Gill, Joe Huth and Stu Phillips. It repeats some of the things you've learned from the commentary, but is a great piece. There is a "Photo Gallery" that plays publicity photos fading into one another while Knight Rider related music plays in the background. The "Blueprints Gallery" displays various set building blueprints from the series, The FLAG mobile unit, the set for the Jail where KITT breaks out Michael in the pilot episode and then shows the actual set in use from the episode. Finally we have "KITT Owner Manual" which uses Juha Terho Season One dash drawing and divides it amongst three screens that scroll from one section to each other. Each area is selectable and displays information about its function.Various KITT ambient sound effects are playing and when you select KITTs display a nice animation and audio appears.

Final Thoughts:
This is THE collection that so many have wanted and cried for a long time. It packs the whole first season, the 1990 movie and enough extras to tide us over until a future Season 2 release. I would love to see the features extended in length on the next release, with outtakes and bloopers that Hasselhoff himself mentions. Regardless, this is without a doubt the best release of Knight Rider on any medium, and it's worth of a place on your DVD shelf. Many thanks to all the hard working people that made this Disc what it is!

Available August 3rd from:

Universal Home Video
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble
Best Buy
buy.com
Circuit City

and Other DVD stores near you!