The series follows
the thrilling adventures of Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff),
a detective thought to be dead, who's been given a new face and
identity. His assignment: to fight crime with the
help of an
artificially intelligent, talking car named K.I.T.T., a
high-speed, futuristic weapon outfitted with high-tech gadgets and
a personality of its own. Driven by justice, they set out to take
down criminals who operate above the law.
THE VIDEO
Universal presents Knight
Rider in 1.33:1 fullscreen format. The image quality is hit
and miss. Even though the picture suffers from a variety of
specks, lines, and dirt, the video presentation looks fresher
and brighter than I remember seeing on TV. Yes, it sucks a
little that Universal didn't clean up the picture, but I guess
the dated look adds to the show a little. Colors look okay,
saturation is decent. Black levels and dark tones are decent at
best. Optional subtitles
include English (closed captioned), French, and Spanish.
THE AUDIO
Universal presents Knight
Rider in English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. There's nothing
substantial to report here, really. Basically, the dialogue
sounds good enough; it's presented with as much clarity as
possible, there are only a few instances where minor noise picks
up. The sound effects sound pretty good, however, yet parts of
the audio presentation also sound a little quiet. But hey, the
show's very cool theme song sound just great!
THE EXTRAS
Universal comes
out with a few interesting features for this first season DVD
release. It will be interesting to see whether future season
sets will contain something or nothing at all.
First up is an
audio commentary by David Hasselhoff and show writer/creator
Glen Larson on the pilot episode. They share some good
information overall, but there are some quiet moments. The range
of trivia on this track varies, but it's appreciated, though the
enjoyment of the commentary depends on the individual's liking
to the show.
The B side of disc
3 holds two brief featurettes, Knight Moves, a 6-minute
look at the car stunts/driving with Hasselhoff and the show's
stunt coordinator participating in interviews, and Knight
Sounds, a roughly 6-minute piece on the show's music and
theme song. The interview with the composer is good, and I liked
hearing snippets of various music cues from select scene clips
of the first season.
The fourth disc,
or bonus disc, contains the rest of the bonus material, staring
with Knight Rider Under the Hood, a 15-minute
retrospective featurette that looks back at the show and so
forth. Hasselhoff, Glen Larson, and other people participate in
interviews and have some nice things to say. Rounding out the
extras is K.I.T.T. Owner's Manual, an interactive type of
feature with loads of info on the car and its "extra stuff," as
well as a photo gallery and a blueprints gallery.
But wait, there's
one more thing: Knight Rider 2000: The Movie. You can
check it out on the fourth disc, the sequel gets its own disc so
to speak. The film itself is decent, I think. There are a few
cheeky moments, but overall the film plays well enough.
OVERALL
Knight Rider used
to be a favorite show of mine when I was younger, and I was reminded
of a few things after watching the first season on DVD. I never
considered David Hasselhoff's performance as campy or anything, he
delivers his lines and action pretty well. Michael Knight's
relationship with K.I.T.T. works, and sometimes it's quite amusing.
One thing to remember is the show always likes to have fun with wee
criminals who try to jack or hit the car, but mostly the show is
famous for its action-packed chases or car stunts. The theme song is
also very cool, and certainly very memorable. Some of the stories from the first season are a little
weak, or just too simple or generic, but I think the standout episodes
make Knight Rider enjoyable overall. I'm recommending the DVD to fans
of the series.
