Yeah, GuessWho. The lack of a 5,1 track from any film with action scenes is shameful on the studio behind the DVD mastering and production process.

It's really a shame. The PTB had a real chance (for years now) to release a well-done DVD set for KK, and they failed miserably. It's most unfortunate.

I actually like the original mono for the first Terminator better, because in the new audio, some of the gunshots sound like cap guns or something.

I completely agree, Yeti4623. The Terminator's stereo soundtrack is the worst by-far I've ever heard.

It was a bit comical to hear Cameron speak about how much attention had been paid to the Terminator's stereo remastering (he in an interview said the PTB spent almost double the "typical time" on mastering the stereo audio to make certain they gave the sounds the "most realistic treatment possible").

After playing it once, I wondered who thought shotguns sounded like that. The monoral track had more-dynamic shotgun sounds than the stereo track does. It sounds like they took the original sounds and spot-dubbed over them with the new sounds which sound crappy and dramaically less-dynamic. It takes a lot to make stereo sound less-dynamic than monoral, but they did it on Terminator's audio remaster.

The Terminator is still the only DVD I own on which I prefer the non-5.1/non-stereo track (monoral). When proper attention is paid, any DVD's 5.1 audio master can be (and usually is) awesome.

Reviews are disappointing for sure, but it will still be making its way into my collection today

Actually, the mono track on the Terminator is way better than the crappy 5.1 mix. The guns sounded like pea shooters in the 5.

I really don't see the big deal in having the sound 2.0 instead of 5.1. We are talking about a mid-80's drama with mainly talking and little action. The fight scenes in Karate Kid are going to sound the same whether it is in 2.0 or a thin sounding 5.1.

I am happy that it is OAR which is what mattered most to me. 5.1 is important (actually 6.1 even more) to me regarding action, sci-fi, horror films, etc. (films that actually use the sound) but with most dramas, 5.1 is usually under-utilized as it would be with all the Karate Kid films. Sure the supplements could maybe be better but jeez...you are averaging 6 bucks a film. It is not like you are paying out the nose for a Criterion Collection dvd that has no extras & a sub-par transfer.

Personally I wish they would just release Karate Kid by itself so I would not have to buy the sequels. Anyone know if that is going to happen?

When I fork over my money today, I'm considering it $12 per film with 2 films free. I have to position it so I'm not paying for III and Next.

Funny as I know what you mean! I always liked III better than II though. II just kind of bored me while III seemed a little more like the first one (but much sillier) though both pale in comparison to the original film.

As I said in my review, the biggest problem with part III, in my mind, are the villains. They are simply too cartoonish to work in a series that, for the most part, embraced an exaggerated reality instead of a movie world. Johnny and Kreese (in the first flick) and Chozen and Sato were characters whose motivation you could understand (being the bully, being the best, respect, dignity). Terry Silver and Mike Barnes were just ridiculous.

Extend that to the fourth film and multiply by 1000 and you have the bad guys of Next. I don't know if I've seen a studio movie with more over-the-top villains, without them being played for camp value.

Isn't it funny how in Hilary Swank's first starring role she gets trained in the ways of fighting from an elderly curmudgeon and the result is a box office bomb, but her lastest film, she gets trained in the ways of fighting from an elderly curmudgeon and is up for the Oscar. Go figure!

It's the hair.

Think about it...

Next Karate Kid - bust
Boys Don't Cry - boom
Affair of the Necklace (or whatever it was called) - bust
Million Dollar Baby - boom

well i just got this and have to say that i like the packaging. slim keepcases are much nicer than the usual foldout we get. i also put KK1 into my DVD-ROM and its only 6.88GB, leaving almost 2GB for a better bitrate....

Yup, one of the factors that make it a completely half-assed excuse for a DVD set.

I got mine today. The picture on the DVD looks decent, but too dark at times, and a bit too grainy at times. I compared it to an old tape I have of Karate Kid 1, taped off of HBO, in like 1989, and the picture on there looks brighter compared to the DVD picture. What gives? I've seen movies from the 80's, that look like dog poo on VHS, but look almost new on DVD.

Yeah, I also wish the cases were regular size, and the original cover art on the first two, instead of new crappy ones. It smacks of a sort of cash-in, but what can you do.

I wish they made it a Digipack and I also wish they had included the original cover art as well on the front for the first two movies and one the DVD's. I also wish all 4 movies got the SE treatment instead of one. I find it bullshit that we can't at least get another commentary fromAvildsen, Kamen, Macchio and Morita on the last 2 films. I hate half-assed jobs. If you have to charge more, charge more money, but F---ing do it right, otherwise there are going to be alot of pissed people out there(look what happened with Back to the Future). It's here I'm happy, It should have been handled differently, but that's the way it goes.

Oh boy, I have a feeling it's going to be an interesting evening when I get around to watching the fourth KK movie.

I've seen the first three many times and enjoy them all. I never saw the fourth. I'm not even sure I ever really knew or heard about it.

Well, I bought the set, and just watched the first. Sooner or later I'll get there. But it's funny, in figuring the price per movie in this set, I divided the total by three, not four. Huh.

It's easy to overlook the one reason that this isn't the "ultimate" set that everyone wants, money. The studio wants to get Y return out of X spent on the remastering and special features for the movies. Somewhere a team of people decided that the max return on the Karate Kid set would be Y/2 or something, so they spent X/2 on the DVD.

Yes it sucks, but hey it's business..

Gotta go pick up this set today.