Knight Rider (2008 TV Movie)
Nitcentral's Bulletin Brash Reflections:
Knight Rider:
Knight Rider (2008 TV Movie)
SUMMARY:
A group of criminals infiltrates the home of brilliant engineer Charles Graiman. Graiman dies of a heart attack while they raid his hard drives, which contain the codes to a secret defense project called "Prometheus" that can take control of the US arsenal. A car races away from the garage and heads to Stanford University, where Graiman's daughter and protege, Sarah, is being followed. The car rescues Sarah - it's a new KITT, the Knight Industries Three Thousand, and it's mission is to protect Sarah, employ the services of one Mike Traceur (her former boyfriend and a man Charles trusts) and stop the Black River security firm from starting a war. It turns out Charles is alive (a body double was the one who died), and he's in hiding with Mike's mother. The group is ambushed and she is killed, but Mike and Sarah chase after the bad guys in KITT. The criminals crash into the super-car (which survives without a scratch) but swear they aren't finished. Charles realizes that the new threats in the world can be taken on with a relaunched Foundation for Law and Government, and wants Mike to be its new agent. Charles built the first KITT, and reveals that Mike's father was Michael Knight, who meets Mike after his mother's funeral. Mike decides to join the team, and later we see him driving KITT out of a jet and onto a long stretch of road...
THOUGHTS:
-Better than expected, though it still didn't capture that old KR feel. I'm glad it disregarded Knight Rider 2000 and Team Knight Rider. The plot was pretty bland, but at least the new KITT was treated with dignity (for the most part). There are some worthless scenes (Mike and the girls in bed, anything with the FBI agent - who quite frankly was just time-filler material) and the sense of wonder is lost (is nobody amazed at a car that talks?) but the second hour was much better than the first, and I would look forward to a series with these characters and special effects.
-The theme song was pretty weak and forgettable, though its visuals were decent (wireframes and such were another reminder of Viper, the 1990s series which was similar to KR and featured a car that could morph into another form - like KITT does here).
-It was great having Val Kilmer as the voice of KITT (Will Arnett was replaced due to a contract dispute with GM). Kilmer has a calmer, more nasal voice, one that hearkens back to the William Daniels days and fits the idea of an intelligent car's voice well.
-Great special effects for a tv movie, especially the crash at the end where the SUV's front end is caved in. As usual though, I could spot it every time there was a shot of KITT done with CGI instead of shooting the actual car (easiest to see in the scanner effect, which looks rougher in the CGI shots). Most of those were conventional shots anyway, so why bother with CGI?
-As you'd expect, there was a lot of Ford product placement during the show (the bad guys drive Ford cars and SUVs) and even during the commercials (where Mike drives another Ford car to keep KITT away - he just keeps ruining Mike's date!). It wasn't excessive, though.
-Great to see Hassehoff as Michael Knight again, though his part is basically wasted (he should have had more lines, and maybe alluded to coming by for a visit "and maybe a ride in my car" or something).
-There were some nice references to the old KR series:
--In Graiman's study, the camera pans over the old "KNIGHT" license plate, the old Foundation logo and a row of buttons which flash red in sequence.
--The theme song (and a selection at the end) contains parts of the original song.
--A bad guy speaks of "an urban legend about an intelligent car built for Wilton Knight." Later, Jennifer (Mike's mother) asks Charles if the new KITT is "another Trans-AM?"
--The driving montages (especially on the way to Las Vegas) are very similar.
--Several shots used when KITT morphs are at the same angles used for Super Pursuit Mode (which was used in season 4 of the old show).
--Michael Knight appears at the end and recalls his choice to be the "one man who can make a difference."
KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand) FEATURES:
(In order of appearance or mention)
+Facial Recognition Scan
+Cell Phone Connection
+GPS/Radar/Satellite Linkup
+Chameleon Skin
+Profiler Software
+Advanced Speed Mode (Bay Area to Las Vegas in 3 hours)
+Earpiece Communicator
+Solar-Assisted Power (167 miles per gallon)
+Keyless Entry (according to Ford commercial)
+Neural Network
+Fingerprint Scanner
+Nanotechnology
NITS:
-KITT says the turn on the mountain pass will likely kill the pursuing baddies, but after Sarah convinces him to take the turn anyway, the baddies make the turn fairly easily.
-The bad guys follow Sarah to Las Vegas via her cell phone signal. So...KITT didn't tell her to turn it off, or at least scramble its signal?
-The old series didn't require KITT's computers to be on for him to be bulletproof (shouldn't the car be made of bulletproof materials anyway?).
-It doesn't matter how tough KITT is - when an SUV slams into the side of a car, it should at least move the car a bit!
By Chris Todaro on Saturday, February 23, 2008 - 7:42 am:I really liked this movie. I'm glad it got good ratings and will very likely be made into a series. I hope they will eventually tell us what happened to the rest of the original Knight rider crew (Bonnie, April, and RC3). I assume Devon is still dead. (Edward Hulhare unfortunatley left us a while ago). I would like to hear them put the melody of the original theme song back in, but it was great to hear the beginning part a couple of times during the movie. I'll also say that I did like the Trans-Am better, but the Mustang was ok.
From what I've read around different websites, some people seem to be bothered by the "sexual" content at the beginning. I don't see what the big deal is. There was no nudity, no actual sex portrayed, and in the case of the "lesbian" scene the two women were not even seen in bed together nor did they discuss any sexual encounter. Any kid watching would probably think they were roommates.
By steve McKinnon (Steve) on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 - 10:40 am:I liked this re-imagining more than the BIonic Woman, but I'm a Nit-picker and I've got some work to do.
Cliche Time;
1. The good-looking stud-muffin star (Mike Traceur) has a geeky/nerdy best friend.
2. Michael Knight observes the funeral from a distance, wearing dark sunglasses.
3. The bad guy is the only survivor of a car crash, allowing him to return for future episodes. (although this is okay with me, because Greg Ellis as Welther has potential as an arch-enemy for Traceur).
4. A small gang (the ones that wanted money from Traceur's wimpy friend) are led by a short, nerdy-kind of guy. They would have been more imposing if their leader looked like Robert Mitchum or Charles Bronson-- somebody scary- looking!
5. The lesbian cop's partner is a not too-smart male cop.
Although a good-looking car, jam-packed with computer software abilities, this KITT isn't a match for the coolness of the original Trans Am KITT. I liked the way it could change color, and the computer graphics, but it just wasn't impressive enough for me for these reasons;
1. Only bullit-proof as long as the computer is on. The original had a chemical bonding on it, so this seems a step backwards.
2. No turbo-boost. Nothing cooler than a car that can almost fly, leaping over blockades and freaking out the bad guys. This KITT was glued to the road.
3. No gadgets. Okay, it's not James Bond's Astin Martin, or Batman's Batmobile, and it was made clear that a bunch of functions are untested or not ready for use, but smoke bombs, lasers, grendades, blades, something!!! could have been shown. This IS a pilot, after all, and you want to go all out, and not hold back.
4. The bluetooth phone connection to KITT, while present-day functional, doesn't compare with Knight's communicator wristwatch. A bad guy would immediately destroy the bluetooth to prevent outside contact-- they never suspected the dual-purpose of Michael Knight's watch.
5. This KITT needs gas???? Another backward step, that 'dumbs-down' this version. It should be like no other car on the road-- don't make it more 'realistic' for me by giving it the ability to run out of gas like my own car!!! Sheesh!
It would seem Sarah replaces Bonnie as the main mechanic for KITT (I like her alot--she's very attravtive), while Bruce Davison as Grainman and Sydney Tamiia Poitier's Carrie Rivai will function as Devon's replacement, sending Traceur out on missions.
And speaking of Devon, I'll miss the interaction between Knight's youthful American 'loner' and Devon's prim British gentleman.
All in all, I'd give it a '6', and hope it gets alot better.
By steve McKinnon (Steve) on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 - 2:38 pm:Two lines that hooked me on the original pilot;
"You don't drive the Knight Industries 2000, you pilot it."
and
"It's not a question of how fast can KITT go, but how fast do you WANT it to go."