Knight Rider

[umainebearman]

Iiiiitttttsssss baaaaaaaaack!!!

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...ndID=329002871

[limacharliewhiskey]

Yeah, the 2 hour movie is this Sunday (and also acts as a pilot for a potential TV series), and KITT is a Mustang. Guess they couldn't use the new Camaro since the Transformers movie called dibs.

[Iguana Man]

GAHHHH!!!

Someone, please tell me this was bad. Real bad. As in, it will be canceled.

I only have room on my Tivo for one more show to be recorded. That is, of course for the new Charlies Angels.

[Brikar99]

As a standalone movie, I'd say it was pretty weak. As a pilot, it fares a little better. But not much. It's major detractors are several:

1. Bad acting. Both of the leads are terrible, and Val Kilmer isn't having any fun as KITT.
2. There's some really, really bad special effects here. Shots of the car moving at high speeds are obviously poorly-composited CG effects.
3. Direction. Most of the car chases are shot more like a car commercial. For every few seconds of genuinely cool chase cinematography, there's another few seconds where I expect a voice to start telling me about getting a 2 year lease for only 289 a month with 2000 due at signing. I don't usually have a problem with product placement, and I have no issues with Ford... but there's a difference between shooting a commercial and shooting a chase. There are plenty other places in the movie to get good shots of the Ford Mustang without having to pull me out of what should be a cool action sequence.
4. Not enough HOFF.

All that said, the potential is there for a decent, light-hearted action/adventure series if they could just get some decent actors and directors. I've seen plenty of awesome network TV car chases ("Alias", for example, had a couple that were damn cool) to know that such things are not outside the realm of possibility on a weekly drama.

[mtcarmel00]

I thought it was mildly entertaining. The acting was pretty awful, like brikar99 said. They've got to replace the main girl. A good actress would have looked at least a little scared/flustered/panicked at the situations her character was being place in. Deanna Russo was too mellow throughout all the dangerous situations in the show.

[Brikar99]

I kinda hope we somehow get to hear what KITT was like when Arnett was voicing him before Kilmer came on. Not that it would make a huge difference in the overall quality of the show, but just as a novelty it'd be interesting.

[Titleist]

Dig through youtube, Arnette's voice was WAY better. Not that it saves this abortion of a movie/pilot.

[Scottish Punk]

If you want somebody to say this show is not worth recording -

"This show is not worth recording"

It was a 2-hour Flord Mustang commercial. Camera, acting, all of it on par with a car commercial. I could only get through the first hour or so and I was done. Is it just me or does every new show have uber good looking people everywhere. The lead actress reminded of Denise Richards being cast as nuclear scientist. The main cop is young and attractive along with the thrown in scenes with her girlfriend. I guess it is the Hasselhoff baywatch formula.

[Reaver]

I wanted to like this, as like many I have a fond nostalgia for the old show, but it really was bad. The lead actor was horrible (yeah, I'm young and attractive, so hire me for anything), the story was boring, and every time the camera was aimed at KITT it turned into a commercial. Someone like Bay would have made this into a blast. As it was, I ended up snoozing.

[Iguana Man]

A friend at work said some Ford Van was right on the ass of this new KITT during a winding road all out event?!?! Is this true?

Are we back to hearing a car shredding tires with a hellacious SQUEAL yet doing it on...gravel? Heheh...sorry to sound so negative but...well...but.

[limacharliewhiskey]

I missed watching this on Sunday, but was planning on watching the airing this comiing Saturday night. Sounds like it's not worth sitting through.

I liked the original Knight Rider, at least the first couple of seasons. Loved that episode with KITT and KARR.

Once they turned KITT into a Transformer in season 3 or 4, that's when I gave up on it.

Read that the ratings on the show were decent. Not sure if it's enough to greenlight a TV series, but considering how bad most of the NBC shows are doing in the ratings department, I wouldn't be surprised if this got turned into a TV series.

[mtcarmel00]

Originally Posted by Iguana Man

A friend at work said some Ford Van was right on the ass of this new KITT during a winding road all out event?!?! Is this true?

Pretty much every car on the show was a Ford. Very realistic.

[dvdfan]

I was surprised that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I remember the silly movies they had a few years after Knight Rider ended, and they were pretty bad. This was much more fun and coherent. I also liked that David Hasselhoff made an appearance, adding a sort of legitimacy to the saga.

We'll see how they go from here. After watching a few reruns of the original Knight Rider, I saw how silly some of them really were. We'll see if they're able to throw a little bit more modernization to it than I would think. Of course, on the heals of Bionic Woman etc. I think it will drop off.

[Brikar99]

Originally Posted by mtcarmel00

Pretty much every car on the show was a Ford. Very realistic.

You're looking for realism in a show about a talking car?

[Slimbus]

Originally Posted by dvdfan

This was much more fun and coherent. I also liked that David Hasselhoff made an appearance, adding a sort of legitimacy to the saga.

Clearly, a show like Knight Rider should strive for legitimacy.

[dvdfan]

Originally Posted by Slimbus

Clearly, a show like Knight Rider should strive for legitimacy.

Bionic Woman didn't even try; now it is dead. So many others, shows and movies, try to ignore the history of a franchise. It works sometimes (Batman Beyond) but doesn't other times (Hulk, among other issues).

Besides, the Hoff wouldn't give his name to a bad series would he?

[Slimbus]

Originally Posted by dvdfan

Bionic Woman didn't even try; now it is dead. So many others, shows and movies, try to ignore the history of a franchise.

Obviously, a cameo from Lindsay Wagner would have changed everything.

[plissken99]

Glad to see no one else liked it either. I enjoyed Val as the voice of Kit, but all else sucked major donkey balls.

At the end when the star asks Hoff if he'll ever see him again, Hoff turns and smiles and I swear meant to say "If the series lasts, you bet your ass. Not like I have anything else to do."

[limacharliewhiskey]

I watched the Saturday night rerun of the show, and I was mildly entertained by it. I thought Kilmer's voice was pretty good for KITT, because he sounded pretty similar to the original KITT voice from the TV show, at least IMO.

I did get a laugh out of the casino scenes, which were shot at the "Montecito" from the Las Vegas TV show. I could see all their distinctive "M" logos on the casino signs and slot machines and could read "Montecito" on a couple of the signs. I was half-expecting James Caan or Tom Selleck or one of the other Las Vegas characters to pop up in a cameo.

Overall, I liked it. Since it is a continuation of the original Knight Rider story and not a reimaging like Battlestar Galactica or Bionic Woman, it was relatively faithful in the type of story, action, and drama level as the original.

If it came back as a TV show, I'd probably watch it, but it'd be on the low priority end of my viewing list.

[mtcarmel00]

Originally Posted by Brikar99

You're looking for realism in a show about a talking car?

Talking cars are real! Have been for almost 20 years. My grandmother had a Dodge in the late '80s / early '90s that could talk. It would say things like, "A door is ajar" and "Please fasten your seatbelt." When you fastened your seatbelt it said "Thank you."

[chiprocks1]

Originally Posted by mtcarmel00

Talking cars are real! Have been for almost 20 years. My grandmother had a Dodge in the late '80s / early '90s that could talk. It would say things like, "A door is ajar" and "Please fasten your seatbelt." When you fastened your seatbelt it said "Thank you."

Thats weird, whenever I had a date in the car, it would always say "Does your mama know where you are"?