did you like the nbc kr movie??

[Arroww']

I think the pilot was very good, I hope to see a new series as soon as possible!

[suds91]

Well, the movie was OK, just OK, thats it. I was hoping for some kick-ass technology coming out from this new car, hell, its 2008 already. Kitt did the same things 20 years ago... Bullets would bounce of the car, nothing could dent or scuff the paint and it drove fast. The only thing I remember that Kitt could do new was change its paint job. Where was all the lights and gadgets on the dashboard, where was the rockets, the lazers... why didnt Kitt hit a turbo boost and just jump over a few cars when the bad guys where chasing him. Why cant it turn invisible? Where was all the new stuff that they had 20 years to develop???? And Im sorry, the Shelby GT is a great car, but I wish they would have used the new Camaro. Again, I like the movie but wishing I would have seen something really out of this world that Kitt could do now that would make me want to know what else this car can do, to watch again. Nothing really got me excited. Remember, the main charactor of the series is the CAR!! And really didnt get to know Kitts charactor. And another thing, the direction of this is so 80's, other than the lesbian scene in the begining of the movie. It seems that they are trying to direct this like before, (beaver cleaver) drama with a few tweaks, but its not working in this day and age. It may attract us 40+ crowd for a while, but even we are looking for MORE!!!! I did like that the "The Hoff" made an appearance, I wish we would have seen him leaving in a black trans-am from a distance.... But that was the best part of the movie for us original night rider fans. As much as Id like to see more of "The Hoff ", DONT BRING HIM BACK UNLESS HE HAS HIS KITT!!!!!! Come on, that would really be cool, to have an episode with both Kitts!!!!! Anyway, I have talked enough.. I think that they blew a big chance on attracting NEW Night Rider fans with the younger generation with the lack of giving us more of the car, and the direction of this movie was two 80's. I could have done a better job!!!!!

[MacKnight]

Hi all,

i've been a browsing member for a few years but only registered to give my thought's on the the KR Pilot.

it's not been broadcast in the UK yet, but I have watched the Pilot and I was dissapointed with it.

One major question is where did Charles come from? from the original pilot 'Knight of the Phoenix' - Wilton Knight had KITT built by a team of people, and in the episode 'Junkyard Dog' where KITT get's dumped in the acid, they assemble the original mechanics behind KITT who built him. Not one of them was called Charles Graiham or whatever you call him!

In the new film all we are told is that he designed and built the original...

Also the total disregard of Knight Rider 2000 and the Knight Industries 4000... Glen Larson must be suffering memory loss or amnesia.

I just don't see how so many fault's can be passed off in the new pilot/series!

And is it me, or everytime I hear the new KITT talk I get a vision of Batman?! please... no more Val Kilmer!

Sorry folks, but the whole thing wasn't thought out too good and was a major dissapointment. I waited for many years with talk of KR returning, and after watching the pilot it was a waste of 8 years hope.

[PHOENIXZERO]

You've been a "browsing member" yet only signed up today and somehow missed the dozens of similar post and responses to them okay.

[MacKnight]

and I asked for your input... when?

I didn't.

[PHOENIXZERO]

I didn't know I needed your permission to respond to you. Oh wait, I don't.

[Knight|GTR]

Really nice movie, hope it won't crash the image of Knight Rider in my soul...

[goldbug]

One major question is where did Charles come from? from the original pilot 'Knight of the Phoenix' - Wilton Knight had KITT built by a team of people, and in the episode 'Junkyard Dog' where KITT get's dumped in the acid, they assemble the original mechanics behind KITT who built him. Not one of them was called Charles Graiham or whatever you call him!

True, but that episode never said "These are the only scientists who were EVER involved in KITT's construction." Also keep in mind they credited KITT's creation to Wilton Knight as well. It's semantics. Whenever you say someone created something as complex as an AI and vehicle, you can say "So and so built it" but it's usually implied that other people were involved. Graiman may have been one of the earlier designers who was sent into hiding by the time of "Junkyard Dog". At least that's been my interpretation.

Also the total disregard of Knight Rider 2000 and the Knight Industries 4000... Glen Larson must be suffering memory loss or amnesia.

Glen Larson only had a credit due to a contractual obligation for KR projects to have his name as Executive Producer.

That said, this movie is a direct continuation from the original series, disregarding all other spin-offs. There are (at this time) several distinct KR continuities:

KR -> Knight Rider 2000
KR -> Team Knight Rider
KR -> KR 2008
Knight Rider 2010

I just don't see how so many fault's can be passed off in the new pilot/series!

They're not really faults. As with any pilot, it does have its faults, I just don't see the two things you mention above among them.

And is it me, or everytime I hear the new KITT talk I get a vision of Batman?! please... no more Val Kilmer!

I don't since Val Kilmer has done many roles in his career, Batman just being one. I don't have Kilmer pigeon holed as Batman any more than I hear Mr. Feeny from "Boy Meets World" when I hear KITT speak in the original series.

[PHOENIXZERO]

Val Kilmer portrayed Batman as did Will Friedle in Batman Beyond and he also starred on Boy Meets World, which featured William Daniels as Mr.Feeney who of course was the voice of the original KITT and now the new KITT is Val Kilmer.

[Knight2000]

I liked some aspects of the movie but not others. Then again, like most of you I'm biased. I've seen the original pilot more times than other show, including other KR eps. I've fallen in love with the 80s pilot and that makes it difficult to do a proper comparison.

You need someone who's never watched KR to watch both pilots and then draw comparison.

However, here's my biased view:

- overall it wasn't bad. It wasn't fantastic by any means but I never found it so unbearable that I had to stop or skip ahead or let my mind wander elsewhere.
- I loved the KR references, especially to Wilton Knight (though Wilton's character had more gravitas than any of the characters in the new movie). Hopefully, there'll be more references in the future.
- the car itself. I absolutely abhorred the Mustand when I first saw it. Even now, I still don't like it but not as much as before. TBH the standard mode looks better than any of the other modes, which are unneccessary. I didn't like SPM in the original series, I didn't like the modes here and I particularly hated the spoilers (one is more than enough).
- the technology. I kinda liked the idea of the nanotech shell and the way it worked, being computer-controlled. It's like MBS was back in the 80s. Very little else to go on though. The 80s pilot had a lot more 'gadgets' than this pilot, though maybe the series will introduce more stuff. The KI3T was still fully untested and unfinished so maybe there were more plans Graiman had in mind. Also notice that now Traceur actually has something to look at. I remember MK used to look to the middle of the dash (perhaps where he heard the sound coming from) rather than the voicebox in front of him. Here, the voicebox is on the monitor.
- Val Kilmer. I still hate his voice. The best one I've heard is the scene of the valet and KI3T driving off. As noted above, there was no variation in his voice. It was obviously dubbed in. Maybe the series will be better since it shouldn't be as rushed.
- Traceur He seemed to fit in well. Different to MK yet so similar. My fave scene with him is when he's in the drivers seat with his hands tented, like MK used to do in the original when the Knight2000 was in auto-cruise. I still would have liked more emotion/reaction if someone had killed my mother, regardless of whether he was a monk or the Incredible Hulk! This was probably my only issue with him.
- The other characters. I liked Graiman's character. He was involved with KITT and KI3T plus he's bringing back the Foundation. He's like WIlton, Devon, Bonnie and April all rolled into one. I hope he sticks around and has a major part in the series. Sarah is reminiscent of Bonnie. Don't need to say much about her. Rivai kinda unnecessary and I'm trying to see how she fits in. As stated before, the bedroom scene was unnecassary and her background could have been explored properly in the series rather than showing off that she's bi/gay. I also agree I wouldn't want my kids to be watching that kind of scene until they're much older. Maybe nbc need to consider their demographic and air the show at an appropriate time. Again, can't say much until the show airs.

[rhdaussiekitt]

I finally got to watch it,

yeah it was good, had some good stuff in the show, like Mike and kitt not getting along..
the parts where we see Mike with 2 girls in bed, not needed, in the OS we knew michael had a different girl in each episode but we never saw them in bed. same with the lady cop/fbi who cares what they like or not..
anyways. I do like kitts new voice box, how it changes colour with the mood of the moment
and when showing some thing on the lower screen it moves the voice line up to the top.
I still think the dash needs some reworking some how, the digital dash / gauges were only shown once from memory,
how often in the OS did you just rewind the dvd just to watch something like the led's scan back n forth..

it was great to see "The Hoff" again, although I hope he gets to do more in the show if becomes a series.
Not too keen about the plane thing at the end, but may only be for certain out of country missions. not sure on that.
the new scanner is kinda cool, though I prefer the original one.
I was kinda dissapointed we didnt get to see much of the old kitt, even the way he was.
Maybe it might grow on me. dunno.. will see what happens next if it makes a series.

[rarivera26]

Hi everyone! I grew up with Knight Rider back in the 80’s, and now I am reading from Iraq all the blogs, reviews, and comments about the new Knight Rider movie. I can’t wait to get back home and actually see the movie (can’t download it on Government computers!). I have to admit that I was disappointed when I first learned that KITT was a Mustang, and even more when I read about the plot of the movie. Granted, I haven’t watched the movie yet so I should not be too critical, but I think it will be really important for the producers to develop in further episodes (if it makes it into a series) if the current KITT is a completely “from-scratch” new vehicle, or if it is a modern version of what the Knight Industries 2000 used to be. In the first case, it would be nice to know what happened to the “old” car --as well as to the rest of the FLAG crew-- and even have it come back to life to work with the new one in one or two episodes. If the car is otherwise an updated version of the old one, I think something like a Corvette would have been a better choice (didn’t have to be the too-expensive upcoming ZR1, but maybe a customized base model looking like a ZR1 for example). In addition, I think that things like the three-bar voice modulator, the gull wing steering wheel, the gadgets on the dashboard, the ability to “turbo boost”, “ski mode”, Williams Daniels voice, the front scanner’s noise, and the particular music theme are all signature features of KITT that should have been brought forward in addition to the new modern features (e.g. nanotechnology, changing paint color, windshield overhead projections, etc). Finally, I don’t know how much history background the new movie includes, but it would be nice if Mike was the son of Michael and Stevie (seasons 1 & 2), and Michael (David Hasselhoff) took the place of Devon as FLAG’s director!! Anyways, so much for criticizing a movie I haven’t seen yet!! Whatever they do, as long as they can develop the KITT-driver relationship of the original series, all-timers should be able to get used to the new version and be able to live again our “shadowy flight!” Greetings from Iraq!

[Xebec]

[
KITT says, that at maximum speed he'll reach Las Vegas in 3h 17min, and when Sarah says, that it's 600miles, KITT corrects, that it's 627miles, so:

627miles - 3h 17m (197mins)
Xmiles - 1h (60mins)

X = (627 * 60) / 197 = 37620 / 197 = ~190,964MPH (~307KM/h).

So it's not that fast. As I remmember, K2000 could reach 200MPH without SPM, and 300MPH with SPM. So K2000 even without SPM was faster than K3000.

That was based on road conditions, which IIRC, was a quite mountainous.

[David Whiteheart]

I DVR'd it twice and taped it once. I've seen it about 4 times now and I liked it. I also thought TKR had a chance as well if Universal hadn't had the management turn around.

I'd like to see it as a series since they left the movie open with KITT and Mike on a mission at the end.

It can only survive other series like 24 and Terminator if they make it into a serial series. Granted a high budget series since it will have a lot of special effects with the car. I'm just glad the car can actually be driven by remote instead of a guy with his arms and hands through the drivers seat or sitting behind the passenger seat.

[pheonix_knight]

i can already see that certain shots from the pilot are designed to be 'generic' reusable shots when this goes to series... (especially the morphing to and from attack mode, very reminiscent of SPM especially when the car ground to a halt and the 'wings' all dropped down...)

one of the funniest reused shots i can remember from KOTP was where Devon first activates the 'anti collision' feature in KITT after MK drove him through the garage door at the foundation. The shot of EM's left hand, viewed from the drivers side was reused a few times as DH's right hand for various features... if anyone can make sense of what i just typed you'll know what i mean..

[Marc Knight]

Hi all,

I've watched the New Knight Rider and i liked it!!!
The only thing i missed was KITTs orichinal voice and The cool Trans-Am but i stil like it...

[Kram061-1]

I liked the 3 bar voice modulator better too< I would have liked an upgraded version of that....but I liked Turbo and Ski mode too Maybe the writers/producers are reading this, all the requests for turbo boost and ski mode...anyhow, my feeling is like everyone else pretty much seems to have.......It was a so so pilot. Worth watching, but not worth getting overly excited about....BUT, my thinking is that this pilot is just laying groundwork, a bridge if you will, between the original series and the future one, and I think if this goes to series, you might see a 2 hour series premiere ( as opposed to a pilot ) with a little more action and story-related explaining....

[K2007]

THEY MUST BRING KARR BACK!!!

[Marc Knight]

That would be nice!!!

[McTrooper]

I liked it a lot. I ended up watching the last half of it again when it was re-aired.
It was well paced and compelling. It really managed to get the feel of the original with it's own uniqueness.

I'll look in other threads, but I was surprized they showed old KITT's engine block.
The old writers guild specifically mentions not to show what's under the hood.
So what was that written on the engine supposed to mean?

The only minor . . . they did go a bit far trying to make things slightly risqué.
Mike had two girls at the same time, now they didn't show anything graphic or really imply much, but it just doesn't seem right.
The lesbian FBI agent . . sure they didn't go over board but . .
Those two things didn't seem right in the world of Knight. Thankfully they weren't over played and didn't taint the movie, but they just weren't necessary.

Something that didn't spoil the movie but was the TurboBoost and other stunts like Ski Mod.
I hope if this is picked up the show can get one of those light weight stunt cars for stuff like that.

[McTrooper]

Sorry for the double post, but I couldn't find the EDIT button.

The "loophole" with Charles Graiman started to bug me when they start to make it seem like he did everything all by himself.

I SO want a scene in a series (if they make it) where they have to work on KITT and all of a sudden RC3 and his crew appear out of nowhere and he says "What? You think Charles did it all by himself?!"

That would be hilarious. It would also help with the suspention of disbelief. After all Charles double wouldn't be a genius too and they would need muscle as well to make the new car.

[chieftain]

<begin rant>
I used to watch the series in the '80s when I was a little kid. Still do (reruns, DVD). That said, this movie sucked!

God, was it awful

Back in the '80s, the black t-top was a truly one-of-its-kind car with a unique design. The Ford they put in this movie... well, there are cooler looking cars on other shows/movies.

The theme absolutely, positively sucked. When K3000 overtakes the semi and the music kicks in, I was thrilled... only for the first few seconds. This tune is an abomination. Did these guys even listen to the original tune? There are DJs who make better Knight Rider remixes in their clubs.

Next, let me tell you that these guys are going ruin the show with SO many side-characters. The original had Miles and Bonnie or April until season 4 when they added RC3. This series is already over-cast (sic) and miscast with Graison (the guy looked absolutely clownish - I liked him in Seinfeld but hated him in the X-Men). Sarah reminds me of a typical misty-eyed, "ooh my heart is SOOO broken... AGAIN" character from a Nora Roberts made-for-TV movie. The lesbian chick (yeah, very nice move there, Einsteins).. wtf? And don't even get me started on that funny dork who has no business being on this show or any other. Bruening, however, is perfect for the role.

The plot was a slight improvement over the old KR movie. The part where the guys shoot wildly in the campus... real smart!! And check out the look on the black dude's face as he puts his gun away after being told to do so. Priceless!!

This movie featured some of the cheesiest moments ever. Thanks guys for continuing to ruin what was an excellent, ahead-of-its-time TV show.

<end rant>

[ALIEN17]

This is my honest feeling on it. Watched it on TV first day, was good. Entered the contest and didn't win, ticked me off, other than that and the fact that it was a Mustang had no problem with it. I loved how it could change color too.

[DorianX]

Hey all. I kind of dropped out of active fandom back when the wars over who could hate TKR more were burning, but I decided to jump back in to celebrate the new TV movie.

Which is a shame, because it really, really blew.

Knight Rider 2000, Knight Rider 2010, and Team Knight Rider all failed to really capture the spirit of the original. But they all succeeded in one respect that this recreation did not:

They actually managed to tell a compelling, coherent story.

This, on the other hand, actually tried to stay true to the spirit of the original. But they totally totally failed to tell a compelling or interesting story.

I wrote a very long review of this movie which you can see here: http://blog.trenchcoatsoft.com/2008/03/ ... rence.html, but here's the three key points to my problem with this show:

1. For the love of God: do not make the main characters the macguffin of the pilot. Instead of focusing on action-adventure, the story really focused on the characters. I really like character driven drama, but the thing about it is this: For character-driven drama to work, we have to care about the characters *before* your storytelling can rely on it.

2. Val Kilmer got the role of KITT something like a week before the show *aired*. This is obvious. Will Arnett conveyed more character in the teaser trailer where his only line is "Hello, Mike," than Kilmer did in this entire pilot.

3. Being futuristic is no longer impressive. When I was a kid, you saw KITT jump over a gorge or shake off bullets or fire a rocket out his tail pipe, and you thought "Wow! That is so *cool*! I wish I could do that because then I'd be a hero and have adventures!" When I saw this, I thought "Wow! That is so *convenient*! I wish I could do that because then my commute to work in the morning would be a lot more pleasant, and I'd only need to get gas like four times a year."

[KnightBrain]

Just saw the pilot (in Australia where it has not yet been broadcast) and really enjoyed it.

To quote someone else on here (sorry can't remember who) we were never going to see season 5 of the original series. I thought KR2008 was a very good attempt at updating the franchise for a contemporary audience.

As fans of the original series we have to remember that we only make up a tiny part of the viewing audience. Universal has to make a profitable series for a mass audience and that does mean updating the formula of the original show. Nit-picking tiny plot holes in relation to the original series is an exercise in futility. Technically the writers didn't really need to link the new series with the old at all. I'm sure it would have been far easier for them just to wipe the slate clean and start over. We should consider ourselves, as fans, lucky that they did acknowledge the original series at all.

I thought the Mustang was great, had no problem with "alternative sexuality" (I live in Sydney, one of the gayest cities on Earth!) and thought the whole show was great fun.

I do wonder though whether the Weinsteins will go ahead with the feature film, especially if the series gets picked up and becomes a hit. Creating another line of continuity is confusing for an audience that aren't as familiar with the franchise as the rest of us. Essentially - why go to the movies to pay for something you can see for free on TV?

Yes I know the film and the series aren't connected, but does Joe Average know that? Or much less care?