Knight Rider 2010 - what could have been (a script review)
Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 9:28 am
I actually enjoyed "Knight Rider 2010". There, I said it. Let that sink in for a moment and I'll explain.
Was KR 2010 a good "Knight Rider" movie? No, not really. However, it was an interesting sci-fi yarn much like the "Hercules" movies of that time were fun, "turn your brain off" fantasy adventures. The movie presented some fascinating ideas that, sadly, were not taken far enough to make the movie a solid film. While poking around the web I found this web site: http://www.fortunecity.com/tatooine/phl ... 9/id60.htm which has an early draft of the "Knight Rider 2010" script.
Now, I'll preface this review by saying that I'm assuming the above article is genuine since everything else on that site appears legit. For all I know, this is a speculative work of fan fiction, but it introduces some ideas that I found interesting enough to discuss. I also believe this was a very early draft of the script (possibly the first) so it is rather weak in terms of dialogue and it feels like many scenes were going to be revised later on had this version of the story been shot.
Summary:
Forget the "Knight Rider 2010" that you know, this is a much different story. Set in the year 2010, the United States has become a "smoke free" country where smoking is banned in a (then) modern day Prohibition movement. As a result, criminals now charge up to fifteen dollars per cigarette in secret "smoking houses".
As the script begins, we see a seventh generation K.I.T.T. chasing down a van belonging to these criminals, driven by one of the best "Knight Riders", a man named Woodyard. Unfortunately he is ambushed and killed. The criminals try to capture the supercar, but K.I.T.T. self destructs before they can get their hands on him.
To replace Woodyard, the military enlists K.D. Hackett, a promising cadet right out of the academy. Going with her is Lincoln, her love interest and a mechanical/computer whiz. Together, the two try to track down those who took down Woodyard. They are given permission to build their own custom K.I.T.T. car but Brady, the man in charge of the K.I.T.T. program tells them they cannot, under any circumstances, change the artificial intelligence (the 2100) in the car.
During the process of investigating Woodyard's murder, K.D. is killed and Lincoln is left with K.I.T.T. and the results of a project he and K.D. had begun years ago: the creation of an AI based on a human being. In this case, he has K.D. on a series of disks. Enlisting the help of a hacker, he takes out the car's existing AI and replaces it with K.D.'s. She gains awareness and struggles with her strange new existence as she and Lincoln work together to take down the criminals responsible for the murder of two Knight Riders.
By the end of the story, Lincoln succeeds and he is given a full status as a Knight Rider with K.D.'s unique vehicle as his own.
Review:
Ok, let's get the bad stuff out of the way first.
The idea of a "Smokeless" USA is extremely outdated. Written in the super politically correct 90's, I can see what the writers were trying to do with this. It gives a lite-dystopian view of the world where something as simple as cigarette smoking has been banned. It automatically creates an uncomfortable atmosphere because you begin asking yourself whether this is a world you would want to be a part of (whether you smoke or not). However, this theme is never really explored. In fact, we are meant to root for the "good guys" who are the ones who have to enforce this seemingly unfair policy - and that automatically takes them down a notch.
The other major criticism I have is that the script does not present a lot of action. There are maybe a total of three fight scenes and only one scene of major "car action" towards the end. I'm sure later revisions (and some cool stunt coordination) would have spiced it up a bit, but as it stands it would have been a bit dull to watch.
Perhaps the worst part of the script is that K.I.T.T. (any of them) have virtually no personality. The K.I.T.T. AI has all the charisma of a talking GPS. I think this might have been deliberate to contrast the K.I.T.T. AI from K.D. once her "mind" is inserted into the car. However, she doesn't show much personality either! I think if the script had gone through revisions in this direction they probably would have inserted better dialogue between her and Lincoln.
Despite these problems, there are some really good ideas at the heart of this story - some of which carried over to the "Knight Rider 2010" that actually aired. Lincoln is clearly the template for the character we would know later as Jake McQueen. He is the reluctant hero who eventually rides off into the sunset with his car (metaphorically speaking). K.D. is the early version of Hannah, though no "mind crystals" are involved here. The hacker Odyssey is reminscent of Dean (who, in the final movie, helps Jake build his car). There is even a sequence in this script that carries over to the final movie where the car is built and lots of dramatic angles and tech are described for the vehicle. Also, the idea that criminals are rampant everywhere, even forming their own social institutions is echoed in the final product via "The Zones".
Of course, the primary element carrying over is a man who is in love with the soul in his car - a dramatic extension of the real life "love" men are often portrayed as having for their cars. As a concept carried over for a "reimagining" of Knight Rider, this has its pros and cons. The cons are simple: it's not the core of what Knight Rider was. Part of KR's original appeal was the "buddy/partner" relationship between Michael Knight and KITT. This was akin to the relationship of two cops who are partners and it worked really well. Adding a romantic (dare I say, romantic) context strays from the core of the show. That said, it adds an emotional depth that did not exist in the original show and allows for some interesting story possibilities to explore on the nature of existence, what is "reality" etc. Coupled with the virtual reality ideas that were so pervasive in science fiction at the time, this would have been interesting to see if you take one step back from the 80's show.
The cars themselves show potential, and each has offensive weaponry as one would expect from a law enforcement "super car". They are bulletproof, though the MBS is never mentioned by name. Some hacking abilities are shown too with K.I.T.T. breaking a password lock at one point and K.D. entering a company's mainframe via a "virtual" world. I suspect more might have been added, budget allowing and if this had gone to series. I love the idea that Wilton Knight's dream has spread across the country where there are K.I.T.T. cars in every state out there helping to enforce the law. I also dig the idea that the drivers are all hand selected from groups like the military.
Brady, the man now running the Knight Rider program is an interesting contrast to Devon or Wilton. He firmly believes in "hope in a hopeless world" but he does not believe that "One man can make a difference." In many ways he feels like someone who was once an idealist but saw too many people die over time fighting for justice. Yet some part of him still clings on to hope despite his bitterness.
As characters, Lincoln and K.D. feel a bit forced. They're in love, but they can't admit it etc. I think these elements could have been developed more, but the core of a young couple with a strong bond is there, and that is a good starting point. Lincoln is a military man here (much like McQueen was in the final product) and he has a rebellious streak that I like. However here he is much more of a techie, an aspect lost in the character's transition to becoming Jake McQueen. These two characters needed the most work, but I think given another draft or two they could have been improved significantly.
I make little mention of the bad guys since they are mostly ciphers. The only aspect I found interesting is that one of the bad guys is a collector who wants "a K.I.T.T. car" in his collection. I'm sure part of the idea is to reverse engineer the technology in the vehicle, but he seems to want the vehicle itself as a collectors item, which I thought was a humorous touch.
I think in some ways the "Knight Rider 2010" that could have been would have appealed more to KR fans than the one we finally got. That said, I'm not sure the hardcore fans could have accepted this as a full blown series the way other "Action Pack" movies such as Hercules and Xena became long running shows. This particular franchise may have worked best as a series of films instead.
It also struck me that over time the cost of producing this type of show might have been pricey since the cars do under go quite a bit of damage as they shoot and burn each other (or just self destruct). In this day and age, CGI would mitigate that but back in the early 90's I'm not sure it may have been as effective.
Overall, some good ideas but it needed work.
Was KR 2010 a good "Knight Rider" movie? No, not really. However, it was an interesting sci-fi yarn much like the "Hercules" movies of that time were fun, "turn your brain off" fantasy adventures. The movie presented some fascinating ideas that, sadly, were not taken far enough to make the movie a solid film. While poking around the web I found this web site: http://www.fortunecity.com/tatooine/phl ... 9/id60.htm which has an early draft of the "Knight Rider 2010" script.
Now, I'll preface this review by saying that I'm assuming the above article is genuine since everything else on that site appears legit. For all I know, this is a speculative work of fan fiction, but it introduces some ideas that I found interesting enough to discuss. I also believe this was a very early draft of the script (possibly the first) so it is rather weak in terms of dialogue and it feels like many scenes were going to be revised later on had this version of the story been shot.
Summary:
Forget the "Knight Rider 2010" that you know, this is a much different story. Set in the year 2010, the United States has become a "smoke free" country where smoking is banned in a (then) modern day Prohibition movement. As a result, criminals now charge up to fifteen dollars per cigarette in secret "smoking houses".
As the script begins, we see a seventh generation K.I.T.T. chasing down a van belonging to these criminals, driven by one of the best "Knight Riders", a man named Woodyard. Unfortunately he is ambushed and killed. The criminals try to capture the supercar, but K.I.T.T. self destructs before they can get their hands on him.
To replace Woodyard, the military enlists K.D. Hackett, a promising cadet right out of the academy. Going with her is Lincoln, her love interest and a mechanical/computer whiz. Together, the two try to track down those who took down Woodyard. They are given permission to build their own custom K.I.T.T. car but Brady, the man in charge of the K.I.T.T. program tells them they cannot, under any circumstances, change the artificial intelligence (the 2100) in the car.
During the process of investigating Woodyard's murder, K.D. is killed and Lincoln is left with K.I.T.T. and the results of a project he and K.D. had begun years ago: the creation of an AI based on a human being. In this case, he has K.D. on a series of disks. Enlisting the help of a hacker, he takes out the car's existing AI and replaces it with K.D.'s. She gains awareness and struggles with her strange new existence as she and Lincoln work together to take down the criminals responsible for the murder of two Knight Riders.
By the end of the story, Lincoln succeeds and he is given a full status as a Knight Rider with K.D.'s unique vehicle as his own.
Review:
Ok, let's get the bad stuff out of the way first.
The idea of a "Smokeless" USA is extremely outdated. Written in the super politically correct 90's, I can see what the writers were trying to do with this. It gives a lite-dystopian view of the world where something as simple as cigarette smoking has been banned. It automatically creates an uncomfortable atmosphere because you begin asking yourself whether this is a world you would want to be a part of (whether you smoke or not). However, this theme is never really explored. In fact, we are meant to root for the "good guys" who are the ones who have to enforce this seemingly unfair policy - and that automatically takes them down a notch.
The other major criticism I have is that the script does not present a lot of action. There are maybe a total of three fight scenes and only one scene of major "car action" towards the end. I'm sure later revisions (and some cool stunt coordination) would have spiced it up a bit, but as it stands it would have been a bit dull to watch.
Perhaps the worst part of the script is that K.I.T.T. (any of them) have virtually no personality. The K.I.T.T. AI has all the charisma of a talking GPS. I think this might have been deliberate to contrast the K.I.T.T. AI from K.D. once her "mind" is inserted into the car. However, she doesn't show much personality either! I think if the script had gone through revisions in this direction they probably would have inserted better dialogue between her and Lincoln.
Despite these problems, there are some really good ideas at the heart of this story - some of which carried over to the "Knight Rider 2010" that actually aired. Lincoln is clearly the template for the character we would know later as Jake McQueen. He is the reluctant hero who eventually rides off into the sunset with his car (metaphorically speaking). K.D. is the early version of Hannah, though no "mind crystals" are involved here. The hacker Odyssey is reminscent of Dean (who, in the final movie, helps Jake build his car). There is even a sequence in this script that carries over to the final movie where the car is built and lots of dramatic angles and tech are described for the vehicle. Also, the idea that criminals are rampant everywhere, even forming their own social institutions is echoed in the final product via "The Zones".
Of course, the primary element carrying over is a man who is in love with the soul in his car - a dramatic extension of the real life "love" men are often portrayed as having for their cars. As a concept carried over for a "reimagining" of Knight Rider, this has its pros and cons. The cons are simple: it's not the core of what Knight Rider was. Part of KR's original appeal was the "buddy/partner" relationship between Michael Knight and KITT. This was akin to the relationship of two cops who are partners and it worked really well. Adding a romantic (dare I say, romantic) context strays from the core of the show. That said, it adds an emotional depth that did not exist in the original show and allows for some interesting story possibilities to explore on the nature of existence, what is "reality" etc. Coupled with the virtual reality ideas that were so pervasive in science fiction at the time, this would have been interesting to see if you take one step back from the 80's show.
The cars themselves show potential, and each has offensive weaponry as one would expect from a law enforcement "super car". They are bulletproof, though the MBS is never mentioned by name. Some hacking abilities are shown too with K.I.T.T. breaking a password lock at one point and K.D. entering a company's mainframe via a "virtual" world. I suspect more might have been added, budget allowing and if this had gone to series. I love the idea that Wilton Knight's dream has spread across the country where there are K.I.T.T. cars in every state out there helping to enforce the law. I also dig the idea that the drivers are all hand selected from groups like the military.
Brady, the man now running the Knight Rider program is an interesting contrast to Devon or Wilton. He firmly believes in "hope in a hopeless world" but he does not believe that "One man can make a difference." In many ways he feels like someone who was once an idealist but saw too many people die over time fighting for justice. Yet some part of him still clings on to hope despite his bitterness.
As characters, Lincoln and K.D. feel a bit forced. They're in love, but they can't admit it etc. I think these elements could have been developed more, but the core of a young couple with a strong bond is there, and that is a good starting point. Lincoln is a military man here (much like McQueen was in the final product) and he has a rebellious streak that I like. However here he is much more of a techie, an aspect lost in the character's transition to becoming Jake McQueen. These two characters needed the most work, but I think given another draft or two they could have been improved significantly.
I make little mention of the bad guys since they are mostly ciphers. The only aspect I found interesting is that one of the bad guys is a collector who wants "a K.I.T.T. car" in his collection. I'm sure part of the idea is to reverse engineer the technology in the vehicle, but he seems to want the vehicle itself as a collectors item, which I thought was a humorous touch.
I think in some ways the "Knight Rider 2010" that could have been would have appealed more to KR fans than the one we finally got. That said, I'm not sure the hardcore fans could have accepted this as a full blown series the way other "Action Pack" movies such as Hercules and Xena became long running shows. This particular franchise may have worked best as a series of films instead.
It also struck me that over time the cost of producing this type of show might have been pricey since the cars do under go quite a bit of damage as they shoot and burn each other (or just self destruct). In this day and age, CGI would mitigate that but back in the early 90's I'm not sure it may have been as effective.
Overall, some good ideas but it needed work.