Knight Rider 2000 VS Series

[Knight4000]

The car from the movie is FOR SALE on ebay. Check it out. ITem number 2487262583. COOOLLL.

[finalfadeout]

Change is sometimes for the good, sometimes not, but in this case, I vote not. At some point you have to question whether throwing enough out from the original is enough to warrant still considering it the original (and this goes for anything, not just TV series). Scott has some good points, and I truly think the producers had a chance at making an entertaining movie on its own merits...except it wasn't Knight Rider anymore. The only thing in common between the movie and the series besides the name is the actors, and a story centering around an organization that fights criminals with a super car. Personally, I believe I would have enjoyed it better if they just ditched the 'Knight Rider' reference altogether and just used different characters instead. To me, Knight Rider has certain fundamentals, and as different as a movie can be yet still retain them, this movie doesn't. To best describe it, it doesn't have the 'heart' of Knight Rider, nor its charm. This movie had a depressing, melancholy feel throughout (and not just because of Devon), it slaughtered a lot of Knight Rider sacred cows, and had the feeling of a melodrama, not an action/adventure. The chip-in-Shawn was an interesting plot device, but the focus was too overbearing, and Knight Rider was never supposed to be a soap opera. I also think the 'taking place in the future' concept was not necessary, and only detracts from the ability to connect with the movie. And while I didn't despise the K4000, I would have rather a real Banshee or something similar been used instead of the strange looking modified Stealth.

I do have to add tho, that the one thing I think I disliked most of all was the music...that piano ditty, while also being fine by itself but not fitting to the Knight Rider world, was depressing, at times annoying, and often made me wonder if I was really watching Knight Rider or a Lifetime movie of the week. I was hoping that since this was a reunion movie, they would have dispersed more of the Knight Rider motif throughout, which would have added a nice touch.

I try and try to like 'Knight Rider 2000' more and more, but ultimately, to me, that movie is disjunct from the Knight Rider universe, and Michael never left the foundation, Devon still lives, and KITT is still a black car (NOT necessarily a gen 3 Trans am!).

[lewdog]

I also have to say i did not like KR2K,To me it wasnt the same show.There wasnt enough action with K.I.T.T.,and im not calling that blue '57 chevy K.I.T.T.i wish they would have at least used a 4th gen T/A,instead of the red car,which im surprised no one else has added that the red car was a pontiac,a pontiac banchee concept car which led 2 some of the styling of the 90's T/A's,also id like to add that i hope in the new movie they use a 2003 1/2 T/A with the WS6 package[ram air]black i hope,seeing as it was the last year of the T/A,i was 9 when the show aired and have seen all 90 episodes at least twice,and i miss it and cant wait for the movie.who knew kitt would inspire the first convertable T/A.

[finalfadeout]

I agree with you, except that while it was originally envisioned to use a real Banshee for the movie, Pontiac objected, and so a Dodge Stealth was used to create a replica, but not quite, as they weren't allowed to do it exactly. I think when looking at it next to a real Banshee, you can see the changes. The real one looks a lot sleeker and nicer. My main problem with the movie's car is that it is too long, too narrow, and the front end looks strange.

[Jayn]

Of course I am a bit baised because I like old cars but I do think they did a pretty good job. And also I thought KR 2010 was c ool, I wish it was made in a series..

[SPMknight]

Change is sometimes for the good, sometimes not, but in this case, I vote not. At some point you have to question whether throwing enough out from the original is enough to warrant still considering it the original (and this goes for anything, not just TV series). Scott has some good points, and I truly think the producers had a chance at making an entertaining movie on its own merits...except it wasn't Knight Rider anymore. The only thing in common between the movie and the series besides the name is the actors, and a story centering around an organization that fights criminals with a super car. Personally, I believe I would have enjoyed it better if they just ditched the 'Knight Rider' reference altogether and just used different characters instead. To me, Knight Rider has certain fundamentals, and as different as a movie can be yet still retain them, this movie doesn't. To best describe it, it doesn't have the 'heart' of Knight Rider, nor its charm. This movie had a depressing, melancholy feel throughout (and not just because of Devon), it slaughtered a lot of Knight Rider sacred cows, and had the feeling of a melodrama, not an action/adventure. The chip-in-Shawn was an interesting plot device, but the focus was too overbearing, and Knight Rider was never supposed to be a soap opera. I also think the 'taking place in the future' concept was not necessary, and only detracts from the ability to connect with the movie. And while I didn't despise the K4000, I would have rather a real Banshee or something similar been used instead of the strange looking modified Stealth.

I do have to add tho, that the one thing I think I disliked most of all was the music...that piano ditty, while also being fine by itself but not fitting to the Knight Rider world, was depressing, at times annoying, and often made me wonder if I was really watching Knight Rider or a Lifetime movie of the week. I was hoping that since this was a reunion movie, they would have dispersed more of the Knight Rider motif throughout, which would have added a nice touch.

I try and try to like 'Knight Rider 2000' more and more, but ultimately, to me, that movie is disjunct from the Knight Rider universe, and Michael never left the foundation, Devon still lives, and KITT is still a black car (NOT necessarily a gen 3 Trans am!).

FinalFadeOut,
Your post describes perfectly the way I feel towards KR2000. Like you, I have tried watching the movie a few times myself in hopes of liking it more; however, I end up hating it even more.

And you're right about the music, it just felt very out of place. I've always been a huge fan of Jan Hammer's music from the series Miami Vice. To me, his style of music in Miami Vice really helped the audience get a feel for the characters and the whole Miami scene as well. Since Hammer was never involved with the original series of Knight Rider, he simply didn't have a "feel" for what Knight Rider was really about. I have KR2000 playing right now and as I'm listening to the music, it seems to have a resemblance to some of the music used in MV. To me, its the wrong type of music to be used in Knight Rider.

But oh well, at least they tried to make the movie. I'm glad some people enjoyed it because I didn't.

[FuzzieDice]

I agree with you, except that while it was originally envisioned to use a real Banshee for the movie, Pontiac objected, and so a Dodge Stealth was used to create a replica, but not quite, as they weren't allowed to do it exactly.

I get the impression that Pontiac hated Knight Rider. I mean, they had to stop calling KITT a "Trans Am" because Pontiac objected. They lost out on a HUGE market as people were actually ASKING for the modified version of the T/A. Heck they could have done the modifications (some of them, like the nose, and have it talk like the Chyrsler New Yorker did in those days) and made BIG BUCKs on the thing - making THAT the 4th Gen T/As! But no, they cut that short. And then they wouldn't let the KR movie use a Pontiac at all. Well, maybe just as well, seeing as how I'm not a fan of the KR2K movie. But still... I wonder why Pontiac has been like that about KR. And I really love their older cars, too.

[HondaSiR]

The main reason why Pontiac was reluctant in making their Trans Ams as KITT cars in general is because they were constantly being swamped by calls from fans asking if modifications were possible....modifications that included a turbo-boost, a bullet-resistant shell, a flame thrower, an oil-slick gadget, etc. I know it sounds weird but in those days, Pontiac just didn't have the manpower nor the patience to entertain these kinds of requests. All they were interested in was selling their stock Firebirds and not making custom nose-jobs and dashboards (probably too time consuming and financially unfeasible).

[FuzzieDice]

I see your point. But at least they could have given a different nose for a 4th Gen version. That wouldn't have been too hard, given some of the nose-jobs they did before like the Banshee, for example (ok, maybe we won't count that as it was never a production-line model )

I also noticed something else. I was at two auto stores today (one was AutoZone) and there was window decals and goodies for Ford, Honda, "General Motors", and Chevy. NOTHING for Pontiac! I kid you not! It's like, Pontiac don't want people to know they exist? Odd. I would have thought they would have Pontiac stuff at least. Especially a store that sells seat covers, T-Shirts and caps that say "NOS" on them, fuzzie dice and tiny flame decals...

[Lost Knight]

On the contrary, Pontiac was actually excited to be a part of Knight Rider at the time. In fact, they donated the first two 3rd generation Trans Ams off the assembly line to the show. Also, Pontiac frequently donated Trans Ams to the show that were involved in minor accidents and were not legally able to be sold due to specific laws.

The only catch to this was that the show's writers never refer to the car as a Trans Am from then on, as was mentioned earlier. Concerning the Pontiac Banshee, since it was a concept vehicle, Pontiac was very protective of its design and therefore denied permission to the producers of "Knight Rider 2000" to use the actual model. Instead, producers chose the Dodge Stealth because they thought it was the most futuristic looking car on the market at that time (1991). They then built a similar (but not exact) shell based on the Banshee on top of the Stealth.

Personally, I didn't like nor dislike the Knight 4000. I thought it was way too long though and from certain angles it just didn't look quite right. I also felt it lacked some detail and that the hood was way too wide and plain. The scanner didn't look like it belonged there either, unlike the Trans Am. My thoughts on the movie itself were pretty much exactly explained on an earlier post, but I was also disappointed in the lack of things the car did in the movie. The whole point of Knight Rider is the car and what it can do! Well, for the most part anyway. I think the reasons why there was a lack of stunts with the car such as turbo boosts were that they only had one model of the car. There were many Trans Ams on hand during the series in case the car got wrecked.

This is my first post on this site, just wanted to say hi to all!

[imranbecks]

Here is the Banshee.... The original Pontiac Banshee...

[FuzzieDice]

Welcome, Lost Knight. Thanks for the info too. I didn't know the first two T/As were donated to the show. That's cool! I like your sig, btw.

imranbecks: I like the banshee when I really take a good look at it. What they did with the stealth was definitely not as nice as a real banshee.

Imagine that Banshee in black... WOW!

[HondaSiR]

On the contrary, Pontiac was actually excited to be a part of Knight Rider at the time. In fact, they donated the first two 3rd generation Trans Ams off the assembly line to the show. Also, Pontiac frequently donated Trans Ams to the show that were involved in minor accidents and were not legally able to be sold due to specific laws.

True, Pontiac entertained the idea at first that if the show would take off, then so would the sales of its Firebirds. And indeed they did sell a lot. But Pontiac was content in selling only its stock Trans Ams. They weren't interested in building KITT replicas because the modifications were trademarks of Universal Studios (the custom nose, dash, etc). Most buyers really wanted a true conversion, but Pontiac did not build them.

Anyway, Welcome to the club Lost Knight!

[FuzzieDice]

I couldn't resist. I had to make a wallpaper out of a banshee.

You can find it here (where I drop some of my odds and ends here )

http://www.geocities.com/fuzziedice6000/

[imranbecks]

I couldn't resist. I had to make a wallpaper out of a banshee.

You can find it here (where I drop some of my odds and ends here )

http://www.geocities.com/fuzziedice6000/

Very nice!!! U used the pic that I posted and u edited it... Looks cool!!

[FuzzieDice]

Glad you liked. That was a good pic you posted too. Where was it from? Do they have other good car pics? I'm kinda looking for some so I can make some vector-art cars and need something to go on. I'll try doing the Banshee sometime in vector, but would like to try other cars too.

[imranbecks]

Glad you liked. That was a good pic you posted too. Where was it from? Do they have other good car pics? I'm kinda looking for some so I can make some vector-art cars and need something to go on. I'll try doing the Banshee sometime in vector, but would like to try other cars too.

Ok. Cool.. I found the pics through google... Just type "pontiac banshee"...

[Lost Knight]

Yeah, Pontiac was enthusiastic about the show, only they were getting too many requests to sell K.I.T.T. replicas as was said. You can notice in the early episodes they refer to K.I.T.T. as a Trans Am, but in later episodes they had to make a different reference so they always called it a "black T-top."


Also, thanks for the welcome everyone, good to be here. My name's Chris, I'm 22 and I like long, quiet walks on the beach. Hahaha
Oh, by the way does anyone know where I can get pictures for an icon when I make posts? I want something Knight Rider related, but different than everyone else's icon of course. Thanks.

[Tony J Case]

Yikes - A Knight Rider without a bulletproof car that talks and jumps over obsticles and through things really sucks major ass. I'd not seen the reunion movie since it first ran WAAAAAY back in the early 90's, so I was unprepared for the suck it would unleash upon the world.

The story was not that much more than an average Knight Rider episode, so that wasnt the problem. I dont mind them killing Devon - although I thought the way the did it was handled poorly - so that wasnt it.

No - the problem was, no cool stunts, no high speed chases, no crashing through walls. Worse - no 80's sensabilities, no hotties on display, and a soundtrack that blew.

Come on - Jan Hammer is a freaking techno KING! He should have been able to take the cool "Bump-da-da-da-da, Bump-da-da-da-da" baseline and really rock out. No - he wussed out and delivered a Yani soundtrack.

Even worse - the car looked like ass. Hell, I think Kitt in a tricked out 54 Bel Aire would have rocked the house - anything would have been better than that supposatory shaped car they had. Sheesh.

Oh - and Scotty. Talk about embarrassing. Please, kill me now.