Topic: Knight Rider - TV Movie

[Najemikon]

I'm looking forward to seeing the new Knight Rider since seeing the those clips in this thread and discovering, joy of joys, KITT's got klass and gone all Mustang-y! Can anyone say, "oooooooooo!"

Ever since Bullitt, I've loved the look of that car and the noise is one of the best in cinema. Plus Eleanor from Gone in 60 Seconds of course. 

[Peter von Frosta]

Oh my god, Knight Rider 2008 is so bad, it's unbelievable. It's like a poor mans The Fast and the Furious (and that was already trash galore).
Worst thing was The Hoff's cameo. He probably only got five lines because he was too drunk to remember more.

[Najemikon]

Sounds great! 

[addicted2dvd]

Oh my god, Knight Rider 2008 is so bad, it's unbelievable. It's like a poor mans The Fast and the Furious (and that was already trash galore).
Worst thing was The Hoff's cameo. He probably only got five lines because he was too drunk to remember more.

Wow... I been talking about it on a couple different yahoo groups as well... and you are the first person (of about a dozen I talked to) that didn't like it! Oh well... no show is for everyone.

[Tom]

I had now the chance to watch it: The first half an hour were really promising. After that it lost a little. But still a series I'd like to see.
I am glad to see, that the producers recognized, that what we want to see in Knight Rider is a talking cool car.
The last few years there were often rumors about a possible Knight Rider series/movie and sometimes the rumor was, that they are planning a non-talking car. As far as I have heard, David Hasselhoff has lobbied hard for a talking KITT.

[Najemikon]

IMDB say it hasn't got a very good critical response, but of the albeit short quotes they printed I'm sure the critics missed the point, and I haven't seen it yet! One dismissed it because since the days of the original KITT, car technology has evolved and nothing short of time travel would be impressive now; science fiction then is science fact now, I suppose they mean. Ok, I see the point to some degree because the famed turbo boost is just a can of NOS away. But Tom, you hit it on the head. It's the voice, the personality and the decision making that still make KITT a cool car.

[DJ Doena]

25 years ago Wilton Knight let people built KITT and Michael Knight was its driver. Today the creator of KITT has built a new one: the Knight Industries Three Thousand. The new KITT is a Ford Mustang GT500KR and is driven by Mike Traceur, the son of Michael Knight.

I don't know. Back in the 80s I loved stuff like KITT, Airwolf, Street Hawke, but nowadays I have problems to activate my "suspension of disbelief".

I have no problem to accept a great many things in a fictional universe but I've always thought it to be ridiculous when Superman stopped a train/bus by standing in its path.

I had the same problems with a lot of the details of the new KITT. Why the hell should an armour be dependent upon a computer? The new KR is a continuation of the old one, not a remake, thus I consider this a setback in comparison to the TransAm-KITT.

The new car body shell can change its colour? OK, that's acceptable. But it can grow a new spoiler? WTF?

To come back to Superman: No matter how well armoured KITT is, when a SUV with a speed of 50-60 mph crashes into it, he must not stand still like a bridge pier.

The story is not exceptional, but acceptable. Although it's not logical (from the old series's POV) why Michael should have hidden the woman and his son).

Conclusion: One can watch it but one doesn't need to.

[Peter von Frosta]

It's the voice, the personality and the decision making that still make KITT a cool car.

Val Kilmer did provide a good voice for the car. But it wasn't just to voice that made KITT a cool car. Back then, the modified Firebird (I think it was a Firebird) looked sleak, unusual and you actually believed it was fast.
The new car however is just the latest Mustang version. There is nothing special about it, it looks like the average muscle car with blinking lights. And that's not the worst, it looks like a damn phoneboot with spoilers (and spoilers make cars acutally slower, not faster). I couldn't believe a single moment that this car could pull off over 200mph, let alone being able to take a corner faster the 20mph.
Ford has his own concept car line, which provides a frame for completely customizable bodykits. Why didn't they use that one instead of a factory car? Then at least the car would have been cool.
Even the driving sequences were bad. You can see every moment that they used blue screen whenever there was an actor in the car. Why couldn't they just use mounted camera shots? This way everything looks artificial and fake with no sense for speed or anything. They probably padded themselves on their shoulders for their "unique" and "visionary" camera angles and are hoping for a Hugo or something. But sometimes newer isn't better.

It's probably the same as there are some people who like Gone in 60 Seconds (which had beautiful customized cars and real driving sequences) vs. The Fast and The Furious which looked completely artificial with ugly cars.

[Najemikon]

See I enjoyed FF and its sequels for what they were. Hyped up nonsense, but entertaining nonetheless. Plus partly legitimised by Vin Diesel's character being downright scared to try and drive his dad's [proper] car.

But which Gone in 60 Seconds do you mean? I haven't seen the Nicholas Cage version, apart from bits, but I heard most of the real driving was CGI? I do like the original even though the first half is really bad!

[DJ Doena]

I also liked the remake of 60secs but I've never watched the original. While I do own F&F, I don't like it that much. It was a cheap buy and I've watched it with friends, but neither story nor cars were that interesting.

[Peter von Frosta]

But which Gone in 60 Seconds do you mean? I haven't seen the Nicholas Cage version, apart from bits, but I heard most of the real driving was CGI? I do like the original even though the first half is really bad!

I was referring to the Nick Cage version. Actually they have done almost everything practical. There were some miniature shots and a few composite shots, but most of the stuff was real driving. Cage even took some driving lessons for this.

[addicted2dvd]

Well... It seems this movie did right well in the ratings... as it seems it was picked up as a new series. I got the below from tvguide.com (Last story on page)... See Wednesday...

NBC PRIMETIME SCHEDULE FOR FALL 2008-09

*New programs in UPPERCASE (with the exception of ER)

MONDAY
8-9 pm: Chuck
9-10 pm: Heroes
10-11 pm: MY OWN WORST ENEMY

TUESDAY
8-9:30 pm: The Biggest Loser: Families
9:30-10 pm: KATH & KIM
10-11 pm: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

WEDNESDAY
8-9 pm: KNIGHT RIDER
9-10 pm: Deal or No Deal
10-11 pm: Lipstick Jungle

THURSDAY
8-8:30 pm: My Name Is Earl
8:30-9 pm: 30 Rock
9-9:30 pm: The Office
9:30-10 pm: The Office/SNL THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE*
10-11 pm: ER

* THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE will air for three weeks leading up to the presidental race.

FRIDAY
8-9 pm: CRUSOE
9-10 pm: Deal or No Deal
10-11 pm: Life

SATURDAY
8-9 pm: Dateline NBC
9-10 pm: KNIGHT RIDER (Encores)
10-11 pm: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Encores)

SUNDAY
7-8:20 pm: Football Night in America
8:20-11 pm: NBC Sunday Night Football

NBC PRIMETIME SCHEDULE FOR WINTER 2009

*New programs in UPPERCASE (with the exception of ER)

MONDAY
8-9 pm: Chuck
9-10 pm: Heroes
10-11 pm: THE PHILANTHROPIST

TUESDAY
8-9:30 pm: The Biggest Loser: Couples
9:30-10 pm: KATH & KIM
10-11 pm: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

WEDNESDAY
8-9 pm: KNIGHT RIDER
9-10 pm: Deal or No Deal
10-11 pm: Law & Order

THURSDAY
8-8:30 pm: My Name Is Earl
8:30-9 pm: 30 Rock
9-9:30 pm: The Office
9:30-10 pm: THE OFFICE SPIN-OFF
10-11 pm: ER/Celebrity Apprentice

FRIDAY
8-9 pm: Deal or No Deal
9-10 pm: Friday Night Lights
10-11 pm: Life

SATURDAY
8-9 pm: Dateline NBC
9-10 pm: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Encores)
10-11 pm: Law & Order (Encores)

SUNDAY
7-8 pm: Specials/Dateline NBC
8-9 pm: Specials/MERLIN
9-10 pm: Specials/Medium
10-11 pm: Specials/KINGS

NBC PRIMETIME SCHEDULE FOR SUMMER 2009

*New programs in UPPERCASE

MONDAY
8-9 pm: American Gladiators
9-10 pm: AMERICA'S TOUGHEST JOBS
10-11 pm: Dateline NBC

TUESDAY
8-9 pm: Most Outrageous Moments
9-10 pm: America's Got Talent
10-11 pm: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Encores)

WEDNESDAY
8-9 pm: SHARK TAGGERS
9-10 pm: America's Got Talent (Results Show)
10-11 pm: Law & Order (Encores)

THURSDAY
8-8:30 pm: The Office
8:30-9 pm: THE OFFICE SPIN-OFF
9-10 pm: Last Comic Standing
10-11 pm: THE LISTENER

FRIDAY
8-9 pm: CHOPPING BLOCK
9-11 pm: Dateline NBC

SATURDAY
8-9 pm: Drama Encores
9-10 pm: Drama Encores
10-11 pm: Drama Encores

SUNDAY
7-8 pm: Dateline NBC
8-9 pm: Monk
9-10 pm: Nashville Star
10-11 pm: KINGS (Encores)

[Tom]

8:30-9 pm: THE OFFICE SPIN-OFF

Here again we see the difference between US TV and British TV. With the original British show we had two excellent short series and a special. And that was it. In the US they milk the series for what it's worth 

[RossRoy]

In the US they milk the series for what it's worth 

IMO, they are milking it way past its worth. I loved the UK version, but I can't stand the US one.

Haven't seen the Quebec version though (La Job) yet, but I bought it, and I heard good things about it. That they kept it fairly faithful to the UK original.

[Tom]

Haven't seen the Quebec version though (La Job) yet, but I bought it, and I heard good things about it. That they kept it fairly faithful to the UK original.

Is it available with English subtitles?