Discussion
Has anyone been watching the new Knight Rider series on Channel 5? It's nice to have Knight Rider breaks in between the adverts. The new KITT is a Shelby Mustang GT500 with lots of fancy heads-up displays and a nice graphic sequence every time turbo boost is required. The second episode was good with Astons, Lambos a Saleen and a Ford GT40 featured in the programme. Yes, I know it's all made up.
Shame it was cancelled after the one series (I've been watching on Fiver) - harmless fun, exactly like the original. No depth or substance which apparently a "grown-up" show must have. But I like turning my brain off and being entertained sometimes and this was perfect for that 
(Even if the trans-am still looks better and more futuristic than the mustang....)
(Even if the trans-am still looks better and more futuristic than the mustang....)
I'm quite the KR fan but the new series is rubbish compared to the 80s one.
Of course there will be an element of nostalgia but....
a) KR was supposed to be "1 man (and his car
) can make a difference", not one man and a team of 20/30 people at home base. The original only had Michael, a tech (bonnie/april) and the boss (Devon) - the less said about RC in the final series the better LOL .
b) the DIRE CGI, the in car footage when he's driving along, blue/green screen stuff that looks like it WAS from the 80s. At least the original stuck the car on a trailer and filmed it that way so it looked somewhat realistic.
c) but the WORST thing of all is the laughable changing from a car to a SUV etc. Even kids today won't fall for that sort of rubbish, it's not transformers you know. The ethos (at least in the original) was that the car was ahead of it's time but vaguely possible/feasible (other than the AI to an extent).
In trying to make a "modern" version they have completely missed the point IMO. Of course the 80s one was a bit cheesy at the time but I'd rather have cheese than transformers!!
That said, the pilot episode was quite good, mainly as they kept it interesting and without any crap transformers rubbish and a vague storyline that worked.
Of course there will be an element of nostalgia but....
a) KR was supposed to be "1 man (and his car
) can make a difference", not one man and a team of 20/30 people at home base. The original only had Michael, a tech (bonnie/april) and the boss (Devon) - the less said about RC in the final series the better LOL .b) the DIRE CGI, the in car footage when he's driving along, blue/green screen stuff that looks like it WAS from the 80s. At least the original stuck the car on a trailer and filmed it that way so it looked somewhat realistic.
c) but the WORST thing of all is the laughable changing from a car to a SUV etc. Even kids today won't fall for that sort of rubbish, it's not transformers you know. The ethos (at least in the original) was that the car was ahead of it's time but vaguely possible/feasible (other than the AI to an extent).
In trying to make a "modern" version they have completely missed the point IMO. Of course the 80s one was a bit cheesy at the time but I'd rather have cheese than transformers!!
That said, the pilot episode was quite good, mainly as they kept it interesting and without any crap transformers rubbish and a vague storyline that worked.
Why do people rely so much on nostalgia? Isn't it possible just to have something re-imagined and have it judged on it's own merits, as opposed to having to live up to the previous ideas. The new KR is just what it was designed to be, turn your brain off and enjoy it type entertainment. Same as the old one was, just done in a different way.
Saying that though, Casino Royale was crap
Saying that though, Casino Royale was crap
The 2 girls in the show were very pretty but that was the only thing the show had going for it.
The show just didn't know what to do with itself, in fairness the last couple weren't bad as they'd binned about 95% of the cast and it started to become watchable.
Having KITT as a transformer was silly and the episode with KARR was embarrassing.
I think that if they made a comedy film set in the 80's with the original car and maybe with someone like Ben Stiller as Mr. Knight (the remake of Starsky & Hutch worked for me) then it would have potential but other than that I think they should just let it die. Same with most remakes, I'm sure the new A-Team will be awful, hopefully no-one will resurrect Air Wolf.
The show just didn't know what to do with itself, in fairness the last couple weren't bad as they'd binned about 95% of the cast and it started to become watchable.
Having KITT as a transformer was silly and the episode with KARR was embarrassing.
I think that if they made a comedy film set in the 80's with the original car and maybe with someone like Ben Stiller as Mr. Knight (the remake of Starsky & Hutch worked for me) then it would have potential but other than that I think they should just let it die. Same with most remakes, I'm sure the new A-Team will be awful, hopefully no-one will resurrect Air Wolf.
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