I watched this film on Netflix out of curiosity. If you enjoyed the 1980s "Knight Rider" series as I have, you will be disappointed by this low quality movie.
The plot follows an illegal arms trade being organized in the "near future" (the year 2000) by corrupt police and government officials, with Michael Knight coming out of retirement and being helped by new protagonists at the Foundation.
The film lacks a lot of what made the original TV series so memorable. There is no black Pontiac, as KITT was sold for scrap and had to be rebuilt. There is no Bonnie, the attractive and intelligent female mechanic who was in most of the series. There is no campy action or offbeat humor, the story is much slower-paced than the typical TV episode. And the beloved theme song is absent.
There's also a lot of discontinuity. Now Michael Knight is a genius with electronics, something that was never the case before. Now KITT uses profanity and throws temper tantrums, both of which were foreign to the original series. To say nothing of the fact that somehow Devon and Knight have both aged very little, even though the story is set 15 years AFTER the series ended (5 years in real life).
That said, its not without its interesting points. It is interesting to see some of the future predictions they had at the time. It is interesting to see the direction that "Knight Rider" went in post-TV series. As someone who just finished watching "Stargate SG-1" on Netflix, it was interesting to see a younger Carmen Argenziano before he was cast as Major Carter's dad.
Avoid unless you are a big Hoff fan or are interested in the things I mentioned above. Better to re-watch the 1980s series instead.
The plot follows an illegal arms trade being organized in the "near future" (the year 2000) by corrupt police and government officials, with Michael Knight coming out of retirement and being helped by new protagonists at the Foundation.
The film lacks a lot of what made the original TV series so memorable. There is no black Pontiac, as KITT was sold for scrap and had to be rebuilt. There is no Bonnie, the attractive and intelligent female mechanic who was in most of the series. There is no campy action or offbeat humor, the story is much slower-paced than the typical TV episode. And the beloved theme song is absent.
There's also a lot of discontinuity. Now Michael Knight is a genius with electronics, something that was never the case before. Now KITT uses profanity and throws temper tantrums, both of which were foreign to the original series. To say nothing of the fact that somehow Devon and Knight have both aged very little, even though the story is set 15 years AFTER the series ended (5 years in real life).
That said, its not without its interesting points. It is interesting to see some of the future predictions they had at the time. It is interesting to see the direction that "Knight Rider" went in post-TV series. As someone who just finished watching "Stargate SG-1" on Netflix, it was interesting to see a younger Carmen Argenziano before he was cast as Major Carter's dad.
Avoid unless you are a big Hoff fan or are interested in the things I mentioned above. Better to re-watch the 1980s series instead.