User reviews

So having been a child of the 80's where Knight Rider, The A Team, and other such Glen Larson staples were a religion for me I sat down with the full DVD season 1 box set of this remake fully prepared to growl and hate my way through the entire thing.

Annoyingly, frustratingly, and hating myself when I admit it, this wasn't actually as bad as I was expecting.

Yes granted the best way to look positively at this rendition is to not actually compare it it the first run, and especially not the god awful other attempted reboots since the ending of the 4 season run of the original.

The first second you see B list movie staple Bruce Davison in the cast list you know you aren't dealing with the likes of shawshank or schindlers list.

That not withstanding, the series itself has some amusing moments, and Val Kilmer replacing Bill Daniels as KITT isn't as bad as many would expect either.

Yes its shameless lower primetime shenanigans and is completely filled with bare skin heavy pretty girls and leading man handsome men all giving pouty looks and eyelid heavy looks just off camera at every opportunity but when its such blatant americana like it is, this can be overlooked if not forgiven.

The car itself is well designed, the mustang being a very good choice. However the transforming abilities are just a step too far for the suspension of belief for me.

A welcome return was the appearance of KARR with the original voice talents as well.

When you watch this you'll need to be aware of the first series, but try not to cast an opinion based on the warm memories you may have of it as a child.

Justin Bruening is a valiant attempt to replicate the Michael Knight character and is fleshed out in terms of back character a little more than David Hasslehoff was but still, its a channel 5 type budget show so you aren't expecting george clooney levels of talent.

Speaking of the Hoff, his cameo makes a welcome addition to the pilot and is strangely subdued and serious which you wouldn't expect.

All in all, a fun show but not one you'd really expect to be renewed even tho a second season may be fun.

Watch it on a weekend afternoon when you have nothing better to do, its really not that bad and you'll enjoy it if you want a brainless few hours just to enjoy some typical man time with cars, explosions and the like.

This is as an impressive reboot. The original was b rated and loved it anyways. This version was great too in the same manner

Mike is your average male heroic lead in a Hollywood production... he has no trouble with the ladies, he's defiant but wins for the good guys, and he can handle himself. Is there nothing else to him? Well, he seems to have a crush on Sarah, and the audience is meant to hope they'll get together. It'd help if the characters in this weren't so crudely drawn, nearly being caricatures. The dorky(yet hot) chick, the nerdy guy, the tough-as-nails boss, and I could go on. Acting-wise, we're not much better off. Anyway... aforementioned descendant of The Hoff is this generation's(yes, we're ignoring the '91 TV-movie... everyone is) driver for K.I.T.T., an ultra-modern car graced with its own AI, the voice of Val Kilmer, and occasionally a sense of humor. Ah, if only the funny moments of this were intentional. On the plus side, it doesn't take itself seriously, with comic book-style "villains" and plans, not unlike the vastly superior Alias. For the concept, this could(and should) have far more vehicular stuff, but what there is, is quite cool. The remixed opening theme beats the original, at least in my mind. One does have to wonder why half the one season this got did not have any faces in the credits... were they unsure if they'd stick with the cast? Technology leaps since the 80's show are taken into account. The dialog is OK. This has some nifty plots, if it is overall low on memorable content. The action is reasonably choreographed and executed. Cinematography and editing are fast-paced and at times suffers from the current infatuation with hand-held photography. At its best, this is dumb fun that you can get into quickly, and do not have to think about. But as far as that goes, you can do an awful lot better. I recommend this to those who must get into any entry in this franchise(at least it's not TKR). You shouldn't have trouble finding the episodes... they all awkwardly work in the word Knight into the title. 6/10

This remake is a sacrilegious bastardization of a true TV classic. I understand that it wouldn't be feasible to have a 1982 Firebird fighting crime in 2008, but at least keep it within reason.

One of the great things about the original is that all the technologies could exist, as futuristic as they seemed back then. Not once did KITT ever turn into a Transformer. Even today, that's so far-fetched it's ridiculous.

The producers should have kept in mind the original audience of KR and catered to them. What's the point of using the KR name to develop a show that has nothing to do with the original premise? They could just as easily have called it "Fast and Furious Transforming Rider" and it wouldn't have made a difference. There's more to Knight Rider than a name and a red light on the front of a car.

I wondered about this show. First of all, I was rather disappointed about the car. I mean, discarding the stylish Trans Am for a mere Mustang? Just doesn't do the job. After watching KITT for a while, it turns out he can even transform in three forms, which is quite senseless and most of the time it does not even make sense... The voice of KITT is rather boring and toneless.

Then the new intro song. Normally I like remakes with a bit of a rock twitch, but this one? Rather disappointing.

Then the more important things: The stories. I watched several episodes, as I want to give it several chances, but it does not really seem to get better. The stories are rather flat and chaotic and even quite repetitive to some lengths.

The acting is most of the time either overacted, or on the contrary missing livelihood in mimics and body language.

The special effects are really well done. Alas most of the time, they do not add to the story. On the contrary even, they are too often a way to show off with the CGI capabilities.

In some fist fighting scenes, the stand-ins didn't even look like the original actors. Different size, different body mass, different colour of hair, different hairdo. Normally I do not complain about such things, but here it's embarrassingly obvious at times.

Long story short: they better had spent less money on the effects and more money on decent writings and talented actors.

I actually didn't much like the first half of the show. Having watched the original 1982 series, I immersed myself in the dynamic between Michael and KITT as they solved the cases, and only just in the last few episodes did I feel that same magic happen between Mike and KI3T. There were still plenty of moments I enjoyed, and the other side characters are all great. It was just starting to get good, and it goes and gets cancelled without even a second season. Such a shame. It's a worthy watch, if a little over the top as far as the showy tech and special effects go.

I've seen a lot of hate on this show, and honestly a lot of it is just people going "not muh" and touting the 1982 series as so much better. You know why the original seemed so much better? Characters were given room to grow, and that takes a lot of production. Knight Rider 2008 had just barely begun tapping into that potential, so of course to many it's going to fall short. This is a suitable sequel series to the original, I'm just sad it had gotten cancelled after 17 episodes.

Had a lot of high hopes for this show. Terrible writing mixed in with a "transformers-esque" car. Knowing the TransAm wasn't available the Mustang was a great choice but it was over complicated.

Casting wasn't the greatest but also wasn't terrible but plot lines were not well put together or executed. Unfortunately the dismal ratings ended the show before the cast could possibly gel.

It's difficult to bring back pseudo-cult programing but it has shown to have been done successfully over the past few years. The best example may be Glenn A. Larsons Battlestar Galactica which has spawned a spin-off and a potential feature film.

If Knight Rider had taken a similar approach which was to create something new based on an old idea it may have had a shot.

Final rating: This show sucked a**

I used to watch the old Knight Rider back in the 80's. I am 46 now. When I saw the new series "Knight Rider 2008" I was really happy so I watched it. I love the action, the car is OK, I got used to it. It's still a nice vehicle. And all the things it can do, I was impressed with the new stuff. Please guys, don't stick to the old concept, we are in the new century, we've got to have new stuff. Science fiction is part of the process to create things in the future. Some of them already exist.

I really enjoyed the show and I'd give it a 10. It's great for the whole family and full of action, a bit of fun, romance sparkling there, with some gorgeous girls. I think it's got something for everyone. I just don't understand why people judge so quickly and bring down the show. It really was getting better and better. It needed to create momentum. And when it was getting more addictive, someone decided to cancel. Come on producers, give it a chance again! You have no idea how that show is so liked in other countries.

I hope one day, somebody retake it again and bring it up to the next level. Knight Rider could continue with some little improvements, and make it just like the show 24, full of action that way. But keep the same actors and characters. Bring back the good ones too. Knight Rider is just like Superman, Batman and the sort, it is a legacy that can continue on forever.

I miss the show. They didn't give it a chance to grow.

When I first found out that they were doing a remake to the original Knight Rider, I thought how could they do a remake of it. To me, Knight Rider is with David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight and always will be. I'm not surprised that the new version didn't make it pass Season 1. I managed to watch the 2 hours episode to promote the new version but only because David Hasselhoff makes a cameo appearances it and that was the only thing that interested in me and after that, I wasn't really bothered about watching it. Knight Rider was one of the best things that happened in the 80's and it should stay like it and plus the original Knight Rider was the one that made David Hasselhoff known for who he is.

This show is getting a bad rap for the simple reason is that people are expecting some kind of masterpiece. This show is a present time follow up to the 1982 series starring David Hasselhoff and features a futuristic car that was created to fight crime. Although it started out a little too ambitious by involving the FBI as the owners of KITT and took on story lines that were large in scope, it has now moved toward the original premise of the original with a small operation proving that one man (and a super cool car!)can make a difference.

The thing about this show is that it is just pure simple enjoyment and shouldn't be looked at for more than that. It features a cool car, doing cool things with a sexy cast that plays well together. I mean people talk about the original like it was Shakespeare or something, but in reality it was nothing more then fun as well. I mean the story lines were far fetched and gimmicky as much if not more then this series, but the 2008 version constantly gets knocked for it. My advice to anyone that watches this show is to put away any pretentious preconceptions of what it is "supposed" to be and sit back and enjoy the ride. Television is supposed to be a fantasy diversion from our hectic lives and that is exactly what this show provides.

Some of the reviews on here are crazy. This series was good. i love the original and i love when the brought it back. keep your mind open people. Everything does not have to be just like the original. If it was then why remake it anyway? I hate the series ended so soon. it was nice to see KIT back in action. Good TV. But everyone only want to see stupid reality shows that is not reality at all. Fighting and cursing. Just my opinion but lets keep an open mind. Knight rider was a classic but this remake was good for TV. To bad the rest of you don't think the same but hey lest's watch flavor of love now thats TV. LOL. Peace out Bitches.

I just watched an episode of the Knight Rider 2008-series and after about 10 min I couldn't help but laugh while at the same time trying to suppress the pain in my brains.

This show has so many glaringly obvious problems. I love the old show and although it also had the occasional badly or cheesy written episode it always did it with heart. You cared about Bonny and Devon and you liked them as characters.

The new show: 1. Poor script writing with characters dropping in and out in ways that make it nearly impossible to suspend disbelief as well as loopholes in the script so big even KITT couldn't turbo-boost over them.

2. Very! poor dramatic implementation of dialogue. Example: Michael and his esteemed colleague are in KITT while napalm heats up the car to the point where they'll either die of overheating or running out of oxygen. Does the scriptwriter try to convey the panic of that moment? Not at all. Instead, we are "treated" with smug comments from totally irrelevant "team" members whose only job seems to be making said smug comments instead of actually energetically working out a plan to save their lives from getting snuffed out.

This could be mistaken for tongue in cheek comedy but in my eyes its just a sign of inadequacy.

3. Over the top reliance of the director on fast camera movements and CGI effects to past it all together. Seriously, after watching the show for 15 min my eyes were basically hurting. It's like they were trying to make a 45 min long videoclip instead of reserving the fast-paced action shots for when it really mattered: the action scenes.

And what is it with US film/series makers and their ill-conceived ideas about visible lasers in broad daylight in a dust-free environment anyway? I know it's supposed to be a semi-scifi show but really they should give the people in the US film industry a speed course in basic physics.

4. Totally irrelevant characters. It's great one geek has 6 Phds in advanced sciences and its equally great another character can speak 9 languages but despite all of these "assets" they're totally irrelevant to the show and more a nuisance than anything else.

The end result? I give it 4 for effort but for the rest they failed miserably. And that's even without knocking the developers on the head for the blatant "lets do some product placement for Ford" kind of thing.

You folks at NBC really NEED to bring this show back. You did not give this show a chance. You pulled it after 17 episodes, not even the complete 22 episodes as first ordered. SHAME ON YOU!!! To us the fans of Knight Rider of Knight Industries Two Thousand a 1982 Pontiac Firebird and David Hasselhoff.....it brought back to us our youth by giving us the 2008 version. Sure it was a Mustang, we...GOT USED TO IT!!.....The stories were Ok. Could be improved on....BUT you NEVER intended to give this a chance!!! Now this is 2019 and WE WOULD APPRECIATE IF YOU BRING THIS BACK!!! Stop taking away from viewers stuff because some idiot decided that is so! Did you bother asking your viewers what THEY THINK????

I saw the pilot movie in 2008 and I thought it was well made. (I was a fan of the original and was blown away by it during its premiere in the Fall of 1982.) This pilot was not short on action and story and rather than a remake, attempted to continue the original story.

While I thought the upgrades in this sequel series were in my opinion executed real well, the problem was the "super vehicle genre" was a product of a bygone era that had come and gone with the original Knight Rider leading the way and ending it in 1986.

Everyone is b***ching about the car not being a Trans-AM; hey, it's kind of hard to feature a car model that was discontinued before this was made. And if you use any existing Trans-AM, especially one from original series you'd have a silly looking show! So I'm one of the few that wasn't fazed by this change.

A nice touch was the new KITT using nano technology and having some armament.

But how do you wow a contemporary audience that has had many gadgets and tech as part of their daily lives? In the old TV series and movies, all these advanced helicopters, cars and motorcycles were awe inspiring and inducing because they were SciFI and had capabilities that were fictional or real, but embellished for the small and big screens.

I rate this above the two previous Knight Rider reboot attempts as this was very watchable. But unfortunately, like the other attempts, this was a hope to bring back a genre that had already come and gone; one that featured technology that had already come true or close to it.

This entry again was satisfying in my opinion. But trying to bring back a genre from another time was probably what killed it; not all original fans embraced and it failed to find a large contemporary following.

It's time someone stop trying to bring back Knight Rider. We loved it for what it delivered (whether original or the few that took in all the reboot attempts), but in everything, the time comes when things must come to an end.

what more could you ask for. its got a gorgeous good looking sexy cast and a gorgeous good looking sexy car. storyline is lighthearted and not meant to be taken serious. i mean how much further can you take the storyline of a crimefighting team and a super-car. car and man get mission to stop bad guy and man and car go out and stop bad guy. its got action, jokes, humour and i even had a tear in my eye at some points. cast are great and all gel really well. the original show was good and now they have just updated it and made it better. just don't take the show too serious, sit down, relax and just enjoy the show. i hope there is a 2nd season as it deserves one