KNIGHT RIDER REVIEWS

[KTMCDO]

USA TODAY

[JJSoCrazy]

Ouch!

I think the problem was the show might have been a little too fast and maybe needed to be a tiny bit darker.

Joe

[goldbug]

Ok, I'm feeling a bit saucy so I figured I'd go into this particular review for ITS flaws. I'm going to just pick out bits and pieces of the article to comment on. Feel free to click the link above for the whole thing.

a shockingly incompetent, barely coherent, ad-driven rip-off about a shape-shifting autobot that owes more to Transformers than it does to the cheesy '80s original that shares its name.

Many shows are ad driven now, this is not unique to KR. And in case he didn't take time to learn, the original KITT could "shape shift" as well (albeit not as dramatically). Also, he says that it "owes more to Transformers" as if that's a bad thing. Being influenced by a blockbuster film that netted $700 MILLION+ worldwide is hardly a bad thing IMO.

...choose an out-of-the-blue scene midway through, in which the sexy villain suddenly cuts off a man's thumb.

It wasn't "out of the blue". The villain needed the man's DNA and he had shaved all his hair. The next best thing was to take an extremity, and a thumb is as good as any other finger. Criticisms like this are just sad IMO because they show the writer/critic clearly took no time to actually pay attention to the story.

I know, your kids probably have seen worse. That, however, is more an indictment of the increasing coarseness of our culture than a defense of Rider.

The thumb cutting wasn't even shown. It was no worse than Darth Vader slicing off Luke Skywalker's hand over twenty years ago, and that was on screen. Just because the critic is squeamish, it doesn't mean that graphic violence (or more accurately in this case, implied violence) won't be a part of any action/adventure movie/series.

They'll be chased away by a near-incomprehensible opening that turns car-boy Mike (Justin Bruening) into James Bond, with Val Kilmer's monotone talking car as Q.

This line shows me the critic clearly didn't watch the original series (or if he did, he didn't pay attention). Michael and KITT sneaking around, working together to get something or come to the rescue of someone was a staple of classic KR. KITT is essentially a technological asset, wouldn't it be stupid if KITT didn't participate in the acquisition of the "Package"?

Also, I don't understand how the ending is "near-incomprehensible". It's a classic Hollywood set up. There's a MacGuffin (The Package and "The Files") and our heroes must get it. Along the way, there's conflict and a breadcrumb trail is begun indicating something mysterious about Mike's past. I bet this critic was confused by the big boulder rolling at Indiana Jones when he got the Gold Idol in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" too which is the SAME set up (Hero is after MacGuffin, encounters problems, must escape).

Mike just stands there dumbstruck when the villain approaches.

Of course, the critic fails to mention (or maybe notice?) that in that same scene a person Mike doesn't even recognize knows exactly who he is. If someone approached you randomly and knew exactly who you were but you had no recollection of them, wouldn't YOU stare for a few seconds too? Especially if the same thing had happened with a bunch of guys trying to kill you the day before?

All this critic has done is show his knee-jerk reaction to something. He didn't give the story any thought nor did he try to understand it. Clearly he hated it going in, which is always sad to see in a supposed "professional writer".

[JJSoCrazy]

Ok, I'm feeling a bit saucy so I figured I'd go into this particular review for ITS flaws. I'm going to just pick out bits and pieces of the article to comment on. Feel free to click the link above for the whole thing.

a shockingly incompetent, barely coherent, ad-driven rip-off about a shape-shifting autobot that owes more to Transformers than it does to the cheesy '80s original that shares its name.

Many shows are ad driven now, this is not unique to KR. And in case he didn't take time to learn, the original KITT could "shape shift" as well (albeit not as dramatically). Also, he says that it "owes more to Transformers" as if that's a bad thing. Being influenced by a blockbuster film that netted $700 MILLION+ worldwide is hardly a bad thing IMO.

...choose an out-of-the-blue scene midway through, in which the sexy villain suddenly cuts off a man's thumb.

It wasn't "out of the blue". The villain needed the man's DNA and he had shaved all his hair. The next best thing was to take an extremity, and a thumb is as good as any other finger. Criticisms like this are just sad IMO because they show the writer/critic clearly took no time to actually pay attention to the story.

I know, your kids probably have seen worse. That, however, is more an indictment of the increasing coarseness of our culture than a defense of Rider.

The thumb cutting wasn't even shown. It was no worse than Darth Vader slicing off Luke Skywalker's hand over twenty years ago, and that was on screen. Just because the critic is squeamish, it doesn't mean that graphic violence (or more accurately in this case, implied violence) won't be a part of any action/adventure movie/series.

They'll be chased away by a near-incomprehensible opening that turns car-boy Mike (Justin Bruening) into James Bond, with Val Kilmer's monotone talking car as Q.

This line shows me the critic clearly didn't watch the original series (or if he did, he didn't pay attention). Michael and KITT sneaking around, working together to get something or come to the rescue of someone was a staple of classic KR. KITT is essentially a technological asset, wouldn't it be stupid if KITT didn't participate in the acquisition of the "Package"?

Also, I don't understand how the ending is "near-incomprehensible". It's a classic Hollywood set up. There's a MacGuffin (The Package and "The Files") and our heroes must get it. Along the way, there's conflict and a breadcrumb trail is begun indicating something mysterious about Mike's past. I bet this critic was confused by the big boulder rolling at Indiana Jones when he got the Gold Idol in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" too which is the SAME set up (Hero is after MacGuffin, encounters problems, must escape).

Mike just stands there dumbstruck when the villain approaches.

Of course, the critic fails to mention (or maybe notice?) that in that same scene a person Mike doesn't even recognize knows exactly who he is. If someone approached you randomly and knew exactly who you were but you had no recollection of them, wouldn't YOU stare for a few seconds too? Especially if the same thing had happened with a bunch of guys trying to kill you the day before?

All this critic has done is show his knee-jerk reaction to something. He didn't give the story any thought nor did he try to understand it. Clearly he hated it going in, which is always sad to see in a supposed "professional writer".

Very Very good answers Goldbug, I must agree with you and didn't think that much into it. I hope the writers, NBC, and of course GST are reading this! Again good job!

Joe

[Kaine]

yeah, a lot of reviews are going to diss the show just because of the name Knight Rider.
this was the same with Knight Rider in the 80's and hasn't changed since.
as to WHY it is cool to diss anything Knight Rider, i have no idea. (propably they didn't get a girl in high scholl because she was all into the Hoff at that time, who knows)

[Lost Knight]

Coming from a fellow fan, honestly, can anyone truly tell me that they are surprised by the negative reviews? The critics watch this show from a different perspective than us. My advice would be to basically ignore the reviews and try to enjoy the show while it's on the air.

[JJSoCrazy]

Here's another one from insideline at edmunds:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Ne ... eId=132210" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Joe

[calhoun24]

Here's another one from insideline at edmunds:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Ne ... eId=132210" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Joe

Just read that. Ouch. Hopefully, we can hang on.

And truthfully, I'm doubting the American version of Top Gear. The British version just rocks.