1.01 - Knight of the Phoenix (Pilot)

[simon_a6]

Oh my heavens. When you use Streetview, it's just so obvious that it's the location. The trees, that other road. You can even see from what is there now, where the Tiki bit would have been.
Absolute stella work to find it. And that's iGav for giving me the Co-Ords.

[iGav]

It's not really one of the important locations from the pilot, but I thought I'd post it regardless.

The location of the 'San Francisco & Millston' road sign, that we get a brief glimpse of as Michael & KITT head to Millston, Silicon Valley.

The sign was located on Del Valle Rd, Newhall, CA,

34°27'21.08"N
118°38'39.26"W







Funnily enough, this location has been used quite a few times, moments before we see the 'Millston' sign scene, one of the aerial scenes shows KITT driving on the exact same section of Del Valle Rd (sans the sign).




In a different episode (I can't remember which, but can seen at approx 2:36 in this video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i96xlvxDNeQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) has a sequence taken from the same aerial footage as above, but with KITT a couple of hundred metres further down the Del Valle Rd.

34°27'10.00"N
118°38'49.48"W




It is one of those locations whose usage seemed to crop up in different episodes over the years, from the pilot (location of the 'San Francisco & Millston' sign), aerial montages, through to season 4.

This location was also used in season 4 episode 'The Wrong Crowd'. When Michael & KITT stop next to a pumpjack to analyse semi tread marks, and then where they do a reverse 180'.

[iGav]

Not a major location, just a quick cutscene... (about 32:16 in)but hey, if we want to document all of the filming locations...

Located on 'East Carlisle Road, Westlake Village'.




34° 7'35.95"N
118°52'27.92"W

[simon_a6]

30 years on, the old lamp post remains to the right of the tree.
I don't recall this moment, but shall have a look. Judging by the timing, is it during the moment he goes off on his own before falling asleep at the wheel?

[iGav]

Millston, Silicon Valley… in reality, Ojai, California.

Hard to imagine they sent a crew up there for a 2 second cut scene, so likely either stock footage, or something they already had in a vault... still, a bit of a mission to find, but it's good to finally see what town doubled for Millston all the same.

Approx Camera Location:
34°27'53.10"N
119°14'24.39"W

[Joe Huth]

Gas station from the Pilot:





KITT's 360's in an intersection:





Joe

[simon_a6]

What is on that petrol station site now - is it another petrol station? I seem to recall reading it was in this thread somewhere... (or the old thread).
Be very cool to park exactly where he parked and had his tyre spiked (attempted).

btw... good to see who you are Joe in Nick's video. Looks like a truly fabulous occasion.

[iGav]

Now… I suppose this could be considered a minor scene, in that it's rather brief, but like the scene where KITT first speaks, it's a memorable one, because this is the location where KITT first demonstrates his ability to drive himself, YES… this is the location where Michael (with Devon at his side) play "chicken with a ten-ton semi".

I've been searching for this… on and off, for about a year now , but today, after a determined side-by-side comparison between Historic Aerials and Google Earth, I've finally pinpointed the location. Ironically this was located only about 1 mile to the east of Del Valle Road (the location of the Milston/San-Francisco sign, as well as many other scenes in Knight Rider).

As KITT approaches, there's a Double Bend sign… which tallies with the 1969/77 photographs on Historic Aerials of the layout prior to the area's extensive redevelopment in the late 1980's/90's, as does the access roads to the pylon, the first of which can clearly be seen on the historic photo and is where they come to a screeching halt and Michael and Devon finish their conversation (red dot marks the spot).

And as can be seen, the topography between the still and Google Earth match too.

Redevelopment has seen the destruction of the original road layout (Hasley Canyon Road) and double bend (though as can be seen on Google Earth, the remainder of the old road past the bend still exists) as well as the destruction of the original access roads where KITT skids to a stop. The ridge the pylon sits atop has been extended out covering these features. Sliding the timeline in Google Earth back to 1994 shows the remnants of the road that KITT passes the semi on, though the double bend is still extant.

I'm pleased I've finally found it… but disappointed it's no longer the same.

34°26'56.01"N
118°37'28.34"W

[one_man]

As can be seen from my post count, I seldom post on here , but I read this thread frequently, I have to say, major props to 1982 on finding/knowing/naming this location, surely one of the Holy Grails (along with the cube Comtron HQ) of Knight Rider locations.

I've posted a couple of Google Earth Street View images for Bryan so that he can see the location. I've linked to the original image posted by Handzus' Stupid Fro for an easy compare, the house roof in the background can clearly be seen (I would've taken a screenshot from closer, but a tree covers the distinctive roof shape).

Also, the same white, concrete street light base can be seen in the car park.

Really though, a proper brilliant find.

Finally got time to post my visit to the HOTRS location a while back . Although it no longer exists,
I tried my best to create a few 'then and now' shots here.





It's interesting to see the utility pole (slightly different) and the house in the background!

[one_man]

According to Steve Whiteside, the location used when KITT breaks out of Comtron is the Universal Studios backlot....scanning the studio for those globe lights might reveal the exact location...

I found the alley where KITT passed after busting out of Comtron garage.


The same location was used in Airwolf Season 3, "Where Have All the Children Gone?"
It's seen near the end of the episode where the children arrived at an aerospace facility.


It's an alley located in the Universal Studio. Coordinates: 34°8'24.45"N 118°21'33.68"W


However, I still cannot find the garage (glass doors) itself in the vicinity. Let's keep searching!

[one_man]

Here is my field trip to Comtron!







see previous post for details.
viewtopic.php?f=1060&t=17509&start=25#p201485" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


close-up view of the 'electrical box'

[iGav]

Finally got time to post my visit to the HOTRS location a while back . Although it no longer exists,
I tried my best to create a few 'then and now' shots here.

These are brilliant one_man, I’d only recently taken another look on Google Earth’s street view, and they’ve updated the imagery for the old HOTRS location and although they’ve covered a little of the car park, they didn’t quite capture the angles like you have above. Utterly sterling work.

It’s interesting you mentioned the utility pole, I noticed that too on the updated Google Earth imagery.

Great work on the Comtron photos too, i still think it vaguely astonishing that despite the enormous changes and development to some of the other locations that Comtron looks all but identical 30 years later.

Certainly your photos confirm (to me anyway) that the ejector seat scene was filmed on location and not on the backlot.

There’s still a few locations from ‘Knight of the Phoenix’ that I’ve yet to locate (not major ones, more simply for completions sake) hopefully I’ll pinpoint them in the near future.

I have to say, I do hope that sometime in the future that I’ll be able to find the time to get back out to the U.S. to see these locations for myself (particularly the ‘Knight of the Phoenix’ locations as it remains my absolute favourite episode - such an enormous and fondly remembered part of my childhood too).

I have to ask, are you not tempted to arrange a visit to the Newhall Film ranch up in Valencia to scout the veritable treasure trove of locations there?

But again... sterling work sir. And very much appreciated from a fellow fan a few thousand miles away.

G.

[KITTfan]

Very nice comparison shots It is fascinating to see these then and now photos in this section of the forum, also finding the locations in the first place.
BIG Thanks for taking the trouble visiting those places and sharing the photos in this forum

[JJohnson]

Where's the gas station, and place where KITT did the 360's? I saw the map, but I don't think those locations are really accurate in the KR map

[Stéphane Ascoët]

Hi, I come here because like most of you, I grew up watching Knight Rider. Now I'm aware how much this serie is ridiculous in many aspects, but his childhoodness, his lack of truthfullness, his naive hope in technology can change my mind, making me forget daily problems, with this incredible californian ambiance, with views of beautiful Kitt, beautiful girls, great music playing beyond. Thanks to this board(sadly it seems to be almost dead, where are you, all location explorers? and lot of pictures don't display still) I've contributed a lot to K2000 pages on french Wikipedia

So here's my question: I'm surprised that nobody talked about the casino building at the very beginning. I may be crazy, but I wonder if it couldn't be the mall we can see on viewtopic.php?f=1060&t=11725&hilit=el+m ... 50#p188596" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[one_man]

So here's my question: I'm surprised that nobody talked about the casino building at the very beginning. I may be crazy, but I wonder if it couldn't be the mall we can see on viewtopic.php?f=1060&t=11725&hilit=el+m ... 50#p188596" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Vegas casino building is actually Sheraton Hotel near LAX airport (see the topic below).
viewtopic.php?f=1065&t=11678" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Handzus' Stupid Fro]

Hi gang! I haven't posted here in years. I've been a location hunter for a long time with basically every show/movie I'm into, and man, I was really on a KR location scouting kick back then. I remember spending an inordinate amount of time hunting the House of the Rising Sun to no avail. Then it finally turned up, along with Comtron.

So here I am in 2020, a good decade removed from losing sleep over searching for HOTRS, watching random TV and happen to pull up Rifftrax (similar to Mystery Science Theater 3000). Lo and behold, in the episode where they rip apart "No Retreat, No Surrender" starring Jean Claude Van Damme - I see this...

After pausing and staring at this place for hours in KR there was no way I was going to miss this. Here you can clearly see the huge lit Tennessee Gin & Cotton sign, as well as the sign sticking out of the a-frame building. Neither of these clues were really evident in KOTP which made it that much harder to pinpoint. The vertical medallions on the front of the building seem to be much brighter, leading me to believe the place was newer when filmed. However looking up the movie, it appears it was shot around '86.


This is about where Michael parks in the episode. I haven't done it yet but I bet you could match up the trees. BTW sorry for the quality of these shots. I just grabbed my phone and snapped these shots.


And last, a wider view of the entrance where we see the 3 hot Comtron ladies go in, and later where the thugs get whipped up on. BTW I think whomever the bricklayer was had ADHD... that's an odd wall.


The movie also showcases the interior of the place a good bit for a dance-off in some sort of club space within the building. The whole scene is probably a ~10 min after the halfway mark of the movie. It's really cool to see more footage of such a mega-elusive location. Makes me wonder where else this place is hiding!

[Tony Trout]

Hey, ya'll! I finally got back on here after being away for a very long time (I actually just simply forgot my password) and I recently purchased the blu-ray set of the complete series of Knight Rider and I'm watching "Knight Of The Phoenix" at the moment. That pilot movie/episode is so much fun to watch (especially when K.I.T.T speaks to Michael for the first time....I know I would react that same way if that was me and my car began asking me questions!).

Sincerely,
Tony Trout