Knight Rider - Season 4

I'm currently watching the fourth and final season of Knight Rider on DVD. Its one of my favourite shows from my childhood and I still really enjoy it even today.

To jazz things up for the fourth season they invented SUPER PURSUIT MODE. What did they do to you KITT? They did exploit this mode a bit too much, in a similar way TURBO BOOST had to be used in practically every episode prior. Only two sequences were made to show the transformation (see the above clip).

And whilst I'm on the subject of Knight Rider, click here to watch the German intro. I'm pretty sure I heard the "C-word" mentioned at the start!

Update

Sorry for not writing anything for a while, I've been totally busy! Anyway, here's a update on what I've been upto.

CINEMA

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS - This was quite funny. The story is about pot-smoking Seth Rogen on the run from a drug gang, accompanied by his dealer friend James Franco. Its stoner humour throughout which I don't mind. There's a load of gay undertones, that was strange.

TROPIC THUNDER - After seeing the brilliant trailers for this I was expecting great things, especially with the amazing cast. Unfortunately, whilst funny through most of the film it didn't quite live up to hype. The trailer showed the funniest moments which totally took away the laughs when seeing the same parts in the film. Robert Downey Jr. was hilarious as the white Australian actor playing an African-American soldier!



TAKEN - This film was awesome! It took me by surprise, who would have thought 56 year old Liam Neeson could kick so much ass! Just think Bourne Identity action mixed with Rambo (2008) violence and you're in the right area. Its a great revenge movie.

DEATH RACE - This remake/update of the Roger Corman film Death Race 2000 isn't quite as ambitious as the original, with the races confined to an offshore prison rather than the open roads of America but its still remains entertaining and is actually quite good fun to watch. Its always good to see Lovejoy (Ian McShane) on screen, he plays the stereotypical wise man prisoner and part of the pit team.


DVD

DEADWOOD - I recently watched the first season of Deadwood whilst on holiday. Originally aired in 2004 on HBO this is the story of a lawless town in its very early days, just weeks after the killing of General Custer and at the height of the American gold rush. Its dirty, filthy, gritty but real and captivating. If you're offended easily, this isn't the show for you. The swearing is hardcore, no swearwords are left out of this one but I found it all adds to the overall realism. It has some brilliant characters, best of all has to be Ian McShane's - Al the saloon owner. He's a nasty piece of work! I will definitely watch the other two seasons.



TV


THE WRONG DOOR - Found on BBC3, this obscure sketch show is certainly original and features some amazing computer generated special effects, the like you would expect to see on a science fiction show but never in a comedy. Its really funny when they get it right. A couple of good episodes featured Train Pirates (with the brilliant Brian Blessed as the Captain) and a James Bond spoof with clowns, trying to stop Ninjas (with Burt Kwouk as the Ninja Master) evil plan to increase the price of a cheese and tomato sandwich on one of the London train lines. Crazy!

KNIGHT RIDER - I've now watched episode 2 and I'm still enjoying it. The latest episode was similar to the first Fast and The Furious film. I doubt this series will last very long though.


HEROES - Wow, season 3 is looking really good so far. There are a lot more villains this time round which should make things very interesting.

TERMINATOR : THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES - Although its certainly not perfect, I'm enjoying the storyline at the moment. It's creating a lot of back story for James Cameron's apocalyptic future and hopefully the new film, Terminator Salvation won't ignore all of it. I'm still not sure why Shirley Manson (from the band Garbage) was cast as the T-1000 style Terminator however.


GAMES

ROCK BAND - This is still my most favourite game and with weekly song downloads available its not likely get boring any time soon. I currently have 130 songs in total, quite a lot of strange ones from bands I've never heard of and some classics including several from Rush (awesome progressive rock band!).


CONDEMNED 2 - Although I'm not playing this myself, my friend Ned is working his way through it at the moment and I've seen it in action. Its just as good, if not better than the original. Its extremely dark and scary and shouldn't be played on your own at night with the lights off!

Knight Rider - 1st Season Premiere

I'm probably the only person that liked the recent pilot for Knight Rider and I'm probably the only person that's going to enjoy the new series!

I've just watched the web exclusive premiere episode of the new Knight Rider, not due to be screened in the US until 24th September.

From the "Get Go!" its full of car chases, explosions and exiting life-or-death action. Its definitely influenced by action cinema and in comparison does an impressive job considering the show is made on a much smaller budget to its celluloid cousin.

There's a whole load of CGI which a lot of the Knight Rider purists don't agree with but I don't mind, the show should keep up with todays technology and if CGI is the way forward "go use the hell out of it!". Using the new FX tech, K.I.T.T can do lots of extra things including Transformer esque transformations into other vehicles, it looks totally awesome.

Mike Tracer/Knight (played by Justin Bruening) has an interesting back story as an Iraq war Vet with a healthy dose of amnesia! I expect this will follow Mike through the rest of the series in a Wolverine/X-Men way as he tries to understand his past and the people he had dealings with.

The rest of the characters in the cast seems pretty standard for the genre but features enough eye candy with a nice amount of humour to keep me entertained. Val Kilmer is still the voice of K.I.T.T which was quite a surprise, I thought an unknown but similar sounding person would have taken over after the pilot episode.

Roll on episode 2!

Knight Rider (2008)

The Knight Rider T.V movie was aired on Sunday in the U.S and thanks to the many people that have uploaded the video I managed to download a decent copy by the Monday night. Isn't the internet wonderful!

I'm pleased to say it was an enjoyable experience watching this official 'sequel' (not a remake) to the original classic 80's series.

Although this pilot isn't as 'perfect' as some of the die-hard Knight Rider fans wanted I found it was straight forward good fun. The new KITT (voiced by Val Kilmer) looks and sounds great with some cool new functions. The car (a Shelby GT500KR Mustang) can now colour change and transform its shape. I'm sure as the series develops we'll see other new abilities.

The new lead, Justin Bruening who plays the character Mike Tracer seems to have enough attitude and charisma suitable for the role. In his first scene he's already in bed with two stunning women, thats a pretty good start if you ask me!

David Hasselhoff makes a guest appearance (as Michael Knight) in one of the final scenes and if things take off will hopefully return in later episodes.

By the very end of the episode the basic team had been assembled with characters mirroring those from the original team, Mike and KITT ready to take on the baddies as part of the Foundation of Law & Government.

Anyone familiar with the Knight Rider spin-off series, Team Knight Rider will recognise the replacement for the Foundation's juggernaut, not the most subtle forms of transport!

I'm really exited about this show and can't wait to see more.

Knight Rider Movie - on NBC tonight!

The brand new pilot movie for Knight Rider is finally here. Hopefully this will be streamed onto Stage6 in the next few days, it looks pretty good from the clip although Will Arnett's voice is still featured as KITT (now known as the Knight Industries Three Thousand), Val Kilmer has now replaced him.

Some photos of the new Knight Rider

Here's some photos from the forthcoming Knight Rider TV movie (due to be aired in the US on the 17th of February).


The new version of K.I.T.T. (Knight Industries Two Three Thousand), now a Shelby GT500KR Mustang.


The new guy (Justin Bruening) & K.I.T.T.


An interior shot, looks pretty awesome!

Kilmer 'will voice' Knight Rider

Val Kilmer is to provide the voice of talking car Kitt in the TV movie remake of the 1980s series Knight Rider, trade magazine Variety says.

He replaces Will Arnett, star of comedy Arrested Development, who pulled out after a row over motor company Ford's sponsorship of the film, Variety adds.

It said Ford's rival, General Motors, asked him to step down because he had voiced adverts for the firm.

The film is due to air on the NBC network in the US on 17 February.

Arnett told Variety he had been "very excited" about voicing the part of Kitt, which he had already recorded.

"However, because of a long relationship with General Motors as the voice of GMC Trucks, I had to respectfully withdraw from the project," he added.

Bourne Identity director Doug Liman is executive producer of the pilot, which will lead to a TV series if successful.

Soap actor Justin Bruening, 28, stars as the son of David Hasselhoff's original character, Michael Knight.

Hasselhoff will also make a guest appearance, reprising his career-making role.

* Pinched from BBC Entertainment News, 08/02/2008

Hasselhoff and Russo on board new "Rider"

David Hasselhoff is in talks to appear on NBC's "Knight Rider," reprising his role as Michael Knight from the original series. Also cast in the movie/pilot is Deanna Russo of "The Young & the Restless", who will play the female lead opposite fellow soap star Justin Bruening.

"Rider" is a sequel to the 1980s series that centres on Mike Tracer (Bruening), Michael Knight's son who never knew his dad.

Burned by his love for childhood best friend and one-time girlfriend Sarah Kamen (Russo), Mike is wasting away in Las Vegas when Sarah reappears and is willing to pay off Mike's gambling debt in exchange for help.

Sarah is the brilliant estranged daughter of KITT inventor Charles Kamen, who works as an assistant professor in the engineering department at Stanford. When she receives word from talking-car KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand) that her father is missing, she and KITT set out to find and recruit Mike.

* Pinched from Yahoo news, 20/11/2007