Knight Rider: KITT Gets An Upgrade

The icons of the 21st century concern me. With all of the throwbacks to the 1980's, I wonder if this generation has an identity of its own. After being horribly disappointed by the remake of Transformers, my expectations were low for the two-hour movie premier of Knight Rider.

Over two decades ago, I enjoyed watching the adventures of KITT and Michael Knight. It was the classic struggle of good vs. evil. The righteous would triumph, thanks to cutting-edge technology and a few well placed punches. It was a theme that I could relate to. The new Knight Rider is little more complicated than that.

The new Knight Rider has the traditional family values of this generation - the traditions of a dysfunctional family. When the lead male character is introduced, with two women in his bed, the knightly chivalry of the original is lost. That disappointed me. The new driver of KITT may be an Army Ranger, but he doesn't have the same do-gooder attitude of Michael Knight.

Fortunately, KITT is intact. While the voice is different, the character is essentially the same. While the Knight Industries Three-Thousand may have new gadgets and a new body-style, the core attitude is still there. I found it easy to appreciate the overhall of KITT, as I drive a Mustang. For those of you who can care less about such things, the movie will feel like a two hour long car commercial. Even the bad guys can be found in a Ford.

Compared to the launch of the new Terminator series, Knight Rider just isn't as impressive. The hype wasn't there either. None of my friends were talking about the show. None of them watched it. I found that disappointing, as the new Knight Rider was somewhat enjoyable to me. There were cheese parts, just like the original show, but that could also be part of the fun.

If you missed the movie debut of the new series, NBC posted the entire thing online.