Califórnia 2010

If you think this is going to be an even higher-tech version of the original "Knight Rider" series, um, don't hold your breath. It's still got the "young loner on a crusade" but it's not Hasselhoff, and our hero doesn't even OWN a car until the middle of the movie. Turns out, it's an old, junked-out Ford Mustang instead of the sleek Pontiac Firebird you would expect. There's some mention of an "interface" that looks like a crystalline artichoke (maybe they rescued it from "Cat from Outer Space") that somehow allows the spirit of a young girl to reside in the car. Hrmmm... well, if computers are pretty scarce, I suppose we could go the fantasy-mystical route. But there are better post-apocalypse vehicle films out there -- see "Damnation Alley" or any of the "Mad Max" films if you're into this sort of thing.

This was part of the "Action Pack" series of pilot films, including "TekWar", "Team Knight Rider", and the original episodes of "Hercules". This one didn't measure up, and never got further than a pilot episode.

When the popular KNIGHT RIDER TV series finished, I guess the producers weren't quite ready to give up the ghost because they produced a couple of follow-on TV movies in the years after. The first at least had Hasslehoff to tie it into the series, whereas KNIGHT RIDER 2010 has absolutely nothing to do with the show or indeed even the spirit of the show.

Sure, there's an armoured car with weapons in a couple of scenes, but that's the only scant connection. The rest of this is set in a post-apocalyptic world, with heavy nods to the MAD MAX films, where an evil organisation is presided over by a disabled scientist and our loner hero must use his wits and his high-powered car to rescue a kidnapped woman. Oh, and there's something about illegal organ donation, too. The acting is wooden beyond belief, the lead actor is simply terrible, and the production values are so appalling as to be non-existent which renders the many action scenes laughable. The one thing this has going for it is a villainous Brion James in typically arresting form, but sadly he can do nothing to save the film itself.

A bad movie? Not really. Knight Rider? Hell no. Not even close. Doing a sequel to a popular series is always a tricky thing but at least some element of the original has to remain intact to make it work. While Knight Rider seemed to be the possible starting point for a new series with new leads BUT with KITT firmly in place the series the potential was there for a new series to work.

2010 removes itself entirely from the original series. The payoff for 2010 would have been our heroes stumbling upon KITT's interface by integrating it (by chance, of course) into an old Trans Am, unearthing the lost legacy of Michael Knight's crusade for justice.

If you're expecting the hairy chest of David Hasselhoff and the retro cool Pontiac of KITT then don't bother with this movie. Purported to be loosely based on the original series it has no character called Knight, no reference to the Foundation for Law And Government and has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Knight Rider. In fact, it's rubbish. A bounty hunter operating outside the law gets caught up in a love triangle with his former girlfriend and her disabled boss. Somehow he turns down a Ferrari, an AC Cobra and a 1950's piece of American automobile history to rebuild an old hot rod car, coating it in bulletproof material and making a computer that can talk. Hence the ability to trade on the Knight Rider brand. Aside from that, it's nothing other than an attempt to keep the name alive until Glen A. Larson finishes writing the script for the new Knight Rider movie, due out in 2008.

Believe it or not, I've watched this KR at least ten more times than KR 2000. It's not because the movie is a masterpiece, but it really does push the envelope on the KR legend and tries to do something interesting with it.

Jake McQueen is a cool character since he's not a pure good guy, quite frankly, the guy was a criminal and ultimately winds up serving justice, not just the law. He is in essence a "young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless and the powerless".

The supporting cast does their jobs well and seeing a pre-Xena Hudson Leick is refreshing. Beach does a good job at being a sheriff who walks the straight line and finds that always doesn't get the job done.

I honestly believe that this movie had great ideas, but should have taken things further. The car should have been built up over the course of the movie rather than only appear in the last half hour or so (a mistake that KR 2000 also made). The post-apocalyptic setting is cool, but the villains should have been fleshed out more. Having them be "cowboy era types" was not a problem, but they should have also been cybernetically augmented, much like their leader. The theme of humans and machines living side by side as opposed to united was interesting as well.

I always regret this show was not turned into at least a mini-series or series of movies like "Tekwar" was. It would have been interesting to see if they advanced the storyline more. Overall, a nice try.