Reilly2040's Blog

Yeah, KARR’s been brought back. Although the indications are that this is a separate vehicle to the original, although similar in some ways.

Like the original KARR/KITT relationship, this KARR is a prototype to the current KITT. However whereas the original was a straight prototype, this time KARR seems to have been more of a military backed project. We know that Charles Graiman (who created the original KITT according to this show) was involved in KARR’s development. He shares the original’s self preservation programming, which makes sense for a military project I guess.

Most likely as a result of being a military project, while this KARR appears to be a Mustang to start with, he transforms into the giant warbot you see in the clip. This transformation technology I’m guessing is similar to the technology Graiman later built into the new KITT to allow him to become other vehicles.

We know from an earlier episode (Knight of the Living Dead) that KARR went wrong (not a huge surprise) and killed a number of people before finally being stopped, however an unknown party in the same episode attempted to get a copy of KITT’s files, which Graiman suspects were to be used in recreating/reactivating KARR, so KARR’s return is something that’s been teased for a while now. In the same episode there’s also a hint that Mike may have been involved with KARR and it could be related to his missing memories.

Overall, I’d still like this to be the original KARR, using the CPU which we’d seen survive in KITT vs KARR, however as I say, it looks like they’re just re-using the name for a new villain. The warbot transformation doesn’t bother me too much (makes sense within the story I think), and I like that they’ve kept his other mode as a Mustang to retain that “evil doppleganger” feel.

No word yet on who’s voicing KARR, athough obviously fans would like to see Peter Cullen return to the role (I’m not as sure, especially if this is meant to be a separate character). It’ll be interesting to see what kind of character it’ll be as well. Just a fairly unintelligent, growling warbot, something more niave like KARR was in Trust Doesn’t Rust, or outright evil and intelligent as he appeared in KITT vs KARR (I’d like the later).

KARR’s due to appear in a couple of episodes time. He seems to be part of a multi-part story that’s going to wrap up the plot arcs, and lead into the reboot of the show which will see Knight Rider becoming more like the original. I’m hoping KARR isn’t completely destroyed at the end of it though. Be nice to tease the idea he could be a returning villain now and again.

For completism, this clip’s taken from a promo reel from Master Key Film’s website at:

http://masterkeyfilms.com/

They do the special effects for the new Knight Rider, and its a pretty fun reel to watch.

(And yup, I blagged this all from the Knight Rider Online forums )