11. Miami Vice
12. Knight Rider
It wasn’t intentional, but last weekend I watched two movies, and both of them were updates of ’80s TV shows. Remarkably, the big budget big cast (Miami Vice) was the weaker of the two. I was a big fan of both series when they originally aired. Miami Vice was a landmark of TV in terms of editing and music, a big influence on series to come. While the movie kept the characters intact and brought back Michael Mann to write and direct it, I never really cared about the over-complicated story. Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell were fine, but they didn’t really fit the roles. Two things I really missed from the original series was Edward James Olmos as their boss, and Jan Hammer’s theme (they did have a cover of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” over the end credits). C
Knight Rider, on the other hand, seemed to get it right. It was a TV movie (and probably a pilot for a series), but it was truer to the original series. It had some nifty FX sequences (when the car was being shot at), a nice cameo by the Hoff (I have a hard time believing Miami Vice couldn’t afford Philip Michael Thomas) and a cool update of the original theme music. I’d definitely give it a try if they make a series out of it. B