Customer Reviews

Nick Knight

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In the 1989 TV flick NICK KNIGHT, rocker (1981's Grammy-winning "Jessie's Girl") and soap-opera star (GENERAL HOSPITAL, 1981-1983) Rick Springfield portrays Nick Knight, a homicide detective on the night shift who has a reputation for being a loner and a maverick. But he's a good cop, and he's hip. He drives a cool vintage Caddy, looks good in black leather, and has a soft spot in his heart for the homeless (he often checks up on them when he's out on his "beat"). Oh, yeah--and he's also a guilt-ridden vampire in quest of a cure for his supernatural malady. Solving crimes, specifically homicides, is sort of his way of paying penance for the murderous, blood-sucking sins of his past.

Though often neglected or overlooked, NICK KNIGHT is an intelligent, skillfully written, and well-acted TV film that was actually the original pilot for the popular cult TV series FOREVER KNIGHT (1992-1996). One reason that this film is nearly forgotten might be the fact that the same story was re-shot with the TV cast and subsequently aired as the series' two-part opener. While the cast of the series does a fine job-the excellent cast is, of course, one of many reasons that the show quickly became a cult favorite--NICK KNIGHT is in many ways superior to the two-part remake, and it is therefore unfortunate that the series has eclipsed the original film and pushed it into near obscurity.

The acting in NICK KNIGHT is superb, especially considering that it is a made-for-TV flick. In the titular role, Springfield delivers a strong, convincing performance and has great chemistry with the rest of the cast. Also intriguing is Laura Johnson, who plays museum curator Alyce Hunter and Knight's love interest. Not only is she a good actress and quite attractive, but Ms. Johnson and Springfield really sizzle together when they share screen time. Genre fans might recognize Michael Nader from his role as Nicolas Pike in TV's short-lived 1990 series THE FLASH, but couch potatoes are more likely to recognize him from his long-standing role as Farnsworth Dexter on TV's nighttime soap DYNASTY. Here he plays Nick's longtime nemesis, Lacroix. (Nader does a good job in the role, though he is admittedly not as compelling--nor as accomplished an actor--as Nigel Bennett, who assumes the role in the series.) As the film's comic relief, John Kapelos is hilariously entertaining in the role of Nick's annoyingly self-absorbed partner Don Schanke, and he often steals the scenes he is in. Interestingly, Kapelos is the only actor in the film who returns to reprise his role for the TV series.

The film itself has really stood up well over time. Aside from the 1980's pop tunes in the soundtrack and a few cheesy special FX, there isn't much that reveals NICK KNIGHT to be a product of late-1980s TV. The script is tight and interesting, the characters are likable and realistic, the directing is top-notch, and, as mentioned before, the acting is excellent. All in all, the film is a forgotten gem that, like its vampire characters, deserves to rise from the dead and live forever.

And thanks to the folks at Anchor Bay, NICK KNIGHT has been resurrected on DVD. True, he offering is a bare-bones disc--i.e., there are no extras or bonus features--but the digital transfer is drastically better than the previous VHS releases of the film, and the sound quality is pretty good. And being a telefilm, it is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

For fans of the TV show FOREVER KNIGHT who did not see this pilot film prior to the creation of the series, it might take a little time to warm up to the alternate actors and the character variations. But if viewed an open mind, any fan of the TV series should enjoy NICK KNIGHT, and any fan of the vampire genre will want to add the DVD of this excellent film to their collections.

Definitely worth amazon.com's reasonable price of admission.

I remember watching this when it premiered on television. Network television was going through one of its periodic obsessions with police procedural shows and the introduction of a vampire to the night shift of a metropolitan police force had a certain amount of appeal.

The show that finally ran (Forever Knight) was quite a bit different and therein lies some of the appeal of watching this movie-- the chance to compare and contrast. I had just recently bought the first season of Forever Knight so I had a prime opportunity here.

This version is slicker, with an 80's rock background that has a certain retro appeal. It was obviously shot in a warmer climate. Rick Springfield has a lean and hungry look that contibutes to his tortured vampire character as he runs the gamut of emotion from tormented to tormented. While probably a better actor, Geraint Wynn Davies who played the character in the series, has to fight against his sleek, blond appearance. Somehow it is easier to look as if you have a brooding, soul-destroying secret if you are a brunette.

I also really enjoyed the contrast between Nick's starvling, blood junkie pose and Alyce Hunter, the Mayan scholar, constantly stuffing herself with junk food. I also enjoyed her look since Wardrobe apparently dressed her from Banana Republic back in the good old days before BR became a mall shop.

Anyway, the movie is not bad at all if you are in the mood for some vampire mind candy with a bit of retro.

Greetings, people. I saw this DVD for five bucks while at the grocery store of all places, and recognized the name Nick Knight as the name of our hero from Forever Knight, hereafter known as "FK." I hadn't heard of this movie, although FK was my favorite by far of the Crimetime after Primetime vehicles back in the day. Five bucks, what the heck, so I picked it up. I figured it out, this must have been the pilot for the series.

First of all I like FK very much, and therefore was comparing it to FK and being very hypercritical toward it. I do have to say that everyone in the movie did a capable acting job in my opinion, although I am no authority in this department.

I've got nothing against Rick Springfield, he did a good job. I liked the part at the beginning in the tanning booth, in fact I think they who made this movie should have made hime spend a few minutes in the booth where his angst would build, maybe with a flashback to being caught out in the sun starting to self-combust. I know why they didn't. They want you to not know that he's a vamp, but to figure it out from the clues. But they contradicted themselves in this line of reasoning here, because everyone who watches it already knows anyway, because this story is advertized as the story of the vampire detective, and they themselves are the ones who advertized it as such.

But I have to say, the sound quality is truly pathetic. And this is a DVD no less, friends. Couldn't they have cleaned up the sound a bit for us? No, evidently not! I had to turn the volume all the way up to 11 to catch what the people in the movie were saying, then the static and other noise was unbearable. Also I didn't like the vampire makeup in this version. The visual quality isn't too good either, although the DVD of the 1st season of FK also doesn't have very good visual quality, maybe the master tapes are bad.

While I'm sure that the actor who plays Nick's confidante the medical examiner is a nice guy, I think the idea of having Dr. Nathalie Lambert in FK is a much better idea, because as we all know vampires are supposed to be sexy and sexual tension (or tension of any kind) of an ongoing nature between characters makes for more riveting drama. That tension is lacking here, except for that between Nick and the museum lady, and Nick and Janette (who is smoldering in FK, but more on that later.)

The LaCroix we see here (ditto about the actor being a nice guy) seems to me to be more like a human baddie than one of the Undead. His voice and look remind me more of a human gangster (from the 70's, not the 20's) with a much too serious mien than the timeless (ok, 2000 year-old) evil vampire with the sick, twisted, but funny sense of humor and irony that Nigel Bennet has bequeathed to us, the FK faithful.

I also think this version falls short of FK in that to my memory, there are no flashbacks to take you back with Nick into his past to really remind you that he is older than he looks, and that he is more then the (in this cas L.A.) detective he appears to be, but rather a product of several lifetimes of experiences.

I like Janette in FK much better, as well as Captain Stonetree from Season 1 of FK, because they each seem to have more personality than their respective counterparts in this version.

Oh well, since this eventually led to FK, I am glad that it was made. But since FK is so much better, I can't under normal circumstances recommend it. Get this only if you really want to have it to compare to FK, or you're a Rick Springfield fan, or something like that. Otherwise, stick with just the FK DVD.

As Skanke would say, Ciao.

It's sad that Anchor Bay "cropped" or cut scenes from this movie. The part when Nick FINALLY gets the gobblet, or the scene where his curator/girlfriend is a vampire (made by LaCroix), atop Nick's roof glaring down at him in his loft, growling, with her vampire teeth. There's about 2/3 more scenes like those "missing" fromthis movie. Tsk-Tsk...What a shame too.

Rick Springfield was EXCELLENT in this pilot film for the t.v series, Forever Knight. The producers of Forever Knight, should've KEPT Springfield for the series. Springfield portrayed the Vampire BETTER, than Geraint Wyn Davies(the series). Davies' lack-luster "performance" of Nick, is comical, and non-believable. Springfield, made you BELIEVE and FEEL his HUNGER to be rid of the vampire curse.And his hunger to survive the odds, of either remaining a blood-thirsty vampire, or finding the Goblet to return him to his former self. The ending of this movie is Devistating! Your heart will SHATTER at what happens, or what DOESN'T happen for Nick. I cried for Nick. And Springfield's show of the pain, the disappointment at the end, WILL wrench tears from you, NO DOUBT!! Springfield, SHOULD have gotten an Emmy!! AND, the series!!!! This is ONE Springfield role, that WON'T be forgotten! You can "Rock- On" forever Rick, but YOU, will be MY, F O R E V E R ~ K N I G H T! :o) XXXXX2rickspringfield.

I saw this movie on TV long before the Forever Knight series first aired. If you're a fan of the TV series, you'll like this DVD as a compare-and-contrast exercise to the first 2 episodes of the TV show. If you like vampire stories, it's better than most. If you're looking for a great movie, you won't find it here. But it is entertaining, humorous and fun.

I saw this movie when it first came out on TV as the pilot for the somewhat popular Forever Knight series. I remember that I loved the pilot at the time and didn't realize that this was a pilot an not just another made for TV movie. Then about two years after I saw Nick Knight, Forever Knight came out. I was much disappointed that they had not kept more members of the original cast and had chosen to reshoot the pilot and air it like Nick Knight had never been. It took me the whole four years that Forever Knight was on TV to warm to the cast and I absolutely hated the cheesy flashbacks! I didn't need to be beat over the head to know that Nick was obviously older than he looked! I mostly watched the series out of loyalty to the original pilot and hoped that the series would get better with time, but obviously they must have replaced the original director and writers to come up with the sloppy mess they put out for the series. All in all, the original Nick Knight was the best of the bunch and I recommend this movie to anyone who is not yet biased by the trash that came out in the series.

Made three years before "Forever Knight", "Nick Knight" was an earlier attempt at filming the pilot for this series. "Nick Knight" is almost scene-for-scene identical (clearly they used the same script and only made minor changes) to the pilot of "Forever Knight" (which is included in Forever Knight - The Trilogy, Part 1 (1992 - 1993) as episodes 1 and 2), except with a lower budget and different actors. I saw both pilots within a week of each other and although neither is brilliant, I considered "Nick Knight" to be the better of the two. The acting in "Nick Knight" is far and away better than that in "Forever Knight", in particular, Rick Springfield makes a far better Nick (the troubled vampire turned detective) than Geraint Wyn Davies. The scene in which he sits down to a goblet of warm blood as if it were a cup of hot chocolate is priceless.

I recommend this movie to all "Forever Knight" fans, if only to see how the series could have been.

If you ever want a movie that had the hunk Rick Springfield this is it. It's a role you never exept. It's a mystery, suspense, and action movie all rolled into one. Here's a little summery, he plays a vampire trying to go good but his old buddy shows up and basicly all hell brakes lose. It's a great movie and a great movie for the ultimate Rick Springfield fan or for any Rick fan.

Like others I have watched both the tv version and this. Nick is a much deeper character, LaCroix a shade [ok a deeper] evil and perhaps more complex. The filming is more complex.

Perhaps this is one of my frustrations with the TV show. It seemed dumbed down as if the writers and makers where sure we weren't bright enough to catch any implications they might throw at us so buff it over lightly and ignore. I was constantly saying "That could have been GREAT if only... Darn it they did it again and missed." With the movie well...

The film does NOT do this. It has a depth that the TV never made it to. Major characters from the tv show are missing, such as Nat [thank you thank you].

Nick is believable as a haunted knight errant seeking salvation in a world that is not so nice sometimes. The character is fully developed and interesting. When it ended I wanted more of THIS Nick. Sadly what followed [on TV] didn't give me that.

The list could go on.