Un nouveau départ pour la coccinelle

John Hannah is fun as the bad guy -in a satirical kind of way- but he's still no match for the antics of David Tomlinson in the 1969-original. Kevin J. O'Connor does his best in the part of the goodhearted hero sidekick - but, far from a match for memorable Buddy Hackett. And then there is Bruce Campbell who is so-so as the human hero of the story. Thank God the star of the original movie series -Dean Jones- turns up. He is the only real link between the original and this remake. And to a guy who grew up on Herbie-movies it is a surprisingly tear-jerking and emotional moment as Jones -30 years later- gets behind the wheel of his Wolksvagen-pal one last time, although he doesn't actually drive off. This time around the main competition in the movie comes from a second bug called Horace (but it should be nicknamed "The Hate Bug"). Computer animations creates the basis for the effects, but the story however is what one would expect from the usual made-for-TV-Disney movie: barely average. Which is sad, because Herbie deserves more effort, and it doesn't take much to add more charm to the story of the Love Bug then what was managed here. For example in the music: One of the major assets of the original Love Bug-movie was it's charming catchy score -as lovable as the car itself. But composer Shirley Walker should have been kicked off the Disney-lot for this simple, below-by-the-numbers soundtrack. One would think it too was created by a computer! Would it hurt to keep some of the original music in the remake ? In the end The Love Bug 97's only real asset is our love for the little car with a heart, and nothing else. If there is a next time: let Dean Jones STAR in the thing, and let him and Herbie win their last big race, before letting them deservedly drive off into the sunset together. And us Herbie-fanatics could weep and weep... goodbye Herbie! Goodbye...

This movie was just wonderful! It brought so many memories flooding back to me that I cried all the way thru. Just as classic as the original Herbie movies. Having Dean Jones in the film made it that more special. Way to go Disney! We need more movies like this from you. The Love Bug Rides Again!

5th film in the Love Bug series (following The Love Bug, Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, and Herbie Goes Bananas), incorrectly labeled a remake is actually a sequel despite it's title (a lot of the original film's plot is reworked but isn't that true of most sequels?) Dean Jones portrays original owner Jim Douglas in the odd numbered films, including this one but he is delegated to a much smaller part (but it does assure us this is a sequel and not a remake.) Bruce Campbell takes over as the new owner of Herbie (hey, if Ken Berry could do it?) Not as good as the first three (Dean Jones was in one and three and how can you beat Helen Hayes driving Herbie around a high rise ledge in number two?) but better than the fourth (which always seemed more like a Benji film to me), and better than the short-lived series that had buried the series for a long time. Apparently there were many changes of continuity in story line from the original and the VW's detailing (hey it's been 28 years and quite a few crashes, why not a little face lift?), but this isn't the type of film to worry about such things. Just have fun and enjoy. It's good to see Herbie working again and he's held up better than most of Hollywood's movie stars.

And you thought Herbie movies died way back in the day! Boy were you wrong! In fact, Herbie is not dead, just out-of-style. There was no need to even attempt to make this film. The only reason I bought it (yes, I bought it) was for Bruce Campbell, but even his great cheesy one-liners could not save this film. In fact, the few one-liners he has aren't even in his cheesy style, making this movie quite a disappointment.

Disney, in making this movie, made lots of mistakes. First of all, the script was not at all like previous Herbie films. There was swearing and other bad words there. in addition, the "story" how Herbie was created was all lies. Everyone knows that Jim Douglas' friend Tennesee Steinmetz first named Herbie, and that all VWs had this peculiar quality (shown in Herbie Rides Again). This "Stumphel" thing was totally off. Also, Herbie himself was done wrong! Color, stripe color, sunroof color, interior, 53s, and other things too numerous. The only positive thing was Dean Jones, who was by far the best actor in that movie! I wish Disney would make another quality movie!