The Love Bug

The Love Bug

1997 "Herbie's Back In A Brand-New Movie!"
The Love Bug
The Love Bug

The Love Bug

5.3 | 1h28m | PG | en | Adventure

The inimitable VW Beetle is losing all his races and destined for the scrap heap until mechanic Hank takes him over and gives him a new lease of life. Soon, Herbie is winning again, to the fury of his previous owner, who builds a menacing black bug to challenge Herbie to the ultimate race.

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5.3 | 1h28m | PG | en | Adventure , Fantasy , Comedy | More Info
Released: November. 29,1997 | Released Producted By: Disney Branded Television , ZM Productions Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

The inimitable VW Beetle is losing all his races and destined for the scrap heap until mechanic Hank takes him over and gives him a new lease of life. Soon, Herbie is winning again, to the fury of his previous owner, who builds a menacing black bug to challenge Herbie to the ultimate race.

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Cast

Bruce Campbell , John Hannah , Ali Wentworth

Director

Glenn Forbes

Producted By

Disney Branded Television , ZM Productions

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Reviews

ma-cortes Amusing and entertaining first TV installment with the ¨Wolkswagen Love Bug¨ racing the tracks . Love Bug's entry in which Herbie is racing in competitions , it is full of pranks and car stunts that are great fun to see . Agreeable television's love bug Wolkswagen plenty of action , slapdash , laughs and entertainment . This hilarious Herbie story concerns about The Love Bug falls 'hood-over-wheels' for a classy chassis! . It deals with Herbie, the magical Volkswagen Beetle, being passed on to a new owner , a down-on-his-luck mechanic and race car pilot named Hank Cooper (Bruce Campbell) . Together, they must battle a dastardly racer named Simon Moore (John Hanna) and his devil-car "Horace", a nasty Herbie . Later on , evil Moore wants Herbie back, but Hank refuses and Simon wishes to compete against Cooper in the races, then he sabotaged Herbie before a car race so , he can vanquish . As the backdrop in the race scenes results to be spectacular as well as funny . Then, a big race was coming up and Herbie , the Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own undergoes a dangerous car race . Fortunately, the couple of pilots have a sleeve in the form of Herbie , the fantastic car , as they take the magical Wolkswagen Bug with a mind of its own as both of them compete in the notorious race and attempt to beat . So the two rogue pilots (John Hanna , Dana Gould) resort to all manner of cheats , legal or otherwise, to get it and are now attempting to get them back . Aboard their many crazy car, dastardly Simon and his hoodlum devise nefarious plans to stop the Love Bug . There is one obstacle however : Herbie . Miraculous Herbie take them for a ride and stumbles into evil hoodlums who pursue through roads and race tracks . Herbie with the number 53 intervenes in the biggest car race , a challenge among top competitors and quickly slipping in the ranking.This delightful car comedy displays great loads of amusement , fantastic race cars , slapstick , fun , giggles , chases are great fun to watch and being pretty entertaining . As always, Herbie the love bug , is helping the young couple -Bruce Campbell ,Alexandra Wentworth- find romance but encountering all sorts of hilarious problems along the way . It's an enjoyable movie for kids and for those who enjoy cars racing round and round and bounds and leaps carried out by Herbie . Herbie The Love Bug was a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle deluxe ragtop sedan painted in Volkswagen L87 pearl White . Under normal circumstances, the interior would be a matching white. However, Herbie's interior was painted a special non-reflective grey color so the camera and studio lights would not reflect . The actors seem to enjoy immensely ,such as Bruce Campbell , Clarence Williams II , Kevin J. O'Connor and the ordinary Dean Jones play of sympathetic manner ; of course , there appears the mean-spirited villains performed by John Hanna , Dana Gould , both of whom are top notch . The latter roles bear remarkable resemblance to ¨Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines¨ . Colorful cinematography though a perfect remastering is necessary and jolly soundtrack by Shirley Walker including a lively leitmotif . However , being the only Herbie movie without the George Bruns original and classic theme .This is a delightful film , a particular remake to original entry titled ¨The love bug¨(1968) by Robert Stevenson with Dean Jones, Michele Lee , David Tomlinson , Buddy Hacket and Joe Flynn . This first version " Love Bug ¨ results to be the best one , it is amusing story with lots of laughs but is a family film . It's one of the best and funniest of ¨Herbie¨ series . It was followed by ¨Herbie rides again (1974)¨ also by Robert Stevenson starred by Ken Berry , Stefanie Powers and Helen Hayes ; it's followed by ¨Herbie goes to Montecarlo¨ with Dean Jones , Don Knotts and Julie Sommers ; followed by ¨Herbie goes bananas¨ (1980 , or Herbie Torero) by Vincent McEveety starred by Charles Martin Smith and Cloris Leachman , among others and this 1997-for-television-movie with Bruce Campbell and John Hanna and a TV series ; the most part were filmed by Robert Stevenson and Vincent McEveety and usually starred by Dean Jones . Furthermore , a recent version based on the characters created by Bill Walsh starred by Linsay Lohan , Justin Long and Matt Dillon , being directed by Angela Robinson . The motion picture was professionally directed by Peyton Reed , though with no originality and it has nothing to do with original film . Peyton is a prestigious actor , writer , producer and filmmaker who has achieved great successes such as ¨Bring it on¨, ¨The break-up¨ , ¨Down with love and and especially ¨Yes Man¨ . Rating : Acceptable , 5,5/10 , worthwhile watching . Amusing and engaging film with effective combination of adequate special effects , live action , adventure , fantasy and humor . The children will get a kick out of this typical ¨Love Bug¨ film ,it's a great fun to watch and there are loads of entertainment in this one .
SirGEORGE "Witness the Resurrection"-Alien:Resurrection (1997)"Herbie's back in a Brand new movie!"-The Love Bug (1997)The tag lines of the worst movies of '97...with the same meaning.The first thing what I want to say, I am A REALLY BIG FAN of Herbie 'cause I was grow up on his films, I loved the jokes the tricks, the music and the characters-even the evil ones-and I'll love the "Herbie Movies" as long as I live.But NOT THIS waste of celluloid. This movie is stupid, pesky, and bad as "Alien:Resurrection".Why? Because the story is VERY stupid, the characters are simply idiots-professor Stumpfel(?!)-and the theme music is pesky, just like in "Alien:Resurrection". And the worst thing in the whole movie: Horace, The Evil Twin of Herbie. Laughably Stupid. Just like the "Newborn-Alien" in "Alien:Resurrection".And, the genesis of Herbie. Stupid! I mean who's idea was , Herbie was build by a German SCIENTIST, AND HE HAS GOT HIS "SOUL" FROM THE PHOTOGRAPH OF STUMPFEL'S GIRLFRIEND, WHAT FALLED INTO THE MELTING-POT?! BAD! And of course they've needed to build-again Herbie, It's the synonym of cloning Ripley, ain't? And the music, the music, the music, where is the good old "Herbie Theme" by George Bruns? Now We get only a corny, pesky, SILLY, BAD music. And where are the good old characters like Tennessee Steinmetz(Buddy Hackett) or Wheely Applegate(Don Knotts) or anybody from the original stuff?THE ORIGINAL IS ALWAYS THE BEST!So, if you are a Herbie-fan,or you just like Herbie movies, watch the old ones.1/10- STUPID plot; BAD music; BAD characters.
David Ogilvie I watched this on TV and persevered to the end. Like most Herbie fans I saw the films as a kid and I'm watching this as a 30 year old, so maybe my feelings are a bit off. After watching the film I came away with the feeling more so that Disney was at fault for this disaster rather than Herbie not having any mileage.The script is decent enough for a kids movie, but its the action sequences that are just so poor. The special effects are really bad and putting myself as a kid I'd have to say that they looked amateurish. In previous versions of Herbie there was a sense of believability about Herbies capabilities and that was lost in this version. Horace the Evil VW seemed under utilised, they should n't have killed him off. The most annoying thing for me was there was just no sense of speed or tension. When Herbie was split down the middle I just had no sympathy for my fave VW at all.The acting is well, run of the mill. I guess most of the cast were not busy and it was money for nothing. I think this was John Hannahs first vehicle in the US market and he was reasonable. Liked his line where Herbie is split in two and he says 'oh a drivethru'. Bruce Campbell does it by the numbers. Dean Jones you can just imagine was the first person Disney phoned when they said they were going to make this. Still his attendance on this movie is needed and for fans of yester year well its a good touch.The thing about this film is, if you had kids and they seen this first then it would be nigh on impossible to make them watch the early superior outings of one of the most famous cars in movie history.
Zinone 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!