The Love Bug (1997)

One of my all time favorites.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I didn't see this feature when it originally aired. I caught it on television recently and loved it. If you like the classic beetle, you'll enjoy watching Herbie again. What's not to love about a Bug? They're so darn CUTE! It gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling to see Dean Jones, he helped bring the movie home for me. It's nice that he tied this movie to the first. The story was interesting, the way it explained how Herbie came about. Also, the creation of Horris, the Evil bug, and where his bad spirit came from. Sure it's corny, but so much is too serious now a days. I had some good laughs, a tear when it was appropriate, and a good feeling movie to add to my collection.

It is beyond me why this television movie is called 'The Love Bug' when it isn't about love, it's about a Volkswagen Beetle which also doesn't have much to do with love. If anything, it is like a Looney Tunes cartoon with a crazy title and a crazy plot that doesn't necessarily match the title name. But this is a television movie, and like most other television movies, it has flaws, among them poor acting, weak humour and the 'modifications' that 'Horace' has being totally unoriginal. (Sure, modification number 3, the laser beam that cuts 'Herbie' in half, is out of James Bond.) There are also some dry scenes, and just because "the love bug" is mentioned at the end doesn't mean that it makes an appropriate title. Although there are some good bits, they don't take up half of the movie, and so my opinion is that 'The Love Bug' has its 'bugs'.

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.

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!