Herbie Goes Bananas (1980)

Too much of everything

So much average

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Amusing and funny following with the ¨Wolkswagen Love Bug¨ racing the tracks and going to South America . Love Bug's outing in which Herbie one again doing antics , it is full of pranks and car stunts that are great fun to see . ¨Herbie goes bananas¨ (1980 , or Herbie Torero) by Vincent McEveety starred by Charles Martin Smith and Cloris Leachman , among others results to be an agreeable though inferior Disney's love bug Wolkswagen plenty of action , slapdash , laughs and entertainment .Pete Stancheck (Stephen Burns) inherits from his Uncle Jim Douglas a race car being stored in Puerto Vallarta. With his friend Davy Johns (Charles Martin Smith) accompanying him to Pete is dismayed to learn that the car is an older model Volkswagen Beetle. But when Pete and his friend watch what the car can do and learn that it somewhat has a mind of its own, they decide to enter it into the Brazil Grand Prize formula one race. The adorable little VW helps its owners break up a counterfeiting ring in Mexico. The road to Rio has never been bumpier , as en route to Rio De Janeiro, Herbie gets the two friends have one problem after another as it attempts to help its new friend, a streetwise orphan named Paco (Garay) . Meanwhile , at a boat Pete fall in love for Melissa (Elyssa Davalos) and all of them are pursued by a trio of villains (John Vernon , Alex Rocco , Richard Jaeckel) .¨Herbie goes bananas¨ is a delightful Disney comedy that displays great loads of amusement , fantastic cars antics , slapstick , fun , giggles , chases are great fun to watch and being pretty entertaining . 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 . In the sequence where Herbie "walks the plank", a real Volkswagen Beetle was cast out into the sea , however it was never recovered. 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 , as Charles Martin Smith and Harvey Korman as a silly captain play of sympathetic manner and the mean-spirited villains performed by John Vernon , Alex Rocco and Richard Jaeckel are top notch . Colorful cinematography by Frank Phillips , being the only classic Herbie film to not be shot at the Golden Oak Ranch. Jolly soundtrack by Frank De val , Robert Aldrich's usual , including the lively leitmotif , usual in the Herbie's series. This is a delightful film , the original entry was ¨The love bug¨ by Robert Stevenson with Dean Jones , David Tomlinson and Buddy Hackett , followed by ¨ Herbie rides again (1974)¨ also by Robert Stevenson and 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 a 1997-for-television-movie with Bruce Campbell and John Hanna and a TV series , the most part filmed by Stevenson and Vincent McEveety and usually starred by Dean Jones . Furthermore recent version starred by Linsay Lohan , Justin Long and Matt Dillon , being directed by Angela Robinson. This first version " Love Bug ¨ results to be the best version , it is amusing story with lots of laughs but is a familiar film . The motion picture was professionally directed by Vincent MacEveety . He's an usual craftsman from Disney productions and a filmmaker of several TV episodes such as ¨Diagnosis Murder , Colombo , Pensacola , Airwolf , Dallas , Cimarron , Star Trek , Gunsmoke¨ and many others . This ¨Herbie goes bananas¨ is an amusing and engaging film with effective combination of primitive special effects , live action , adventure , fantasy and humor . The children will get a kick out of this typical Disney film ,it's a great fun to watch and there are loads of entertainment in this one . Worthwhile seeing , typical Disney slapstick , though isn't of the best in ¨Herbie¨ series .

"Herbie Goes Bananas" is way too underrated. Quite honestly, I don't see any reason why so many people dislike it. It's a light-hearted comedy in the old-fashioned Disney style, great fun and cute. It's a harmless movie, without violence or bad stuff. I know I'm in minority, but I consider this a classic.Despite being one of the sequels, this one can be considered a movie apart. It is original and different from the 3 previous movies. It's not a "rip-off", which is a benefit. Plus, unlike the other movies (which are dated), this one has that timeless, nostalgic feeling. The movie is much better than its cheesy title suggests."Herbie Goes Bananas" takes us to exotic locations such as Mexico and Panama, but also to a cruise ship (the "Sun Princess"), a bullfight, Inca ruins, Panama's Canal...Soundtrack is nice. "I found a new friend" is a very charming and cheerful song and I also like the instrumental musics.About the characters, I generally like them. My favorite is Paco, along with Herbie. Paco is cute and lovable, but also comical and one of the nicest and smartest movie kids ever. He always keeps his cheery disposition. He is polite, cool, he really likes his car friend (Herbie) and he always says the car looks good (even rusty). He is so much different from the obnoxious Maggie Peyton from "Herbie: Fully Loaded" or even Jim Douglas himself in the beginning of "The Love Bug".Captain Blythe is *very* surly yet hilarious. Imagine having an explosive captain like that aboard a ship...Herbie, the lovable VW Beetle, is a charismatic car in the world of cinema, while the VW Beetle itself is a legend in car industry. I love how he's always there for Paco when he needs help and that Paco does the same for Herbie. I just love their friendship.The bad guys are likable for villains. They always remain calm and delicate without showing signs of aggressiveness.Joaquin Garay III steals the show. His performance as Paco is just so energetic, so lively and terrific. He must have had great fun making this movie. Other talents include Stephen W. Burns, Charles Martin Smith, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, John Vernon, Richard Jaeckel, Alex Rocco and Vito Scotti.It's really cute that Paco calls Herbie "Ocho" ("eight" in Spanish) because he believes Herbie's 53 number means 5+3=8. The way Paco and Herbie communicate with each other is so cute. Not less cute is to see Paco acting like a taxi driver (Herbie is disguised as a taxi later) and the painting smiling flowers with the word "taxi" which Paco paints on Herbie. Curiously, Herbie's name is never mentioned in the movie, except one single time by the garage owner.One of the most hilarious parts of the film is Herbie as a matador. The entire sequence is just so funny! Also, the part when Herbie throws bananas to the bad guys is just hilarious! But there are plenty of other moments as funny as these, of course...This should definitely be on Top 250.

The only good joke in this movie is the inside one: when Cloris Leachman's character sends Herbie for help, Harvey Korman turns to her and says, "It's a car, lady, not Lassie!" Leachman was part of the cast of LASSIE in 1957-1958, playing the original Ruth Martin. One wonders if the joke was specifically inserted with her in mind.Poor Herbie went through as many owners as Lassie, too. This one is particularly lackluster, although the child lead is cute. The two young men who now apparently own Herbie don't even have enough screen presence to overshadow a small boy. On the other hand, Leachman and Korman must have needed the bucks.

I love Herbie - it's hard not to. However I can recognise how the four movies gradually get worse. This was the worst one. Now I'm not saying it was terrible, and I don't agree with a comment above that says "make the kids watch something else", but it was a disappointing effort.The Love Bug is by far the best, closely followed by Herbie Rides Again. Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo is OK, but Bananas is not very good at all. If you're not a fan of Herbie movies, you won't like this.5/10