Customer Reviews

Herbie Goes Bananas

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The fourth and final instalment of Walt Disneys Herbie and easily the worst and most forgetable. Though there are some beautiful shots of South America along the way this merley proceeds to make up for the holes in the plot. Whilst Herbie Goes Bananas certainly has a few bright spots, the film as a whole is a rather nondescript affair which sees Herbie the Volkswagen Beatle car, with a mind of its own, rubbing bumpers with a gang of smugglers on their way to Brazil. The stars in the film include Cloris Leachman as Aunt Louise, Charles Martin Smith as Dave Smith, John Vernon as Prindle and Stephan W Burns as Pete Stanchek. Strictly for die-hard fans of the series.

The death knell was audible when Herbie took his final drive in the 1980 Disney comedy HERBIE GOES BANANAS - and you may very well start going bananas when you watch it! Although noted comedy stars Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman manage to redeem their scenes together (and they are a complete joy), the rest of the production lets them down.

Jim Douglas's nephew Pete (Stephen W. Burns) and his co-driver D.J. (Charles Martin Smith) travel south of the border to claim ownership of Herbie, but get hijacked instead by junior con-artist Paco (Joaquin Garay III). The true title of this movie should have been "Herbie Gets Trashed", because he spends most of the film operating as a waterlogged, graffiti-riddled taxi. Cloris Leachman steals many a scene as dotty Aunt Louise, who harbours a yen for the handsome, worldly Captain Blythe (Harvey Korman).

The early 80s weren't the best period for Disney comedies in the first place, with the studio in the process of transitioning most of it's live action projects to the Disney Channel. HERBIE GOES BANANAS earned solid business during it's theatrical run and has a sizable cult following if anything. Strictly for completists.

In this last installment of the Love Bug series Pete Stancheck, the nephew of Jim Douglas, and his friend D.J., make a trip down to Central America to pick up Douglas' VW. The movie's plot basically gets boring after this, as the two travel by boat to Rio to enter a race. Charles Martin Smith makes a humorous cameo, but by the end of the movie, you're half asleep......

This is definitely a movie the Herbie franchise could've easily done without. I think t's got probably some the worst writing and out of all the sequels. Also, I think one of the major turnoffs is that they tried to place the kid Paco in a lead adult-type role, though I'm sure Disney thought it was "cute". The kid was just this annoying pickpocket that turned all the other characters against him, so I felt the movie was filled with conflicts between him and them, and less centered on Herbie. Since some of the main characters mention that Herbie was supposed race in the Brazil Grand Primio, the last Herbie movie should have been centered on this event, which I think would have been a strong finish to the films instead of all the meaningless nonsense that occured throughout this movie. The one high point are the great performances of Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman and Charles Martin Smith, whose talents were unfortunately wasted in this movie. I liked all other Herbie movies (heck, I even like the recent Linsay Lohan movie somewhat ). Don't waste your time on this movie.

This is what happens when you make one too many sequels of a popular family movie. Eventually, there's the temptation to dumb it down.

The nephew of Herbie's original owner goes to Mexico to pick up the little car with a friend, hoping to take it down to Brazil to enter a race. Unfortunately, they run into a young pickpocket, Paco (Joaquin Garay III), and end up too broke to get to the race.

So on the cruise ship, they befriend a woman (Cloris Leachman) and her studious daughter, and the woman agrees to sponsor them.

Unfortunately, that's the closest Herbie gets to the racetrack in this movie.

Meanwhile, Paco's gotten into worse trouble, picking the wrong pocket, and Herbie befriends him, and most of the movie is hijinks with Herbie, now called "Ocho," and Paco.

The brightest spot in the movie is when the cruise ship captain (Harvey Korman) and Cloris Leachman's character join Ocho and Paco in a bullfight.

The kid, I suppose, was supposed to be cutely mischievous, but I just found him annoying (pickpocketing is cute?). I wasn't alone. My sons were very vocal in their dislike of Paco.

I never understand why they do this: putting a kid in the place of an adult role. It hardly ever works. The original movie and the first few sequels were good and very funny, had semi-realistic adult characters, and--*golly*--kids still liked them. I suppose it's a matter of taste--I don't seem to share Hollywood's fascination with obnoxiously precocious children.

Jim's passed his car onto his nephew for the final of the original four Herbie movies. Pete and his partner DJ pick up Herbie in Mexico, planning to enter in a race in Brazil. What they don't plan on is getting mixed up with a pickpocket and stow away who has befriended their car. But Paco has crossed some bad men, accidentally stealing their film, the only clue they have to the location of Inca ruins they intend to steal. Can a little car save the day again?

Ok, I admit it. This is by far the weakest of the original Herbie movies. The plot is extremely far fetched with at couple of nice plot holes. So why the five stars? Because watching this movie never fails to bring a smile to my face. It's probably the one I watched the most growing up, and I just can't look at it with a critical eye. Beside, any car that would take on an airplane, and win, is ok by me.

The DVD leaves a little to be desired as well. Presented in full frame instead of wide screen, it's a movie only release.

This movie is best viewed through rose-colored glasses of childhood. Don't think about it too critically, or you'll find its flaws. Just sit back and let Herbie take over.

I like this movie because it provides humor,comedy, suspense and surprises. It is unpredictable,and also has great effects. The movie is about a car and a boy who are like bestfriends and they both would do anything to help the other. These two characters over come some of the worst obstacles possible.
This movie also exposes some cultural items as well. From time to time you can hear spanish being spoken, and you get to see some of the geographical areas as well. I would recommend this to anyone that is wanting to watch a good, clean family movie. This is a movie that can be watched over and over for generations to come.

May I suggest investing in The Love Bug Complete Collection including four movies, and extra disc for first film. This feature here is equal to the Monte Carlo version as being one of the silliest, but if you could groove to the TV series The Love Boat, you won't have a problem digesting this far from serious version of the great Disney Love Bug series.

This is a lot different from the other Herbie movies, but I found it to be great fun. It is like all the old Disney movies - one the entire family can enjoy together. The movie begins with a young man inheriting Herbie, he and a friend try bringing Herbie home on a cruise ship - not realizing that a young local boy who had stolen a wallet belonging to a villan (as well as the friend of Herbie's new owner) was hiding under Herbie's hood. Naturally Herbie got loose on the ship and was driving himself around, and ended up being shoved into the ocean and the little boy was turned over to the authorities. They meet again and get into adventure after adventure just trying to keep a step ahead of the bad guys and the law. This was the first Herbie that let him show off on his own so much.

MY SON IS 3 AND HE ADORES THIS MOVIE! OF COURSE HE LOVES ALL OF HERBIE'S MOVIES...