Herbie Rides Again

Rating:
Summary: A Disney favorite is back -- this time in widescreen!
Review: Alonzo Hawk has made his fortune by destroying old buildings and putting new office buildings and shopping centers in their place. His latest project is to build the world's tallest skyscraper in San Francisco. Unfortunately for him, one widow refuses to sell the little firehouse she's lived in since the day she got married. Even more unfortunately, she's keeping Herbie for her nephew, and Herbie has decided to protect her at all costs. But what can a VW Bug do against a man who will stop at nothing to destroy the firehouse?

This was the first sequel to the huge hit, THE LOVE BUG. Released 6 years after the original, none of the human cast returned. Only the car is around to reprise his roll. Stirring clear of racecar driving completely for this go around, the plot focuses solely on the tug of war over the firehouse. The plot itself is silly, with Herbie doing such things as driving the cable of the Golden Gate Bridge and swimming. Still, if you're in the mood for improbably fun, these movies are your ticket. The cast, lead by Helen Hayes, does a fine job keeping the storyline believable fantasy. And, of course, there's the romantic sub-plot just to add a little more tension.

I was really impressed by the Special Edition treatment that THE LOVE BUG received last year and was hoping for more of the same. Unfortunately, this is a movie only edition. This movie is presented in widescreen and full surround, however. The picture looks sharp with some dust and grain debris showing it's age. It sounds nice as well, although the movie won't give your surround sound a chance to truly shine. Then again, considering when the movie came out, that's not too different from the original source.

Despite the lack of special features, it's nice to have this fun film on DVD. I've been a fan of Herbie for as long as I can remember, and these films will always hold a special place in my heart.

Rating:
Summary: Take My Advice PLEASE (See for ALL the Herbie Sequels)
Review: Disney is NOT adding any features whatsoever for the Herbie, the Love Bug sequels. As a dedicated fan of the star car, I have discovered that so far ONLY Herbie Rides Again will be in Widescreen. The only other thing that could possibly be of any good quality within these discs would be a remastering of the picture and sound. Unless you've given up using your VCR or you are a collector, don't waste your time purchasing the Herbie sequels. Only the original movie, The Love Bug is worthy of it's "Special Edition" title.

Rating:
Summary: A Fun Movie.
Review: I know people compare this movie to The Love Bug and, since it is a sequel, I guess that's natural. Still, I think it sould be veiwed on it's own. When you do that, the movie is a good movie that drives home the same message as the original: Persevere. Don't give up even in the face of adversity. It doesn't have the same charm as the original but it has it's own charm. I enjoyed this movie very much, but for it's own merits, not because it was a duplicate of the first.

Rating:
Summary: Just a poor re-hash of "The Love Bug"
Review: Like many sequels, the writers of this one were unable to come up with a new plot idea, so they basically re-hashed the original. Ken Berry takes the Dean Jones role, Stephanie Powers takes the Michelle Lee role, the demise of the firehouse replaces the demise of Herbie, etc, etc. Also like many sequels, the result was poor at best. While it had its moments [the parade of Beetles], for the most part, "Herbie Rides Again" seemed to try to hard to be clever...and as a result, fails.

As for the transfer...I couldn't help but notice how "tight" all the scenes with the actors seemed to be...especially the ones inside Herbie. The reason? It appears this movie was filmed in 1.66:1 ratio...and Disney, in its usual infinite wisdom, has trimmed information from the picture to make it fit a 16x9 screen. Geez...even Disney's widescreen movies cut out part of the picture. These guy are just clueless, aren't they?

The sound seemed a little off to me as well, with the music sometimes overwhelming the dialogue.

All that being said, my recommendation is to buy "The Love Bug" [which has an overall excellent transfer, with the exception of one out-of-focus scene in Chinatown], and forget all the sequels.

Rating:
Summary: Not good for little kids
Review: My two year old loves Herbie, so we rented this to give us all a break. Now we are paying for it! The villian in this movie rants, raves, screams, and bosses everyone around conitinuously. Perhaps it is coincidence, but our mild-mannered son has become a mini-version of this tryant. After two weeks, he is finally returning to normal. I would not recommend showing this movie to suggestible children. It is difficult to find live-action, non-violent movies with good role-model characters. Stick with "The Love Bug."

Rating:
Summary: A Disney favorite is back -- this time in widescreen!
Review: Predictable, but fun Disney comedy from the 1970's and the best of the Love Bug sequels. Thanks to Disney Home Video for releasing this film in widescreen. Please release all Disney films in their original theatrical ratios and re-release The Moonspinners, Blackbeard's Ghost, and Babes in Toyland in widescreen.

Rating:
Summary: Herbie Rides Again is no good.............
Review: This sequel to The Love Bug, lacks a good plot, and an interesting cast. Set five years after the original, this film finds Herbie now sold to an annoying old lady living in a fire house. The fire house is the only building left in the way of Alonzo Hawk's new sky scraper being built. Robert Stevenson enters the plot as Hawk's nephew and goes against his uncle to help save the fire house. This film has nothing to do with the original and loses the formula. I would pass on this movie. However, Dean Jones and Don Knots returned in Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo to give the series back it's good name.........

Rating:
Summary: DONT LISTEN TO THAT STUPID REVIWER FROM PARIS!
Review: WASSUP, AMERICA?!

Herbie Rides Again is a great movie! It was the first I saw out of the four of them! I bought it one day and at first I didn't care for it but I guess it grew on me! SO GREAT!

PEACE!

Rating:
Summary: Very enchanting
Review: Yeah, you should get this one. A little old lady owns Herbie, and she is trying to keep it away from the somewhat ruthless villian, Alonzo Hawk. This movie has action, especially when Hawk's men try to chase Herbie. It has romance, like when Wilibe falls in love with Nicole. Best of all, there is laughter throughout the movie. The only reason I give it 4 stars is because twards the end the movie started getting weak.

Rating:
Summary: Herbie Rides on Top
Review: Yes I am doing reviews on these Movies backwards so my last review will be on the Love Bug. The movie is really nice me thinks. Herbie falls in the good care of a Relative of Tennessee. She takes such good care of her Car , like I do to my Cats :)

An interesting thing here is the mean Man in this movie happens to be related to a good Man who falls in love with the daughter of the Old Woman who now owns the Car. There is only one very mild race in this film and not a bunch of races like in The Love Bug and Herbie goes to Monte Carlo.

This is a classic movie and Herbie is so awesome. Herbie does interesting things like Rides on tall Buildings and gets chased by bad people who where sent by the Villain to run that Old Lady out of her house.