Herbie Goes Bananas

G

Released Jun 25, 1980

1h 40m

Kids & Family

Comedy

List

40%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

36%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Pete (Stephen W. Burns) is excited when he learns he's inherited a car from his uncle. His enthusiasm wanes when he and his friend, D.J. (Charles Martin Smith), travel to Puerta Vallarta and discover the car is a rusty old Volkswagen Beetle. But they quickly realize their car has extraordinary abilities. They set off on a road trip across Central America to enter the special Beetle in a high-stakes race, encountering pickpockets, counterfeiters and other obstacles along the way.

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Liam D

This isn't gonna be everyone tastes because if you don't go along with the goofiness you are not going to like it but if you do it's an decent watch

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/30/22

Full Review

Audience Member

This is the movie that stalled The Love Bug franchise for 25 years, and I now see why. The main protagonist is a child played by Joaquin Garay III, who is introduced as a pickpocket in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. This introduction had me rooting against the kid and for the two other protagonists introduced first in the movie. As the movie progresses, Herbie is helping this trouble making kid by creating more trouble and I'm not following what he is trying to accomplish. Isn't he the "love bug" trying to get two people to like each other while winning races? That doesn't happen in this movie at all. Herbie also "speaks" in this movie, but not so well that the kid can understand his name. So the kid calls him "Ocho" for most of the film. (Get it, cause 5+3=8?) There are also some darker parts to the movie that I didn't care for in a film obviously targeting a younger audience. Hard pass this film unless you have to see the entire franchise.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Bonitinho, as aventuras de Herbie saem da posta de corrida e cruzam por toda América, saindo dos EUA, passando por México, e chegando a América do Sul de navio, e por fim deságuam no Brasil para o Grande Prêmio, sempre bonitinho, o menininho Joaquin Garay III, mexicano (não tão mexicano) rouba as cenas, foram inutilizados 26 fuscas na produção do filme, que dó…

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

You know, I kinda hate Jim Douglas. After Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, he just gives up on the Love Bug and gives him to his nephew Pete Stancheck, who has to head to Mexico with his buddy D.J. to get the car. On the way to get the car, they get their pockets picked up the loveable — well, that's debatable — ruffian Paco who also steals from some Incan-ruin robbers, which is a bad idea. Somehow, Paco gets the map to the gold they've stashed and also sneaks on to a cruise ship along with our protagonists and Herbie for even more wacky hijinks in Rio de Janeiro, including the Brazil Grand Prêmio race before Captain Blythe (Harvey Korman), the boss of the ship, kicks everyone off and drops Herbie into the ocean where he drives along the ocean floor and survives*. I mean, how powerful is Herbie? What is he? A demon? A hyperintelligent car? The soul of a child who died inhabiting an indestructible VW bug? Why do I have so many questions? Look, John Vernon is in this and I give that guy a pass. People have to work. Yet somehow I have made it through four Herbie movies which are the very definition of diminishing returns. I mean, I love every movie in the Police Academy and Vice Academy series and obviously have little to no taste and this movie broke me. It left me crying in the corner. *The real VW Bug used for this stunt did not. They just left it there. 25 more VW Bugs paid for this film with their lives. Blood for the Love Bug!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Suggested retitle: Ocho Is Driven Bananas By An Annoying Kid The good: - The special effects hold up as well as any other Herbie film. Better than some of the cringey CGI in the 2005 one. - Most of the actors do as well as can be hoped with such poor material. The bad: - The annoying kid (who for some reason is the main character, meaning that all the actors giving capable performances are sidelined). - The complete lack of humour in an attempted comedy. - The plot. If you can call it that. The weird: - Herbie is called Herbie once in the entire film. And called "Ocho" (by the annoying kid) more times than he's been called Herbie in the entire series. Seriously, this kid does not shut up, and is calling "Ocho" by name in almost every line. - Putting a song in the middle of the movie for no apparent reason in a series that hasn't done anything like that before or since. It's eventually revealed that the annoying kid calls him "Ocho" because he added the five and three from Herbie's number (53), for a total of eight, or ocho in Spanish. The timing of this revelation, in the very last scene, suggests that this is intended to be the punchline of a joke, but as you can see, there's nothing funny there. This is definitely the low point of the series.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

s r

Kind of falls apart without the usual crew. But, that Mexican kid who steals is memorable. The new crew is too silly to be taken seriously, but they are characters.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Vincent McEveety

Director

Charles Martin Smith

D.J.

Cloris Leachman

Aunt Louise

Harvey Korman

Captain Blythe

Stephen W. Burns

Pete

John Vernon

Prindle

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Time Out

It's not surprising that they haven't got around to changing the plot formula, only the scenery.

Feb 9, 2006

Full Review

Janet Maslin

New York Times

A cheerful, four-cylinder children's movie, though its car jokes aren't good for much mileage.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 30, 2004

Full Review

Sarah Wenk

Common Sense Media

More adventures of the lovable Volkswagen Bug.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 2, 2011

Full Review

TV Guide

Strictly for the young ones.

Rated: 2/4

Sep 7, 2010

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Aug 22, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

Pete (Stephen W. Burns) is excited when he learns he's inherited a car from his uncle. His enthusiasm wanes when he and his friend, D.J. (Charles Martin Smith), travel to Puerta Vallarta and discover the car is a rusty old Volkswagen Beetle. But they quickly realize their car has extraordinary abilities. They set off on a road trip across Central America to enter the special Beetle in a high-stakes race, encountering pickpockets, counterfeiters and other obstacles along the way.

Director: Vincent McEveety
Screenwriter: Don Tait
Production Co: Walt Disney Productions
Rating: G
Genre: Kids & Family, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 25, 1980, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2014
Runtime: 1h 40m

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