Herbie Rides Again (1974)

The first sequel to The Love Bug is similar enough to the first film's charm and raucous comedy that it works on its own. Neither Dean Jones nor Michelle Lee are back, but a nice cast of familiar pros keeps things moving along slickly. The story finds Herbie helping Helen Hayes--yes, the First Lady of the American Theater--keep out of the clutches of Keenan Wynn's villain. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com

The Love Bug's First Sequel

Probably the only amazing thing about this sequel is that it took so long before Disney released it. "The Love Bug" became a big hit for Disney, and for many years after the movie many children called all Beetles Herbie. This movie trades Dean Jones as Jim Douglas and Buddy Hackett as Tennessee Steinmetz for Helen Hayes as Mrs. Steinmetz (yes, she is related to Tennessee), Stefanie Powers as flight attendant Nicole Harris, and Ken Berry as newly minted lawyer Willoughby Whitfield.

The plot is quite different from the original. Herbie is no longer a race car, but lives a quiet life taking care of Mrs. Steinmetz. Nicole Harris also helps take care of Mrs. Steinmetz, doing so in a very assertive way throughout the movie. We learn very early in the movie that Alonzo Hawk, who also appeared in "The Absent Minded Professor" and "Son of Flubber," has his eye on the fire house where Mrs. Steinmetz lives. However, Mrs. Steinmetz is not in the mood to leave her home, which contains many memories of her late spouse.

Much of this movie involves a lot of silliness. Herbie and Mrs. Steinmetz manage to get up to Alonzo Hawk's office on a window washer, with predicable mayhem. Herbie takes a trip on the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge. Herbie also manages to make a fool of Alonzo Hawk when he attempts to drive Herbie. However, all of these fun little incidents are mere preludes to the last portion of this movie where Disney finally stops fooling around and lets loose.

Mr. Hawk decides to take all of Mrs. Steinmetz's possessions in an attempt to force Mrs. Steinmetz from the fire house. Nicole and Willoughby locate the furniture and take it all back, but only after some of the best scenes in the movie. This movie seems to go faster and faster from this point forward. I will let a viewer find out for themselves how this one ends.

This movie is less fun than "The Love Bug." There are too many contrived scenes and the humor is more forced. However, a lot of the Herbie magic remains. When the movie finally allows Herbie to take the lead this movie has its best, and funniest, moments. The last third of this movie is particularly joyful and I recommend it for fans of the first movie.

I recommended "The Love Bug" as a family movie suitable for all members of the family. "Herbie Rides Again" is also a family movie, but this movie may be less suitable for the youngest members of the family. Alonzo Hawk makes a great villain; in fact, he steals nearly all his scenes, but may also become an inadvertent role model for very young children. I would think that most children by the age of 6 or 7 years old will find this movie funny and enjoyable.

I think fans of Helen Hayes and Stefanie Powers will also enjoy this movie. Helen Hayes is very natural in her role, even when the scenes are absurd. Stefanie Powers takes everything in stride and is the most dynamic person in the movie after Alonzo Hawk.

The Love Bug franchise has seen its share of ups and downs over the years. This movie remains one of the better entries in the series and is worth a couple of viewings, particularly if you are a fan of the original. Pull in the kids, the spouse and make this one a family affair.

Enjoy!
April 2, 2007

The Love Bug 2: Driving Miss Hayes

Five years after Herbie the Volkswagen bug made his big-screen debut in Disney's legendary hit film, "The Love Bug," the little racecar returns with the lovable 1974 comedy, "Herbie Rides Again!" This time around, Herbie is left in the care of Tennessee Steinmetz's kindly, old, widow aunt, played by Helen Hayes, who lives in the same familiar firehouse from the original film. Disney staple Dean Jones and sidekick Buddy Hackett are nowhere to be seen this time around. Dean's character, Jim Douglas, has gone off to Europe to race in European cars, while Tennessee has rushed off to Tibet to care for his ailing guru. Instead, we have the always charmingly dimwitted Ken Berry (great for us "Mama's Family" fans!), who is sent by his greedy and filthy rich developer uncle, Alonzo Hawk (the fantastically wicked Keenan Wynn), to extract old-lady Steinmetz so that the firehouse can be torn down and replaced by a shopping mall. Problem is, Mrs. Steinmetz has no intention of leaving her beloved home where she married fireman Mr. Steinmetz and has lived all these years. She shares the place with Herbie the VW, an antique music machine, an old cable-car called Number 22, and a lovely stewardess named Nicole Harris (Stefanie Powers) who quickly shows Berry's character, Willoughby, how she feels about Mr. Hawk and his associates. Once Nicole has explained to Willoughby what his uncle is really like, the two quickly fall in love (with Herbie's help, of course) and Willoughby immediately leaves his new job as a lawyer for Hawk Industries. Their troubles are not over that easily, however. Alonzo Hawk is determined to take down the old firehouse, even though he doesn't even own the land yet! He decides to employ harassment tactics, starting with stealing the little car that drives Mrs. Steinmetz everywhere and protects her constantly, Herbie! The film kicks the slapstick humor and wild stunts up a notch when Herbie, making his daily rounds with Mrs. Steinmetz, must repeatedly outwit and outdrive Alonzo and his goons, Helen Hayes playing the Mr. Magoo part perfectly all the while. But she's not as out of tune as she seems. When Mrs. Steinmetz decides to play tough, she plays tough, with Herbie's help that is, not to mention the help of her new cowboy suitor, Mr. Judson (John McIntire), along with Nicole, Willoughby, and an army of VW bugs!

"Herbie Rides Again" was the first in a still flourishing line of sequels to the Disney phenomenon, "The Love Bug." Directed by the same fantastic Disney Legend who helmed the original, Robert Stevenson, this is no mere rehash of the first! While the original film still reigns superior to the other offerings, the follow-ups are nevertheless fantastic! "Herbie Rides Again" features an all new story, completely off the racetrack, and plenty of car-chases loaded with some of Herbie's most legendary stunts, such as driving up the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge, driving around on the ledge of a skyscraper, and surfing in the Pacific Ocean! While it lacks a bit of that Walt Disney touch (Walt past away even before the first Herbie film was released, though he did have a hand in it), the film stays true to the original with the same great music, another excellent cast, and plenty of Herbie magic! It is truly `70's Disney, but not everyone considers that a bad thing. "Herbie Rides Again" is all about visual family comedy and fun, and in that it excels! The movie is presented in widescreen on this DVD release, though some have stated that it is not the true widescreen, and while the picture looks scores better than some other Disney DVDs, like "Blackbeard's Ghost," it doesn't look perfect. There are also no bonus features to be found, but if you really want some, all the Herbie sequels up to the 1997 TV movie are mentioned from time to time on the bonus disc of the original 1969 classic DVD. That is a "must-own" 2-disc set for any Herbie fan! In fact, I really recommend the boxed set of all 4 classic Herbie films, along with "The Love Bug" TV movie on VHS and the DVD release of "Herbie: Fully Loaded!" Both of those last two are often referred to as remakes, even by Disney Archivists! It annoys me every time I hear it! They are both sequels, despite the TV movie's title and the fact that it is completely disregarded by "Fully Loaded." Anyway, all are great films in their own way, and "Fully Loaded" is nearly as great as the original! If you love Herbie, watch for my other reviews and pick `em all up! February 25, 2006

Herbie Does It Again

In This awesomley sequel to the Love Bug. Herbie is Back and funnier thatn ever. this time herbie is helping this old lady that owns him help her save her home from the ruthles Mr. Hawk who wants to tear down her home to put a mall up that he is building. this movie is great for the whole family. I Injoed it alot.

If you liked this one check out

The Love Bug, Herbie goes To Monte Carlo, Herbie Goes bannanas & Herbie Fully Loaded November 18, 2005

Herbie Rides Again

herbie movies are always great clean entertainment for kids
all of my kids age 4 to 14 enjoy herbie movies September 19, 2005

Just a poor re-hash of "The Love Bug"

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. June 8, 2004

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