SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Nonureva Really Surprised!

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Brucey D The third outing for the 'Love Bug' has the usual mix of caricature characters, slapstick and automotive anthropomorphism. This time as well as Herbie's owner's love interest, the car falls in love too, and they solve a diamond theft to boot.The idea of sequels is that the punters get 'more of the same' but with a twist, and I guess that is (for good or ill) delivered here. So, if you liked the first two films you will probably like this one too.Whilst key parts of the film do appear to have been shot in Paris and Monte Carlo respectively, much of the film was clearly shot in California. The racetrack sequences were (I think) shot at Laguna Seca and elsewhere the Sierras seem to double for the Alps etc.Anthropomorphism of a car still seems weird to me. Weirder still is that the type of car is as liable to go down in history as being 'Herbie' as for being the world's most produced car, whilst it's origins ( a pet project of Nazis) are quietly forgotten/brushed under the carpet.Yes, the 'lovable' bug/beetle was born as Hitler's "Kraft-durch-Freude-Wagen" which roughly translates as the "strength through joy -mobile". German citizens were encouraged to buy saving stamps every week which, once they had a full set, would be cashed in for a shiny new KdF-Wagen. Well, that was the idea... millions duly coughed up for the stamps in the late 1930s. It was in effect a scam; no-one (apart from a few Nazi high-ups) actually got a car, whilst the Volks themselves were robbed of their savings, probably to fund armaments...Faced with a need for transport in the post-war British sector of Germany, a surviving pre-war beetle prototype was (literally) dug out of the rubble of the factory that had spent the war years producing the mechanically similar 'Kubelwagen' and (in no small part due to the efforts of the Britsh Army) production of a revised Beetle (with engine bearings not made of cheese etc) was started. After a short period of time control of the factory was handed over the local German government and the rest, as they say, is history. 20-odd million cars later they finally gave up making them.Those who love these cars will no doubt think all this was a wonderful stroke of fate, whereas those who think that the these were horrible cars (and anyway should have been consigned to the dustbin of history because of their dubious origins) will wonder if perhaps the RAF/USAF bombers couldn't have done a better job, the British Army a slightly worse one, and thus spared us 20-odd million (plus various equally ghastly Porsche progeny) farty monstrosities all with their engines in the wrong place.But I digress; if you liked the first two films you will probably like this one too. Kids will probably love it and adults will probably tolerate it, which is about as good a recommendation as you can give a Disney live-action film of this era.

AaronCapenBanner Vincent McEveety took over directing duties on this third "Herbie" film that sees Dean Jones return as Jim Douglas, who has regained possession of Herbie, and has entered a Paris to Monte Carlo road race with help from his friend Wheely Applegate(played by Don Knotts). Trouble starts when jewel thieves hide a stolen jewel in Herbie's gas tank(located in a spot never seen before or since!) Herbie has also fallen in love with a light-blue Lancia car also in the race, which is a distraction Jim didn't need... Nice to see Dean Jones return, though the unexplained absence of both Buddy Hackett and Michele Lee is annoying. Really no better or worse than the previous film, with equally silly plot elements.

bkoganbing When you think about Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo raises some interesting philosophical questions. Such as how is the sex of a car determined? Are here certain part variations as there are with animals or is the sex determined by the owner?You won't get the answer to these questions, but with Dean Jones as racing driver Jim Douglas back at the steering wheel you will get a reasonably fun movie from the Disney Studio. This is the third Herbie film from the Magic Kingdom and it lives up to the standard created by the first one.Jones after giving the car over to the tender care of Helen Hayes in the second film is back at the wheel, this time with Don Knotts instead of Buddy Hackett as his mechanic. Though I like Knotts very much as a performer, something was definitely missing without Buddy Hackett in the film. You'd have to have seen the first to appreciate it, but Hackett was the first to discover the true essence of Herbie, the Volkwagen with a soul.Dean and Don have several problems to overcome. The first is a pair of inept jewel thieves who nearly get themselves caught even with all the museum layout and security systems information. To avoid capture Bernard Fox and Roy Kinnear dump one very large diamond into Herbie's gas tank before the Grand Prix race from Paris to Monte Carlo. The second is an officious German driver who apparently well remembers that Volkswagen's were not vehicles of sport from the Third Reich. Eric Braeden is one of those Germans you just love to hate.The final problem is Herbie who takes one look at the lines on the car Julie Sommars is driving and guess what, her car has a soul as well. I guess you needed a handsome, devilish may car, rogue like Herbie to bring it out. He also of course brings Julie and Dean together, though I do have to wonder what happened with Michele Lee from the original film.Nice location scenery of France, the countryside and the metropolitan areas of Paris and Monte Carlo definitely help one enjoy this film even if you're not a devoted fan of the soulful Herbie.

bob the moo It has been twelve years since Jim Douglas last won a race; in fact, it has been twelve years since he last drove a race but he has selected the prodigious France-Monte Carlo race to make their come back. Being greeted with laughter is a problem they can overcome but when Herbie falls in love with a rival car it means that he is distracted and more interesting in impressing her than giving his all. Mind you, even if they manage to get over that problem Jim and Wheely don't even know about the stolen diamond in their fuel tank or the international thieves chasing them to get it back.Herbie films have never been about high production standards, character or plot and this entry in the series is no exception. The plot mixes one thread about a jewel robbery and another about romance. The former is the more enjoyable strand but it doesn't do enough to get the most out of it because it focuses more on the romance side of things. In regards Herbie, this at least provides some scenes that kids will find funny with the two cars, however it also brings tiresome bits between Douglas and Diane Darcy that aren't fun at all. It all does what you expect it to in all regards and there isn't anything special here but most of it is amusing and inoffensive enough for adults to watch while also being broad, visual and silly enough to keep children content.Dean Jones is happy to mug along as usual and he does it well enough to fit the mood of the film; likewise Knotts pulls faces and gurns as much as he possibly can. Sommars is really rather annoying and has as little character as her character's ugly and charisma-lacking car. Herbie is amusing as ever and the film does well to draw a character out of the car without resorting to the cheap effects used by the modern entry.Overall this is not a great film but it is an enjoyable kids movie and should be viewed as such. It is delivered with consistent good humour even if it has no surprises or laughs to really speak of. Adults might get bored of it easily but are unlikely to be annoyed by it, while children should be amused and distracted by the inoffensive antics.