Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

GazerRise Fantastic!

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Torrin-McFinn77 I remember watching a bootleg of this film many times when I was younger and never got tired of it. And Buddy Hackett would later go on to play the seagull in The Little Mermaid. The voice was pretty self-explanatory. Plus the San Francisco scenes were cool too. It's got humor, it's got heart, it's got heroism, and it's got suspense where it all counts. If you have to see any of the Herbie movies (most of which are forgettable), this is where it all started (albeit the only one worth watching). Dean Jones did a wonderful job as the driver who has a long road ahead of him. What's next? Will his career die? Will he be successful? Well, watch it and find out for yourself!

SnoopyStyle Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) is a struggling race car driver. He and his mechanic friend Tennessee Steinmetz (Buddy Hackett) work out of a former fire house in San Francisco. Carole (Michele Lee) works for car dealer Thorndyke. The strange little Volkswagon Beetle takes a liking to Jim and follows him home. He's forced to buy it when Thorndyke threatens to have him arrested. The car has a mind of its own and Jim starts winning with it. Thorndyke wants the car back.Jim could be nicer especially to Carole and Tennessee in the first half. Once he finally recognizes Herbie, the team is pulled together. It becomes more fun like the big car race. It's a classic Disney live-action joyride.

Python Hyena The Love Bug (1968): Dir: Robert Stevenson / Cast: Dean Jones, Michele Lee, Buddy Hackett, David Tomlinson, Joe Flynn: Family film that crosses the line in terms of improbable silliness with charm. Title symbolizes our materialistic nature yet it is Volkswagen, Herbie that cherishes its driver. It comes into possession of a struggling race driver when it follows him home from a dealership where it was under threat with dismantlement. Ridiculous plot has too much idiocy that is never explained. It is never clear why Herbie has these abilities and our request to merely accept it is lazy on part of the screenwriter. Director Robert Stevenson is a veteran of Disney having made the wonderfully creative family film Mary Poppins and the pathetically overrated family crap Old Yeller. Dean Jones delivers correct bewilderment but doesn't exactly seek answers as to why his car acts more like a pet. It is obvious that he will win the race because of Herbie, and we are treated to a lame tree climbing joke that should have been scrapped the moment it was thought of. Michele Lee plays a potential love interest and that is about the height of her involvement. Buddy Hackett is the sidekick mechanic with all the personality of a can of motor oil. David Tomlinson and Joe Flynn are hilarious as over the top villains. It showcases one's love for automobiles in a whole new way. It also showcases one's desire for foolishness. Score: 5 ½ / 10

moonspinner55 Box-office hit for the Disney Company gets mileage of out its slapstick, but is hampered by a screenplay running on empty. Dean Jones is a faded race car driver now working the stock car circuit who purchases a VW Bug with a mind of its own (when it initially prods Jones' leg at the dealership, one senses it may be flirting with him). Christened "Herbie", Jones and welder-pal Buddy Hackett race their discovery at all the major tracks, infuriating the Bug's original owner, a snippy antique car dealer who also races (and isn't above dirty tricks when he loses). Writers Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, working from a treatment by Gordon Buford, give us a formula villain (David Tomlinson, acting the nefarious windbag) before turning hero Jones into a heel as well (and, along with Joe Flynn as Tomlinson's flunky, it's too many heels for one picture). When does Jones realize Herbie has the emotions of a human? There's no awe in the magical circumstance, only frustration. Hackett appears to be simpatico with the Bug--but there's no moment there, either, when Hackett realizes what the car is capable of (his character is designed to be 'nutty' for a laugh). Walsh and DaGradi push ahead with their formula without building a strong story; the team also (perhaps shrewdly) exploits the notion that Herbie has personality in order to tug at our heartstrings. Some of the special effects are amusing, but the back-projection and stock footage are sloppy, the sound quality is uneven (typical for Disney movies of this era) and the performances are variable. Followed by a handful of sequels, beginning with "Herbie Rides Again" in 1974. ** from ****