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The box office success of Disney's 1969 classic The Love Bug inspired a slew of Herbie sequels, and, ultimately, this 1997 remake. Though remakes occasionally best the original (consider Disney's The Parent Trap), this one does not. It is difficult to match the talents of the original cast--namely Dean Jones, Buddy Hackett, and David Tomlinson. At least the car hasn't diminished during its 30-year absence. Herbie is still the smart, quirky Volkswagen Beetle with the same affinity for fast driving and rescuing arrogant-but-charming, washed-up racecar drivers to give them a new life and a new love. In this case, Herbie's progeny is Hank Cooper (played by hunky Bruce Campbell of the Evil Dead trilogy), who acquires Herbie by lottery from the junkyard. Herbie comes to life and begins his usual shenanigans, from popping wheelies to slamming his trunk on the fingers of evildoers, primarily one Simon Moore III (John Hannah). This wealthy, wicked numbskull sold Herbie before realizing his powers and now seeks revenge by creating Herbie's evil twin--a menacing black Beetle. The rest of the story repeats history, yet does so with passionless drudgery. Thankfully, there are two notable highlights: one, a brief cameo appearance by Jones (Herbie's owner, Jim Douglas, from the original film) who lends his larger-than-life persona for an all-too-brief moment; the other, Kevin J. O'Connor, who plays Herbie's eccentric and faithful mechanic, and does so with earnest zeal. The film's slapstick humor and happy ending make for solid family entertainment, but the original reigns supreme. --Lynn Gibson ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Not one of Disney's better films.
A friend and I rented this movie to get up to speed on Bruce Campbell's work (of Evil Dead fame, among countless other movies and TV shows), and did all we could to keep from turning the thing off. It's an entertaining family film and it's simple storyline, humorous scenes and "gee whiz" happy ending will please the youngsters. But if you are looking for a good plot and solid acting, forget it. A highpoint of the film comes with the cameo appearance of Dean Jones, and it was interesting to see John Hannah and Kevin J. O'Connor before they were in The Mummy. As for Campbell, it was probably one of his worst lead performances I've ever seen. But in the end, it's Herbie...and everyone love Herbie.

Herbies Back in A Brand New Adventure!
I watched the original "The Love Bug" growing up and loved it! I was so thrilled when Disney made this new movie for T.V. In the begining of this movie, things are looking very bad for Herbie. After losing another race, he is sent to the scrap pile. Luckily, he is recued by Hank, a mechanic, who fixes him up. From there, Herbie is back up to his old tricks, including geting Hank and his ex-girlfriend Alex back together. But when an evil Love Bug, Harold, is created, Hank and Harold's owner must race for their cars. Can Herbie defeat this enemy? This price is wonderful and The video is in a clamshell case so you can preserve it for years to come!

Welcome back Herbie! I think you need a new agent.
First off, let me say I'm glad that this film exists, it being our first Herbie fix in fifteen years, the abortive 1982 television series being the last one. It's great to see good old Herb again, even if it's only a TV movie.

Having said that, let me continue by saying they screwed up pretty bad. There were many major mistakes in this film (which had a good idea and was set up to be a nice nostalgia fest) that really drug the whole thing down. Here's a list, in no particular order. WARNING: The following contains info that could be seen as spoilers.

1. Herbie. Call me a perfectionist, but Herbie just looks wrong here. He should have a gray interior and sunroof, not white. The racing stripes are supposed to be painted on the sunroof, too. The '53' is up way too high on the hood and it's the wrong font as well. They managed to get these things right all through four feature films and a TV series, why not here?

2. Kevin J. O'Connor. I know he's supposed to be an artist, but this guy is just waaaaay too creepy for my taste. It was a good thing in `The Mummy', but here it's out of place.

3. The origin story. I'm sorry, but this just does not jive with what we've been told before. The impression given in `Herbie Rides Again' was that some machines just develop personalities. And did Dr. Stumpfel also build the Lancia in `Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo'? Plus, I'd like to think my government is not THAT stupid. I found their portrayal of our military in here fairly insulting. Plus, in the eighteen years it took to build Herbie, you'd think they'd figure out it was just a translation error.

4. The final race. It was SLOW. In the other films you got a sense of speed. Here it seems like both cars are going thirty-five, a situation which one shot shown at high speed just doesn't fix. Plus, unlike the previous films there is absolutely no suspense about Herbie winning. The character of Simon Moore seems to almost go out of his way to make it easy for them. (Also, Chuck's car troubles were barely worth the first scene with them, we definitely didn't need to cut back to him two more times.)

5. CGI effects. Back in the sixties and seventies, Disney, using only some creative editing and some mechanical know-how, made Herbie appear to do amazing things. It was cheap and you knew it was an effect, but the end result always seemed to look pretty good. Now it's the days of digital effects and we have a digital Herbie. It screams `FAKE!' Unlike the old effects, it's impossible to suspend your disbelief watching this thing. Come on Disney, you sometimes need a guy with a wrench, not a computer, to make things look good.

6. Title. Thanks to lack of creativity in thinking up a title, most people think this film's a remake. It's not. Although it shares a bit of story arc with the original, this is a new film.

7. Horace. The idea of an evil Herbie is seriously creepy, but the filmmakers didn't do much with it. Horace seems to be only a fraction of the menace he could have been.

8. Writing. The dialogue is terrible. It sometimes seems like they wrote the children's novelation first, then the script.

9. Bruce Campbell. Bruce, I really like you as an actor, but could at some point in this film, try acting a just a bit? Just a suggestion.

Well, having said what was wrong, I want to mention something they got very right. The scene where Jim Douglas gets behind the wheel of Herbie for first time in years is a great piece of acting. You can practically see the memories running through his head. It was so perfect, it bought a tear to my eye. Good work, Dean.

A few flaws, but a real treat!
Sometimes I think the professional reviewers don't even watch these movies before mouthing off about them! This IS NOT A REMAKE! IT is another sequel! Sure, the title is misleading, and probably should have been "Herbie Wins Again" or something, but that's what leads me to believe that the reviewer simply read the box. Anyway, as for the movie, from someone who has seen it...I rented this movie when it came out, and was thrilled to see not only a new Herbie movie, but one starring Ash himself, Bruce Campbell! It was obviously low budget, and the music always gives that away. That was probably the biggest flaw of this movie, they ditched the awesome old Herbie theme! I loved that and was really missing it. It was replaced with some totally inapropriate cowboy showdown music, that might have fit in one or two scenes tops. The plot and cast was great though, and the Dean Jones cameo was the icing on the cake. When the price comes down, I recommend getting a copy!

Great... yet not...
I LOVE the original! This one was sort of what you might call... a cheap remake or something. But the bad guy(John Hannah) was AWESOME! So was the fact that Dean Jones was in it again. I'd definitely wait until the price goes down, because no matter how much I love John Hannah's Scottish accent, I'm NOT paying over 100 dollars for it. The insight into Herbie's making was kinda neat too. I'd suggest seeing the movie, like on Disney or something, before making up your mind to buy it. However, if you want the good stuff, get the original ... Read more

Reviews (6)

hahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
with a title name like CHUD2: BUD THE CHUD, this is a classic, horrible sequel that makes the first one seem like a classic horrible orignal. for fans who think both of the movies are super and cool. why would anyone think that anyway and I agree with Leonard Maltin

Hey y'all- listen up!
Okay. Bare in mind this movie has nothing to do with the first chud. No characters, genre (This is comedy) and no tone. Still, for a callback to the late eighties, this rocks. Fans of the video game 'zombies' will notice similarties. This movie is like "encino man" crossed with ""Return of the living dead 3" Also, if this is the same as the tv version, look out for robert englund, with freddy makeup, as a soldier! Muchos laffterr. sincerely the goremeister...

They should shoot the original reel to the moon!
I saw C.H.U.D. many years ago, and I liked it a lot as a horror film. It was scary and had neat effects. Then I saw C.H.U.D. II at a video store, I quickly picked it up and rented it. I could barely finish watching it. It's horrible, and not even a sequel to the first one. It's more of a stupid sequel to Return Of The Living Dead 3! The second C.H.U.D. is a dud and should not be viewed by people who have seen the first film. As a matter of fact, it shouldn't be viewed by people who haven't seen the first film because it will turn them away from the scary first C.H.U.D. Man is this bad!

Bad movie, but in a good way!
I saw this movie on USA Up All Night, and thought it was great. The original was a horror movie, but this one is more like a parody of zombie moives. Three of my favorite actors are in it: Robert Vaughn, Jack Riley, and Gerrit Graham as Bud The CHUD. Not as bad as Leonard Maltin says, with an ending you don't really expect. Full name: C.H.U.D. II: Bud The CHUD.

funny in a sick way
It has a good plot which is kinda unusual for a comedy horror film. This movie is funny for those with a sick humor but in a silly way. It is about a C.H.U.D. falling in love, it just chills the heart. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The best movie
Okay, so anyone who thinks this movie is dumb has no idea what they are talking about. I first saw this movie 10 or more years ago and it is my favorite movie. It's the type of humor that is so funny you can't not laugh. If you don't you have no sense of humor. I would recoment it to anyone and everyone.

pretty good
here is a movie that i liked a lot. i don't know why it isin't on dvd but i do own it on laserdisc. it is much better than the movie rat race but it is NOT better than it's a mad mad mad mad world.

Stupid Humor yet Relatively Clean
This movie was filmed in the beautiful terrain of Northern Arizona. A majority was filmed in the small town of Page, AZ which boastsof a beautiful lake, (Lake Powell) and Glen Canyon. It was a pretty dunmb movie but since I'm from Page I give it the highest rating possible. Even know my family quotes that movie. Funny, know one knows which movie is being quoted...

MYSTERIOUS MADNESS AND MAYHAM.......
OH NO!

A real clunker along the lines of the brilliant "Mad, Mad, Mad - etc World" - but there's where the similarity ends - abruptly.

Nothing really funny here - just the beginnings of careers..... ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Why hasn't anyone else reviewed this?
I thought this was a more popular show. Of course, it was on Comedy Central BEFORE the South Park days. It is a shame that people don't appreciate such fine humor as this. Or maybe I am wrong, and it is popular, just not on Amazon. Either way, here is my review:

This is a comedy about Richard Hall trying to find a prize he won from The Junior Seeds Sales Club of America(they were good kids, our salesmen!) He has quite an adventure across America along the way. You may recognize a few guest appearances..such as Harry Anderson from Night Court(I think...), and the statue of the Big Boy restraunts..although, he doesn't have any lines. Richard Hall realizes through his journey that...It's not the trophy, it's the quest!

Rich Hall's Vanishing America, a Diamond in the Rough
In this hilarious comedy, Rich Hall discovers that he had never received the basketball and goal he earned selling seeds for the Junior Seed Sales Club of America when he was 8 years old. Now, at age 30, Rich embarks on an amazing journey that takes him across the country, off the beaten path and discovers what time has truly forgotten in America. ... Read more