Herbie Goes Bananas

Name: Herbie Goes Bananas
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy, Family
Released: June 25, 1980
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 55
Cast: Alex Rocco, Charles Martin Smith, Cloris Leachman, Elyssa Davalos, Fritz Feld

1980

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Movie Details & Credits

20th Century Fox Germany | Release Date: June 25, 1980 | G

Starring: Alex Rocco, Charles Martin Smith, Cloris Leachman, Elyssa Davalos, Fritz Feld, Harvey Korman, Joaquin Garay III, John Vernon, Richard Jaeckel, Stephen W. Burns

Summary: Our favorite little VW beetle helps its owners break up a counterfeiting ring in Mexico.

Director: Vincent McEveety

Genre(s): Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy, Family

Rating: G

Runtime: 100 min

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Critic Reviews

Janet Maslin

A cheerful, four-cylinder children's movie, though its car jokes aren't good for much mileage. Herbie the Volkswagen, last seen in Monte Carlo, is now in South America, as the title may or may not indicate. This allows him to get into a bullfight, for the movie's most inspired episode, and to fall into the sea and get rusty, for its saddest. His adventures aren't much more far-flung than this, but fortunately they move fast. [12 Sept 1980, p.C8]

Joseph McLellan

In one scene -- a costume ball on his ship -- Korman wears an archaic naval uniform and explains that is is an exact copy of "the uniform worn by Lord Nelson when he defeated the Spanish Armada." That's very funny, but one wonders whether anyone who understands why it is funny could enjoy the rest of the picture. [11 Aug 1980, P.B3]

Staff (Not Credited)

If you can stomach the lovey bits, the film has a lot of good car stunts, some innuendo for the adults, and the ultimate accolade for the Chaplinesque Herbie - a chance to play opposite a cute Mexican orphan. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

Strictly for the young ones. Read full review

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Kai82

Nov 11, 2021

It is definitely a step up from the prequel but not as good as the first 2 movies for me. I must warn you that I loved the Herbie movies as these where childhood favorites and so I am a bit biased. I think I am a bit to generous here but cant be sure. In short I like the characters of theIt is definitely a step up from the prequel but not as good as the first 2 movies for me. I must warn you that I loved the Herbie movies as these where childhood favorites and so I am a bit biased. I think I am a bit to generous here but cant be sure. In short I like the characters of the movies while I do not think that the story is something special. The story continues some time after the prequel where Herbie, Jim and Wheeley won the trans France race. Herbie is inherited by Pete Stancheck from his uncle Jim Douglas. He and his friend Davy called D.J. have to travel to Mexico to a town named Puerto Vallarta to retrieve Herbie. There the orphan Paco has to survive without help on the street and turns to pickpocket other people. Unfortunately he also uses his thieving skills on Pete so they cant pay out Herbie which is a problem. Because Paco has stolen something more precious without knowing they get into this adventure for all characters. I am a bit vague to avoid spoilers. The story works good enough but is not something to write home about. It is a solid vehicle to carry the story. Without the characters I would rate this lower and maybe as 5/10. Don't see this as “The story is garbage”. It is far to good to be rated as garbage even if it is not amazing. Other movies out there will make this look like the Godfather ;-). The characters won me over. Of cause Herbie will always be one of my favorites and this is a no brainer. For the humans I liked Joaquin Garay III as Paco, Stephan Burns as Pete, Charles Martin Smith as Davy (D.J.), Cloris Leachman as Aunt Louise and Harvey Korman as Captain Blythe. The captain is such a good love to hate character. The others do a good job too and the humor works well. The cast saves the movie for me and improve the script. The special effects are good but as it was common at this time you see easily the use of them. Overall this is a step up from the prequel but nothing to write home about. I watched it a few times and it is enjoyable but not as great as the first two movies. For me those two are all time classic and this won is good enough to be a bit more than tollerable.… Expand

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