Herbie Goes Bananas ((TOP))
Meanwhile, Paco is discovered by the crew and locked in the hold by Captain Blythe. Herbie (whom Paco calls "Ocho") helps Paco escape, and they ruin the ship's costume party while trying to escape the crew. Captain Blythe has Herbie dropped into the sea, while Pete, DJ, Melissa and Aunt Louise are ordered off at the next port. Paco evades the police sent to pick him up, ending up at a inlet, where he rescues the rusty Herbie when he resurfaces from the water. The pair then goes into business with Herbie as a taxi.
Herbie Goes Bananas
Herbie tries to hide from the men at a bullfight, only for him and two of the men to end up in the ring. After the bull is defeated by Herbie, he and Paco leave without Louise and Blythe, who are soon picked up by Pete, DJ and Louise, where they explain what's happening. Later at a café, Paco is grabbed by the men. After failing to stop their plane taking off, Herbie goes to find Pete and the others, who are stuck in a small village after the bus finally broke down.
Herbie and the group travel to the next major town (using bananas as camouflage) where Blythe and Louise go to get help while the others take the disc to the local university, where they are overpowered by the men. Paco is outside selling the bananas to locals when he and Herbie see the men loading the disc into their plane. Herbie throws the bananas at them before chasing the plane and 'biting' its tail off.
Meanwhile, Herbie helps Paco escape captivity. Paco dubs him "Ocho" and causes mischief with the ship's crew, such as taking a sailor's dinner which makes it look like Herbie ate it and spat out the chicken bones. When the overenthusiastic ship's captain, Blythe, has his costume party wrecked by Paco and Herbie, he puts the latter on trial and sentences him to be dropped into the sea. After landing, Paco is saddened until he sees Herbie emerge from the water, albeit rusted over. Paco then goes to work as a taxi driver, giving people rides in Herbie in order to make money.
Thence follows an Inca gold-stealing plot, Herbie's matador part in a bullfight, a romance between Louise and Captain Blythe, and some bananas which are initially used to camouflage Herbie in a convoy of farm vehicles travelling to market and later used to comic effect by Herbie and Paco in an attempt to stop the villains escaping in their plane. They are in pursuit of Paco, who misplaced some important film when he stole their wallets.
Some of the native characters are portrayed in rather stereotypical ways, but there's nothing terribly offensive here. The final chase scene is very funny -- you know if Herbie goes bananas, there are going to be banana peels and, well, you get the idea. This is a silly, harmless, fun little movie, and it will be interesting to compare its relative simplicity to the newest version, which is bound to be more sophisticated, but not necessarily more charming.
Herbie Goes Bananas is fourth in the series of films about a charismatic Volkswagen beetle, and for a number of years, it was the last. Then in 1997, for their newly-relaunched Wonderful World of Disney, a telemovie The Love Bug was produced starring Bruce Campbell. Disney has even higher hopes for reviving Herbie next year, as they recently announced plans for Herbie: Fully Loaded, a new theatrical film starring Lindsay Lohan.Pete Stanchek (Stephen W. Burns) has inherited the one-of-a-kind automobile from his uncle Jim Douglas. Pete goes down to Mexico with his friend Davie (Charles Martin Smith) to pick up the car. There, they come across Paco (Joaquin Garay III), a puny pickpocket. Unbeknownst to them, Paco has hitched a ride under Herbie's hood to eschew three other irate victims of his thievery. Pete and Davie board a ship to Rio to enter Herbie in the Brazil Grand Primeo. On the trip, they meet a shy young woman named Melissa (Elyssa Davalos) and her extragavant aunt Louise (Cloris Leachman), who is trying to find a man for Melissa. When Herbie causes damage on board, Pete and Davie come up with a plan to cover the costs. Pete pretends to like Melissa and Aunt Louise is soon sponsoring the guys for their race.Meanwhile, Herbie helps little Paco, who has dubbed the car "Ocho", escape captivity. When the gung-ho Captain Blythe (Harvey Korman) has his costume party wrecked by the mischevious boy and car, he sentences Herbie to be dropped in the sea. Herbie winds up dirty and disguised as a taxi and there's Incan gold, bullfights, romance, and some bananas. The bad guys are in pursuit of Paco who misplaced some important film when he ripped off their wallets. Herbie Goes Bananas is an odd direction in which to take the Love Bug series of films, but it is at least entertaining. This is not a refined comedy or anything, but to its benefit, it is also not a mere retread of any of the previous films (the way Monte Carlo was).The film calls to mind not just the previous Herbie adventures, but the wacky live action comedies that Disney made with frequency in the '60s and '70s. Though not one of the studio's best films, released in 1980, Herbie Goes Bananas is one of the last of its kind. 041b061a72