Benny06 I have seen this movie twice, and I was surprised to learn that this was a 'made for TV' release. I would never have guessed.I haven't seen the original "Love bug" but I'm sure this one could be just as good if not better than the original. It is great fun to watch, with some good special effects to go with. The all star cast really helps too. I can even remember almost crying at one stage.Bruce Campbell is great in the lead role, even if this movie is different to his usual style, and Alexandra Wentworth is a great match. John Hannah is good in the bad guy role.Overall, this movie is anything but a 'made for TV' movie and I'm giving it 7/10. I Highly recommend it to people who are usually disappointed with Disney's usual straight to video sequels.

bob the moo Herbie is passed onto a new owner, failed race driver and mechanic Hank Cooper. Hank finds the car to be able to do great things but doesn't believe his firend's ascertains that the car is alive. However when businessman Simon Moore III sees the car he traces down the man who invented Herbie and gets him to repeat the process – but adds bits and pieces of his own doing. The end result is a VW Beetle that is violent where Herbie is peaceful and vengeful where Herbie is loving. After a potentially fatal interaction with the car, Hank and Herbie team up to beat the car and Moore.A few years ago I caught five minutes of this on TV and thought `cool, they remade The Love Bug' and wished I'd watched it. A few days ago I saw it coming back on so I gave it a watch and wondered why I bothered! It's not that the film is bad, it's just that it is all rather pointless. The plot lacks the charm of the original Herbie movies and has a nasty streak with the creation of an `evil Herbie' in place of just a fast car. The gentle feel of wonder is lost in this TVM and the film falters because of it.The effects are poor even when you put them against the original Love Bug, here any computer altered visuals are crude and obvious and really make the film feel cheap. The cast all try hard to recreate the magic but none of them manage to do it – not even a cameo by original star Dean Jones can get anything close to the original. Campbell is a cult star and I do like to see him in anything, but he could have done with being a bit more tongue in cheek here to add a bit of fun to the mix. Hannah is terribly miscast as the `baddie', he has no character, no lines and nothing to work with – was he in it for the money or for the chance to be in a Herbie film?Overall this is a real letdown. Disney try to get something going from the old Herbie stable but fail to do anything new or worthwhile. The film lacks any of the original's magic or wonder and just puts along. The original wasn't a classic but it shines when viewed next to this film. Small children and Herbie completeists should seek it out but the rest of us will be happy with the original.

lorlex23 Love Bug 1997 was fun to watch and I laughed at a lot of it, but mostly Bruce Campbell's humor (either written by him or ad lib). I loved the evil bug and wish I owned one. It looked like it was fun to make, and since it's about Herbie, you can't focus too much on things that couldn't really happen (like a car still functioning after being cut in half).

Allie-18 Back in the 1960's, Disney made the original Love Bug film. It had a VW Beetle with attitude, a likeable leading man in Dean Jones and most of all, charm. They made a couple of sequels, none of which quite recaptured the magic of the first. Disney should have taken heed of this and not gone back to the well for more.