Herbie: Fully Loaded DVD Review:

The Love Bug was an icon for a great many years, only now the generation that watched the films now have kids of their own who probably had never heard of Herbie until Lindsey Lohan was connected to the franchise. Decades later Herbie has come back to the big screen, but the times have changed and so have the films. It is more than just the change in slang words and clothing; the way that films are made has changed as well. While the silly action of the impossible feats Herbie could accomplish used to be filmed with tricks and stunts, now it is all done with digital photography. Herbie is almost completely digital, at least when moving, which is a style that kids might not mind, but it may prove difficult with any of the old fans of the Love Bug.

Maggie Peyton has grown up in a family of NASCAR racers, and she wants nothing more than to be a part of the family business. Her father (Michael Keaton) has other things in mind however. He wants his daughter to have nothing to do with racing, especially since Maggie had problem with racing in high school. After graduating Maggie’s father takes her to the junk yard to get a car to fix up. What she wants is an old racecar, but she ends up leaving with Herbie. Herbie is not like other cars. He’s alive in some way we are not supposed to question, and he has a mind of his own as well.

The film is kind of goofy and unbelievable, with a ’63 VW Beetle racing in NASCAR, but most kids wont question it. It’s supposed to be fun and it does seem to accomplish that. There is no real versatility in the variety of audiences this film will reach, but if kids ask for it for Christmas then little else matters. It does help some to have a fairly talented group of actors involved in the film, but that is also somewhat saddening. While I found it understandable that Keaton was in First Daughter, I find it harder to forgive him for this film.

The DVD is filled with all sorts of fun things for kids to watch, many of which were probably on The Disney Channel before the release of the film. The DVD has a number of deleted scenes which are boring or bad, but the blooper reel is sure to make kids laugh. There is a Lindsay Lohan music video and audio commentary for the film by the director, but the real special features are the featurettes. They are more educational than anything else, directed towards kids to entertain, educate, and get more excited about the film. There is a featurette about NASCAr with a tour of the track and some of the lingo by a real NASCAR driver. There is also a featurette on the stunts of the film, which is mostly about what was done to Herbie in order to show some of the car action. Similar to that featurette is a featurette just about Herbie. What is somewhat ironic is how much the director talks about not wanting to use digital effects.



Ryan Izay