The Love Bug (1997 film)

The Love Bug is a 1997 made for tv/direct to video film. The film itself is only known to fans of the Love Bug franchise and is both a sequel and spin off to the original 1968 film.
== Plot ==
The narrator, Jim Douglas (Dean Jones), tells the story of Herbie the Volkswagen Beetle. Herbie was owned by an egotistic race car driver and car dealer named Simon Moore III (John Hannah), who did not treat Herbie very well. During a race, Simon called Herbie junk, which caused Herbie to rebel against him, and they end up in last place. Simon unpleased, and has Herbie out Herbie in a junkyard.
Hank Cooper (Bruce Campbell), a small-town mechanic who works in a local garage, enters a junk-car race, where drivers select a jalopy and attempt to start and race it. Hank ends up getting "last choice" and is forced to choose the only car left, the broken-down Herbie. Assisted by his "spiritually enlightened" but goofy friend Roddy, Hank manages to get Herbie started just before he is towed off the track. In appreciation of Hank's kindness, Herbie manages to win the race, trouncing such junkers as a Cadillac limousine and an early-model Corvair Monza convertible. The judges of the race – Donny Shotz (Micky Dolenz), an auto customizer; Alex (Alexandra Wentworth), whom Hank used to date; and Simon – find it hard to believe that such a tiny car could run so fast, and Alex challenges Hank to prove that he didn't use any tricks during the race. Hank takes Alex for a ride, showing off Herbie's speed, and their relationship is re-kindled – with Herbie driving them to an isolated area and locking his doors, as he did with Jim Douglas and Carol Bennett in the first movie. Meanwhile, Roddy tells Hank that Herbie is special, and takes him to an automotive art show. At the show, Simon sees Herbie and attempts to discover why the car that failed him took Hank to victory. He discovers that Herbie was built by Dr. Gustav Stumpfel (Harold Gould) shortly after World War II. He asks Dr. Stumpfel to create another car, one that is pure evil and black. He ends up naming the second car Horace, the Hate Bug, using the "magical ingredients" of a picture of Simon, along with Herbie's key.
Simon orders Horace to find Herbie and destroy him, which Horace does, leaving Herbie a heap of crushed metal. Hank catches up with Herbie, but finds it's too late to save him, and Hank, Roddy, and Alex give Herbie a funeral. At the funeral, Herbie's former owner Jim Douglas arrives with Dr. Stumpfel. After examining Herbie's remains, Dr. Stumpfel informs them that he can be rebuilt, provided they use all of Herbie's original sheet metal. Hank gets Donny Shotz to reshape and repaint Herbie's sheet metal. Hank, Roddy, Alex, and Jim work to rebuild Herbie. When they have finished, Hank gives Jim the honor of trying to start him. Herbie starts on the first try, and sounds his horn, letting them know that he's the same car that they have come to know and love.
Meanwhile, Simon challenges Hank to a race between Horace and Herbie. Although Simon makes every attempt to sabotage the race, Herbie manages to win after being cut in half by Horace's laser. Furious, Horace tries to destroy Herbie again by ramming him off a cliff, but ends up falling into the ravine himself. Simon and his partner Rupert are then arrested for illegally detonating explosives, driving an unregistered "devil car," and illegally dumping said car.
The film ends with Hank and Alex, in love again, driving off in Herbie after finishing up on a magazine article about the little car.
== Cast ==
* Bruce Campbell as Hank Cooper
* John Hannah as Simon Moore III
* Alexandra Wentworth as Alex Davis
* Kevin J. O'Connor as Roddy Martel
* Dana Gould as Rupert
* Harold Gould as Dr. Gustav Stumpfel
* Micky Dolenz as Donny Shotz
* Dean Jones as Jim Douglas
* Clarence Williams III as Chuck
* Jeff Garlin as Highway Patrolman
== Home Media ==
The film was released on VHS format throughout the United States and Canada. As of 2022, it is the only film in the Herbie series that isn't available on Disney+ much to fans disappointment.