1980: "Herbie Goes Bananas"

                                        Herbie Goes Bananas is the fourth film in the Love Bug franchise. This time, Herbie's in Mexico and Brazil, befriending little Mexican orphans, getting into bullfights, and taking down planes by "biting" them with his trunk.

                                      This is the first Herbie film I've ever seen so I can't compare this one to the other chapters; but am I to assume that this is the film where Herbie finally goes bananas? Was he relatively normal in previous entries and he finally loses his grip on sanity? This is probably an irrelevant question so let me continue this review.
                                      This movie was surprisingly not painful. Sure, there's some groaners and corny moments, but it wasn't rage-inducing. I actually kind of liked it, sort of liked it tolerated it. It does have a mildly endearing energy to it that isn't offensive and it works as a perfectly acceptable family movie.
                                      It also helps to have Harvey Korman in your cash-grab sequel. Korman, in whatever context, is just funny no matter what. His raving, obsessive sea captain character is very funny and adds vitality to a sequel that probably doesn't deserve it. Korman was a professional, God bless him.
                                   And Herbie, for what its worth, is a cute little car, getting into cute little car antics. The biggest laugh this movie got out of me is watching Harvey Korman make Herbie make a dive off the plank of a cruise ship.

                                  I'm not sure Herbie Goes Bananas will induce me to watch any other entries, but I think I get the gist of this franchise just from this film alone. This one will do just fine.