The low-budget 2004 comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle garnered such a cult following on home video that the titular duo were drafted for a second go-round. This barely watchable sequel picks up just after the first film leaves off, with Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) impulsively boarding a plane for Amsterdam, where the former hopes to catch up with the dream girl (Paula Garces, reprising her role from the original) he's crazy about. When Kumar is mistaken for a terrorist, however, both stoners are thrown off the plane and interrogated by a dimwitted Homeland Security agent (Rob Corddry) who orders them to be locked up in Gitmo. From that point on the absurdities pile up in dizzying succession, eventually reuniting the young men with zonked-out Neil Patrick Harris (playing himself, as he did in the first film), while also bringing the pair into contact with other eccentrics. Cho and Penn have a certain polish in their admittedly undemanding roles, but Garces—a talented performer, as proven by her dramatically demanding work in TV's The Shield—gets virtually no chance to shine here and cast members Corddry and Harris overact shamelessly. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: Available in single-disc and two-disc standard DVD editions, or a two-disc Blu-ray edition, DVD/Blu-ray extras on this two-disc “special edition” include two audio commentaries (one with stars John Cho and Kal Penn and filmmakers Hayden Schlossberg and Jon Hurwitz; the other with Schlossberg and Hurwitz, the real “Harold Lee,” and costar James Adomian, who played George W. Bush), the 22-minute “making-of” featurette “The World of Harold & Kumar,” 18 deleted scenes (19 min.), nine additional scenes (7 min.), a two-minute “Bush PSA,” a “Dude, Change the Movie” option that lets viewers select from new and alternate scenes, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a disappointing sequel.] (E. Hulse)
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
New Line, 100 min., R, DVD: $27.99, Blu-ray: $35.99, July 29 Volume 23, Issue 4
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: