Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (Unrated) | 
| Directors: Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg
Actors: John Cho, Kal Penn, Rob Corddry, Jack Conley, Roger Bart
Studio: Warner Bros.
Category: Movie
Buy New: $3.99
Rating:  71 reviews
Sales Rank: 159
Genre: Comedy
Rating: Unrated
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 108
ASIN: B001DDSTJM
Theatrical Release Date: April 25, 2008
Release Date: October 16, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 66 more reviews...
 Wildly uneven...and sometimes wildly funny. May 9, 2008
13 out of 21 found this review helpful
HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE...is a very funny movie, and I laughed a great deal. That's a good thing.
It's also sloppy, careless and goes for too many obvious or cliched jokes. That's a shame.
It's too bad, because what we have in these two guys is a wonderful blend of what's best and worst about young Americans. They are smart. They are multi-ethnic. In general, they are good-hearted and appreciate the chance to live in America. They're also lazy, self-indulgent and far too easily distracted by drugs. This makes their movies ripe for social commentary.
Too often, though, they take the easy way out with cheap jokes and predictable visual puns.
The movie shows us these two goofballs (and if you haven't seen #1...you must see it first...#2 literally picks up the morning after WHITE CASTLE), setting out on a trip to Holland, so that Harold can follow a girl he's hot for and Kumar can enjoy the legal drugs. But when Kumar brings a hi-tech bong on the plane, it's mistaken for a bomb and the two are mistaken for terrorists. This bit is probably the funniest stuff in the film. It's weirdly credible that passengers might take these two unruly and "un-white" Americans for terrorists...not just because they don't "look like us" but because they sneak into restroom together and then appear with a dangerous looking device. Much is also made of the world "bong" sounding a lot like "bomb." As in, "I've got a bong! No, no...I said bong!!"
My wife and I were pretty much laughing our rear ends off at this point. Then Harold and Kumar are incarcerated in Guantanamo, and the movie quickly reaches it's low-point. The American guards are all rapists and idiots. So, at this point, we were wondering if we could continue to sit through these cheap and unfair jokes about the young men and women in our military. Have many of them done disgusting and illegal things? Yes. Have MOST of them? Absolutely not...yet scenes like these propagate the idea that our soldiers are a bunch of oral sex crazed, torturing thugs.
Fortunately, the two boys escape quite soon, and we're able to follow their adventures as they try for vindication. I won't spoil any more of the plot...but suffice it to say that from this point on, the jokes become wildly uneven. Some scenes are quite funny (there's a scene with a deer that had me in stitches) and others are FLAAAATTT! A scene at a wealthy friend's house in Florida springs to mind.
Neil Patrick Harris reprises his role as himself...and he's nearly as funny and surprising as last time...although far cruder. It was almost too much of a good thing.
The movie takes some clever shots at the current political climate...but mostly it follows the same crude path as its predecessor.
The two young leads are quite enjoyable and easy to warm up to. Kal Penn, in particular, has some promise (see THE NAMESAKE)...I hope he can shake off this role. Otherwise, the movie is low-budget and stylistically simple.
As a 44 year old man, I fully recognize that I'm not the target for this film. Yet I enjoyed it enough to laugh a great deal, and to say now that I would recommend it...but only if you've seen and enjoyed #1. If you hated #1...you won't like ESCAPE any better. This movie plays right to its core audience...for better or worse.
Kal Penn and John Cho make a great comedy duo. April 30, 2008
8 out of 12 found this review helpful
This film contains, male and female frontal nudity, foul language, smoking, sexual content, gross humor. Rated "R".
It's been nearly 4 years that we have waited for this sequel to Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2004). It was actually filmed in January to March of 2007. It was originally meant to be a straight-to-DVD release, however they decided to release it theatrically, April 25, 2008.
The great comedic chemistry between Kal Penn and John Cho returns in "Harold & Kumar Escape to Guatanamo Bay".
Also returning with Kal Penn and John Cho are Paula Garces as "Maria", David Krumholtz, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Christopher Meloni, Neil Patrick Harris, Errol Sitahal.
The writers of the first film, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg have written and directed this second film.
This second movie begins on the same day where the first movie ended. Since Harold (John Cho) has finally spoken and kissed the girl he had been fantasizing about, but was too closed-up to speak to her before, he needs to see her again, but she is on her way to Amsterdam, Netherlands for 10 days. Kumar (Kal Penn) rescheduled his job interview and has booked a flight for both of them to Amsterdam, so that Harold can find Maria (Paula Garces).
When do these guys ever sleep?
At the airport, Kal sees an old girlfriend, Vanessa (Danneel Harris) who is getting married soon.
The flight doesn't go off without a hitch thanks to Kumar and his smoking pipe invention. An old lady passenger gets disturbed and Harold & Kumar are arrested and sent to Guatanamo Bay jail.
As the title of this film suggests, they do escape and this leads them on another mis-hap adventure.
Beverly D'Angelo makes an appearance as "Sally".
To see a surprise scene, you must wait until after the end credits.
Not as funny as the first film. Some scenes are just too unbelievable too be funny. The movie plays like a mushroom dream, but then again so did the Cheech & Chong movies.
I hope Kal Penn and John Cho continue to make many movies together. They are a good comedic team.
Kal Penn is a regular on the "House M.D." tv series. He will star and is executive producer of the film, Under New Management (2009).
John Cho is "Sulu" in the new motion picture, "Star Trek" to be released May 8, 2009. He will appear in the film, "Expats".
***Update: "Harold & Kumar 3" has been picked up by Mandate Pictures.
They are currently asking Kal Penn and John Cho to return.
Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg are helming the movie and are screenwriting again for the third time.
Might have a 2010 release date.
Let's not wait too long, guys. Where's my hamburger?
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