Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (Unrated Two-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy) Reviews

• What a disappointment!!

  
  By A60074ZOWMQGX on 2008-04-27
  Being a big fan of the first Harold and Kumar, I had high expectations for this sequel. I had heard some initial negative reviews, but still went to the theater, wanting very badly to like it. Sadly, it was not to be. By the end, I was ashamed to be in the theater--I felt offended, cheated, and even a little nauseated. This film was incredibly lame and had almost none of the charm of the original. Its almost as if the writers went out their way to make it brain dead.
  
  Some specifics:
  1. Many of the bits were blatently recycled from the original (like the weird couple living in the woods), but just weren't funny this time around. There was also a much greater reliance on toilet humor than in the first.
  2. Almost everyone who was a white male was portrayed as stupid, racist, or both.
  3. The Guantanamo Bay scenes were in incredibly bad taste--especially the bit about the "sandwiches" fed to the prisoners. Sorry, but implying that military guards pull that stuff goes way beyond being not funny--it is highly offensive and insulting to those who wear the uniform.
  4. Some of the same characters show up again. While this could have been cool, especially the Neil Patrick Harris cameo, it turned out to be pointless and incoherent.
  5. And, of course, the obligatory scenes making George Bush look like a drug addled moron. I'm sure the writers had to work really hard to come up with those.
  
  Bottom Line: If you liked the original, stay away--far away--from this awful sequel.
  
  
  

• Wildly uneven...and sometimes wildly funny.

  
  By A2R1HAXRNU0QX7 on 2008-05-09
  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 clichéd 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.

  
  By AQ01Q3070LT29 on 2008-04-30
  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?
  
  
  
  

• An Awful Stoner Movie

  
  By A3INFCS5UXKW7C on 2008-07-31
  I laughed a few times but for the most part it's a stupid movie. I'm only writing this review to save people their time and money by not watching this terrible flick.
  
  

• Very disappointing

  
  By AYHXMPZ56FA43 on 2008-07-31
  I really enjoyed the first Harold and Kumar movie. This one was a complete disappointment. Filthy, vile, disgusting -- moronic at best. I very much like Kal Penn as an actor (esp. in "the Namesake"). He has already made a name for himself and has a bright future. I have no idea why he would agree to do a movie like this. I now have zero regard for him as an actor.
  
  
• A sequel that's better than the original
  By A1CPB0AJR8NF29 on 2008-06-15
  I don't have a lot to add to what other reviewers have said, except that:
  
  * I saw "Harold and Kumar Escape" in the theatre and laughed out loud almost all the way through the movie.
  
  * I then bought the DVD of the original movie, which I had not seen. I thought that the original movie was good, but that "Escape" was twice as funny.
  
  * Anyone who's lived through the heartbreak and shame of the Cheney-Bush years will welcome a chance to laugh at the insanity they've inflicted on us. I especially enjoyed watching one of the other government officials beat up the "Homeland Security" Nazi while screaming, "It's people like you who have convinced the world that we're a bunch of idiots!"
  
  * I look forward to receiving the "Escape" DVD set, which I've pre-ordered.
  
  
  
  
• Giving "mile high club" a new meaning
  By AJKWF4W7QD4NS on 2008-07-29
  Keeping mostly in tone with Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay is a solid sequel that delivers the laughs and gross out gags that one would come to expect. The sequel picks up where the original left off with Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) on their way to Amsterdam, until the two get mistaken for terrorists and are locked away in Guantanamo Bay. After escaping, the duo find themselves as fugitives on the run from a racist and dim-witted government agent (The Daily Show's Rob Cordry), and go on a cross-country journey to Texas for the hope of getting help from the politically-laced fiance' (Eric Winter) of Kumar's ex-girlfriend (gorgeous Danneel Harris) whom he is still in love with. On the way though, there's all kinds of chaos, including running into the KKK (led by Christopher Meloni no less, minus the Freakshow makeup), mutant children, and Neil Patrick Harris (returning as himself). While Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay isn't quite as enjoyable as the first film, it still delivers the goods that fans of the first film are looking for, and while it does become pretty predictable compared to the original as it winds down, it still packs enough laughs to keep you interested. All in all, if you got any enjoyment at all out of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, you'll more than likely dig what you find here.
  
  
• WHAT THE....... ARE U SERIOUS???
  By A38Y52KH1CG04Z on 2008-07-30
  I GOT A GREAT IDEA....LETS MAKE A MOVIE AND PUT EVERYTHING WE CAN THINK OF DISGUSTINGLY STUPID IN IT AND HOPE PEOPLE LAUGH. WHAT A WASTE OF FILM... NOW BEFORE PEOPLE HATE WHAT I HAVE TO SAY,LET ME SAT THIS. I LOVED THE FIRST HAROLD & KUMAR. I LOVE A LOT OF DISGUSTING GROSS OUT HUMOR ALSO. HOWEVER THERE WERE ONLY A HANDFUL OF FUNNY PARTS AND IF YOU COULDN'T TELL THEY JUST THROUGH THIS PIECE OF GARBAGE TOGETHER, YOU'RE CRAZY!! THEY TRIED TOO HARD TO SHOCK PEOPLE WITH THE SICK STUNTS THAT IT WASN'T FUNNY. IT WAS LIKE, 'OHH COME ON, THAT'S STUPID'!! THIS IS WAS THIS MOVIE DID FOR ME, ABSOLUTELY LET ME DOWN WITH A HUGE,'WHAT THE....ARE U SERIOUS??
  I CAN'T BELIEVE THESE ACTORS WANTED THEIR NAMES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS GARBAGE.
  VIEWER BEWARE....
  
  
• A Sandwich No One Wants
  By A2XRS4IWZQF7K9 on 2008-07-31
  So, after watching this film I was smiling from ear to ear. Everything about this film just seems to work even the most bizarre scenes are executed without a second thought. From the first seconds we recap a little and then all the craziness started and their is no rest, no joke to outrageous, no gas to low brow. I appreciate the fact most characters return for a second romp and add more flare and hilarity. N.P.H. is hilarious, more crude than before but it works. Harold and Kumar's relationships seems familiar and yet they progressed as characters acknowledging each others faults. And saying sorry. There are several memorable moments that are to taboo to explain here but if you saw the first you know what you're in for. Did it live up to the hype? Yes. Did it add more to the series? Yes. Was it as good as the first? No. It doesn't have to. This film is a continuation of the first so it had to progress right? So watch this movie and enjoy another crazy adventure. But my favorite was the first I will admit. Please just watch it. And thanks for the support and votes. If you agree with this review vote me as helpful. You're correspondent, the Renegade.
  
  
• Disappointing
  By AMC2QD9MTG2ZB on 2008-07-31
  I enjoyed the first Harold and Kumar a lot and was really looking forward to this sequal. After 4 years they DEFINITELY could have made the plot a lot better. This movie was too disgusting, too politically driven, and frankly, too similar to the first one! They got into a situation that was almost identical to the situation with "Freakshow" in the first one, and revolved it around chasing a girl--only this time Kumar was doing it. There were a few good jokes and scenes, but for the most part this sucked.
  
  
• Wet Dreams and Nightmares/ Or An Acquired Taste, Like a "Slider"
  By A3EE0H0NWQ9QVL on 2008-08-02
  I must admit I've never seen `Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle'. Because of it's cult classic status, I have some real regrets. Except as I go into `Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanomo Bay,' I can at least go into this movie without being biased by the former film.
  
  I found this sequel to be repulsive, so I'll try to be as brief as possible. I first want to say that I've seen, reviewed, and/or recommended `Superbad,' 'The Road to Guantanamo,' and `The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair'. I've also highly recommended `A Mighty Heart,' `The War Tapes,' and `Operation Homecoming - Writing the Wartime Experience,' so it doesn't matter what political spectrum the movie plays. If it's a good movie, it's a good movie.
  
  Plot: Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) go to Amsterdam while lusting for two beauties: Vanessa (Danneel Harris), a college sweetheart with whom Kal split two years earlier, and Maria (Paula Garcés), Harold's model interest. On the plane, Kumar, who can't wait to get to where the grass is green and flowing, lights a "smokeless" bong to share with Harold in the airplane bathroom. When caught, "racial profiling" makes the people on the flight panic, thinking the bong is a bomb. Diverted back to the U.S., both face imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay. From there they escape and episodically travel from Miami to Texas hoping to stop Vanessa from making her vows to pure-bred overbearing bore, Colton (Eric Winter).
  
  Execution: As original as `Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Full Screen Edition)' was, `...Escape from Guantanamo Bay' is a slap-in-the-face imitation, a stoner road movie without all the impromptu filming of real people.
  
  A conservative objection: This is all blather, tongue-in-cheek anger dressed up as comedy.
  
  A liberal objection: "Imagine" a 1:40 comedy with Archie Bunker (Home Security Agent Fox [Rob Corddry]) yelling most of the time with very few funny jokes. This is deadly for our issues. Al Franken didn't become a #1 best-selling author for nothing!
  
  A humorist objection: If 80% of your material is angry sarcasm, can it still be funny?
  
  Example: Agent Fox uses the Fifth Amendment as toilet paper. Wha Ha Ha! (Yes, this movie's a satire.)
  
  Redeeming Traits: There's a funny scene where a woman on the airplane distorts seeing Kumar as an Arab jihadist. There's another funny scene after they condemn the Ku Klux Klan as "racist dogs," we see a Spuds MacKenzie look-alike in a white hood. The themes are laudable. "Racial profiling" is not acceptable. There are tender moments, but while they're more sincere than `Shallow Hal,' they're also about as exceptional.
  
  Trying to be consistent, I must say the timing of `Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay' is measurably better than `Meet the Spartans,' but at least that parody rendered a few more laughs.
  
  A J.P.'s Pan 1.5 *'s=Poor-Mediocre
  
  (*Sorry for the `Bullwinkle' inspired title. I couldn't make up my mind.)
  
  
• Plenty of laughs if you aren't uptight...
  By A25QJBK33C4O0R on 2008-08-02
  Harold & Kumar are the Y2K+ equivalent of the 1970's stoner's Cheech & Chong. Harold & Kumar are more obviously intelligent than their predecessors, and Kumar has a bad attitude and smart mouth that gets he and his friend into much more trouble than C&C could ever seem to find, but the parallels are there to easily be drawn.
  
  Escape from Guantanamo Bay, (H&K2 for all intents and purposes), picks up where the first movie (Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle or H&K1) stopped, almost literally. As the film starts 'rold-y is in the shower cleaning up and preparing to take a flight to Amsterdam to go chase down the gal of his dreams. As that goes on, well, let's just say that Kumar isn't shy about using the facilities at the same time.
  
  Before going further, understand what you are getting if you pick up this film -- it's not meant to be high society artistic genius, it's lowest common denominator humor and it hit's that target fairly well.
  
  The humor is stereotypical and telegraphed from miles away, but is still funny if you aren't too uptight to appreciate and/or acknowledge it. There are visual gags (sayings on T-shirts and such), verbal gags and more, misunderstandings that lead to problems, and then there are more misunderstandings on the part of the clueless government employees involved in dealing with the initial misunderstandings. There are plenty of drug references and portrayals of drug usage, and plenty of gratituitous nudity thrown in as well -- both male and female.
  
  Watch it if you can lower yourself to the right level. Otherwise skip it and consider yourself too intelligent for something so low brow.
  
  
• Laughed like a drain
  By A2GY1IMWRFYZ0W on 2008-04-27
  Hilarious- possibly the most subversive movie since Animal House.
  Thank God somebody's saying it, and saying it so hilariously.
  
  
• Great Movie, Funny as Hell! :P
  By A2CJWB00VKO2G on 2008-04-27
  I have never watched such a funny movie, easily said to be better than the original Harold and Kumar... When people watch a funny movie, the reason you're watching it is for the entertainment value, not to criticize about how the situations portrayed are offensive, make-believe and "offensive". This movie had me laughing all the way home.
  
  
• Wow
  By A31J47BG9LQY50 on 2008-05-24
  Wow. Many of you totally missed the point of the movie. The George W. Bush thing was saying that he is just a regular guy and isn't all evil, but just has a lot of daddy problems (i.e. 'Finishing off' what George Bush Sr. started with the war that we are in right now).
  
  The shots at the DHS are about how they are stripping away our rights and label whoever they can 'terrorists' just so they could seem like heroes, when in reality many innocent people are being harmed in the process.
  
  Guantanamo Bay...well, that was more or less a joke about how we torture all of those people there (don't tell me that we don't, because you know what is going on there but choose to ignore it). I guess it could seem in bad taste, because it was one of those toilet humor jokes, but it was implying that sucking Big Bob's dick was worse than being waterboarded.
  
  The white person thing, well a lot of America is mostly white, and everyone takes things for granted. Many live in rich neighborhoods and have high-paying jobs while there are Black people with the same qualifications but are discriminated against because there is still racism in this world. Also, if you actually watched the movie, not all white people in it were stupid. Do you recall the helicopter scene when that one DHS agent knocked over Ron Fox, aimed a gun at him, then yelled about how everyone knows that Harold and Kumar are innocent but were just idiots, and that he was too stupid to realize that? I wouldn't call that stupid.
  
  Any questions?
  
  
• Better the second time around!
  By A1QYKI8U04P8S9 on 2008-08-05
  Once again it's our favorite pot heads off on another hilarious adventure. I haven't laughed so hard since my teen years watching Cheech & Chong. These guys are like two stand-up comedians that you usually wouldn't see together much less complimenting one another. Don't get me wrong, this movie is raunchy, sleazy and just plain gross at times...these two guys definitely get to push the limits of decency in the name of comedy! If you liked the 1st one, then you will like the sequel which actually resolves many issues about these two odd-ball characters.
  
  
• Terrible
  By AZXGPM8EKSHE9 on 2008-08-07
  One of the worst movies ever. I liked the first one. The second one is unfunny, offensive, and horrible. Being vulgar is not the same as being funny. Horrible.
  
  Yet another Bush-bashing movie, in which the bad guys are not the terrorists, but American government types. Very original. Way to "take a risk", Hollywood !!
  
  
• Always Nice To See A Film That's Color-Blind...And Not So Much Too!
  By A2BQBLCKJHP65G on 2008-08-13
  Okay, I heard that this movie was really not funny or it wasn't as good as the original. After just seeing it all I can say is: WRONG ON BOTH COUNTS!
  
  What a pleasant surprise! This film continues the further adventures of two racially stereotyped college students days shortly after their adventures from the first film. However due to Kal Penn's Kumar who just can't live without weed for one second, even though he and best pal John Cho's Harold are headed to Amsterdam where weed is legal in the first place, are caught with a bong on the plane that quickly gets mistaken for a bomb. Enter a racially moronic Federal officer (very funny) played by Rob Corddry, and the two get sent to the famous Guantanamo Bay....
  
  ..and by the title of the film alone you'd figure it was all about dealing with life in that prison, dont'cha? Wrong again. That title is misleading because this is another H&K road trip movie, because they're outta the Bay within the movie's first fifteen minutes. The rest of the movie involves getting back to America, encountering tons of stereotypes of race in different ways, saving Kumar's ex from a jerk, and a ton of other very humorous people and things along the way. Don't let the title fool you, there's alot more to this movie than a remake of "Let's Go To Prison".
  
  Now I wasn't that huge of a fan of the first movie other than thinking it was okay at best, but Bay beats it by leaps and bounds. I must have laughed twenty to thirty good times watching it. And with the disc I choose the Unrated version and for a comedy, this one really, really pushes the limit on that term. There's some scenes in it I can't believe would be allowed on any Family Superstore's shelf. And believe me, it ain't all pot jokes either, and in fact I felt that got downplayed for other funny subjects quite well here.
  
  So look, this movie isn't the Animal House or Up In Smoke of this generation in overall quality but bottom line, it's very funny. I couldn't believe a sequel to a movie that didn't blow me away the first time could make me laugh like this one and I didn't roll my eyes in bad-joke despair not once here. It is NOT as bad as some have made it out to be and I feel it's about time we can all laugh at each others cultural differences in film again without truly being hurtful. Definitely worth a view/rent, and maybe a purchase when both films are maybe sold together. Glad to see Harold & Kumar back, see you two again in Part III.
  (RedSabbath Rating:8.0/10)
  
  
• Possibly the worst movie ever
  By AVYRKG1E22S3R on 2008-07-31
  This is possibly the worst movie that I've ever seen. After viewing it in the theaters I sent an email to the movie theater company offering to purchase 10 tickets if they would just give me my time back. In a theater full of people there was a total of about five minutes of laughing throughout the "entertainment". Instead of having a goofy movie like the first, which was hilarious, it was decided to GET POLITICAL AND SAVE THE WORLD!!!!! I wish I had bothered to read the reviews. The only part where anyone laughed was when they met Bush, which of course will get some cheap laughs. I read a review that stated "its a guy thing"... no, its gotta be a moron thing. The supposed jokes are of the same type as when you were in middle, perhaps primary school and first learned profanity. So if you're under the age of 15 you should probably watch this, or if you're under the influence of drugs you may enjoy this movie. I couldn't give it a negative rating, but if I could it would rate around the same score as herpes. Seriously, if I had to chose between catching herpes and watching this movie again I would probably have to flip a coin to decide which I would rather experience, herpes or this movie for the second time around.
  
  
• Not good, not appropriate for most
  By A1ZU55TM45Y2R8 on 2008-08-06
  I wasn't expecting much other then to be entertained. I watched Harold & Kumar's first movie about White castle and had a lot of laughs. The movie was funny, enough said.
  
  This movie however is totally inappropriate. It is filled with extreme nudity and inapprorpiate content. My nephew watched the first movie and wanted to see this one, I figured it would be similar comedy and. Nope, this was totally in approrpriate compared to the first movie. I am not sure what happens near the end because I turned it off before it got half way through.
  
  If you are looking for good family comedy look elsewhere. If you are looking for nudity (and lots of it), sexual references (and lots of it) then check this movie out.
  
  You have been warned.
  
  
• Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
  By A1GHUN5HXMHZ89 on 2008-08-07
  Here's a kick I'm fifty-seven, and although I wasn't a bonafide hippy, I love Harold and Kumar. Even more than I enjoyed the Austin Powers revisit to the Sixties. Cheech and Chong didn't exactly make the critics write glowing reviews either so don't expect any now for Harold and Kumar. Their comedy doesn't appeal to most movie critics. This movie doesn't have the freshness of the two characters in the first movie, but it still delivers on some funny moments. Harold and Kumar while flying to Amsterdam are accused of being terrorists and are shipped off to Guantanamo Bay. Their escape and return home is a bit different type of road movie. I think you may see a bit of resurgence in this type humor because even Cheech and Chong are giving it another go. The humor is just a nice mix of adult humor, slapstick, and pothead jokes. Good quality DVD with decent replayability. If you enjoyed this catch "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle", "White Chicks", and "Airplane". - C. Luster
  
  
• A funny sequel but not superior
  By A2A6NH6DPE0VXR on 2008-05-02
  Harold and Kumar are back and this time they get accused of being terrorists because Kumar sneaked a weird looking bong on a plane. They get sent to Guantanamo Bay but they are barely even there. It's not a prison comedy, it's a road trip comedy just like the original. But it has less charm than the original. It trys to get laughs with many prejudice jokes. While it has so much nudity with male and female lower parts shown that it should've been NC-17.
  
  While on the run from the Feds Kumar plans to break up the wedding of an ex-girlfriend but Harold is against that since the groom has political power and can help clear their names. The movie is over-stuffed and over-stays it's welcome but it still made me laugh even if the original was funnier and has more of a head on it's shoulder. Neil Patrick Harris makes a funny appearance as...Neil Patrick Harris again though and he provides some of the funnier moments of the movie. While a Bush impersonator as Bush gets some laughs just due to his lines and not because he looks anything like Bush. While the movie made me laugh, I recommend Forgetting Sarah Marshall over it.
  
  
• Superfluously (& Crudely) Redundant
  By A1E9QU27DMFRGS on 2008-07-28
  Two bright guys with promising futures submit to immaturity to keep them in a perpetual state of arrested development. Sound familiar? At least a few dozen other slacker-stoner comedies have created variations on the simple formula, but perhaps none had the sleeper status of Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle. Naturally when one is riding high (no pun intended) from such unanticipated home video success, the only logical thing to do is spurn out a sequel; thus was born the slightly superfluous Harold & Kumar 2: Escape From Guantanamo Bay.
  
  Picking up mere moments after the first one left off, Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) scramble to make a flight, following their neighbor Maria (Paula Garcés) to Amsterdam. After causing a bit of a stink at the airport, the guys get suspected of being terrorists on the plane when an overly concerned passenger hears them say "bomb" instead of "bong." Things only take a turn for the even more absurd (if that's possible!) from there when they escape from Guantanamo Bay, encounter a tripped-out N.P.H., and detour to try to break up a wedding. Laughs are shared, but much of the film, including a moment with a foreign hick and his too-attractive-to-be-attracted-to-him wife, feel ripped straight out of the original, begging the question of why another version was necessary.
  
  The answer to that may come in the way of supporting characters Vanessa and Colton (Danneel Harris and Eric Winter, respectively), though, whose characters have histories with both boys and who take center focus (even if not a lot of screen-time). While Kumar struggles to win Vanessa back, Harold just wants Colton's important political ties to help get exonerated. Harold & Kumar 2: Escape From Guantanamo Bay, therefore, very quickly transitions from a road trip comedy (as the title suggests) to one of a very different variety: a romantic comedy. The problem is that none of the male/female pairings have the strong chemistry audiences have come to expect from a Harold & Kumar movie when compared to the incredible buddy relationship of the title's lead stars. Winter is supposed to be a villain, which is blatantly obvious when he gives his fiancé a lecture of her found joint, but his slick suits, perfect bone structure, and wide smile make it hard to even dislike the guy, especially considering his character has his act together. Oddly, viewers may find themselves looking at Harold and Kumar in a new light with this film: they are not carefree kids who can afford to mess around, but rather they are adults with responsibilities, and when they don't act accordingly, it's hard to find them sympathetic.
  
  Co-writers-turned-directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg certainly banked on the original film's largest draw: N.P.H.--I'm sorry, it just feels wrong to call him by his full name now--resurrecting a slightly self-deprecating version of himself to plant butts in seats this second-chance time around. In Harold & Kumar 2, it feels like all of their energy went towards giving him something new and outlandish to do, while the rest of the film relied on fart jokes and clouds of smoke. At times you may even find yourself just waiting for his arrival on-screen and breathing a hefty sigh of relief once he finally is. Unfortunately, his mere moments come to an end far too quickly, and then you are left with almost an hour of bleakosity to get through to the end.
  
  Harold & Kumar 2: Escape from Guantanamo Bay offers a wide variety of extras, probably assuming once again it's greatest audience will be the home viewer. And they will certainly not be disappointed with the selection! "Dude, Change The Movie!" is the most fascinating, as an interactive features that allows the home viewer to select from alternative scenes to change the sequence of events within the feature. Reminiscent of one of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" childhood books, this feature is simple enough that even the most baked viewers (and let's face it, it appears the directors assumed most would be) can take part. There are also two optional commentaries, with words from both directors, the inspiration behind John Cho's character, and George W. Bush impersonator James Adomian, who also appears in his own special feature: Bush PSA. "The World of Harold & Kumar" is a fun-filled behind-the-scenes featurette, and there are an astounding twenty-seven! deleted scenes from which to choose.
  
  
• Hilarious
  By A2KJJNCYJSEP9N on 2008-07-30
  this movie is hilarious through out. definitely alot more raunchy than the first one but so many funny moments in this movie keep it good from start to finish. the racial jokes are also very funny, messed up but hey oh well. every comedy is aiming towards racist jokes. recommend this to any body who liked the first one
  
  
• As good, if not better, than the first movie
  By A3KZZTDW1DEJRE on 2008-07-30
  I loved the first one, it made me laugh silly. This one did about the same to me but the style of wit seemed a bit changed. I'll have to do another few rounds of watching this one before I can really tell, but they both get five stars from me either way.
  
  
• H&K are back again and better than ever
  By A169KV1DFZR0GT on 2008-08-01
  There's no question Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay is arguably one of the dumbest comedies you will ever see. Little of it makes sense and none of it is actually possible. Well, I can't say none of it, but most of it is highly unlikely. And yet, the movie has some of the funniest (and most disturbing) scenes you'll ever see on screen. There's what has to be the film world's first bottomless party. There's a 3-way between Kumar, his ex-girlfriend and a large bag of weed (which, like most of the movie, starts of funny, gets funnier, then turns exceedingly disturbing). And there's President Bush toking up with our two anti-heroes. And in between there's all sorts of humor, much of it drug or race related.
  
  Rob Corddry plays an FBI agent hunting down Harold and Kumar, and he may be the most racist person you'll ever see in a movie. Everyone who isn't white (and Catholic) is a suspect, and the manner in which he goes about trying to get information is painfully racist and funny. Whether it's grape soda and a black witness, or nickels to a Jewish pair of friends (who you'll recognize from the original film), he'll do whatever it takes to get Harold and Kumar and send them back to prison.
  
  Yes, the movie title involves them escaping from the notorious prison in Cuba, but that portion of the film lasts all of five minutes. And even though the movie starts 5 minutes after the first one ends, the movie isn't really about them going to Amsterdam to find Harold's love. The movie really turns into a cross country trip to Texas to try and clear their names. From Cuba to Miami, through Alabama and Louisiana, the potheads we love to love have to get through all manner of obstacles to try and get to a former classmates wedding, so he can use his connections to save them. Along the way Kumar sees an ex-girlfriend, who coincidentally is getting married to their classmate. He realizes on the spot he's still in love with her, so getting to the wedding now has more purpose. Oh, and of course, Neil Patrick Harris is still driving aimlessly around the country and runs into the guys again. This leads to a scene at a whorehouse, and a shocking conclusion. By the way, don't leave the theater too quickly when the movie ends. Stay for the credits so you don't miss the very end of the film.
  
  I laughed throughout most of the film, groaned in a couple of places, and had to say 'Oh God!' a couple of times as well. The people in the theater were a strange mix because while most loved it, there were a few who just sat there stonefaced. Why would anyone go to this movie and sit there with a blank look on their face? What did they expect? An Oscar-worthy film? This movie is rude and crude, disgusting and hilarious. It's the kind of movie you go to with a blank mind and have a good time.
  
  
• Dreadful Sequel
  By A353WBXCAGDMWX on 2008-08-03
  Utterly lacking the charm of the first movie, this one bypassed the clever and jumped straight to the crass. It's guilty of the worst sin of bad comedy: making us feel embarrassed or disgusted rather than giving us something funny. I guess the idea is that nervous laughter is as good as real laughter. But to me, that ain't comedy. For example: Kumar masturbating in his bed and ejaculating on himself; or Harold & Kumar being forced to fellate a prison guard. I suppose either situation might have been made funny, but they weren't. We were merely expected to laugh at the outrageousness of seeing these things in a movie. Genius.
  
  Not to say the movie didn't have some genuinely funny stuff in it, but mostly it was just tedious. So unless you think films like American Pie III are the pinnacle of comedy, do yourself a favor and skip this one.
  
  
• Protecting this country is not a joke
  By AU8552YCOO5QX on 2008-08-30
  If you like anti-american films, then this movie is for you. I am sure the Al-Jerrzia networks shows it all the time.
  
  
• No Habeas for Harold and Kumar
  By A1O8TLZLO5EUV6 on 2008-09-09
  This movie was far better than I expected it to be. The critics did not give it its just desserts largely because of its use of many of the same themes and gags from their first movie, i.e., a supposed lack of originality. I disagree. The sequel builds on and successfully uses what it created in the first movie. It is essentially about how bad things constantly happen to two well-meaning but chemically challenged bunglers, who despite their many flaws, are the good guys in the movie. It is underrated as a satire as it pokes fun at the sheer boneheadedness of those responsible for such moral and legal travesties as Gitmo, instead of simply portraying them as wrong. It is ultimately meant to be funny, not a political lesson, however, and it usually achieves its goal, although it does rely more on the use of nudity and graphic "shock and awe" techniques than the previous movie. I disagree with those characterizing it as advocating drug use. No one could see how these two goofballs screw up their lives (such as getting sent to Gitmo because of Kumar's hi-tech bong) and rationally want to emulate them, anymore than watching a trainwreck would make one want to be in one. It is satirical slapstick that is both funny and ultimately goodhearted as it drives home the inner goodness of its unlikely heroes after they find two strong women to help straighten-out the messes they have created of their lives!
  
  
• As Good as the First
  By A3O5T5VAQ3TD17 on 2008-07-30
  I just got finished watching this movie. At first I didn't think I would like it as good as the first film. I was def. suprised, I laughed all the was threw it. I highly recommend this dvd to anyone who owns the first, this is a must own. I hope they make a third film in the future.
  
  

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