| Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg |
| Produced by | Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg |
| Written by | Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg |
| Starring | John Cho Kal Penn Danneel Harris Rob Corddry Neil Patrick Harris |
| Music by | George S. Clinton |
| Cinematography | Daryn Okada |
| Editing by | Jeff Freeman |
| Studio | New Line Cinema Mandate Pictures |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 25, 2008 |
| Running time | Theatrical cut 102 minutes Unrated cut 107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $12,000,000 |
| Box office | $43,493,123 |
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is a 2008 American stoner film, the second installment in the Harold & Kumar series. The film was written, produced, and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg.
The story continues where Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle leaves off, with Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) flying to Amsterdam. They are then imprisoned and end up on a series of comical misadventures when they escape from Guantanamo Bay. The film also stars Paula Garcés,[1] Neil Patrick Harris, Jon Reep, Rob Corddry, Ed Helms,[1] David Krumholtz, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Jack Conley, Roger Bart, Danneel Harris, Eric Winter, Adam Herschman and Richard Christy.[2]
The film was released on April 25, 2008 by Warner Bros.; this film was the first New Line Cinema title to be distributed by Warner Bros. since New Line Cinema became a division of Warner Bros.[3] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on July 29, 2008.
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Beginning mere minutes after the events of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) set off on a flight to Amsterdam so that Harold can pursue a budding romance with his neighbor, Maria (Paula Garcés). Before they board their plane, they run into one of their old college buddies, Colton (Eric Winter), and Kumar's ex-girlfriend, Vanessa (Danneel Harris). The two are engaged to be married soon, and Kumar questions whether he still loves her.
During the flight an elderly woman suspects Kumar of being a terrorist, when she mistakes his bong for a bomb. Three air marshals detain the duo and the plane returns to Washington D.C. where Ron Fox (Rob Corddry), an obsessive and racist Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, sends them to Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, thinking that they are agents of a joint Al-Qaeda and North Korean conspiracy.
With the help of real terrorists, Harold and Kumar escape and travel to Miami, Florida with Cuban refugees. In Miami, their college friend, Raza (Amir Talai), gives them a car and suggests that they travel to Texas, where Colton and Vanessa are having their wedding, to see if Colton, whose family has political connections to the White House, can help. The duo first travels to Birmingham, Alabama, where their car immediately stalls and they abandon it after encountering a gang of seemingly angry African Americans (who were actually trying to help them repair the car). Then they meet a friendly hunter, who invites them to stay with him and his wife at their well-kept trailer home. Harold and Kumar initially enjoy their stay with the couple, who also smoke marijuana, but they leave shortly after discovering that the couple (who are actually brother and sister) have an inbred cycloptic son, whom they keep in their basement.
Harold and Kumar then wander through the forest and come across a Ku Klux Klan rally. Disguising themselves with hoods and sheets, they infiltrate and mingle for awhile but are eventually discovered. Declaring them to be "Mexicans", the Klansmen attempt to lynch Harold and Kumar and chase them with torches but are distracted after their dim-witted Grand Wizard (Christopher Meloni) accidentally sets himself on fire. At this point, the two run into Neil Patrick Harris, who is himself on a cross-country journey, and he offers them a ride to Texas. Meanwhile, Fox is in heavy pursuit of Harold and Kumar, usually just one step behind them. He interrogates many witnesses on their whereabouts and continues to display his beliefs in racial stereotypes.
Later, Neil Patrick Harris, under the influence of psychedelic mushrooms, successfully manages to smuggle the pair past one of Fox's security checkpoints. After stopping at a brothel, Harris causes a situation by branding one of the prostitutes with his own logo and, as they flee, he is shot twice in the back by the owner and left for dead. While grieving, Harold and Kumar look through Harris' possessions, which includes Chris Fehn's mask, a jar filled with human hair and numerous cans of mace.
As soon as they reach Texas, Colton promises to help them out of their situation, but when he sees Kumar try to reconnect with Vanessa, he changes his mind and turns them back over to Fox and Homeland Security. This causes Harold to blame Kumar for their problems and they begin arguing.
On an airplane bound for Guantanamo Bay, Kumar eventually apologizes and the two forgive each other. They manage to escape (by using one of Harris' mace cans) and cause Fox and his assistant Beecher to be killed in the process. After crashing through the roof of George W. Bush's house in Texas, the three bond while smoking marijuana. The President then promises to pardon Harold and Kumar, and help them with whatever they need. Harold and Kumar arrive at Colton and Vanessa's wedding escorted by the Secret Service. Colton confronts Kumar for destroying the wedding, but Harold punches him, and Kumar reconnects with Vanessa. The three head to Amsterdam where Harold meets up with Maria. In a post-credits scene, it is shown that Neil Patrick Harris survived his gunshot wounds.
| Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay - Soundtrack | |
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| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
| Released | March 23, 2008 |
| Label | Lakeshore Records |
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay: Original Soundtrack was released on April 15, 2008. It contains 13 songs used in the film.
Songs that appear in the film, but are not on the soundtrack album, include:
(*) John Cho (Harold) is the lead singer of Viva La Union and wrote the song "Chinese Baby" from this soundtrack.
The film cost $12 million to make.[3] Filming began in the third week of January 2007 in Shreveport, Louisiana, and finished in March.[4][5][6] Warner Bros.' spokesman said that this film was originally produced as a direct-to-video film until a decision was made to release it theatrically.[7]
In October 2007, a "coming soon" poster featuring Neil Patrick Harris began circulating on the Internet.[8] Showing Harris astride a unicorn, the advertisement poses the question "What would NPH do?"[9]
The film received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 53% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 87 reviews — with the general consensus that the film was not as good as the original. "It may not equal its predecessor, but Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is still good for some laughs -- and food for thought."[10] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 57 out of 100, based on 27 reviews.[11] Daily Variety declared it "Animal House meets Dr. Strangelove" and called it "one of the ballsiest comedies to come out of Hollywood in a long time."[12] The Guardian (which rated the movie 7 out of 10) noted that despite having a "total nonsense" story, its screening was "one of the most raucous screenings I've ever attended. Even the opening credits were wildly applauded, and much of the dialog was inaudible over the laughter."[13]
Not all reviews were so glowing; Richard Roeper of At the Movies lamented that although he enjoyed the "pot-fueled laughs and the sheer energetic lunacy of the original, I was really let down by this uninspired sequel."[14] The New York Daily News said that "the movie forgets to stay true to their characters or to itself."[15] Michael Phillips of The Chicago Tribune wrote that you "find yourself smiling at some of the bits, wincing through many, many others, and ultimately wondering if the pacing would've improved had either H or K developed a terrible cocaine habit."[16] Amnesty International USA commented by saying that "Guantanamo is no joke." They have encouraged their membership to hand out fliers at movie theater screenings to promote awareness about the treatment of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.[17]
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $14.9 million in 2,510 theaters, in the United States and Canada, averaging $5,939 per theater and ranking #2 at the box office behind Baby Mama.[18] The film performed much better at the box office than its predecessor which grossed $23.9 million worldwide[19] after opening at #7 in the United States and Canada with $5.4 million.[20] As of July 17, the international theatrical gross stands at $43,327,445. The US DVD Sales total $23,872,890 as of 22 March 2009. The budget of the film was $12 million.
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc July 29, 2008 featuring a single-disc theatrical edition, an unrated edition, or a 2-disc unrated edition. The unrated edition was featured for Blu-ray disc. The 2-disc version features a "dude change the movie" feature which lets the viewer access alternate scenes and ending including "Harold & Kumar Go to Amsterdam". This film as of March 22, 2009 had earned $23.4 million in DVD sales.[21]
Both Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg have announced plans to write and direct a third Harold and Kumar movie, with Greg Shapiro returning as the producer, and Kal Penn and John Cho expected to return in their titular roles. Danneel Harris is reprising her role of Vanessa and Paula Garces is returning as Maria. Neil Patrick Harris has said that he will return for another cameo in this sequel.[22][23] Eddie Kaye Thomas and Bobby Lee will also be reprising their roles from the previous films. A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas was released on November 4, 2011.[24]
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