Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Harold and Kumar go to White Castle

 

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is a 2004 stoner comedy starring Kal Penn and John Cho. The premise of the movie is mostly evident from the movie's title. A couple of friends get stoned and then crave White Castle. In making a trek to get to White Castle to satisfy their case of the munchies, hilarity ensues.  The rest of the cast includes Paula Garces, Bobby Lee, Christopher Meloni, David Krumholtz, Malin Akerman, and Neil Patrick Harris, playing a hilarious version of himself. There are also appearances by Ryan Reynolds and Eddie Kaye Thomas.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is good, although it is not really a film that needs to be seen in HD since there is not much in the way of effects (aside from just getting a better picture and sound in general). There are a lot of extras included with this release including three different commentary tracks on the movie, several making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, a sneak peak of, and the Red Band trailer for, the next movie, Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay, deleted scenes, a music video, and a couple of trailers for other movies.  Ultimately, the movie is a good, but not great, comedy. You definitely need to be into crude humor and stoner comedy to like this. If those kinds of movies are not up your alley, you want to skip this because you will only find it offensive and stupid. The humor is random and a bit all over the place but that is really the point. Personally, I think the best parts are the racist cops, the "extreme mixes", and NPH's love-stain comment. Malin Akerman's topless scene was not bad either. There is kind of a story beyond the two of them trying to find White Castle, but it is so in the background that it is really not the point of the movie. I do not really think there was a need to make more than just this movie, and it is the best one in the franchise. If you are looking for a mindless comedy and enjoy the brand humor in this kind of movie, you will like this and it is worth the time to watch.