Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle [Unrated]

Director: Danny Leiner Danny Leiner

Overview

"If outrageous comedy is what you crave, then you need look no further than this New Line Home Entertainment's ""Extreme Unrated"" release of the hilarious, munchie-inducing hit Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. The image is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, and it looks fantastic. Colors are evenly balanced, skin tones are accurate and consistent, and the image is free of any notable digital artifacting. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is a film that relies heavily on audio gags for a few of its most effective laughs, and the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix carries these off without a hitch as well. Dialogue and music are evenly mixed, while directional and other special effects are used sparingly and effectively. When you're finished enjoying the feature, the laughs keep on rolling with a wealth of memorable bonus materials. Sporting no less than three audio commentary tracks, the one offering director Danny Leiner and stars John Cho and Kal Penn stands out as the most entertaining, offering a laid-back recollection of the production with numerous amusing anecdotes and behind-the-scenes jokes. While it's also somewhat fun to hear writers John Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg talk about their inspiration for the film and chat with the real-life inspiration for the character of Harold, the third audio commentary by ""Extreme Sports Punk #1"" Dan Bochart will likely have viewers scrambling for the remote. A ""Backseat"" interview with Cho and Penn offers a fun look at the young duo's carefree, offscreen interaction, and their ease with one another obviously contributed to their believable onscreen rapport. ""Drive Through Bites"" offers brief interviews with some of the secondary characters in the film, and while a variety of deleted scenes offer a chuckle or two, it's the unforgettable and outrageous outtakes montage that will really have viewers doubled over with laughter. Nothing is off-limits here, and the viewer will likely have as much fun watching these scenes as the actors did filming them. Viewers with access to a personal computer will be able to continue the fun online while accessing materials exclusive to the web, making this disc a no-brainer for lovers of silly, no-holds-barred stoner comedies."

Product Details

Release Date:	01/04/2005
UPC:	0794043762529
Original Release:	2004
Rating:	NR
Source:	New Line Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:30:00
Sales rank:	28,463

Special Features

Unrated version of the film; Deleted scenes & extreme outtakes; "The Art of the Fart" sound featurette; "Back Seat Interview" with John Cho and Kal Penn; Extreme actor & filmmaker commentaries; Music video; DVD-ROM contents: Script-to-screen with storyboard and more

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

John Cho	Harold
Kal Penn	Kumar
Paula Garces	Maria
David Krumholtz	Goldstein
Eddie Kaye Thomas	Rosenberg
Fred Willard	Dr. Willoughby
Ryan Reynolds	Male Nurse
Ethan Embry	Billy Carver
Christopher Meloni	Freakshow
Neil Patrick Harris	Himself
Malin Akerman	Lianne
Anthony Anderson	Burger King Employee
Boyd Banks	Gun Shot Victim
Dan Bochart	Extreme Sports Punk No. 1
Steve Braun	Cole
Steven DiTata	Extreme Sports Punk
Brooke D'Orsay	Clarissa
Jon Hurwitz	Tony
Sandy Jobin-Bevans	Officer Palumbo
Kate Kelton	Christy
Jamie Kennedy	Creepy Guy
Bobby Lee	Kenneth Park
Hayden Schlossberg	Hayden
Siu Ta	Cindy Kim
Robert Tinkler	J.D.
Gary Anthony Williams	Tarik
Luis Guzman	Actor
Shaun Majumder	Actor
David Kitay	Composer

Technical Credits

Jon Hurwitz

Hayden Schlossberg

Danny Leiner	Director
Jon Hurwitz	Screenwriter
Hayden Schlossberg	Screenwriter
David Brewington	Executive Producer
Bret Culp	Special Effects
Nathan Kahane	Producer
Cassandra Kulukundis	Casting
Carsten H.W. Lorenz	Executive Producer
Luke Ryan	Executive Producer
Greg Shapiro	Producer
James D. Stern	Executive Producer
Hanno Huth	Executive Producer
J. David Brewington Jr.	Executive Producer
Joe Drake	Executive Producer
David Kitay	Executive Producer
Jeff Kushner	Sound/Sound Designer
Kelly Wright	Sound Editor

Editorial Reviews

Only someone who has feasted on the little square burgers sold by this venerable fast-food chain can truly appreciate the hypnotic spell they exert on hungry potheads like the titular duo of this funny little road movie that slyly explores the immigrant experience while never ruining the contact high of the stoner genre. Corporate drone (John Cho) and his underachieving roommate, Kumar (Kal Penn), come down with a bad case of the munchies one Friday night after smoking copious quantities of marijuana, and they determine that nothing will "hit the spot" except some White Castle burgers. What should have been an uneventful drive turns into a bona fide odyssey in which the pals confront a series of obstacles as bizarre as they are hilarious. On one level, director Danny Leiner's tale doesn't hold up to very close scrutiny: For one thing, the episodic plot, which unfolds entirely in northern and central New Jersey, doesn't abide by the physical laws of time and space. Supporting characters pop up in places they could not possibly have reached, given their appearance at earlier points in the story. And there's no way Harold and Kumar could have traversed the Garden State and hit certain specifically named locations within the period circumscribed by the script. But we quibble. Harold and Kumar offers plenty of entertainment and insight to those willing to overlook its little quirks. While fulfilling their mission to munch, our two first-generation American heroes are consistently insulted, stereotyped, and harassed for the unspeakable sin of looking different. Watching Cho and Penn endure these racist encounters makes them even more sympathetic, and points to a little documented American experience. It also reminds us that their cinematic stoner forbearers -- Cheech, Chong, Jeff Spicoli, Bill, and Ted -- never had to put up with this ugly vision of The Man. While most of the humor is sophomoric, and there's the usual quota of lowest-common-denominator gags, the movie is so good-natured that it's hard to level criticism. Nobody expects sophisticated banter from stoned 20-somethings, but this little movie sneaks a level of sophistication while remaining wonderfully stoopid.