Harold & Kumar Get The Munchies DVD Review:

Harold (Cho) hates his investment-banking job and Kumar (Penn) does want to start his career in medicine but it’s the weekend. After getting completely stoned the munchies kick in but they don’t want the usual take out or fast food, they want the amazing burger combo from White Castle. The only problem is that the White Castle they usually go to has closed and now they have to start an epic journey to feed their craving.

When the trailer pushes the fact that is the ‘Asian Guy from ‘American Pie’’, ‘the Indian Guy from ‘Van Wilder’’ and the ‘Director of ‘Dude, Where’s my Car?’ you can’t really expect much and this movie doesn’t disappoint.

In the tradition of the American gross-out comedy, ‘Harold and Kumar get the Munchies’ tries to continue that mould but the problem is that is just doesn’t go far enough. There is absolutely nothing new in this movie and the film is completely void of those cringingly funny moments that make the genre so popular. There are a few funny moments but not enough for it to rise up to the heady heights of the ‘American Pie’ movies, which are still the standard for modern day version of the cult genre.

What makes the film still watchable however are the two leading men. The movie moves away from the typical all American central characters and highlights the comedy skills of John Cho and Kal Penn. Making the film from a different cultural perspective works and provides some good gags. You’d expect most of them to come at the two characters expense but they give as much as they get. These are two talented comedic actors but they deserve a better script that this.

There are quite a few cameos in the movie from actors associated with the genre and most of them are quite funny. ‘Van Wilder’ Ryan Reynolds pops up as a nurse, ‘American Pie’s’ Eddie Kaye Thomas shows up as a fellow stoner and Neil Patrick Harris pokes fun at his ‘Doogie Howser’ past.

While there are quite a few laughs in ‘Harold and Kumar get the Munchies’ and the two lead actors are talented, the film just doesn’t have enough to raise itself above average. It does succeed in giving you the munchies for burgers though.

Star Rating = * *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, the movie is presented extremely well.

BONUS FEATURES

Director’s Commentary

Director Danny Leiner is joined by his stars John Cho and Kal Penn for a funny commentary track. You can that the trio rally enjoyed working together from the start, as this is a continual mickey-take as they rip into each other. They discuss the many gags in the film, the cast and how much they enjoyed working together to provide a commentary that, in parts is actually funnier than the movie.

Writer’s Commentary
John Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg talk about the evolution of the story and how it came to the silver screen. The pair talks about working together and their influences behind the story, as they reveal that they wanted to write a cross culture movie that would appeal to young, whatever ethnic background. The key point was to show that whatever your heritage, everyone goes through the same problems and rights of passage.

Extreme Commentary
Cast member Dan Bochart gives his own ‘Extreme commentary for the movie. As he played Extreme Sports Punk #1 in the movie, which was his first motion picture role and therefore his first commentary track, he provides the dude take on the movie, offering some funny opinions on the characters and some insider gossip on the flick.

Extreme Outtakes (1.12 mins)

A montage of adlibs and gaffs from the cast, as we see more of Harold’s Land of Burgers dream and more of Freakshow.

Deleted Scenes (15.18 mins)

Entitled ‘Luis Guzman scene’, ‘Officer Brucks’ Weedy Fantasy’, ‘Rosenberg & Goldstein’, ‘Extremely Extreme’, ‘Freakshow’, ‘Kumar’s extended Weedy fantasy’ and ‘Outtake montage’, these deleted and extended scenes suffer from the lack of a commentary track explaining why these scenes were cut.

A trip to the Land of Burgers (16.25 mins)

Director Danny Leiner, editor Jeff Betancourt and graphic designer Chevan Hicks take you behind the scenes of Harold’s ‘Land of Burgers’ fantasy sequence. The trio talk about the design process of the sequence, the original cut including extended cast cameos and how they think the sequence played out on film.

Drive thru bites (20.18 mins)

Director Danny Leiner, writers John Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg and stars Brooke D’Orsay, Kate Kelton, Steve Braun, Eddie Kay Thomas, David Krumholtz, Paula Garces, Fred Willard and Neil Patrick Harris talk about appearing in ‘Harold and Kumar…’

The Art of the Fart (10.38 mins)

Director Danny Leiner and sound designer Jeff Kushner talk about the inventive methods used to record the sound for the girl’s bathroom sequence. Some of them are very extreme.

John Cho & Kal Penn: The Backseat (12.59 mins)
Supporting actor Bobby Lee (Kenneth Park in the movie) drives stars John Cho and Kal Penn around the streets of LA asking them questions about pube trimming, Freakshow, Weedy, Princeton and female toiletry habits.

Trailers
Reviews of ‘The Prince and Me’ and ‘Paparazzi’

OVERALL

MGM have done a great job with the DVD transfer of ‘Harold and Kumar…’. With three good commentary tracks and a slue of featurettes, fans of the movie should rejoice and pack it for their own trip to ‘White Castle’. For everyone else this is a much better film on DVD, with the bonus features adding to the fun.

Jamie Kelwick