The Film
When a trip to Amsterdam for freewheeling Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) and uptight Harold Lee (John Cho) takes an unexpected turn, the boys find themselves detained as suspected terrorists, hunted, humiliated, and generally inconvenienced. From the title onward, Guantanamo is a much more overtly political statement, versus the occasional glimpse of racism and such in the previous film, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.
Playing into many of the clichés of Bush's America is sometimes amusing, sometimes tiring, and while the movie is more shocking-funny than just plain funny, whoever thought up the on-screen persona of Neil Patrick Harris as a vulgar, philosophical road tripper deserves some sort of bong-shaped award.
The Picture
Mostly natural, sometimes murky blacks are on display in the 1.85:1 frame. In keeping with the over-the-top style of comedy, the production design frequently utilizes exaggerated colors which reproduce well in HD. Detail is also quite good, as evidenced in the geometrically patterned shirt that Kumar wears in several early scenes. Grain is mildly problematic when it appears, particularly when older stock footage of varying quality is edited into the movie.
The Sound
I'm not sure if I just received a faulty copy of the disc or if there's a significant problem with the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix created for home video, but I heard multiple audio dropouts, high-frequency pops in the rears. I scanned backward to the trouble spots to play them again, confirming that these were not random anomalies. Other than that, the audio here demonstrates outstanding clarity and solid use of the multichannel soundfield, everything from room tone to the sounds of nature, including discrete surrounds. The bass of a big military plane taking off is the only real subwoofer moment.
The Extras
Writer/directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg have created two appropriately wacky commentary tracks, one with stars Cho and Penn, the other with James Adomian, the actor who plays George W. Bush in the movie--in character for most of it--plus the "real Harold Lee." "The World of Harold and Kumar" is a 21-and-a-half-minute behind-the-scenes featurette with on-set interviews and clips. The eighteen deleted/alternate scenes run about 19 minutes total and are pretty entertaining, in addition to the seven minutes of further outtakes and improvisations.
Most intriguing--and unique to the Blu-ray--is the "Dude, Change the Movie!" viewing mode. When selected, after a much-appreciated three-minute tutorial by Harold and Kumar, the movie plays with a series of popups that allow us to choose what happens next, which can drastically alter the flow of the story, branching to a wide variety of additional scenes and alternate plotlines, which must have required tremendous preparation during the actual production of the film, so hats off to all involved for their labors. The Blu-ray is the Unrated version of the film, and just to give an example of how far the creators have pushed the boundaries of both good taste and current technology, during a wild party sequence we are presented the choice of watching topless or bottomless party guests.
This is also a Digital Copy title, providing both a portable and a larger, higher-quality DRM-protected Windows Media Video file on Disc Two, a DVD.
Final Thoughts
While neither as humorous nor novel as the original, Guantanamo is nonetheless an outrageous stoner comedy with an abundance of crass chuckles. The Blu-ray however is a clever fusion and celebration of the cutting-edge lewdness and the capabilities of the state-of-the-art format.
Where to Buy:
Product Details:
- Actors: John Cho, Kal Penn, Rob Corddry, Roger Bart, Neil Patrick Harris, Danneel Harris, Eric Winter, Paula Garcés, David Krumholtz Eddie Kaye Thomas, Beverly D'Angelo, Christopher Meloni, Ed Helms
- Directors:
- Audio Format/Languages: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (English)
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Number of discs: 2
- Rating: NR
- Studio: New Line
- Release Date: July 29, 2008
- Run Time: 108 minutes
- List Price: $35.99
- Extras:
- "The World of Harold & Kumar"
- Deleted Scenes
- Outtakes
- Faux George W. Bush Public Service Announcement
- Commentaries:
- Writer/directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg and stars John Cho and Kal Penn
- Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, actor James Adomian and the real Harold Lee
