Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
New Line Home Entertainment
Cast: John Cho, Kal Penn, Carolyn Choa, Neil Patrick Harris
Extras: Commentary Tracks, Deleted Scenes, Featurettes, Interviews, Music Video
Rating:
The other day I felt like some harmless simple fun and when ’Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle’ crossed my desk it turned out to be the perfect candidate. It is a fun little flick about two friends who want to go to a fast food restaurant for a snack when the post-stoned hunger set it. Of course, they had no idea that what starts as a short trip down the block would turn into an all-night nightmare for them as things go haywire wherever they go. The two are real disaster magnets that night and constantly make the wrong decisions – in good faith, of course. Overall it makes for a fun 90-minutes that is thoroughly enjoyable. Unlike many contemporary teenage comedies, ’Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle’ does not play the gross-out or lewd game and instead creates some real situation comedy moments and the two main actors are more than capable of carrying this film.
New Line Home Entertainment is presenting ’Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle’ in its widescreen aspect ratio in a presentation that is enhanced for 16×9 TV sets. The image is absolutely clean and free of defects and does not exhibit any grain or noise. Colors are bold and strong but never over-saturated. Skin tones are natural and balanced throughout, as are the deep blacks and bright highlights in the transfer. No edge-enhancement distracts from the viewing experience and the compression is equally good, without introducing any artifacts.
Breaking once again with the current teenage-comedy hip-hop formula, ’Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle’ features a great score with great songs throughout. The mix is dynamic and makes good use of the surround channels while dialogues are always understandable and clear. The frequency response of the track is modern with deep low ends and clear high ends, free of distortion or sibilance. The dynamic range of the 5.1 channel Dolby Digital track is also good and balanced, adding to the viewing experience.
The DVD contains a commentary track that is full of valuable information, including an ’extreme’ commentary track as an allusion to some of the movie’s ’extreme’ characters.
Deleted scenes and featurettes on the making of the film are also included as well as interviews with cast and crew members.
’Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle’ is a fun little flick that should also be appealing to those viewers beyond the age of 20. I found it hilarious at times, always entertaining and somehow refreshingly inspired even. Check it out if you just want to tune out some time and enjoy 90 minutes of mindless fun.
