Back in 2004, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle failed to ignite the box office. You wouldn’t think a movie that earned a mere $18 million – good for 110th place on the 2004 chart - would spawn a sequel. However, Castle became a cult hit on video, and I guess that was good enough for a second adventure.

Which brings us to 2008’s Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. With a take of $38 million, it more than doubled the gross of Castle. That led to an inevitable third flick three years later - and probably more to come in the future.

In Bay, we start right after the end of Castle. Roommates Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) plan to follow their epic burger journey with a real trip: a vacation to Amsterdam. Harold wants to follow up on his burgeoning romance with Maria (Paula Garces), so that sends the pair to Europe. Kumar experiences his own romantic issues when he finds out that ex-girlfriend Vanessa (Danneel Harris) will soon marry yuppie Colton (Eric Winter).

Complications ensue onboard the plane. When Kumar attempts to use his “smokeless bong”, he gets seen as a terrorist and chaos results. Panicky government officials refuse to see the truth of the matter and imprison Harold and Kumar in Guantanamo Bay. They soon manage to escape and return to the US. The flick follows their path to freedom along with attempts by the authorities to recapture them.

I thought Castle offered some minor pleasures. It had a number of funny moments, though it also came with more than a few poor segments and ended up as terribly inconsistent. With that as a backdrop, I can’t say I expected much from Bay.

Even with those low expectations, Bay didn’t deliver. First mistake: the flick runs way too long. Goofball comedies like this don’t benefit from extended running times. While 112 minutes doesn’t exactly make it an epic, it seems way too much for something like this. (The theatrical cut fills 102 minutes; this “Unrated Extended Edition” adds 10 minutes.) Castle was a tighter 89 minutes, and that running time makes sense for this kind of flick. Too much stoner silliness gets old quickly, a theory proven by the tedium we find here.

In addition, Bay often feels too much like a basic rehash of the first movie. No, it doesn’t present identical gags – not most of the time, at least – but they both go with the same episodic structure that essentially abandons plot. The two flicks feature overarching quests but they emphasize the lead characters’ wacky adventures along the way.

Castle benefited from the sheer banality of that quest. It focused on two stoners who just wanted to get some burgers. The simplicity of the plot became its strength, as the struggles Harold and Kumar faced created an occasionally amusing contrast to the ordinary nature of their goal.

On the other hand, Bay bites off more than it can chew. H&K engage in an almost literally life and death quest here, and the urgency of their struggle reduces the potential comedy. It’s more difficult to be amused by their difficulties when they might rot in jail if they fail. Perhaps some like the elevated stakes, but I think the overall plot leaves the realm of amiable comedy and makes things too serious, even if we’re well aware of the fact that H&K will be fine at the end.

Often Bay leaves the impression that the serious quest exists mainly to allow the filmmakers to make some social commentary. Oh my - Bay comes packed with satire related to racial and ethnic stereotypes. A little of this goes a long way, and the theme becomes downright lame and predictable before too long. I appreciate the filmmakers’ desire to poke fun in simplistic stereotypes, but the jokes tend to be uninspired, and like almost everything else about the film, the theme grows tiresome before long.

Even the flick’s attempt to recapture the best part of Castle fails here. In the first flick, Neil Patrick Harris played a truly messed-up version of himself and created the funny scenes in the film. He returns here in the same capacity, but his appearance just doesn’t work. For one, his sequences lack the same novelty factor; we know what to expect as soon as we see him, so the freshness is gone.

In addition, the TV series Extras used the same conceit but a) with bigger stars, and b) with greater cleverness. The idea of an actor who allows himself to look horrible onscreen doesn’t seem as novel anymore, especially since Extras did it better. Perhaps if Bay used a different actor, the situation might’ve managed to seem more interesting. Instead, the reappearance of Harris just feels stale and uninspired.

Those are terms that came to mind often as I watched Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. The first flick was no classic, but it boasted a quirky charm absent from the sequel. Bay gets some points for its nudity – gotta love the “bottomless party”! – but nothing else about it impresses.

Footnote: stick through the end credits for a surprise.

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. No notable issues developed in this transfer.

Sharpness looked fine. A few shots – mostly interiors – showed a smidgen of softness, but those instances remained minor. Overall definition seemed solid. No concerns with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and edge haloes were absent. No print concerns appeared. The movie looked a bit grainy at times, but otherwise the movie lacked any noticeable defects.

Colors were fine. The movie tended toward a slightly muted palette that was more than adequate, as the hues appeared reasonably full.. Blacks were fairly dark and tight, and shadows showed good clarity. Nothing here dazzled, but the transfer delivered a good reproduction of the movie.

As for the DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack of Bay, it worked pretty well. Like most comedies, the soundfield emphasized the front channels. The music displayed good imaging, and effects broadened to the sides well. They presented a nice sense of atmosphere and kicked into action well when appropriate. Surround usage rarely took center stage, but they added to the presentation at times. The surrounds lacked great involvement, but they were fine for this sort of flick.

Audio quality was quite good. Speech came across as natural and crisp, with no issues connected to edginess or intelligibility. Effects were clear and accurate. They showed good range and clarity as well. Music worked very nicely, especially in regard to the mix of source songs. Those presented strong definition and liveliness, and the whole package showed tight, rich bass. Again, there wasn’t anything special about the soundtrack, but it seemed more than acceptable for the material.

How does this Blu-Ray compare with the film’s DVD edition? Audio was a bit fuller and more dynamic, while the visuals showed a considerable step up. The Blu-ray was substantially more detailed and vibrant. Expect big picture improvements from the Blu-ray.

The Blu-ray provides all the same extras as the DVD, and Bay comes with two audio commentaries. The first one presents writers/directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg and actors Kal Penn and John Cho, all of whom sit together for their running, screen-specific discussion. The participants get into cast and performances, characters and story issues, sets, production design, and shooting in Louisiana, deleted scenes and changes made for the extended cut, making their directorial debut, and a mix of other production topics.

Though a little too much joking around occurs, the commentary usually provides a pretty good look at the flick. It delves into the various subjects in an effective manner that covers things well. The movie itself is a dud, but the commentary works well.

For the next commentary, we hear from writers/directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, actor James Adomian and Harold Lee, the real-life inspiration for the movie’s title character. All four sit together for their running, screen-specific chat. They discuss sets and shooting in Shreveport, cast and performances, the film’s title and story issues, and a smattering of related subjects.

Since the directors covered much of the same territory in the first commentary, this one tends to sputter. They try to fill time with Adomian’s impressions of President Bush and others, but those attempts at comedy fall flat. Honestly, the guy’s not very good, at least not at doing Bush; I’m not sure how he gets work in that capacity. (He was pretty bad as Bush in the movie as well.) Lee offers very little and doesn’t seem necessary; his presence made more sense for the first movie, but he adds little here. It’s clearly the weaker of the two tracks.

For something different, we get an interactive feature called Dude, Change the Movie. This lets you choose where the story will go at various points – 11, to be exact. Some of the choices lead to short added scenes, while others create more substantial variations. The biggest happens first: if Kumar doesn’t smoke on the plane, we get a long video called Harold and Kumar Go to Amsterdam. It’s easily the most substantial of the bunch, though others also create very different paths as well; don’t choose “Freedom” in Guantanamo and that ends the movie right there.

Another major option occurs at Raza’s party. We can flip from the bottomless party to the topless party. The bottomless party is hotter – too much silicone in the new version – but it’s still a cool alternate edition. We also get to see Harold’s dream instead of Kumar’s and a few other interesting variants. This is a really fun option that adds a lot to the release.

Next we get a featurette called Inside the World of Harold and Kumar. This 21-minute, 35-second show mixes movie clips, shots from the set, and comments from Hurwitz, Schlossberg, Cho, Penn, stunt coordinator Steve Ritzi, and actors Eddie Kaye Thomas and Neil Patrick Harris, Rob Cordrry, Roger Bart, Beverly D’Angelo, Jack Conley, Echo Valley, Ed Helms, Danneel Harris, Chris Meloni, and David Krumholtz. The show covers story topics, cast, characters and performances, the work of the directors, stunts, and a few general issues. At times, the program gives us some decent details. However, it usually stays superficial and promotional, so don’t expect much from it.

18 Deleted Scenes run a total of 18 minutes and 50 seconds. In addition, we get nine Extras that fill seven minutes, two seconds; these are also cut sequences, and I’m not sure why they’re put in a separate section. A lot of the clips simply act as extensions to existing scenes, so don’t expect a lot of truly new story material. Plenty of additional takes of various scenes also appear. The most substantial sequence shows Secretary Fox’s raid on a bus. Fans will probably enjoy the scenes, but I can’t say I think they offer much.

One annoyance about the scenes: they’re presented in what seems to be random order. They’d work better if they ran in the movie’s chronological context.

More from the movie’s fake president shows up in a Bush PSA. In this one-minute and 53-second clip, Adomian reprises his ineffective impersonation of W as he tries to convince us to see the flick. It’s pretty lame.

Finally, we find a few Trailers. We find the movie’s teaser along with its general and “red band” ads.

While the original flick didn’t dazzle, it looks pretty good compared to the limp Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. It runs too long and offers too few laughs along the way. The Blu-ray presents good picture and audio as well as a terrific roster of extras. The Blu-ray delivers a good version of a spotty movie.

To rate this film visit the Unrated Special Edition review of HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY