A Very Harold and Kumar 3-D Christmas (2011/Warner Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD +
Ultraviolet Copy)
Picture:
A-/B+/B Sound: B/B/B- Extras: C Film: B
As the
third installment of the Harold and
Kumar franchise I was a bit scared, especially after how little I enjoyed
the second film. I was, however,
shockingly surprised how fun and hilarious the film was; as it embodied the
feel of the first film and took it a step (or several) further by making fun of
the whole concept. The film is over the
top and almost has a B-Movie feel as the writers, director, and actors are
fully aware of how bizarre the film is and have tons of fun with the concept.
For this
film has Harold and Kumar are no longer friends; Harold married Maria, has a
cushy Wall Street job , and even round normalcy with his boring friend/neighbor
Todd (Tom Lennon). A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas is in the tradition of age old
over the top Christmas films. As Harold
sets out to buy the perfect Christmas tree to impress his scary father-in-law
(Danny Trejo) who has a strong dislike for Koreans and an even stronger love of
Christmas, it should be a wonderful
holiday. Of course, things can’t be so
simple, so as Harold attempts to make it through Christmas unscathed, Kumar is
back in the picture to cause chaos when a package arrives on Harold’s
doorstep. Kumar burns down Harold’s
father-in-law’s rare Christmas tree and not long after that destroys the
replacement; leading the two (along with Todd and Kumar’s druggy friend Adrian)
on a long strange journey to New York City.
Neil Patrick Harris shows up (wasn’t he dead?) along with a Ukrainian
thug, a baby on drugs, and a slue of other oddities. The whole adventure is rather fun and out of
this world; not making it an Oscar winner, but certainly an entertaining
popcorn, laugh out loud flick.
The
technical features on this 3D film are VERY well done (surprisingly). The film is a 2.40 X 1, AVC encoded MPEG-4,
1080p High Definition that utilizes the 3D technology from beginning to end, never
subdued like other recent 3D creations. Harold and Kumar go old school as they
have objects flying out of the screen (some more obscene than others) from
beginning to end. The colors are bright
and blasting, very reminiscent of the holiday season in which the film takes
place. The crispness and clarity is
there, even with the over emphasis on 3D.
The textures are great and every detail pops (too much pop at times,
ewww). The sound is a 5.1 DTS-HD Master
Audio Track that explodes as the surrounds are fully utilized as this is a high
action, fast moving film with plenty of music and adventure to make the panning
effects very noticeable. The dialogue is
crisp, clean and clear from beginning to end.
My only complaint would be the bass is a bit absent, but perhaps that is
me being picky.
The
Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray are essentially the same, but the film was intended for
3D and many of the jokes are lost without the 3D format. The DVD is a major step down and worth little
when compared to the Blu-ray 3D.
The
extras are a few featurettes. None are
too impressive and all too short, all together only being less than 20 minutes. The extras are as follows:
- Through the Haze with Todd
Lennon
- Bringing Harold and Kumar
Claymation to Life
- Deleted Scenes
- Michael P. Dougherty II
