Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay



Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is the 2008 sequel to Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle.

Picking up right where the last movie left off, Harold and Kumar, fresh from their trip to White Castle, have decided to follow Harold's neighbor Maria to Amsterdam. On the plane Kumar and the bong he brought on are mistaken for a terrorist and a bomb, and Kumar, along with his "North Korean accomplise" Harold, are thrown in Guantanamo Bay. The two escape and head to Texas, pursued by an overzealous Deputy Security of Homeland Security. An old friend of theirs, Colton, is getting married to Kumar's ex-girlfriend Vanessa, and has invited president George W. Bush to the wedding. Harold wants to get a pardon; Kumar wants to ruin the wedding.

Escape was not as well liked as White Castle (compare its 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes to White Castle's 74%), thanks to Flanderization of the main characters, a reliance on gross-out humor, and far more Anvilicious message about not stereotyping others.

Another sequel, A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas, came out in 2011.

This movie contains examples of:
"Kumar: What are you doing here?
 * Angry Black Man: Subverted. Harold and Kumar's car breaks down in a nieghborhood that the two think is filled with angry black men and run off before a bunch of guys roll out equipment to help fix their car.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Beecher. After being forced to do all of Fox's dirty work, he betrays him.
 * Brick Joke/ Running Gag: The giant bag of weed from Kumar's fantasy.
 * Burn the Witch: It doesn't take much to accuse the two of being terrorists.
 * California Doubling: Averted. The scenes in Amsterdam were actually shot in Amsterdam.
 * Call Back: Neil Patrick Harris leaves Harold and Kumar in White Castle, claiming to be going "wherever God takes me." When they meet again in Escape From Guantanamo Bay, the following exchange occurs:

NPH: This is where God took me."

"Kumar: Compared to me, you look like Matthew Perry.
 * Chekhov's Gun: Kumar's "Square Root of 3" poem.
 * Completely Unnecessary Translator: Harold's parents have been American citizens for over 40 years, and frankly they find Fox's treatment of them insulting.
 * Creepy Basement: Harold and Kumar end up hiding in a Texan couple's dark, dingy basement. Earlier the couple had been joking about keeping their deformed incest baby locked up in there, which doesn't help.
 * Dartboard of Hate: George W. Bush has one of these with a picture of Osama Bin Laden on it.
 * Death by Racism:
 * Ron Fox, an evil white-supremacist government agent  after 90 minutes of brutalizing and terrorizing ethnic minorities.
 * Also, a Klansman pursuing Harold and Kumar trips and his burning torch gets tangled in his robes. It's not confirmed whether or not he dies.
 * The Deep South: Most of the action takes place here.
 * Disney Villain Death: The Big Bad jumps out of a plane without a parachute.
 * Drunk Driver: Neil Patrick Harris. Except with shrooms...and a bottle of whiskey.
 * Eagle Land: Escape From Guantanamo Bay seems to have been made to debunk American stereotypes.
 * Flanderization: Harold got a lot more uptight, Kumar became more of an idiot with a bid drug problem.
 * Flowery Insults: Kumar calls an Ambiguously Brown security guard "Matthew Perry" and the guard seriously takes offense to that.

Security guard: Hey, who you calling 'Matthew Perry,' bitch!

Kumar: I'm calling YOU 'Matthew Perry,' you Matthew Perry-looking bitch."

"Kumar: You get high and then you put other people who smoke weed in jail?
 * Free-Fall Fight:
 * Gag Boobs: Neil's prostitute.
 * Heel Face Door Slam: states his intention to protect Harold and Kumar just as he slips on some marbles and accidentally ejects himself, Harold, Kumar, and.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Kumar's ex Rachel Gatina is getting married to Jason McCallister while they are being chased by a Daily Show correspondant. Oh and Stu Price isn't very good at Korean.
 * Hypocritical Humor:

George W. Bush: Duh.

Kumar: That's so hypocritical.

George W. Bush: Oh yeah? Let me ask you something, Kumar. You like giving handjobs?

Kumar: No, sir.

George W. Bush: You like getting handjobs?

Kumar: Yeah.

George W. Bush: Well, then that makes you a fucking hypocriticizer too."

"Raza: I'm sick of all the hype over topless."
 * Ron Fox claims to be a brazen patriot... and at one point in the film he
 * Improvised Microgravity Maneuvering: When Harold and Kumar are in freefall, and Kumar has to "swim" to Harold.
 * Jerkass: Ron Fox.
 * The Millstone: Kumar. Starting wiht bringing a bong on a plane, and not getting any better from there.
 * Misaimed Fandom: In-universe example. Agent Ron Fox tells Neil Patrick Harris that Starship Troopers is what inspired him to work for the government hunting terrorists. However, Starship Troopers is actually a satire of jingoistic fearmongers like Fox.
 * Mistaken for Terrorist: Kumar.
 * Mugged for Disguise: Harold and Kumar beat up two Klansmen and steal their uniforms so they can sneak through a rally.
 * Not Quite Dead: Wait for the credits to finish.
 * Only Sane Man: NSA Vice Chairman Dr. John Beecher seems to be the only member of the Department of Homeland Security that's actually thinking sensibly.
 * Our Presidents Are Different: Harold and Kumar.
 * Pants-Free: The two seek assistance from a friend of theirs, who is hosting a bottomless party upon their arrival.

"Airport security guard: It's our job as airport security to search for all possible weapons or illegal drugs.
 * Platonic Prostitution
 * Politically-Incorrect Villain: Ron Fox.
 * Race Tropes: Ron Fox tries to use these to get witnesses to talk, wasting grape soda for a black guy and spilling a bag of coins for Jewish people. These tactics only serve to make people more affronted by his outright racism.
 * Double Standard Rape (Male on Male): A marine at Guantanamo Bay attempts to force the characters to give oral sex.
 * Reality Subtext: The sight of Harold and Kumar causes Rob Corddry's character to rant about how "al-Qaeda and the North Koreans" must be teaming up. John Cho's father actually was a refugee from what is now North Korea, who faced near-starvation while fleeing south.
 * Refuge in Audacity: The only reason Ron Fox's exceptional racism won't make you leave in disgust is just how earnest and over the top he is about it. That and he's as dumb as a fence post.
 * Same Story, Different Names: Kumar and George W. Bush - their relationship with their dads being similar. Of course they were both high when they were making the comparison.
 * Scary Black Man: Subverted. Harold and Kumar run off the road right by a group of tough looking black guys playing basketball. The guys take off as the black guys come towards them with tools...and a spare tire. Turns out they were just offering to help the guys with their car. One of them is an orthodontist.
 * Stop Being Stereotypical: Subverted; Kumar is reluctant to become a doctor as he thinks it's an Indian stereotype. He later decides that he wants to become a doctor regardless of whether or not it's stereotypical.
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial: Airport security pulls Kumar aside for a random check.

Kumar: So just because of the color of my skin, you assume that I have illegal drugs on me?"


 * Sweet Home Alabama: The movie has its fair share of negative Deep South stereotypes, most notably the Ku Klux Klan, but there is also a sophisticated, sympathetic Southern couple that helps Harold and Kumar hide from the government. The couple is still pretty stereotypical. They're an incestuous couple with a deformed son.
 * Take That: "It'll be like Eurotrip, except it won't suck".
 * Three-Way Sex: Kumar fantasizes about this with his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, and a giant bag of weed.
 * Toxic Friend Influence: Kumar. The film goes out of its way to point this out.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: There is a touching conversation about how the convictions of the father are passed on to the son, resulting in
 * What Could Have Been: In universe: The DVD shows several scenario with "Dude Change the movie" feature. The most different "Harold and Kumar Go to Amsterdam" which is initiated by Kumar not lighting bong. It is a short film with the duo narrating while no one speaks. Harold finds Maria and Kumar