- Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
- Video Codec: MVC (3D); AVC/MPEG-4 (2D)
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec:
- (3D & 2D Theatrical): English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French, Spanish, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1; English Dolby Digital 5.1 (Extended Cut)
- Subtitles:
- (ALL versions): English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: R/Unrated (Extended Cut)
- Run Time: 90/96 Mins.
- Discs: 2 (1 x Blu-ray 3D + 1 x DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy)
- Studio: Warner Home Video/New Line Home Video
- Blu-ray Release Date: February 7, 2012
- List Price: $44.95
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BestBuy.com
Purchase A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas on Blu-ray 3D Combo at CD Universe
Shop for More Blu-ray Titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
2D HD: [Rating:4.5/5]
3D Effect: [Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
Due to technical issues the screen captures for this review are currently pending, but we felt it best to publish the article ahead of the street date for the benefit of our readers.
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The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Catching up with the titular duo years after they broke out of Guantanamo Bay, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas is the third film in the curiously addictive stoner comedy franchise. Harold (John Cho) is now a successful tycoon working on Wall Street, married, living in the suburbs and trying to start a family of his own. His erstwhile roommate Kumar (Kal Penn) has pretty much stagnated as a weed-smoking loser, even more so now that his super-hot girlfriend has dumped him.
The Christmas spirit is completely lost on Kumar this year, but when a strange package addressed to Harold suddenly appears on his doorstep, he journeys to his former best bud’s house to deliver it. They’ve drifted apart and the tensions are thick, a situation only worsened when a stray doobie accidentally burns down the family’s prized Christmas tree. An exact replacement must be secured immediately, or else bad things will happen to Harold, and Kumar steps up to help.
So begins their latest adventure, involving the mob, an insanely “eager” virgin, and a highly intelligent waffle-making robot. A lot of old friends return along the way, including of course the singular Neil Patrick Harris as N.P.H. Practically every line he utters and each lurid face he makes elicits the biggest laughs here. There is of course the matter of the infant who inadvertently experiments with a variety of illegal substances throughout the evening, but this qualifies as “so-wrong-it’s-right,” crystallizing the offbeat vibe of this non-stop parade of bad behavior.
The R-rated theatrical cut of the movie, presented here in both 2D and 3D, includes a fair amount of nudity, drug use and profanity, but the unrated “Extended Cut” runs about seven minutes longer, with even more raucousness, in 2D only.
Video Quality
2D HD: [Rating:4.5/5]
3D Effect: [Rating:4.5/5]
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas was shot in digital 3D and the script frequently riffs on the much-buzzed-about exhibition technology, alternately bashing it and exploiting it in extremely conspicuous, amusing ways. Puffs of marijuana smoke waft toward the audience, eggs hurled by Occupy Wall Street protesters sail at us and so much more, often enhanced with computer-generated elements added to really make the perceived depth of the 2.4:1 image pop. And after witnessing the three-dimensional claymation penis, you might just feel, as I did, like you’ve officially seen it all.
Shadow detail is excellent, as the nuances of Harold’s dark suit and the tufts in both lead characters’ heads of black hair are well-delineated. The slightly exaggerated color palette is nonetheless lush from beginning to end and the video is dependably clean.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track packs lots of exaggerated sonic action to underscore the 3D visuals, with projectiles such as the aforementioned eggs whizzing sharply across the soundstage, and later debris hits convincingly in the surrounds. The couple of discrete gunshots are impressive, while a resonant shotgun blast is even sweeter. Both the traditional carols and the deliberately too-happy musical score display a lovely multichannel spread.
One technical footnote, the Extended Cut is accompanied by Dolby Digital 5.1 only, no high-resolution audio option.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
No extras on the Blu-ray 3D disc, but Disc Two brings a bit of bonus content. We begin with the comedy stylings of actor/writer Thomas Lennon, co-star here and a veteran of The State, one of the best made-for-MTV shows ever. This section is weirdly broken down into six separate, titled segments, none of them especially funny.
More engaging is a quick look at the movie’s claymation sequence, at one point comparing the storyboards to the final scene via picture-in-picture. A few minutes of deleted scenes are strung together into a single block, more of the same humor, including poor Santa on the receiving end of some further nastiness.
This disc is BD-Live-enabled, and there is also a standard-definition DVD of the movie. A unique printed code is inside the package to access an UltraViolet Digital Copy for streaming/downloading.
The supplements:
- “Through the Haze with Tom Lennon”
- “I’m Doing a Puff Piece Over Here” (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 1:57)
- “I Hate Drugs” (1.78:1; 1080p/24; :59)
- “F#*@ You Charles Dickens” (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 1:50)
- “I’m Just Brainstorming Here” (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 1:28)
- “The Marshmallow Man” (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 1:07)
- “19th Greatest Christmas Story Ever Told” (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 1:14)
- “Bringing Harold and Kumar Claymation to Life” (1080p 24; 3:32)
- Deleted Scenes (2.40:1; 1080p/24; 3:48)
- UltraViolet Digital Copy
- DVD copy of the movie
- BD-Live
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
Ruder than ever and funnier than the last installment, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas looks great in high def with terrific 3D effects, sold by some dynamic high-res audio. If you consider these two dudes your buds, then you should definitely check out their latest exploits, ideally in this multi-format edition.
–
[amazon-product]B006OFN0ES[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com
Purchase A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas on Blu-ray 3D Combo at CD Universe
Shop for More Blu-ray Titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
2D HD: [Rating:4.5/5]
3D Effect: [Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
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