Harold and Maude
List Price:
Our Price: $14.94
You Save: $0.05 (0%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $14.93 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bud Cort, Cyril Cusack, Eric Christmas, Gordon Devol, Harvey BrumfieldDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 220 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-06-27
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: PBS Home Video
Movie Reviews of Harold and Maude
Movie Review: I haven't lived ... but I've died a few times ...
Summary: 5 Stars
Hal Ashby's masterpiece Harold and Maude is so many people's favourite movie, that it's mind-boggling. When the film was released in 1971 it was panned by the bulk of the reviewers and was thought of as something that would be quickly forgotten as it was not easy for the Academic journalists to pigeonhole. Both, Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon won Golden Globes for best Actress and Best Actor that year even though the press was grossly unkind. Several theatres even played this film repetitively for two years, day after day, just because it was that good.
The screenplay for Harold and Maude was an idea that was spawned for Collin Higgin's thesis for the UCLA screenwriting MFA program and the film took off from there. The book is also available, for those interested, but be advised the book was put together after the film and reads a bit dry, and doesn't tell an expanded story as one would think it would, but rather a slightly `different story', if you will. But don't get me wrong, the book is still very entertaining and a good read.
The film is about a struggle between the value of life and a young man named Harold Chasen and the mentoring brought by his new friend Maude. Not until he meets and forms a bond with Maude does he start to understand that the world, and himself isn't on the verge of an apocalypse as he might have been led to believe by his self-indulgent and caddish mother, wonderfully imagined and portrayed by Vivian Pickles. Don't you just love that accent, and her random French phrasing?
Harold obviously was meant to be portrayed as someone suffering, as we see multiple attempts at suicide, which is a large part of his verbal and physical vocabulary. He has either an absent or dead father which is a theme that is not addressed but does make the viewer wonder how much it plays upon his psyche. The real story is the grand coupe of how Maude wins him over, getting him to really embrace and appreciate life, which is incredibly touching, making this movie one of the most unforgettable films of all time. The score, woven in beautifully by Cat Stevens, heightens the importance and greatness of the film, which continually pull at the heart-strings and the mind.
Some people, smirk and pull away if they've heard about this film, but haven't seen it. They always say: "Oh, that film. Not interested." I've met about a handful of these types and they're typically bothered by Harold and Maude's relationship. Yawwwnnnnn. Others say they're always bothered by the suicide aspect, let me tell you that the thought of suicide has got me through many a dark night, and I don't find it offensive or inappropriate in the slightest. All I can say is do yourself a favor and watch it from beginning to end, uninterrupted and just accept it for what it is. Just because an element of a film bothers you -- doesn't mean that the film is bad, it just means that the film stirred an uncomfortable emotion in you. That's all.
It would be nice to see this film get the re-master and frame-by-frame cleaning and color correction treatment. The DVD quality looks like a really good video transfer, but a video transfer nonetheless. It's presented in 5.1 Dolby surround, which is a plus, but this film really begs a commentary, extras, stills, all of that which is common on other releases.
And yes, for the record ... this is in my top three favourite all-time films. Magnificent.
Summary of Harold and Maude
Black comedies don't come much blacker than this cult favorite from 1972, and they don't come much funnier, either. It seemed that director Hal Ashby was the perfect choice to mine a mother lode of eccentricity from the original script by Colin Higgins, about the unlikely romance between a death-obsessed 19-year-old named Harold (Bud Cort) and a life-loving 79-year-old widow named Maude (Ruth Gordon). They meet at a funeral, and Maude finds something oddly appealing about Harold, urging him to "reach out" and grab life by the lapels as opposed to dwelling morbidly on mortality. Harold grows fond of the old gal--she's a lot more fun than the girls his mother desperately matches him up with--and together they make Harold & Maude one of the sweetest and most unconventional love stories ever made. Much of the earlier humor arises from Harold's outrageous suicide fantasies, played out as a kind of twisted parlor game to mortify his mother, who's grown immune to her strange son's antics. Gradually, however, the film's clever humor shifts to a brighter outlook and finally arrives at a point where Harold is truly happy to be alive. Featuring soundtrack songs by Cat Stevens, this comedy certainly won't appeal to all tastes (it was a box-office flop when first released), but if you're on its quirky wavelength, it might just strike you as one of the funniest movies you've ever seen. --Jeff ShannonComedy DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Danny Peary's CULT MOVIES 1 (Part 1)
Invasion of the Body SnatchersRelease date: 1998-07-01; DVD
Best price: $8.69
Price in other shops:
The Val Lewton Horror Collection with Martin Scorsese Presents Val Lewton Documentary (Cat People / The Curse of the Cat People / I Walked with a Zombie ... / The Seventh Victim / Shadows in the Dark)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-01-29; DVD
Best price: $42.99
Price in other shops:
I Married a Monster From Outer SpaceRelease date: 2004-09-14; DVD
Best price: $21.98
House of WaxRelease date: 2003-08-05; DVD
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
The Honeymoon Killers - Criterion CollectionRelease date: 2003-07-22; DVD
Best price: $20.30
Price in other shops:
Harold and MaudeRelease date: 2000-06-27; DVD
Best price: $21.01
The Harder They Come - Criterion CollectionRelease date: 2000-10-31; DVD
Best price: $44.79
The Beatles A Hard Day's NightDVD
Price in other shops:
Halloween (Divimax 25th Anniversary Edition)Release date: 2003-08-05; DVD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
Gun CrazyWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-07-06; DVD
Best price: $4.81
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
The Graduate (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-09-11; DVD
Best price: $15.24
Price in other shops:
SleeperRelease date: 2000-07-05; DVD
Best price: $6.88
Price in other shops:
Cat Stevens - Cat Stevens/ GoldRelease date: 2005-11-15; Music CD
Best price: $13.53
Price in other shops:
Cat Stevens - Tea for the TillermanRelease date: 2000-05-23; Music CD
Best price: $8.81
Price in other shops:
Cat Stevens - Mona Bone JakonRelease date: 2000-05-23; Music CD
Best price: $6.18
Price in other shops:
The GraduateRelease date: 2005-04-05; DVD
Best price: $6.83
Price in other shops:
Cat Stevens - Footsteps in the Dark: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2Release date: 2003-06-24; Music CD
Best price: $6.22
Price in other shops:
Annie HallRelease date: 2000-05-30; DVD
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops:
Being ThereWarner Brothers; Release date: 2001-04-03; DVD
Best price: $14.00
Price in other shops:
King Of HeartsBATES,ALAN; Release date: 2001-04-10; DVD
Best price: $6.77
Price in other shops: