Rating: 
Summary: #1 with a Bullet
Review: "Harold & Maude" must be my favorite movie of all time. I've probably seen it at least 40 times. Perhaps that's why the DVD wound up under this year's Christmas tree for me. Director Hal Ashby does a wonderful job with this offbeat flick. After winning a Best Editing Oscar for "In the Heat of the Night," this was Ashby's 2nd film as director to be followed by an impressive list of classics, "Coming Home," "Shampoo," "The Last Detail," "Bound for Glory," and "Being There" before he died of cancer in 1988. Not a frame is wasted.Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon are magnificent as the leads in this unlikely love story. Gordon who won an Oscar for "Rosemary's Baby" is full of life as Dame Marjorie Chardam or Maude. She gets the classic lines, "How the world still dearly loves a cage," and "It's best to aim above morality; otherwise you got nothing to talk about in the locker room." Bud Cort as wide-eyed Harold draws us inside his heart, despite the incredibly bizarre suicidal behavior. But as is referenced several times in the lines, "It's absurd"; and H&M is an absurdist film, showing alienation from society. The richness of the film is reflected in the great care with the minor characters. Charles Tyner as Uncle Victor is described as General MacArthur's "right hand man," only to be shown as a military officer whose right hand has been amputated. Vivian Pickles is incredible as Harold's mother, one who lives in her own world. From the moment we see Harold hanging in the drawing room and his mother casually calling to reschedule her hair appointment, we know we are in for a very unusual look at competing values. The three dates are each marvelous cameo performances. Will Geer's daughter Ellen Geer who has also played in "Clear & Present Danger" & "Patriot Games" plays actress Sunshine Dore (Door actually!) who commits hari-kari. Shari Summers as the wide eyed Edith Fern who sells chicken feed to not quite the whole Southwest gets to watch Harold chop off his hand with a clever. Cort's smile as she exits is a perfect Mona Lisa. Judy Engles who plays Candy and bubbles about majoring in Poli Sci as Harold apparently sets himself aflame is priceless as is her insane exit from frame. Eric Christmas as the priest who starred in other odd classics like "Porky's" & "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" is marvelously revolting as he tells Harold that the thought of his young flesh commingling with Maude makes him want to vomit. Harold & Maude is so well loved for so many reasons. Maude's odorifics where Harold smells snow is magical. Maude's description of the lillies having so many observable differences when Harold comments that they're all the same is powerful, followed by her pointing to a graveyard and saying, "I think much of the world's sorrow is from people who are actually this (flowers), but allow themselves to be treated as that (gravestones, dead)." The ultimate reason why "Harold & Maude" is considered classic by so many is that it touches universal truths in our hearts. Some can't get beyond the older woman, younger guy thing; and that's a shame. Many of us will watch it another 40 times with equal delight! Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Big FAn
Review: I remember seeing this movie when I was 17 and having it open my eyes from childhood to adult. Very profound about learning to love the inside and not being afraid of who you are. I just rented tonight to share with someone and decided I should get my own copy. Too good to not see!
Rating: 
Summary: one of the freakiest movies of all time
Review: after seeing this movie, i was scared. not screaming at the top of my lungs scared, but the scared where you sit there and think - oh my goodness. this movie is about a rich teenage boy (harold) who is obsessed with death. he attempts suicide multiple times and likes going to funerals. then he meets an old lady (maude) at a funeral and falls madly in love with her. theres gap of over 60 years between them, but they fall in love. it was horrifing in my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: CLASSIC MY ASS
Review: How can I list all the horrible things in this movie? A young man getting it on with a woman old enough to be his great grandmother is anything but entertaining. Expressing suicide as something humorous shouldn't be portrayed in ANY film let alone one that is rated PG. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone...EVER.
Rating:
Summary: Why hasn't anyone seen this movie?
Review: One of the questions I always wind up asking people that I like, as I get to know them, is "Have you ever seen Harold and Maude?" The answer is almost always that they have not seen it, though they may have heard about it, but they're just not sure. How could such a great movie escape the radars or so many bright and inquisitive people? I don't know the answer to this. Maybe you do. All I know is that whenever someone tells me that they haven't seen it, I drag them home and put in this DVD. I've introduced a lot of people to this movie, and they all say they love it. So if you haven't seen it, watch it, and if you have seen it, make everyone you know watch it.
Rating:
Summary: Romeo and Juliet
Review: This is one of the finest films ever made, period. Forget fancy special effects... just a wild idea, fantastica acting, incredible emotional range, the blackest humor, and the endless twists and turns of two hearts finding each other, when there is no one else just plain weird enough for them. I need to buy a copy of this film. For my children. If i owe them anything as a parent and mentor, it is to expose them to such good reasons to live. My favorite scene, without spoilers? When Harold gives Maude the locket, and what she does with it, and why. That one minute of film has more emotional resonance than most sugar-coated schlock could ever hope for.
Rating:
Summary: A movie worthy of both cult AND classic status.
Review: In one of THE original cult movies (4 years before ROCKY HORROR & 7 years before BLOODSUCKING FREAKS) Bud Cort plays 20 year old Harold, a young man who has a morbid fascination with death. For leisure he drives his long-suffering mother mad by enacting fake suicides to get attention such as "hanging" himself and "slashing" his throat and wrists, much to the chagrin of Harold's pompous mother who sends him to see a shrink. A true believer in the old "mother knows best" adage, she answers and fills out the questionaire for her son. So its not that surprising when we learn that Harold drives a hearse and for leisure he attends strangers' funerals.
However, one such funeral changes Harold's life forever. Its at one of these gatherings that he first meets Maude (Ruth Gordon), a 79 year old who is not your average crocheting, cookie baking Grandma. For leisure Maude likes to steal cars. And from here their friendship grows, with the eternally optimistic Maude encouraging Harold to embrace life instead of dwelling upon death. Their relationship soon blossoms into an unconventional, but true love; which again meets with mother's disapproval.
Written & Co-Produced by Colin Higgins, HAROLD AND MAUDE was unfairly overlooked on its initial release but over the years gained a strong following; and todays ranks as one of the very best black comedies/love stories ever made. Special highlights for me included Harold's efforts to escape being drafted into the army, and also Harold's hari-kiri "suicide" demonstration for one of the young women his mother has set him up with.
Both leads are excellent, especially Bud Cort; who was/is so convincing in his role that he found himself typecast for life- and some people really believed he was as "out there" as Harold in real life!! So poor old Bud was given the silver lining before the cloud! Hopefully one day some director will use his talents in the way he deserves. Ruth Gordon is hard to resist as Maude- she's probably the kind of Grandma every kid wishes they had.
Of course, the movie is also famous for the soundtrack by Cat Stevens which complements the film beautifully. If you haven't seen HAROLD AND MAUDE before then I strongly urge you to rent a copy. It's not for all tastes with its inconventional love story and its (often very) black humor; but this is one of those rare films that leaves you feeling alive and exhilarated after watching it and commands repeat viewings. Unless you're a P.C old prat who believes the "suicides" in the movie to be "injurious to the public good"(!!) and the idea of a 20 year old and an 80 year old being in love to be "immoral". (No prizes for guessing who I'm talking about). Maybe a little icky.
The DVD features aren't great, just a couple of different trailers for the film; but I can't recommend this movie highly enough. Put it on your must-see list. HAROLD AND MAUDE gets my seal of approval (Woop de doo, I hear you say) and despite being more than 30 years old it doesn't appear to have dated at all, and remains relevant today. Watch it and judge for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Uniquely delicious
Review: Loved this movie, for (in chronological order) it's:
humor
romance
anti-war
identity
spirituality
romance
resiliency of human spirit The more Maude we all are, the better we'll all be!
Rating:
Summary: If you want to sing out, sing out
Review: Everything I ever needed to know about life I learned from Harold and Maude. Mostly Maude, but why quibble. 1. As alike as people are, we have discernable differences. These should be celebrated, expounded upon, enjoyed - not forced into ill-fitting boxes, for they make us what we are. Ignoring them is tantamount to erasing a person. 2. You're alive for as long as you feel alive; you're dead as soon as you stop feeling. Maude knew this. She also knew that going out at the top of your game is far better than being ushered off the field, limping. Harold never realized he wasn't really alive until he had in his view someone whose life was in stark contrast to his own. 3. Loving one person means embracing love in general. Go out and love some more! That's what Maude told Harold, though he refused to listen, initially. We cannot be decimated by love, only hurt temporarily. The real damage comes from not loving at all. 4. Some movies should be bought, viewed, viewed again and cherished.
Harold and Maude is one such movie.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best of it's time
Review: This is a movie that is way out of the scope for my age group but one viewing later I feel this movie has an overall feel for any generation. The sublties that this movie has is very introspective. I especially found the concentration camp tatoo on Maud's arm to be a very meaningful touch, almost like a motivation. This movie in my opinion is the greatest love story since Romeo and Juliet.
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