Rating: 
Summary: Any Which Way You Can
Review: I would highly recommend this movie to both those with a bit of
the 'lone wolf' in them and those interested in film history. The film encourages the viewer to live life and be true to oneself, no matter what the consequences. It points out all the little details in life that can entertain and give pleasure (even funerals, provided you don't know the guest of honor). The film backs this carpe diem message into some controversial corners, but the message never turns nasty. This is due in part to the tasteful way the relationship between the two main characters is developed, the respect they show each other, and quite frankly, the breezily air-brushed treatment of their physicality. (Most of us will be thankful of the latter, hopefully.) The movie also ties together nicely thematically, so that the conclusions of the movie are both plausible and in some sense for the best. Other strong points are the directing, camerawork, and lighting, all of which you will be sold on by the end of the first scene. Cat Stevens also contributes a strong score that generally enhances the film. This movie is not without faults, however. Harold's acting is
not up to the standard set by Ruth Gordon. Some of the negative
portrayals of authority are also over the top, such as the keystone cop who doesn't know how to load a gun, let alone get a shot off. Overall though, a fine movie. Like other Ashby-directed films (Coming Home, Being There), Harold and Maude has a dark and spare quality. Individuals are cocooned, unable to communicate with the world outside. One need look no further than a recent film such as The Royal Tannenbaums (featuring 'daguerrotype-style' shots of rich, emotionally detached prep-school kids) to see this film's fingerprints.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty black humour!
Review: Harold, a young guy, falls in love with
Maude, an old woman. This couple develops
a warm friendship with depth and contrasts.
Harold is the serious one who dies every day
while Maude lives her joy in life. She brings
her joy to Harold who is not that addicted
to life. Harold tyrannizes his mother very
often because he hates her. He plays his
death in front of her and drives her crazy.
He does not want to join the army, does not want
to love a young girl and he escapes because they want to get him. Harold wants to build his own
world with Maude through the barricades and lives
in his own world which stands in contrast to
Maude's world. They plan to marry till
Maude dies after she had a beautiful time
with Harold. As a consequence of Maude's
death Harold dies. This film is a beautiful
film full of love and black humour, philosophy
of life and difference. Cult!
Rating:
Summary: powerful and disturbing
Review: I loved this love story with all of it's dark comedy. the ending was a killer and at the same time very uplifting.
Rating:
Summary: Too Funny!
Review: This film still holds up after 30 years. Only Monty Python's Holy grail and Blazing Saddles made me laugh more than this black humor masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: If you want to be high, be high...
Review: Harold and Maude is without question one of the greatest films of all time. This movie is so endearing that if you don't feel it, or get it, then I am afraid you have a hole in your soul.
Rating:
Summary: truly a classic
Review: this film is one of my all time favorite movies...it's (funky) 70's style fits the mood in this very cynical film....
Harold is a death obsessed young man who meets Maude at a funeral (very fitting) and wants to help him see the beauty of life and to teach him that life is precious and you should grab ahold of it while you have it instead of focusing on the death....through the course of the film Harold goes from hating life to loving it....
It's one of the most conventional love stories ever made....a beautiful written and acted film....a must see....give it time if you don't like it the first time...it will grow on you....and Cat Steven's music for the film was outstanding....look for "Footsteps in the Dark" for most of the music in the film!!!
Rating:
Summary: Lovely film
Review: Anyone born after 1980, generation Who Cares, has in all likelihood not been exposed to a movie like Harold and Maude. Before subtlety died out, films used to rely on the intelligence of the viewer. Harold and Maude rewards those who are willing to be active, rather than passive, moviegoers.
The plot is almost incidental when held next to the amazing performances. Harold, a twenty-ish wealthy man still living with his overbearing mother, meets Maude, a 79 year old woman at a funeral. Harold is obsessed with death. Maude is obsessed with life. There you have the movie in a nutshell.
Harold's staged suicides could have been seen as cheap parlor tricks intended to stun the viewer, but instead each one is hilarious that gives us an insight into Harold's wounded psyche. Maude could have been on overly perky, friendly woman, but instead there is a method to her maddeningly aggressive approach to befriend Harold. There is a reason she loves life so much.
Harold and Maude fill a void in the lives of the other, and their whirlwind friendship is always joyous and honest. This relationship is why the movie is so infectious. They do not match, but they fit.
All of this might not be enough for someone who uses movies as an escape, but for a viewer who loves well-drawn characters (as well as dark, cynical humor) this movie is perfect.
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES OF THE 20TH CENTURY
Review: I was fortunate to see this film when it first came out, when I was close to the age of young Harold of the film. There are not many films I can say really had a positive, deep and meaningful effect on me the way this film did. WOW...! Ruth Gordon is absolutely DELIGHTFUL and magical as Maude, Bud Cort "just right" for the part of Harold. Oh, we should all have a "Maude" in our lives! Now it is 30 years since I saw the film for the first time, and I now feel the same as I did then: I want to be like Maude in my old age -- creative, alive and enjoying life profoundly. The sexual implication in the film (that 17 yr old boy made love with, and fell in love with, an 80 year old woman) would only bother the most repressive of minds. It is pure poetry. What DID bother me was the ending, which I will give away now only because I feel it is the only real flaw of the film. Maude, at such a height of enjoyment of her life, chose to commit suicide. Yet even this disappointing ending cannot blow out the beautiful light of this film. The musical score with songs written and sung by Cat Stevens are just superb! This movie is funny, stimulating, wild, profound and serious all at once. This is one of the few films I would ever pay full dollar for: It's a classic, and it's that good!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Movie
Review: This is my favorite movie. It is funny, disturbing, and enlightening at the same time. I'm 18, and in a world were many movies targeted towards teen have no substance, Harold and Maude is truely refreshing. The soudtrack is also great!
Rating:
Summary: They're just backing away from life
Review: I find an interesting dichotomy in those who love and those who dislike this film--the former tend to listen to the lessons and feel the love behind them, while the latter tend not to like to be "told what to do," as if the lessons in this film are heavy-handed orders that must be obeyed to lead a happy life. The truth is that Harold and Maude are extreme versions of very realistic characters--Harold, the fatherless young man with a domineering mother who never has learned to live life on his own terms, and Maude, the concentration-camp survivor who has learned that life is what you make of it, and we shouldn't let our conditions or circumstances determine who we are or how we look at life. Together, they're just what each other needs, and they help each other to learn what they need to learn. If you want to enjoy this film--and it is a marvelous film--you have to let go of expectations and let the characters be exactly who they are, and not get disappointed when they aren't what we'd like them to be or when they don't do what we expect them to do. That's the true beauty of this film--it demands that we let go, just as Maude's character has learned to let go of expectations that everything follow the "norms" of our society.
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