Rating: 
Summary: Great, though flawed, black comedy
Review: OK, the characters other than Harold and Maude (Harold's mother and uncle, the priest, the psychotherapist) are a bit two-dimensional, Maude isn't consistent with her own beliefs, and the ending is, uh, ambiguous, but this is truly a great movie. It abounds with messages - surprisingly uplifting messages, given its plot - but it doesn't hit the viewer over the head with them.The photography of the San Francisco peninsula is stunning, Cat Stevens's music is great, and there are dozens of scenes that had me laughing until the tears came - while wondering whether somebody had just stuck a knife in my gut. Funny, sad, hopeful - with all its faults, a great movie. Everybody should see it at least once. I don't have a television; therefore, I don't own a VCR, but I own this videotape.
Rating: 
Summary: You should be dying to see "Harold and Maude"
Review: I have taken it upon myself to see many of the movies that I enjoyed as a young adult in the 60's and 70's. Some of them I remember as being great, but when I see them again, they're not so great. One of the truly great ones is "Harold and Maude" (1972). The movie has lost nothing for me, and if anything, is actually better now. It is the story of a young man (Harold - Played by Bud Cort) obsessed with death, and his relationship with an older woman, (Maude- Played by Ruth Gordon)who is a complete free spirit. Maude is fond of funerals, but is more fascinated with the circle of life, not just death. Their relationship takes Harold on a journey to maturity that is full of humor and heartache. I was quite pleasantly surprised recently while I was watching "Something about Mary" that "Harold and Maude" was mentioned a few times as Mary's favorite all time love story. This film is the ultimate black comedy. The music is one of the highlights of this great work. All of the music is by Cat Stevens. The music of Cat Stevens also plays through a larger portion of this film that most of today's soundtracks which may be made more to sell CDs than to provide mood for the story. Cat Stevens is also an artist that we can forget how much we enjoyed. I showed this video to my sons (12 and 14), they even appreciated it. If you want to see a video that gives you a glimpse of a how we felt about life and death in the 1970's (and how many of us feel today) see Harold and Maude. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: I asked my wife to marry me after watching this film!
Review: Perfect script, Hal Ashby, romance, social commentary... what more do you need? I always tell people that Harold and Maude is the reason I asked my wife to marry me. We'd lived together for 5 years when I saw Harold and Maude again--for the first time in a while. I'd forgotten that at the heart of this black comedy was a love story. This script, reportedly written by a pool cleaner, with no formal script writing training, reaches into your heart and drags out the realization that love is blind. Harold, who is obsessed with death and destruction, finds beauty in life and the world through Maude. She opens his eyes to the beauty of nature while ridiculing the rules of a homocentric world. Beauty, Harold realizes, is not in the eyes of the beholder so much as it is in everything, no matter how small or insignificant. In one scene, Harold remarks that all the flowers look the same. "But they're not," Maude urges him. "They're all different." And therein lies the beauty of a busy world. Everything is beautiful, if we just take the time to look. Hal Ashby's genious as a director shines with this quirky script that wastes not a line while taking on huge social and political concepts with the playfullness of 80 year old Maude who teaches 20 something Harold how to be a kid again. My advice? Watch it, then live it! Scott Supak
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: The only thing about this movie that I can complain about is the fact that I didn't come up with such simple brilliance myself! I admit it, I'm a movie snob. I can barely call myself a movie fan...but this was great. The characters are divinely developed, each demonstrating common qualities but mixed and matched and magnified by thousands. A serious comedy for people who can laugh at life experiences instead of modern wink-wink-nudge-nudge sex comedies or other forms of bodily humor.
Rating:
Summary: Best Film Ever Made
Review: This film ran at a small theater in Minneapolis for more than three years. That about says it all. I need to watch it every year to recharge! Where is my DVD? Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful film!
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece!
Review: This is easily one of my "top ten" movies of all time. I think I've only seen "Star Wars" and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" more. This movie has fantastic acting, music, and writing throughout. In other words, none of the tripe that people actually call movies today can even compare to this. I also grew up in the S.F. Bay Area back in the seventies and this film is a time capsule of those sights in 1971. A definite must see in my opinion; however humble that might be.
Rating:
Summary: well-deserved praise!
Review: This magnificent film of substance deserves all the good reviews here, but I must admit a twinge of jealousy, for I always thought of Harold and Maude as MINE- that's how deeply it affected me. Everyone has pretty much said it all, but I want to make a comparison: Ruth Gordon's heart-felt acting and that of Anne Bancroft in Garbo Talks. What wonderful portrayals!
Rating:
Summary: A Big Fan
Review: I LOVED this movie and can't wait for the DVD. It has to be very close to the top of my favorite movies of all time. You need a certain sense of humor to appreciate it, but to me, it's the best.
Rating:
Summary: Pay Dirt
Review: Supurb all the way through. I have seen it more times than I can remember. I never get tired of it. I am still to this day gripped by the final few minutes. "Don't Be Shy" and "Trouble" (the only two songs played in their entirety, the former at the beginning and the latter at the end) are both hauntingly beautiful. Ruth Gordon was never beter. Supporting actress Vivian Pickles is unbelievably funny. "I suppose you think you're very funny Harold." Great script, great cast, great Cat Stevens music.....what's not to like? A cult classic. Mark Rusch
Rating:
Summary: who defines love?
Review: Harold and Maude is one of those movies that isn't for the grown-ups of the world, young or old. it is about love not having limits, and the healing powers of living with the world, not just in it. It is equally about personal freedom and committment. This movie is the funniest, sweetest, most creative piece of work that twists what we all think we know into what we all should know. Harolds "deaths" and the games he and his mother play are a scream. I laughed out loud every time, at the over the top protrayal of teen-age rebellion and parental control issues. The film is multi-layered and very symbolic, and extremely dated now, but powerful for those that wish had been given the chance to look at the world through someone else eyes too. Bud Cort (who was nothing short of brilliant) Ruth Gordon, Vivian Pickles, the whole cast was wonderful.
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