John Cho and Kal Penn in Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay Courtesy of New Line Cinema

The Iraq war is pretty much anathema to movie audiences, no matter how much critical praise is heaped upon the likes of In the Valley of Elah or how the ad campaigns are tweaked MTV-style to focus instead on beefcake brotherhood, as in Stop-Loss. While the war is being discussed endlessly around dinner tables, on op-ed pages and during the nightly news, it's tanking in the theaters.

As was evident from the hooting and hollering fans at the New York Comic Con, where Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris, and writing/directing duo Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg discussed their latest entry into the marijuana movie hall of fame, stoner sequel Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is poised to become the only successful movie about the War on Terror — and the funniest.

The first time we met Harold and Kumar was in the 2004 comedy Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. The titular potheads decide that the only thing that will satiate their munchies is a burger from White Castle. Of course, between their first bong hits and their final mouthfuls of those floppy, boiled burgers, they encounter a vicious raccoon, a swingin' married couple and a hitchhiker named Neil Patrick Harris. Who was also Neil Patrick Harris.

It passed through theaters with little fanfare in 2004 but, as stoner movies are wont to do, it found a second life on DVD, slowly building a fanbase of what one might guess is comprised of equally munchie-addled movie fans.

"We would not have had a sequel without the support from all of you buying the DVD," said Kal Penn, a statement met with cheering. There was a lot of cheering.

This time around, the writers of the first H&K, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, were brought on as directors too. "They must have been smoking something," one joked, while the audience at the New York Comic Con roared their approval. (Of smoking.)

Rob Corddry in Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay Courtesy of New Line Cinema

The sequel, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, takes off right where the first one ended, as they head to Amsterdam in the hopes of hooking up with the hot neighbor Harold has been eyeing for far too long. Their plans of kicking back with some space cakes and hot chicks in Amsterdam are waylaid when Kumar MacGyvers a bong in the airplane's bathroom and, well, they end up in Guantanamo Bay. It goes without saying that his dark skin makes him an easy target for the War-on-Terror-terrified government goons and airplane passengers.

Rob Corddry plays the second-in-command for Homeland Security and, while his boss is away ice-fishing, he imprisons our heroes, and then has to go on the hunt for them when they escape. Even though Harold and Kumar don't spend a lot of time in Guantanamo Bay, race is a large source of humor here, especially with Corddry's character.

"He's basically the most racist character put on film since Mississippi Burning, but in a funny way," quipped one panelist.

Neil Patrick Harris, John Cho and Kal Penn in Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay Courtesy of New Line Cinema

"When you have a title like Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, it definitely has some political or social things going on in it, but it's really like the first movie, I mean, just a wacky crazy adventure where Harold and Kumar just continually meet new crazy characters and some of the old ones from the first movie." This, of course, includes Neil Patrick Harris as himself.

"I was terrified about what would happen in the second script," confessed Neil Patrick Harris. "...I got the script, and I nervously opened it up, read it, and it's disturbing, in a great way. So I was very happy that it was me and not Fred Savage."

As it turns out, Neil (movie Neil, not real-life Neil) has an encounter with a lady named Tits Hemingway, who is played by adult actress Echo Valley. "Our incarnation of Neil has a certain fetish in this movie, and you kind of see the dark side of NPH behind closed doors," intoned one of the writers.