Anchorman The Legend Of Ron Burgundy/Anchorman Wake Up Ron Burgundy DVD

 Hilarious, but not for all tastes
The main particularity of the 2 DVD edition of "Anchorman" is that, instead of having a series of featurettes with a few deleted scenes, it features another full length movie assembled from scenes cut from the final release. The original movie seems to have gone through several rewrites and lots of reshots, as the bonus show: the filmed rehearsals (like the theatrical trailer) were based on scenes cut from the final version and even the main plot was dropped. It allowed the movie to be lighter, virtually plotless, focusing instead on a series of lunatic characters, mostly Ron Burgundy and his crew. As these characters are full of themselves in their childish way, it made sense that the main plot should deal with broadcasting the birth of a panda baby as the main event of the year in San Diego. Originally, "Anchorman" featured a plot about a gang robbing banks called The Alarm Clock. Despite some excellent scenes (particularly one involving Amy Poelher), the released film benefitted from having this plot replaced. But the good news is that nothing is lost and that fans of "Anchorman" can find this plot included in a zanier movie, certainly unwatchable for general audiences that have moderately liked the theatrical version, but verging even more on non-sense. So "Wake Up Ron Burgundy" is a nicely put together collection of outtakes, extended scenes or alternate takes (the cast, well learned in impro, almost never said twice the same lines) featuring mostly the dropped "Alarm Clock" plotline but leading also the movie in unexpected directions. The fact that the narrator claims it's a sequel, while the scenes blatantly contradict his words adds to the general climate. It's definitely an innovative way to take advantage of the DVD to put together these scenes with such care. At worst, it's an alternative "Anchorman" with a little more mumbling or shouting from Will Ferrell (it was trimmed in the released movie and rightly so). At best, it features very inspired scenes that would have been highlights of "Anchorman" but couldn't be kept when the plotline was changed. "Brick Tamland" (Steve Carell) and "Champ Kind" (David Koechner) steal the show in these scenes. What's good is that, should have these scenes made it in the final cut of "Anchorman", lines would have been cut due to concerns such as pace. Here, we got the raw deal, as loose as TV sketch comedy but involving talented people. The extras are also worth digging, particularly the "Good Takes" section, a selection of raw rushes, showing how much energy and invention was involved into improvising or enhancing silly lines.
Submitted by François (Paris, France) 
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 Raw Burgundy - It's jazz baby!!!!!!!!!!!!
This film had me laughing out loud. It is like an alternative film to the first and I thought it was better than Anchorman if that is possible. "The extras are just good" as Burgundy would say. Meet Ed Harkin's son and Champ reveals his true feelings for Ron!!!
Submitted by andybryson (Falkirk, Scotland, United Kingdom.) 
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