Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie

Before seeing this movie, it is a good idea to see Anchorman. At that point, if you have not laughed yourself into a comatose state, then it would be a good time to see this film. From the first few moments watching this, you can see why the footage in this movie was trimmed from Anchorman. Not as funny as that film, the line delivery lacks the 70s-induced obliviousness of the original. What you do see is the main characters of the two movies get deeper into their characterizations, taking them in a slightly different direction from the first film. Some of the scenes in this movie feel out of place with the narration, an element of the film I personally could have done without. This review sounds negative, but what I am listing here are only small gripes with an otherwise acceptable film. Together, Anchorman and Wake Up, Ron Burgundy make one hilarious movie. Without the first, Wake Up Ron Burgundy feels kind of strange.

As I am sure most of you know, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy was compiled completely of deleted scenes and alternate takes. Some are saying it is a sequel to Anchorman, but it feels more like an alternate movie. The same things happen to all the characters, but in different ways. All it took was a narrator to piece together the scenes on the cutting floor and there you have it, another movie!

Wake Up, Ron Burgundy is obviously not as good as Anchorman, due to the fact that most of the best scenes made it into the original movie. However, it is an awesome supplement to the original movie, complete with it's own set of special features. It even has it's own deleted scenes. Considering the movie is all deleted scenes, they must have had a ton of extra footage to pull together a project like this. If the movie had to stand on it's own, I would not rate it very high, but for what it is, I give it about a 6.5/10.

fans of Ron, brace yourselves, because he's back. While the movie lacks direction (since it was put together on such short notice) the channel4 news crew is as funny as ever, and we can ask ourselves why some of these outtakes didn't make the first cut. For example the scene where the crew is stuck on the mountain and almost resorts to cannibalism is hilarious, and Brick remains the same street smart guy in a world he never made. Although we miss guest star appearances from "frat pack" members, Ron Burgundy is as proud, macho and funny as ever. At some points though, the cuts seem really fake: they show scenes from the first movie with added narration to cover the new subplot, which, by the way is awesome because it gives up the "rip the lid" sequence, which is probably the funniest in the movie.

This film is a must see for anyone who wet his pants watching "Anchorman".

Could "Anchorman" have been funnier had it been allowed to stretch itself out beyond the two-hour limits of a commercially-minded comedy? Here's a chance for us "Anchorman" lovers to find out.

In "Wake-Up Ron Burgundy", we see San Diego's Channel 4 news team in action once again. Ron (Will Ferrell) struggles with love and jealousy as co-anchor Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) achieves her dream of big-time success. Meanwhile, their little world is threatened by the emergence of the incompetent but very radical terror cell who calls themselves "The Alarm Clock". When Veronica is captured by this gang, it's up to Ron and his buddies to save the day.

No use getting too excited about that long-discussed "Anchorman" sequel: This is strictly outtakes from the first movie, with some clever editing disguising the fact that Ron and Veronica are meeting here once again for the first time. Better you think of this as an alternate-reality "Anchorman" than a real sequel.

Narrator Bill Kurtis puts it in perspective in his opening narration. What we are about to see, he explains, is "the chaff from the wheat, the skim from the milk, the pudding from the all-you-can-eat lobster buffet, and the surgeon guy from Prince and the Revolution."

What "Wake-Up" really is is a chance to see Ferrell and his co-writer/director Adam McKay working even more of their creepy-funny comedy vibe. Scenes in "Anchorman" could stretch on a bit, but made their point. Here, they stretch on beyond that point, then stretch further.

Ron needs a moment to compose himself on-air while reading a tender story about a Japanese devil owl, then another, and then another. "A lot of emotion here," he says, tearing up.

A creepy mentor figure, Jess Moondragon (Chad Everett) pops up to offer no meaningful advice for Ron, but plenty of lustful rumination on what he'd like to do to Mother Nature - "things you can only do in Bangkok."

Such scenes work as goofier riffs on ideas from the first film, but with a rub. Watching Ron and Veronica's awkward first date a second time isn't so killer with a long sequence showcasing Ron's driving skills replacing his mastery of the jazz flute.

Because it's all outtakes, however skillfully put together, there's story gaps galore and rehashed gags from the first movie with slightly different blocking. The Alarm Clock angle works in bits, but is too thin to serve as a framing device. The character build-up that made "Anchorman" so immersive is shortchanged here. Most of that made the first film.

Fans of Champ Kind (Dave Koechner) will enjoy the wild man acting even wilder here; one moment he's a raving homosexual, five minutes later he's a raging cannibal. Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) lunches on used coffee filters. In addition to Everett (his send-up of the serenely sleazy Moondragon aided by a strong late-career resemblance to Clint Eastwood), there's a brief killer cameo from Stephen Root as a fill-in anchor.

Like I said, it's all sweet stuff if you're an "Anchorman" lover. But it's definitely not the sleeper classic "Anchorman" has become. It's definitely more self-indulgent in its humor and fitful in its direction. "Wake-Up" shows that in addition to being frightfully clever, the people behind "Anchorman" had a lot of sense in where to trim.

Wow, I didn't even know that "Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie" existed before now in 2021 as I happened to stumble upon it by sheer random chance. And of course I had to sit down and watch what writers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay did with this 2004 comedy.

It was actually rather interesting and fun, not to mention a bit impressive, that they could muster to put a movie together out of the dropped subplots and alternate takes from the 2004 movie. So that was actually some achievement. But it is also why you will not sit with a feel of there being a properly coherent - or well thought through - plot line or red thread here, as it was bit and pieces thrown together.

But it actually worked well enough, and it was fun to revisit the news team once again.

"Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie" is something you should watch if you properly enjoyed the movies.

My rating of "Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie" lands on a five out of ten stars.