Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie

I loved "Anchorman; The Legend of Ron Burgundy" and hoped this would be just as funny, but alas, it wasn't. Some bits are excellent though. I thought the sports guy, Champ Kind, professing his love for Ron Burgundy in the car filled with the other members of the news team was hilarious. Everyone is ignoring him and he just gets louder and louder and finally kisses Burgundy which doesn't get acknowledged either. But on the whole the story doesn't gel. It's a noble attempt, however, to salvage the unused bits from the first movie, including an entire plot about some pretty benign would-be domestic terrorists called "The Alarm Clock." Maya Rudolph of Saturday Night Live is one of the members and has a couple of funny lines, but basically this unused plot line has good reason to be unused in the first movie. The extras on this disk are pretty good, with the best two being the filmed rehearsals featuring lots of improv comedy, and the faux commentary with Will Ferrell and an "exec producer" who Ferrell discovers early on was not even a part of the movie in any way, shape or form. Turns out he's "just a guy" who walked in the side door of the recording studio and pretended to be a producer. It's some pretty funny stuff though and goes on for about 10 or 15 minutes

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".

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.

This film is definitely worth checking out if you were a fan of the theatrical film "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy." This feature seems to be made of cut footage from the first movie, including a complete alternate ending for the original film. In many ways, this second ending makes more sense from a writing standpoint, as many things that are introduced early on in the script (that are funny on their own, don't get me wrong) come back in the dramatic conclusion.

The only flaw in this feature is that it tries to pass itself off a sequel, instead of cut footage, and it doesn't quite work. Then again, if you can suspend your disbelief -- that concept becomes pretty funny, as well.

Chock full of great material from Will Ferrell, this film also gives some more screen time for Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and David Koechner. Justin Long (Dodgeball) even makes an appearance.

Great stuff... although it starts to raise the question - how much money did they spend on this movie? Enjoy folks!

Goulet.

Wake up, Ron Burgundy is allegedly made of deleted scenes from Anchorman, but while it's obvious how some scenes fit into the movie such as Ron's dangerous driving here leading to the parking scene in Anchorman, there's no way most of this would have ever fit. I assume a lot of last-minute re-shoots were involved.

Some elements work. The Alarm Clock gang is hilarious. They are a group with political goals, but seem unclear on what they are and lack any sort of grand plan. The bit with Amy Poehler as a bank teller who refuses to give them any money because they are so inept as bank robbers is one of the best in the movie. Justin Long as Ed's sullen teenage son, Chris, and Chad Everett as Jess Moondragon, Ron's mentor who won't shut up about how inappropriately he loves nature, also have some very memorable bits. Note that none of these (fairly significant) characters are in Anchorman.

Unfortunately, the movie is just a series of bits. It doesn't really come together. To some degree, this is to be expected in a movie assembled from deleted scenes, but it's more than that. The jokes get too much narrative priority, often leading to things that just don't fit in the context of the movie. Veronica Corningstone's personality is all over the place and Champ King's moment in the car goes on way too long, even though it starts well, for instance. This really hurts suspension of disbelief as it never really establishes any rules to play by.

This is a serious problem, but I'm giving the movie a 6 anyway, mainly because it made me laugh so hard I nearly vomited on several occasions, like when Brick explained what he was eating or any of Paul's attempts to explain the manifesto. In short, this is a great way to present deleted scenes. It isn't a great movie.