Will Farrell followed up his star-making vehicle Elf, which matched his fine-tuned comic obliviousness to a sweet sincerity, with a more arrogant variation on the same character: Ron Burgundy, a macho, narcissistic news an... more »chor from the 1970s. Along with his news posse--roving reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd, Clueless), sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner), and dim-bulb weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell, Bruce Almighty)--Burgundy rules the roost in San Diego, fawned upon by groupies and supported by a weary producer (Fred Willard, Best In Show) who tolerates Burgundy's ego because of good ratings. But when Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate, View from the Top) arrives with ambitions to become an anchor herself, she threatens the male-dominated newsroom. Anchorman has plenty of funny material, but it's as if Farrell couldn't decide what he really wanted to mock, and so took smart-ass cracks at everything in sight. Still, there are moments of inspired delirium. --Bret Fetzer« less
"Commenting strictly on the Bonus DVD, "Wake Up Ron Burgundy", I must say that my expectations were far surpassed. I was expecting a bonus disc of deleted and extended scenes, cast notes, etc... I had no idea they had filmed enough footage to cut another movie together. I loved the original Anchorman movie, so I was pretty excited to see this "bonus movie".
"Wake Up Ron Burgundy" contains some scenes that could easily have been used in the original movie. There is some hilarious material to be discovered on this disc. The DVD also contains Rehearsal footage, Ron Burgundy's award acceptance speeches, MTV Movie Award interviews and even some skits they seemed to film for no other reason than their own amusement. This is great material to have if you like the "Channel 4 News Team", as they are truly permitted to run wild in these bonus features. I have not been able to find this DVD offered on its own and I'm assuming it is of limited quantity, so get it while you can...
As far as I know, the only way to get it is to purchase it in the bundle with the original. I actually had to buy the movie again when I found out there was another DVD to be seen. The original had left me with countless lines to quote and so many scenes I found myself rewinding over and over again that I decided to splurge and get the bonus disc along with another original copy.
If you enjoyed Ron, Champ, Brian & Brick in Anchorman, you will definitely enjoy this movie.
"If we encounter any hostiles, silent throat cuts only" - Brick Tambland."
UNRATED- was uncalled for.
Jay Robbs | MN | 01/02/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I LOVED this movie when I saw it in the theatre over the past summer- so I was pumped to see an "unrated" version come out on DVD.
Whomever was in charge of putting this DVD together yanked a huge chain on this release. I had expected the "unrated" version to be funnier than the theatrical version which I thought was one of the year's funniest movies, because in general, "unrated" cuts have been better than the "regular" release.
This "unrated" version skips a couple really great monents from the theatrical version, one instance is when Carell's character "Brick" utters "I ate a big red candle" during the party hangover sequence and they replace it with a joke that's nowhere near that great non-sequitor. Near the end of the film they edited out Ferrell's lines just before he picks up the phone in the bar (something about "once being an anchorman")which was more in line with the film's plot/angle than the new scene of Burgundy eating cat poop. A TERRIBLY UNFUNNY ADDITION.
The crapper of it is, the unrated DVD has different and admittedly better extras than the theatrical DVD release, so to actually get the theatrical cut(which is a better cut than the unrated version) the customer gets screwed if they want the better extra features. lame.
in all actuality this review would be 4 for the movie, and 1 for the way this fiasco was put out on DVD.
"
The Legend of Ron Burgundy will live on!
Alan Pounds | Minneapolis, MN | 09/13/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I for one, unlike many reviewers here, thought this was one of the funniest movies that was made in 2004. People may pass this off as "stupid" slapstick humor, which is true in for the most part, but the basis for this comedy is genius.
The 70s anchor man is funny to begin with. Not to mention they poke fun at all the ignorance that was displayed by most people in the 70s. Such as littering, acceptance of sexual harassment, style of clothing, hair and a number of other corny things that we remember from the 70s, even if you weren't alive then.
This is filled with an incredible cast, and pushes satirical humor to the limits. Don't listen to all your idiot friends who says it sucks, just because they didn't get the satire. If the basis of the movie sounds funny to you, you will probably like it. It's a smart comedy. I know it had me tears."
Great movie, great HD DVD transfer - horrible menu design!
C. Frost | Shoreline, WA United States | 12/01/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This movie is a must buy. The HD DVD quality is excellent, the transfer is beautiful and the audio is equally impressive. The movie earns 4 stars based on those merits. However there is one thing about this movie that utterly drives me crazy and this bothers me enough to not give this one a perfect 5 star rating.
The menu design is lazy and a complete step back to the bare bone DVD days.
I expect basic HD DVD functionality with my menu. I want to be able to access the special features from the pop up menu (the menu that appears while the movie is playing) and not have to stop the movie and then go back to the main menu because the pop up menu has omitted this feature (when every other HD DVD has not). Not acceptable.
I do expect a visually pleasing main menu with video clips playing under the menu, accompanied by a soundtrack - Like every other HD DVD. A static image with no music does not cut it.
This no frills, user not friendly menu is a huge negative. I hope Dreamworks does not tread this water any further. I wrongly assumed a quality standard had been set by the other studios. This is a step in the wrong direction for menu design."
The following is based on actual events. Only the names, loc
Dumb Blonde Reviewing | In my bed | 03/11/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"You know you're heading for a good movie when you get the first giggle at the very start. Right at the very start. Before the movie starts.
I normally would go out of my way to avoid a movie that not only features Jack Black, Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Steve Carell etc. The latest Hollywood Rat Pack. Sometimes they can be good in movies (Shallow Hal), but mostly, they think they're funny.
This has to be the first movie where they ARE funny. I was initially expecting a movie that was totally sexist. While it is totally sexist, it's cringeworthy (the outfits, the BAD hair, the facial hair), and funny (Baxter talking to Ron among others), and it's superior to all the other movies that feature the main stars. I can't really comment on Will Ferrell, I've only previously seen him in Old School (I think), and don't remember being that fussed about that film. It was something to pass the time.
Unfortunately, the Christina Applegate character is a role any actress could have played. How many actresses could have got away with it though? She manages to pull off a previously stupid sounding role, and make it her own, and make it work against Will Ferrell.
Anchorman is a story about the seventies. And I'm not just talking about bad hair, bad clothes, bad facial hair, bad music. It's a man's world. Women belong in the kitchen, tending to their husband's every need, making babies, while he goes out and earns the money, and eyes up the pretty girls, and regrets getting married. More specifically, it's about a woman, trying to break her way into being the first female anchorwoman on TV news. It was a very man's world apparently. But the lead male anchorman has some fatal flaws, apart from his looks - he falls for a pretty girl in a skirt, he reads ANYTHING on the teleprompter (heaven forbid, don't put a question mark at the end of a sentence that doesn't require one). The rest of his supporting anchorman include sportscaster Champ Kind (David Koechner), feature story guy Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), and weatherman Brick Tamland (Steven Carell). They yet again manage to hold their own against Will's character, Ron, and pull off memorable performances, especially Steve LOUD NOISES Carell.
Full of funny situations, hilarious lines, funny outfits, and deliberate OTT acting, Anchorman is a film I would have normally avoided, and I totally expected to do an entirely different review. Excellent movie."