Anchorman 2: 'Super-Sized R-Rated Version' Quick Review

(WARNING: There will be some Spoilers regarding the film)

A few months after the release of the original ‘Anchorman’, DreamWorks released a direct-to-video ‘spiritual sequel’ to the film called ‘Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie’. This film was actually made by mostly using unused footage that was shot for the first film, including alternate takes and even some unused subplots, the most notable being one about a group of bank robbers that the Channel 4 News Team were following. That was originally what the film was to be centered around until it was replaced with the ‘pregnant panda’ storyline due to poor test reactions. Now, a few months after the release of ‘Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues’, Paramount (the company that basically now owns the rights to the franchise) have done a similar thing but instead of a direct-to-video release full of unused subplots from the film, they are actually releasing an entirely new version of the film in theaters, referred to as the ‘Super-Sized R-Rated Version’, for one week only. Apparently, the upcoming Blu-Ray release will feature 3 separate cuts of the film; the theatrical version, an unrated version (like the previous film), and this new ‘R-rated’ version.

So then, how does this new cut hold up compared to its theatrical counterpart? Well, first off, let me start by talking about what makes this film ‘different’ from that version because for the most part, in many areas, not much is changed. It’s still the same movie as the theatrical version; it has the same plot (Ron Burgundy and the Channel 4 News Team heading to New York to join the first 24-hour news network) as well as the same general plot points, like Ron briefly becoming blind at one point and the scene where he and his family are taking care of a shark (though the latter scenario is sort of truncated in this version). The major difference here is in the writing. According to the marketing, this version features ‘763 new jokes’ and sure enough, pretty much every scene in this cut of the film has different dialogue than in the theatrical version (though there are a few jokes that are carried over from that cut). There are also a few scenes that were cut out from the theatrical release (some of which you’ll remember seeing in the trailer) that are put back into this cut.

Overall, this version is about as funny as the theatrical cut. Like that one though, not all of the jokes hit. In fact, I’d say this version actually suffers at times because some of the new ‘bits’ go on longer than they need to be. Because of this, we can clearly see why a lot of these jokes were cut because some of them do drag on for a while. Then again, I am really impressed at how they managed to actually make an alternate version of the theatrical cut without really making any real changes to the actual plot of the film. I mean yes, there are a few new scenes added in (like a whole new musical number) but if you were to run these films side-by-side on mute, I’m pretty sure that there will only be a few differences between them. So, like I said in my original review of the film’s ‘theatrical cut’, if you loved ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ then you’ll really like this film. It’s one of the few comedy sequels that manages to be about as good as the original. If you have seen the original theatrical cut already, I do recommend checking this version out, mostly if you’re interested in seeing what new material is in this version. However, I do think the original theatrical cut is the superior version.