Anchorman: The Alarm Clock Cut

Updated
Anchorman: The Alarm Clock Cut
Faneditor Name:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2004
Original Running Time:
190
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
127
Time Cut:
63
Brief Synopsis:
Anchorman like you’ve never seen it before. This fanedit takes the primary story elements of the direct-to-DVD release of Wake Up Ron Burgundy and re-integrates them into the narrative of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. In effect, this fanedit approximates the original version of the film that was rejected by preview audiences.
Intention:
Before release, the original version of Anchorman was shown to, and rejected by a preview audience. This original version of the film featured a subplot about a gang of misfit revolutionaries called the Alarm Clock. Based on that feedback Dreamworks ordered a massive re-write and re-shoot which eliminated the Alarm Clock, replaced it with the pregnant panda, and resulted in the film we all know and love like as much as Brick loves lamp.

Looking to cash in on the unexpected success of the film, they assembled a quasi sequel using alternate takes of various news broadcast scenes, deleted elements of scenes that did make it into the final movie, and the entire deleted Alarm Clock subplot and supporting story elements. To cover the narrative holes caused by critical footage already used in the theatrical release, they used narration to set up the film and bridge the plot holes.


In essence, Wake Up Ron Burgundy is an outline of the original film, stripped of the details used to tell the full story. While Wake Up is humorous particularly knowing the characters based on the theatrical release, it is disjointed and uneven, only allowing you to glimpse the story they originally filmed.

This is more a fanedit of Wake Up than it is of The Legend of Ron Burgundy. It does not seek to improve the theatrical film, but rather restore Wake Up Ron Burgundy to something that approximates the original.
Special Thanks:
Dwight Fry, NJVC and Neglify all provided fantastic feedback, observations and suggestions based on the workprint and I am indebted to them for their assistance.
Release Information:
DVD
Editing Details:
Sources:
Anchorman: Wake Up Ron Burgundy R1 DVD
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy R1 DVD

While Wake Up is essentially comprised of alternate takes, deleted scenes and the abandoned Alarm Clock sub-plot, between the two DVD's there are literally hours upon hours of extra footage; deleted scenes, extended sequences, and even more alternate takes and endings. I originally incorporated a few of these, but unfortunately unlike Wake Up, the rest of the footage is pretty poor and stands out when intercut with either film so I elected to stick to only footage between the two main features.

The primary approach was to remove all of the Panda scenes (including news references and discussions) and swap out with the Alarm Clock scenes. For the most part this was fairly simple because they used the same wardrobe and sets. Occasionally some liberty and/or guesswork was required in order to make the narrative flow in a natural manner and avoid major continuity or logic issues.

Additionally wherever possible I used alternate takes or re-inserted elements that were deleted but not specific to either version of the story. This was to help the overall film have a more different feel than the theatrical version.
Cuts and Additions:
- Used Wake Up (WU) opening narration in place of the theatrical, but cut back to theatrical as the helicopter touches down.
- Swapped out much of the initial news broadcast with alternate takes used in WU including different at-home reactions such as the old-folks home.
- Cut out Ron meeting Veronica at the party – integrated WU party into the end of the party scene followed by introduction of the Alarm Clock gang robbing a bank.
- Trimmed the morning meeting as needed in order to swap out the Panda discussion for a discussion on the Alarm Clock robbery from previous scene.
- Moved Ron coming home and talking to Baxter about Veronica to after meeting in Harkin’s office (this is now the first time Ron meets Veronica)
- Cut out confrontation with Wes Mantooth in Sea Port Village.
- Inserted Alarm Clock gang going over haul from their robbery and questioning Paul about the Manifesto
- Followed by WU newscast that covers the robbery and segues into "I'm Ron Burgundy?" - this replaces the Brian Fantana report from the zoo. (Also of note, in the theatrical version the teleprompter that has "I'm Ron Burgundy?" is preceded by text from the WU newscast rather than the theatrical version)
- Inserted the "Broadcasting with the Gods" portion of their date from WU into the normal date sequence
- Inserted the WU portions of Tino's into the date
- Inserted WU discussion in Ron's office about Veronica going on her first assignment, followed by WU version of Veronica's coverage.
- After Ron apologizes to Veronica over Fondu, insert Brian, Champ and Brick driving by themselves.
- Followed by WU meeting of Veronica in Harkin's office asking to follow-up on Alarm Clock lead
- After Veronica anchors the news, insert cafeteria scene where Ron and team hatch plan to force Veronica out.
- Use alternate versions of Ron and Champ crank calling Veronica.
- Insert second robbery by the Alarm Clock from WU, followed by Veronica looking for tape to confirm her suspicion about Paul (which leads to confrontation with Ron in the Bullpen)
- Insert WU scene of Veronica watching video after she wins fight with Ron.
- Insert WU scene of Ron and Harkin talking about Ron doing his own investigative stories (in which Ron is disheveled from fight with Veronica and crying from mace spray)
- Followed by Rip the Lid Off It sequence
- Abridged the I don't fucking say fuck of the unrated cut.
- Swapped out theatrical version of Veronica doing news solo and Ron watching with WU version where she covers the Alarm Clock story (instead of the Panda)
- Inserted WU scene of Veronica under pressure on the job and feeling bad about Ron
Followed by WU scene of Jess Moondragon (shortened sequence)
- From this point on the rest of the footage is pretty much from Wake Up. I created a hybrid of the News Team Assemble! versions and made pacing trims throughout the climax.
- Added Wilhelm Scream to fight sequence because... duh...
Cover art by L8wrtr (DOWNLOAD HERE) image

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User reviews

5 reviews
Overall rating
 
9.1
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.4(5)
Audio Editing
 
9.8(5)
Visual Editing
 
9.8(5)
Narrative
 
8.2(5)
Enjoyment
 
8.4(5)
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
7.0
First of all, as far as technical editing goes, I'd say this is flawless. Not once did I feel like this was a film cobbled together after the fact. That being said, it does have some narrative problems. The Alarm Clock subplot, while great on paper, comes across as pretty flat when worked into the movie. With the exception of Maya Rudolph's fantastic delivery ("I hope you don't mind; I ate some of yo cottage cheese."), none of the humor really plays, and the whole thing is pretty thinly written. In addition, a couple of other alternate scenes just go on too long, bringing the movie to a screeching halt. I'm speaking mostly of the news team's berating of the old man in the wrong house and Champ's declaration of love. They feel like long takes used to pad out the pseudo-sequel, so I think some trimming in these new scenes would help the whole thing flow better. The whole thing is perfectly coherent, though, and it's a fun way to experience Anchorman in a new way if you've just seen the theatrical cut too many times.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
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(Updated: February 20, 2013)
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I thought this was a hell of a fun fanedit to watch. I love Anchorman and I'm fascinated by Wake Up Ron Burgundy. This was an inspired edit; by recutting it to what it could have been like had they not screened it first gives you a unique look into the filmmaking process.

L8wrtr's not trying to make a film that's better, or even on par with, Anchorman, so giving it a Narrative rating is pointless in my eyes. But I have to so, so I give it an 8.

Editing was great, I loved watching it. Nuff said.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I watched this the other night. Superior editing as ever from L8wrtr

I'd watched Wake Up a good few years ago now, but what bugged me was the voice over attempting to make it a sort of pseudo-sequel, that didn't really work.

L8's version totally works. It was quite bizarre actually, following the plot along as it did with the original and we're suddenly drifting off into a completely different plotline and conclusion. I really enjoyed it - will be recommending my Anchorman friends/fans to watch this.

Totally seemless editing wise. The only thing I noticed was something in the picture - every now and again, I'd see a green band on the right hand side of the screen - very thin going from top to bottom???? It wasn't distracting and you don't really notice it.

Anyways, good work mate!
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
7.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
6.0
Enjoyment
 
6.0
Ron Burgundy will always have a special place for me, I saw it at time in my life when I was having some troubles. I went into the film not knowing that much over then it was a comedy and for 90mins it did it's job in putting a much needed smile on my face. a few years later when I discovered there was a sequel of sorts I had to check it out.

Being a film made out of deleted scenes and most notably a story that was dropped from the film Wakeup Ron Burgundy has it's moments and overall is pretty good. The rip the lid of it and Mother Nature scenes I believe are just as funny as anything that was included in the theatrical version. But it's easy to see why test audiences rejected the alarm clock gang as the acting isn't fantastic and the strength of Anchorman is clearly within our main characters.

L8WRTR edit puts back the alarm clock gang story and keeps the story of Ron and Veronica romance. The prospect of 2hr cut that combines footage from the two versions seems like a great idea however for me this was too long with many scenes feeling unnecessary and overall it slowed down the narrative and enjoyment I have when watching Anchorman Man.

For instances were told Veronica has a report at the cat fashion show its then some 30mins before we see this on screen. Champ declaring his love for Ron whiles funny in the Wakeup version here it just slows down the pace of the film as were nearing the end. The alarm clock gang are also off screen for too long, and the killing of Baxter the dog was again unnecessary considering there is a scene of him falling into the arms of a new family.

The edit also suffers from not having the funniest scene from either film that being the anchorman news fight. This scene along with a few over scenes would have introduced us more to West Man Tooth character. In this version he just appears towards the end without any real indication as to the funny rivalry they have between one another.

from a technical side this edit this well done as we weave in and out of the two version, overall though the edit for me feels like a work print in that there is a good edit within here, though it would benefit from having a further 30 mins cut.
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Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Watched.
Smiled.
Snickered.
Laughed.
Laughed some more.
Good work L8!

This was an interesting experiment by L8wrtr, trying to recreate the original unreleased version of Anchorman that was rejected by preview audiences and ordered re-written/re-shot by the studio. And based on the limited information available, I think L8 has done a remarkable job.

The new narrative merging material from WAKE UP with ANCHORMAN works pretty well for the most part, though there is some unevenness (such a Carell's portrayl of Brick), but I can easily believe this is pretty darn close to the original version. Which makes me understand why the studio ordered the reshoot of the film. To me, most the scenes featuring the Alarm Clock gang alone are just not that funny, especially when compared to the rest of the material. For example, the bank heist scene with Amy Poehler just sits there limp and lame. On paper I am sure it sounded funny, particularly with Poehler's delivery. But in reality, while I smiled through it, it did not have the same high insane energy as the rest of the scenes featuring Ferrell and cohorts. But this is not a detraction of the edit. If any thing, this is just a reaffirmation that L8 achieved his set out goals.

This is a definite improvement over the original WAKE UP RON BURGUNDY. It is a fuller, more satisfying entertainment experience. It is still a bit uneven and has some flat moments (IMO), but if you have watched ANCHORMAN to death and are looking for an alternate funny adventure featuring the Channel 4 News Team, then this is the fan edit for you.

Thumbs Up and Stay Classy!
Thanks for the Laughs L8!
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