Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (Value-Sized Version)

[TheMilkmanConspiracy]

UPDATE: This edit has been completed and is now listed on IFDB.

Release info: 1080p mkv with 5.1 and Stereo AC3 tracks.

Original post:

The first Anchorman is quite possibly my favorite comedy of all time, and I was eagerly anticipating the sequel. I knew it wouldn't be able to replicate the magic of the first, but I thought at the very least it would be able to offer something unique in its own right. I saw the theatrical cut on opening day of its release in 2013.

And I hated it.

I thought it was embarrassingly unfunny and went on for far too long. I thought the acting from Meagan Good and the kid who plays Walter was painful to watch. I thought the excessive cameos were unnecessary and unfunny. Almost none of the magic of the first movie was on display here, and they focused far too much attention on Brick this time around, making him borderline unbearable.

That said, I noticed a handful of times where the jokes would have been funny if they'd just cut the scene much, much earlier. They would constantly take an initially funny punchline or premise and beat it into the ground until it was limp and lifeless. They also did the same for premises that weren't funny to begin with.

With that in mind, I've always wondered if there was a funny movie in there somewhere, and with the various different released cuts of the film, along with the alternate and deleted scenes, I've wanted to at least attempt to make my own edit.

So for the past week or so, I've finally begun work on my first rough cut of what I'm tentatively calling the Fun-Sized Version* of the film (a play on the Super-Sized R-Rated Version). Let me know if you have any better suggestions for the title.

*EDIT: Has since been changed to "Value-Sized Version"

I'm primarily using the Theatrical, Unrated, and Super-Sized R-Rated Versions to construct my edit. I know there are also slight differences in the International cuts, but I've looked at lists of the differences online and they don't seem worth going through the trouble of tracking down. I'm also using bits of the Line-O-Ramas, gag reels, and alternate/deleted scenes from the blu-ray.

Unfortunately, the alternate and deleted scenes are only available in rather underwhelming looking 480p on the blu-ray, so while I tried not to use them too much at first for that reason, I've found myself re-integrating them more often as I've continued editing because I'm just trying to make the funniest movie that I can. Does anyone know if they're available elsewhere in HD? Maybe on VUDU or Movies Anywhere? While that would be frustrating seeing as how they should be on the damn blu-ray, I would still prefer to use HD sources of those scenes if possible if they're available. Is that something I should request in the Footage Request forum?

The list of alterations that I've made so far is too exhaustive to list here, and keeping track of specific cuts I've made is not my style anyway. Is a comprehensive list of cuts and alterations required for submission here? If so, that'll take a lot of the fun out of this whole thing.

What I will say is that I'm trying to remove the entire sub-plot of Ron and Linda Jackson's relationship. Not only does it feel like it kind of comes out of nowhere, but I find it to be appallingly unfunny, so I'm doing my best to remove it, and so far I think it might actually be possible.

I also wanted to completely remove the Brick and Chani subplot, but I don't think that's really possible with how integrated into the plot it is, especially at the end of the film. While I don't completely hate the Brick and Chani subplot, I do think it overstays its welcome (much like just about everything else in this movie), and it ends up being more cute than really funny, which isn't exactly what I'm looking for in an Anchorman film. At the very least, I'm going to try to make the whole thing less painful, hopefully by removing the scene where Chani gets fired (loudly-screaming-for-no-reason-Brick is my least favorite Brick).

Thus far my fan-editing experience has been limited to many, many, many episodes of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Kai, but this is my first time working with live-action material. It's also my first time working on a film as opposed to episodes of television, so this is a relatively new experience for me. I'm finding that there's a bit of a learning curve, but I'm having fun and am looking forward to the end result.

 

[maven48]

Interesting. The original is only funny after Ron is blinded. Before, it's a bad retread of the first film. The extended cut is better but not intended to be enjoyed as a film. A best of would sit nicely with uncanny antman's whammy version of the first film.

 

[Dr. Chim Richalds]

I actually made a cut of this years ago (about the time I made this screen name) and never really finished it because of the exact problem you mentioned - There are whole scenes and subplots in SD that are far superior to the stuff that made it into the film and going back to the film versions to make it look better seems like a huge downgrade once you've seen the other footage.  The version on my computer now has more of a "workprint" feel in lots of places (I even called it the "Fun-Sized Edit" at the time - ha!  Great minds....).

FYI, you can totally cut the Brick/Chani subplot.

I wish you luck and if you find an HD source of that footage, please let me know!

 

[baileym43]

a guy could, if a guy felt so inclined, try to downgrade the HD footage to match the SD stuff.  
then add grain and effects to make it feel like a movie from the 70s.

 

[TheMilkmanConspiracy]

Interesting. The original is only funny after Ron is blinded. Before, it's a bad retread of the first film.

One of my least favorite things about the original cuts are how shamelessly they attempt to retread the first film. None of the attempts are as funny this time around, so why bother? It's a common sequel practice, particularly among comedies, and I was hoping McKay and Ferrell would be above that kind of thing.

While I'd've loved to have removed every retread attempt from this sequel, sadly I'd be left with very little movie to work with, and some of it is integral to the plot so it has to stay.

I easily removed Brian's World Famous Jimmy Cabinet (even though that was more of a byproduct of ripping out the entire Ron/Linda Jackson subplot). While the sequence itself is kind of okay and offers a light chuckle here and there, it pales in comparison to Brian's cologne cabinet sequence from the first film, so again, why even bother?

The big fight at the end, however, I think has to stay. I haven't quite made it that far in my edit yet, but from what I've seen it'd be tough to remove. This sequence, too, is not as good as the first film's and suffers from cameo fatigue, but at least Jim Carrey is funny, it's bigger in scope than the first, and we also see the return of Wes Mantooth.

The extended cut is better but not intended to be enjoyed as a film.

Before editing this, I'd never actually watched the extended cut, but I'm surprised to find that it actually does contain a fair amount of solid jokes that were bafflingly omitted from the theatrical cut in favor of much less funny lines.

I actually made a cut of this years ago (about the time I made this screen name) and never really finished it because of the exact problem you mentioned - There are whole scenes and subplots in SD that are far superior to the stuff that made it into the film and going back to the film versions to make it look better seems like a huge downgrade once you've seen the other footage.  The version on my computer now has more of a "workprint" feel in lots of places

I wish you luck and if you find an HD source of that footage, please let me know!

Yeah, the difference in footage is unfortunate, but I'm hoping to color match them, at least, to the best of my abilities to help a little with that. The only place I can think of that might have them in HD is on Vudu, where a couple are included among the Unrated's bonus features. I'm unable to check for myself because I never redeemed my digital code because I don't actually like the film and don't want it in my digital library (I specifically bought the blu-ray to make my own edit), but according to the description, it's only four deleted scenes. It does list 1080p HDX under more info, which leads me to believe they're probably the four alternate/deleted scenes that are included in HD on disc one of the blu-ray... so while it's unlikely that they're the second disc's scenes miraculously provided in HD, it might be worth checking out to be sure.

(I even called it the "Fun-Sized Edit" at the time - ha!  Great minds....)

Oh, wow! Haha. Another title I'm toying around with is "Value-Sized Version" which I guess would technically be more accurate in terms of being the opposite of "Super-Sized" (whereas "Fun-Sized" would be the opposite of "King-Sized"). I haven't definitively decided either way.

FYI, you can totally cut the Brick/Chani subplot.

Care to divulge just how you managed to do that, or is asking that a faux pas around here? I totally understand if you'd rather not give away your secrets.

The issue I've run into is in the scene where Ron yells at Brick, which acts as sort of a catalyst for the news team leaving him. Brick's line is "Chani likes clowns, except for the scary ones." which causes Ron to yell at him. There's no alternate take or line that I know of that doesn't reference Chani, so I'm at a loss of how to get around this one. I suppose you could cut around Ron yelling at Brick entirely, but I imagine that would be pretty clunky, as again, it's the inciting incident that causes the news team to get in Ron's face and ultimately leave him.

As far as the wedding at the end of the film goes, I suppose I could just use the extended cut and fade to credits at the end of the piano recital, and that might not be too bad, but I have yet to actually try it.

a guy could, if a guy felt so inclined, try to downgrade the HD footage to match the SD stuff.  
then add grain and effects to make it feel like a movie from the 70s.

I guess so, yeah, but the trade off in quality for the entire film wouldn't be worth it to me. Between having a couple scenes and shots not quite as clear as the rest of the film, or having the entire film look like a dusty turd, I'd gladly choose the former.

 

[Dr. Chim Richalds]

... according to the description, it's only four deleted scenes. It does list 1080p HDX under more info, which leads me to believe they're probably the four alternate/deleted scenes that are included in HD on disc one of the blu-ray... so while it's unlikely that they're the second disc's scenes miraculously provided in HD, it might be worth checking out to be sure.

Care to divulge just how you managed to do that, or is asking that a faux pas around here? I totally understand if you'd rather not give away your secrets.

The issue I've run into is in the scene where Ron yells at Brick, which acts as sort of a catalyst for the news team leaving him. Brick's line is "Chani likes clowns, except for the scary ones." which causes Ron to yell at him. There's no alternate take or line that I know of that doesn't reference Chani, so I'm at a loss of how to get around this one. I suppose you could cut around Ron yelling at Brick entirely, but I imagine that would be pretty clunky, as again, it's the inciting incident that causes the news team to get in Ron's face and ultimately leave him.

As far as the wedding at the end of the film goes, I suppose I could just use the extended cut and fade to credits at the end of the piano recital, and that might not be too bad, but I have yet to actually try it.

Yeah, if Vudu is like itunes, it's just a few of the deleted scenes - the ones that are already HD on the blu ray.  MUCH more is on the blu ray.

Definitely not a faux pas with me... I'd love to share.  I actually liked some of Chani's interactions with her boss, but not the Brick part, so I just cut her altogether. I did just what you said with the wedding at the end.  As for the line in question, I just opened the edit I had to see and it goes like this:

Ron: "I'm the one who gets his Caesar salad made table side!"
Champ: "That is nice."
Brick: "Mmm salad."
Ron: "Shut up Brick..."

And please, name it anything you want.  I'd love to see another cut.  There really is a lot of potential in this movie.

 

[TheMilkmanConspiracy]

Definitely not a faux pas with me... I'd love to share.  I actually liked some of Chani's interactions with her boss, but not the Brick part, so I just cut her altogether. I did just what you said with the wedding at the end.  As for the line in question, I just opened the edit I had to see and it goes like this:

Ron: "I'm the one who gets his Caesar salad made table side!"
Champ: "That is nice."
Brick: "Mmm salad."
Ron: "Shut up Brick..."

And please, name it anything you want.  I'd love to see another cut.  There really is a lot of potential in this movie.

Ah, yes, I actually thought about that option too, but I dismissed it in my head because it's just a couple of words and Brick practically whispers them, so it felt like a bit of a stretch for that to be what Ron reacts so aggressively to, especially since Champ does more or less the same thing seconds before Brick does. It almost makes Ron come off as too mean, though I guess that is kind of the point... I'll give that a shot if I decide to go that route again and see how I like it.

Like you, I initially cut Chani altogether just hoping that I wouldn't run into any snags later on, and then I got to the scene above and begrudgingly added the subplot back in. However, I only retained a portion of it, and I feel that makes it much more palatable. The whole thing still plays out more cute than funny, but I removed the entire obnoxious scene where Chani gets fired, which I felt was the worst of it (also kind of works better later on when Ron returns to work and Chani is back in the office as if she'd never been fired to begin with), and I shortened the scenes I did keep because I didn't want to spend too much time with these two (I actually wasn't a huge fan of Chani's interactions with her boss, so I cut that from their first meeting). What I added back in makes the team-leaves-Ron scene work better, and also acts as some much needed connective tissue after I tore out the entire Ron/Linda (and subsequently Koala Airlines) subplot.

Anyway, thanks for sharing with me! It's great having a fellow editor to bounce ideas back and forth with.

Small update: I've finally reached the fight scene, and... ugh, this thing is in need of some serious tightening. So far, I've given Kanye West and Mack Tannen the boot; from a creative and technical standpoint, they were easy cuts to make. I also wouldn't mind cutting Will Smith who just isn't very funny here, but the scene where he calls in the plane is a little tougher to remove for a number of reasons.

As it currently stands, it's looking like my rough edit will clock in somewhere around the lower 80 minute mark, which I'm pretty happy with.

 

[Dr. Chim Richalds]

To each their own, obviously, but I feel like the scene plays out fine with Ron irrationally angry.  I agree, it does seem more over the top.  Also, I love how we're sitting here parsing character motivations in Anchorman 2. 

Your cut definitely sounds a lot tighter than I was able to get mine down to, even cutting Chani altogether (and Wes Mantooth for that matter).  Hope it finishes up well!

Since talking about this, I've even thought about going back to it and just making a hilarious workprint and letting it be.  Maybe someday.

 

[TheMilkmanConspiracy]

Also, I love how we're sitting here parsing character motivations in Anchorman 2.   

Haha, I was thinking the same thing.

Your cut definitely sounds a lot tighter than I was able to get mine down to, even cutting Chani altogether (and Wes Mantooth for that matter).  Hope it finishes up well!

The Linda/Ron subplot hogs a sizable chunk of screen time, so cutting that helped a lot.

Having thought about it overnight, I may try to put just the Koala airlines bit back in somehow, likely with the help of another deleted scene, if only because having it would make the film feel more complete from a story perspective.

I'm looking forward to finishing this thing and getting some outside eyes on it!

 

[Dr. Chim Richalds]

Having thought about it overnight, I may try to put just the Koala airlines bit back in somehow, likely with the help of another deleted scene, if only because having it would make the film feel more complete from a story perspective.

I like a lot of the koala airlines bits. One of my favorite cut scenes was when Kench asks Linda out while threatening her to kill the story.  But that dark footage is obviously of such lower quality its hard to cut in!

 

[TheMilkmanConspiracy]

As of last night, I've completed my first cut of the film. Total run-time is a lean 82 minutes, and after thinking it over, I've decided to go with "Value-Sized Version" for the title.

I wound up with two different cuts: one with Chani and one without. The difference is only a little over 3 and a half minutes between the two, but ultimately I decided to go with the sans Chani cut. Removing her had nothing to do with time, and everything to do with what she contributed to the film. Her whole subplot is just so far removed from the rest of the film that it may as well be its own thing, and as I've said before, it's really more cute than funny. I also found that ending the movie after the recital works much better than cutting to the beach wedding.

Speaking of Chani, what is the standard practice around here when it comes to credit sequences? More specifically, how do most editors deal with cut character credits and cut song credits? Are they typically left alone because, you know, we get it? I was able to (not flawlessly) remove Kristen Wiig's name from the opening credits, but the end credits are a different beast and I'm not sure how to go about it (it isn't the typical white text against black background credit roll).

Oh, and thanks for encouraging me to try the "Mmm, salad" cut for the news-team-leaves scene, Dr. Chim Richalds. It works just fine. You were also right about cutting Wes Mantooth. Talk about stopping the film dead in its tracks. Not only did that scene bring the film to a grinding halt, but not a single joke actually lands during the entire sequence. The whole thing serves as cheap fan-service and callbacks to the first film. Needless to say, I don't miss it.

I was not able to find a way to satisfactorily put any of the Koala Airlines stuff back in, so it remains on the cutting room floor. That means that some of the social commentary is lost as well, but I have mixed feelings about that anyway.

The run-time is 82 minutes down from the Theatrical's 118. That's a sizable difference. However, I feel that it's important to note that I never cut anything in the interest of time specifically. If anything, I would prefer something closer to 90 minutes, but if there isn't enough quality content left to fill that time, then so be it.

So the Chani/Brick subplot is gone. The Linda/Ron subplot is gone (thank god). The Koala airlines subplot is (unfortunately?) gone.

What we're left with is a film much more focused on the News Team, the conflict with Jack Lime, Ron's relationship with Veronica and his son, and his rise to fame/fall from grace. And Brick is awesome again.

I'm pretty happy with the result. It maybe moves a little fast in places, but it's better than the alternative of having to sit through some painfully unfunny sequences wherein I end up wanting to melt my head in a microwave.

There are... a lot of cuts and alterations. Really, it'd probably be easier to list what I didn't alter in some way from the Theatrical cut. I'll probably go through and make a general list of changes and notes on those changes in the coming days, but suffice it to say that this is almost completely different from the Theatrical cut. Not only is it much shorter, but many punchlines and gags have been swapped out/added from the Unrated and Super-Sized versions, deleted and alternate scenes, line-o-ramas and gag reel.

So, who is this cut for? Well, I can tell you with a modicum of certainty who it's not for:

• It's definitely not for those who actually liked Anchorman 2. If you have any sort of attachment to the original cuts, then I feel like you may end up disappointed with this edit and miss your favorite bits. Maybe I'm wrong. Hopefully I'm wrong! But as someone who hated Anchorman 2 but loved the first one, I sought to make this film more in line with my personal comedic tastes, so I feel that you may get more mileage out of this edit if you feel the same way I do. So if you liked or loved Anchorman 2, approach with caution. But if you loved the first Anchorman, yet hated the sequel, then please give this a shot!
• If you liked Meagan Good in this film, you will be disappointed. Her role is severely cut back. The Ron/Linda plot was awful and I'm glad to be rid of it.
• If you liked Kristen Wiig in this film, you will be disappointed. I've removed her completely.
• If you loved Brick's beefed up role in this film, you will be disappointed. His contributions in this edit are much more in line with how he was presented in the first film, which I find to be much more palatable than having him scream for half the movie.

And that's it for now. Next up is screening it for my girlfriend who has never seen Anchorman 2 at all. We'll see how that goes.

 

[Dr. Chim Richalds]

Sound like a winner, can't wait to see it!  Glad those cuts worked for you.  I have nothing to add on the credits - I have no idea how to edit them so I just left them in every cut I'd made of it.

Again I really think there's a ton of potential in this film and hope some folks here will check out your cut.  Shame the version(s) that ended up being released officially.

 

[TheMilkmanConspiracy]

Again I really think there's a ton of potential in this film and hope some folks here will check out your cut.  Shame the version(s) that ended up being released officially.

There really is a lot of potential in this film, and given the wealth of commercially available material to work with, I'm surprised we haven't seen more fan-edits done of it.

And yeah, after having gone through and constructed what I consider to be a decent cut, I'm even more dumbfounded now as to how the Theatrical cut is what they ultimately decided on. Given what I know about their editing process of typically favoring jokes that tested well with audiences, it really makes me wonder just what kinds of audiences they tested this stuff in front of based on what actually made it into the film. But then again, I don't want to say too much about that, as comedy is subjective, and in the end we're all just here to have a good time, yeah?

Anyway, the screening for my girlfriend was a resounding success! She didn't notice any cuts, nor did she notice the transitions from HD to SD footage, which was a big win for me. I don't know how much of that had to do with the size of the TV we were watching it on (39"), but I felt good about it nonetheless.

So the next step is getting everything together to submit to the academy. I'll have to wrap my head around just how I'm going to determine the amount of footage cut and added. How strict is the academy on including details like that, along with cut lists and the like? Because technically, a line swap from either the Unrated or Super-Sized versions would count as footage lost and then subsequently added, but there was a lot of that going on and figuring out exactly how much in numbers is going to be a pain.

Also, does anyone have any Premiere encoding tips? I used the Match Source High Quality option, which I believe was VBR 10mbps average, and that looked good on my 39" television but may not hold up to more close-range scrutiny. The file size on that with AC3 audio tracks (5.1 and Stereo) comes to 6.30GB. Should I increase the average bitrate, or does that sound fine?

 

[maven48]

Looking forward to this one. Will you be release both versions?

That one guy gave me some brilliant advice on compression. I use Vegas but the compression should be the same. I now always encode at a higher bit rate, for 1080 usually encode at a 2 pass vbr 25mbps-45mbps which will result in a large file but then I recompress with handbrake at a constant 2 pass 8mbps.

I'm sure there's better ways to do it but that works perfectly for me.

 

[TheMilkmanConspiracy]

Looking forward to this one. Will you be release both versions?

Nah, I'm just going to be sticking with the Chani-less version. The only reason I'd ever see myself releasing the other cut is if they decide to make an Anchorman 3 and Chani is, inevitably, a part of it, in which case I'd release the Chani version to better pair with it.

As far as the encoding goes, I just used the Match Source Adaptive High preset in Premiere, which looks great for the most part. I could actually create a BD-25 file if I were so inclined, and I may do so if enough people want it. Eventually I'd like to do that just for my own personal use, but I don't know a thing about BD authoring, so I'd probably only be able to offer the video file for the film itself. To start, though, I'll just be offering a 1080p mkv with 5.1 and Stereo AC3.

Gearing up to submit to the academy now. I've been finalizing everything this past week and dealing with rendering issues that I've managed to sort out. I also decided to actually alter the cast and songs sections in the end credit scroll to reflect my edits because I enjoy pain, I guess. Took a while, but I managed to have a little fun with it. I also put together a basic cut/alteration list, so I'll post that here within the coming days. Really looking forward to getting some more eyes on this.

 

[TheMilkmanConspiracy]

As promised, here is a list of general cuts/alterations that I made to the film, using the Theatrical cut as a base.

• Replaced intro with Super-Sized Version's.
• Cut the Drake cameo.
• While it isn't flawless, I was more-or-less able to remove Kristen Wiig's name from the opening credits.
• Elevator dialog replaced with bits from Super-Sized.
• Mack Tannen scene has been tightened and shortened.
• Ron and Veronica's argument at home has been shortened, and a portion of an alternate/deleted scene has been added back in.
• SeaWorld scene is a mixture of Theatrical and Super-Sized versions.
• Ron's explanation to Freddie about what he was doing when he tried to hang himself has been shortened. (Alterations like these were made in order to help the joke land harder, as opposed to the original cut's method of beating a joke to death).
• Diner scene features a line replacement from the Super-Sized version.
• Champ's chicken ad uses line from Super-Sized Version.
• Conversation inside Champ's restaurant has been tightened.
• Scene of getting Brian back on the team uses bits of Super-Sized version, and has been tightened.
• Scene of Brick's funeral uses the Super-Sized version and has been shortened.
• RV scene has been removed. While I enjoyed the the set-up ("One of the best decisions I've ever made is installing this deep-fryer in the Winnebago"), the slow-motion payoff just isn't funny enough for me, or indeed very funny at all, and goes on for way too long, so I decided to remove it entirely as there isn't enough there to justify keeping it.
• Welcome to GNN/Jack Lime introduction scene uses bits from Super-Sized, and has been shortened.
• Linda Jackson's introduction uses bit from Super-Sized, and has been significantly shortened.
• Brick's "I ain't afraid of no ghost" line has been removed, as has the entire Brick and Chani sequence (Chani is, of course, entirely absent from this cut. Sorry, Kristen).
• Ron talking to Veronica at the door uses a line from the Super-Sized version.
• The Ron, Veronica, Greg and Walter scene has been shortened, and uses a bit from the Super-Sized version, along with a line from the Unrated.
• The Jack Lime/Ron confrontation has been slightly shortened.
• Kench Allenby's introduction has been significantly shortened with the help of the Super-Sized version.
• The brainstorming scene uses a line from one of the Gag Reels, a line from one of the Line-o-Ramas, bits and pieces from the Super-Sized version, a line from the Unrated cut, and a portion of the post-credits scene. (phew!)
• Entire Brick and Chani scene has, of course, been removed.
• Deleted scene of the news team and Freddie scrambling to get ready for the 2AM broadcast has been shortened and reinserted.
• Ron's pep talk to himself before the broadcast, along with the short control room scene, has been removed, mainly for pacing reasons.
• The 2AM broadcast sequence uses the Unrated cut as a base, so Brian's repeated uses of the word "vagina" have all been retained.
• Linda Jackson's reaction to Brian's "Top-20-Greatest-Vagina's" story has been replaced with the far less over-acted mug drop from the Super-Sized cut (You're welcome, Meagan Good).
• Champ's "Whammy's" have been cut down from the original 18,000 to a comfortable four.
• Brick's story about the wind has been shortened.
• Linda Jackson storming in and firing the news team has been removed (Sorry, Meagan Good). In its place, portions of an alternate scene wherein the team is fired over the phone have been reinserted.
• The meeting about GNN's first day ratings has been shortened (or rather the Super-Sized Version's cut of the scene has been used instead).
• The News Team in their apartment scene sees some bits replaced and added from an alternate scene, along with a shot or two from the Super-Sized.
• Freddie explaining the ratings has been slightly tightened.
• The short scene of Veronica and Greg watching Ron has been removed in favor of more News Team bits (reinserted from deleted scenes).
• Brian and Brick's advertisements have been removed. In order to accommodate the background music, slightly more dancing has been added from the Super-Sized cut.
• The smoking crack scene switches to the Unrated version as they're lighting up.
• Linda Jackson has been removed from the short Emmy scene.
• After the "Perms for everyone" scene, a large chunk of the movie (00:56:02 to 01:08:53 of the Theatrical cut) has been completely removed. This includes almost the entire Ron/Linda subplot, the Koala airlines subplot (mainly a victim of losing the Ron/Linda stuff), the News Team scene after Linda's "meeting" with Ron (which includes Brian's World Famous Jimmy Cabinet, a.k.a. a weak retread of the first film's cologne cabinet scene, and I don't miss it), Brick's Saint Patty's Day broadcast (good riddance), and Brick and Chani at the soda machine.
• A deleted scene featuring Brian and Champ encountering Jack Lime at a bar has been reinserted, albeit in an altered form, utilizing a portion of the Super-Sized Version's post-credits scene (which is a small alternate portion of this scene).
• The scene of Ron and Walter out for a walk has been extended with bits from the Super-Sized version, and the two of them talking on a bench has been removed entirely.
• Phone call between Ron and Veronica has been shortened to accommodate the removal of the aforementioned bench scene.
• The scene where the News Team leaves Ron has been slightly altered, with a little help from the Super-Sized Version, to remove all traces of the Koala airlines and Chani subplots.
• The first exchange between Greg and Walter at the science fair has been replaced with the Super-Sized Version's.
• Veronica's interview with Yasser Arafat has been replaced with the slightly shorter Super-Sized version of this scene.
• Ron and Linda's exchange during Ron's figure skating routine has been removed. This was a tough cut to make because of the music, but necessary, given that it kind of sort of alludes to their cut romance. Champ's line, "To hell with Ron Burgundy," and Brick's line, "Ron, you should see what you're doing!" were also lost as a result of working around the music to make this cut happen. Not my favorite cut to make, but kind of had to.
• The scene of the News Team visiting Ron in the lighthouse has been tightened a bit with a little help from the Super-Sized Version. Gone are Ron's repeated screams of "I'm Bliiiiind!"
• A line replacement from the Super-Sized Version is used during Veronica's return outside of the lighthouse.
• Yet another instance of over-explaining the joke has been removed during Ron and Veronica's chat at the table inside the lighthouse, with the help of the Super-Sized Version.
• The Doby song has been removed. Sorry, I know some folks like this bit. But sadly, I don't. While I like the idea of it, the song itself isn't actually very funny, and a funny idea alone can only get you so far. The Super Sized Version of this scene was used in its place. Unfortunately, this also meant the loss of the funnier version of Walter's line about Doby eating people, but so be it. Lesser of two evils.
• One more instance of Ron screaming "I'm blind!" was removed after he crashed the car.
• Chani was removed from Ron's return to the office.
• Linda talking to Ron before Veronica arrives has been shortened to remove any allusions to their (non-existent in this cut) relationship. As a result, Veronica and Linda trading barbs has also been removed, but I would have removed it anyway because I hate it.
• Removed a few bits of Linda Jackson's lines before Ron's broadcast.
• Any allusions to the dropped Koala airlines subplot during Ron's broadcast have been removed. A shot from the Super-Sized Version was used to help achieve this.
• Ron's apologies to Brian and Champ were removed; Brian's because it was a part of the Koala airlines subplot, and Champ's simply because it would have been odd of Ron to apologize to both Brick and Champ, but not Brian. I didn't necessarily like having to do this, but it's one of those necessary evils when removing subplots.
• Brian's line about assholes from the Unrated cut has been reinserted.
• For Ron's exit from the GNN building, I used the Super-Sized Version, which very conveniently contains no trace of the Linda Jackson and Koala Airlines subplots.
• Removed Kanye West from the news brawl.
• Used the Unrated cut for the Entertainment News Team entrance.
• Used the Super-Sized cut for Will Smith's ESPN All Sports entrance.
• Removed Mack Tannen from the News Brawl. This was a remarkably easy decision to make, given that he doesn't actually appear at all in the fight itself, at least not in the Theatrical and Unrated cuts.
• Had to zoom-in a bit on the shot of Ron walking into the middle of the news teams in order to push Kanye's character mostly out of frame.
• Replaced Tina Fey's "I'm so horny right now" line with a bit from Jim Carrey taken from the Super-Sized Version. This was another lesser of two evils situation. On the one hand, more of Jim Carrey means the Canadian News Team bit has more potential to wear thin earlier on. On the other hand, I found Tina's line to be embarrassingly unfunny, which kills me because I normally love Tina Fey. In the end, Jim Carrey won out.
• Because I added another "Sorry" joke from the Canadian News Team almost immediately prior, I removed the "Sorry" from the end of Carrey's "What do we look like? Rookies?" in an effort to keep that bit from wearing too thin.
• I used the Super-Sized Version for El Trousias, while also shortening it.
• Removed Stonewall Jackson's "Give your soul to me"/"Mint julep" stuff.
• Removed the whole Wes Mantooth segment. As much as I like seeing Wes Mantooth again, the scene stops the film dead in its tracks, consists entirely of lazy callbacks to the first Anchorman, and not a single joke lands.
• The Super-Sized Version ends the film with the father/son reunion at the piano recital, with the "Son, I fought a minotaur to be here" line pulled from the Theatrical. The wedding scene is, of course, skipped entirely, and we instead go straight from the recital to the end credits.
• End credits for the cast and songs have been altered a bit to reflect the removed characters (I had some fun with this). An editing credit for myself has also been added.
• For the post credits scene, I just used the Brick under the table portion, as I used the opening shot in the actual film itself.

TL;DR - Everything was changed.

Honestly, I'm anticipating some pushback from people who will inevitably end up missing bits that I wound up cutting, but that's the danger when dealing with comedy, I think, given how much more subjective it tends to be than other genres. Like I mentioned earlier in the thread, this edit will likely work best for people who hated Anchorman 2 (but loved the first one), or never saw it. My girlfriend is a prime example: she loved the first but never watched the sequel due to horrible word of mouth, therefore she had no attachment to any of the removed material, and she would up really liking my cut.

All this to say, once more, that if you are familiar with, or fond of, the original Anchorman 2 in any way, approach this edit with caution, because your favorite bits have likely been altered or removed.

Obviously, I hope as many people as possible enjoy it, and maybe I'm wrong about how attached people may be to the original cuts. Hopefully I am. All I know for sure is that I've created something that I personally enjoy, and that's all I originally set out to do in the first place.

 

[Bobson Dugnutt]

I only just recently saw the first Anchorman film (and Wake Up Ron Burgandy) and decided to skip out on the 2nd due to the horrible word of mouth just as I've done for the Matrix sequels. Hopefully your very harsh cut will be my preferable first viewing of the film as I loved the first one (and Wake Up to a lesser extent). Looking forward to this greatly.

What was your eventual workaround for the SD deleted scenes, colour correction and sharpening?

 

[TheMilkmanConspiracy]

I only just recently saw the first Anchorman film (and Wake Up Ron Burgandy) and decided to skip out on the 2nd due to the horrible word of mouth just as I've done for the Matrix sequels. Hopefully your very harsh cut will be my preferable first viewing of the film as I loved the first one (and Wake Up to a lesser extent). Looking forward to this greatly.

What was your eventual workaround for the SD deleted scenes, colour correction and sharpening?

I look forward to hearing what you think! I've submitted it and am awaiting moderator approval now.

As for the SD stuff, I mainly just color corrected it. However, I'm admittedly not very skilled when it comes to color correction, so I was pretty much limited to Premiere's color match tool, which worked wonderfully at times, and only fairly well during others. As far as sharpening goes, I found that it only made things significantly worse every time I tried it, so I left that alone. The results aren't perfect--obviously, it's SD footage in the middle of HD footage, and not particularly good SD footage at that--but they're honestly way better than I initially thought they were going to be. Your mileage may vary of course, but for what it's worth, my girlfriend and I viewed it on a 39" TV from about four or five feet away, and the SD bits hardly stood out (she didn't notice the transitions or that any SD footage was used whatsoever, though I suppose she's not a hardened video enthusiast like most of us here).

 

[TM2YC]

This is now on ifdb. Stay classy. Thread moved.

 

[TheMilkmanConspiracy]

This is now on ifdb. Stay classy. Thread moved.

Thank you so much!

Original post has been updated with a higher resolution poster, which is of course a riff on the Super-Sized Version's poster.