Just a few days ago, Paramount announced that this winter’s big sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, will be returning to theaters on February 28, in a longer and bolder R-rated edition that will sport a slew of additional jokes. No doubt that new cut will coax many fans into theaters, but for those willing to wait just a few more days, Paramount Home Media Distribution has announced it will release the sequel onto Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand on April 1. Digital copies of the flick will be available much earlier, starting on March 11.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is a fine enough sequel. It offers just the right number of callbacks to the first film and just the right number of new moments to let the film stand on its own. At its basic core, it’s both an extremely clever commentary on the twenty-four hour cable news cycle and a bizarre excursion into goofiness. It’s a hodgepodge of converging ideas and brilliant asides. It remains to be seen whether or not it will be quoted as aggressively a decade from now as its predecessor, but regardless, it should please hardcore fans for more than a few more viewings.
Paramount’s big on splitting extras up with releases, and in Anchorman 2’s case, the Blu-ray is where all of the extras are at. Fans who nab a copy of the Blu-ray will get the theatrical version, the Unrated version, and the Super-Sized R-rated version of the film, as well as a slew of bonus features, whereas poor DVD copies will come with nothing but the theatrical version. Of course, we still have a few more days before we can determine whether or not adding a significant number of jokes (in this case, 763) to a movie might really make it a spectacle worth seeing. But, at least you’ll have the option with the Blu-ray.
The extras are the kinds of segments you usually see with comedies—that’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. These include more than one Gag Reel, a Line-O-Rama, deleted scenes and alternate scenes. There will also be mashups and a slew of bonus features you might not be used to seeing with comedy releases. Again though, you’ll need to purchase the Blu-ray instead of the DVD if you want to take a look at these. You can pre-order the set over at Amazon, or check out the full list of extras, below.
Anchorman 2 Blu-ray Components
- Feature film in high definition (Unrated Version)
- Feature film in high definition (Super-Sized R-Rated Version)
- Feature film in high definition (Theatrical Version)
- Commentary by Adam McKay, Judd Apatow, Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd & David Koechner
- Behind-the-Scenes: Newsroom—Inside the making of the film
- Gag Reel, Parts 1 & 2
- Line-O-Rama, Parts 1 & 2—Non-stop alternate lines from the film
- Welcome to the Dolphin Show—Ron Burgundy takes on the crowd
- Catfight—Christina Applegate vs. Meagan Good with hilarious one-liners
- News-O-Rama—Ron and the News Team bring you the headlines
- Kench-O-Rama—Mashup of Kench Allenby’s most Australian moments
- Cast Table Read
- Feature film in high definition (Super-Sized R-Rated Version)
- Behind-the-Scenes
- Anchorman 2: The Musical—A look at the musical sequel that almost was
- RV—Dissecting the RV tumble
- Baxter & Doby—The lovable animals of Anchorman 2
- News Fight—Inside the biggest, baddest all-star celebrity brawl
- Deleted Scenes
- Extended & Alternate Scenes
- Previsualizations—RV, Shark Attack and News Fight sequences
- Auditions—Featuring Meagan Good, Dylan Baker and Amy Poehler
- Benefit for 826LA: "Spoiler Alert"—A special tribute to Anchorman 2
- Trailers
Anchorman 2 DVD Components
- Feature film in standard definition (Theatrical Version)
