The Pink Panther Strikes Again

1976 "Why are the world's chief assassins after Inspector Clouseau? Why not? Everybody else is."
7.1| 1h43m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 15 December 1976 Released
Producted By: United Artists
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Charles Dreyfus, who has finally cracked over inspector Clouseau's antics, escapes from a mental institution and launches an elaborate plan to get rid of Clouseau once and for all.

Genre

Comedy, Crime

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Director

Blake Edwards

Production Companies

United Artists

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The Pink Panther Strikes Again Audience Reviews

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
CalvinValjean I've always been surprised that so many fans of the series rank this entry so highly, many calling it their favorite. In my opinion, this is actually the weakest of the five Sellers entries made within Sellers's lifetime (I don't count TRAIL or the non-Sellers entries as officially part of the series).STRIKES AGAIN has many great individual scenes that work as stand-alone skits, such as Clouseau destroying the piano, or crossing the castle moat, etc. But as a story, it isn't very cohesive. Of all the films, this is the one least grounded in reality and becomes mostly a cartoon; even the caricature of Gerald Ford adds to this feeling that you're watching a SNL sketch more than a developed-narrative.My big issue is that I don't like Dreyfus being turned into an evil villain with a James Bond-style plan to destroy the world. It seems to go against his whole character. Of course Herbert Lom gives it his all and no one will deny his talent, but for me, Dreyfus works best as Clouseau's long-suffering boss. The best scenes of SHOT IN THE DARK and RETURN are all Dreyfus having to deal with Clouseau and being slowly physically-injured and driven insane by Clouseau's incompetence. And almost every single person I know always says the best scene in REVENGE is Dreyfus delivering the eulogy at the funeral, which is basically an extension of that. But STRIKES AGAIN takes this running gag about Dreyfus hating Clouseau and ramps it up to an extreme. Dreyfus is robbed of his dignity here and reduced to a madman.And what about the great Peter Sellers? He actually doesn't feel like he's in the movie that much. Of course he is; he gets top-billing after all. But this movie just feels less about Sellers/Clouseau than the other ones do. The Clouseau character is best used when he's trying to solve a mystery and bumbles around, solving things by accident. Here, he doesn't seem to have much command of the story; he's more a pawn of the story who just falls down a lot. Even the climatic scene, in which Clouseau literally saves the world by just falling on a catapult and knocking a laser over--it just feels like lazy writing.Supposedly, Sellers was disappointed with this entry and I can see why. He's in the movie, but so much of his great charm and comedic persona feel absent or are overtaken by the crazy plot. And, as we all know, all future sequels completely ignored the events of this film and pretty much pretended it never happened. What does that tell you? If you find this movie funny, that's fine. But if you want to really see a more Clouseau-oriented film that shows Sellers at his peak, check out either SHOT IN THE DARK or RETURN.
slightlymad22 One of my favourites from childhood, I spent many years laughing at this movie with my dad and brothers. So I was quite wary about sitting down to rewatch "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" after all these years, however I need to have worried as the movie still has several laugh out loud moments and is still a lot of fun.Plot In A Paragraph: Former Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) escapes from the mental asylum and tries to kill his replacement and the man responsible for his breakdown Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) When his first attempt fails, he decided to build a Doomsday machine and demand that someone else kills Clouseau, or Dreyfus will use the machine to wipe out whole cities and even whole countries... With several assassins from all over the world out to kill him, Clouseau must save the day and his own skin. There are a lot of laughs right from the off here. The scene at the mental institute, starts things off well, Clouseau's scenes with Kato (Burt Kwok) are hilarious as always, and a lot of fun, Clouseau in the gym and his attempts to get in to the castle are still comedy gold.Sellers nails his performance as Clouseau in his fourth time in the role, and for me his is the definitive Clouseau. Steve Martin wasn't anywhere near as good in the remakes. Herbert Lom is brilliant as the insane Dreyfuss, Burt Kwok is a lot of fun as Kato whilst Leslie Ann Down looks gorgeous as Olga.
edwagreen A very funny premise and beginning soon gives way to sheer nonsense in this 1976 film, 4 years prior to the passing of Peter Sellers.Herbert Lom was a perfect foil for Sellers. As the Chief Inspector gone mad after the last film, Lom is about to be released from the asylum until his meeting with Clouseau brings agony to him and he reverts back to his lunacy, turning to evil this time.Clouseau is hysterical in the way that he can cheat his demise, but the film begins to labor in slapstick comedy and it wears upon you after a while.Look for non-speaking Omar Sharif to appear. The guys who impersonated Henry Kissinger and Gerald Ford were hysterical.
Terrell Howell (KnightsofNi11) Now here is a slice of classic comedy. The Pink Panther Strikes Again is the third film in the Pink Panther saga, and it is arguably one of the strongest in the series. It picks up where the second film left off, with Charles Dreyfus, the villain from the second film, escaping the mental institution he was admitted to. After he escapes he swears his revenge on the new Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau. He does so by building the ultimate Doomsday machine, capable of destroying whole cities. He threatens to use this machine unless Clouseau is killed. The whole of the film delivers some of the most amusing and riotous gags from the bumbling Clouseau, and unlike the first film, it was a complete delight to watch from start to finish.The only other Pink Panther film I've seen is the original, and I wasn't impressed. The film was simply just mildly amusing, as opposed to truly funny. The Pink Panther Strikes Again accomplishes what the first film couldn't and is actually very funny. There are a lot of jokes and gags to laugh about in this movie, both visual an verbal. It takes all the antics that were present in the first film and utilizes them much more effectively to make the film a hilarious experience. The jokes never go on too long, but are drawn out just enough to make each silly antic worthwhile and everything from smile inducing amusing, to laugh out loud hilarious. This movie is comedy done right. It's goofy but smart, and there's a lot to be said about that.After the first two movies Peter Sellers was ready to perfect his role for the third film. And perfect it he did. Jacques Clouseau was a great character in the first film and arguably the best thing about it. But by the third film Sellers had mastered his portrayal of this bumbling inspector fueled by dumb luck that saves his life every time. Everything Clouseau does in this film provides a laugh. The originality of his character is uncanny, and it makes him so much fun and such a riot from start to finish. He has grown a little sillier and slightly more bumbling since the first film, but it still isn't overplayed or annoying in any way. His goofiness doesn't tire in any way. Peter Sellers as Jacques Clouseau is pure comedy gold.As far as the story goes in The Pink Panther Strikes Again, there isn't much to it. It's fairly straight forward, but its nothing worth complaining about. If you go into a pure comedy like the Pink Panther series expecting a groundbreaking mystery story then you are clueless. The storyline in this movie isn't complex and obviously lacks the kind of depth you will see in a drama, but that's understandable. The best thing I can say about the story is that despite not having the kind of complexity as a heightened drama or thriller it isn't a completely brainless and idiotic comedy. It definitely has a story with plenty of fun characters, and accomplishes a lot more than your typical idiot comedy does. I can really commend a comedy when it does this.I was very happy with The Pink Panther Strikes Again. Overall, I'll never enjoy a comedy like this as much as a drama, but that is solely out of personal taste. But despite this I can't say that this film in any way a bad film, and I definitely found it worth my time. It is a very funny movie and Peter Sellers is so memorable as the wacky Jacques Clouseau. As far as comedies go, this is a very well made film. A film like this will never make it onto my list of favorite films, but I can definitely enjoy it for what it is.