pesic-1 This is an excellent film in many ways: the character of Cluseau is fully developed and he delivers some of the funniest moments in the Pink Panther series. Also, the bold decision to take the comedy to another level and remove all plausibility from the film actually works rather well. The problem is that too little is gained by doing it. The insanity of Dreyfus isn't particularly funny despite a sterling performance by Herbert Lom, and one begins to think that the surrealism of this installment serves mainly to cover up a weak story line, and not so much to provide fresh opportunities for comedy. Indeed, the best bits are still good old Cluseau doing his thing. The whole world conquest plot is totally unnecessary and all the good bits with Cluseau could have been made part of a storyline no different from the rest of the films. It would appear that they tried to compensate for the lack of a proper story by inserting the insane bits with Dreyfus. Indeed, the film comes across as a series of pretty good sketches with Cluseau that are stitched together with bits of pointless and poorly written filler in-between. However, despite this, the film is actually quite entertaining, which is why I give it nine stars out of ten. And let's face it, in the previous installments, all we wanted to see was Cluseau, and the scenes with the antagonists, however well written and directed, did come across as the weak bits. By the way, who is the 'Pink Panther'? It used to be a diamond, but for some reason the sequels retained that name in the title, even though the diamond no longer has anything to do with the plot.

OllieSuave-007 This is the fifth film in the original Pink Panther series, returning Peter Sellers as Jacques Clouseau, who finds himself a target from the mentally-challenged Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom). The intrigue starts when Dreyfus builds a Doomsday machine and then demand someone kills Clouseau, or else he will use the machine to destroy cities. This leads to endless fun adventures where 22 assassins from all over the world are tracking Clouseau, while he himself tries to find Dreyfus and commit him back to the asylum. Sellers' continued ineptness and bungling personality as Clouseau make this a very hilarious film as physical comedy and slapstick humor fill up the screen endlessly. The obsessive Charles Dreyfus brilliantly demonstrates how one's ineptness and clumsiness could drive someone off-the-charts, making him a pretty formidable villain in the film. Burt Kwok as Cato Fong gave another memorable and hilarious performance as Clousseau's servant/sidekick and Leslie-Anne Down as Olga gave a charming performance opposite Clouseau. The fun crime story, adventures, and non-stop physical comedy continue in this film, along with Henry Mancini's memorable music themes and the animated opening and ending titles featuring the Pink Panther cartoon character, with some great direction from Blake Edwards. Grade B+

bigverybadtom In "A Shot In The Dark" and "Return Of The Pink Panther", both ended with Clouseau having driven his boss Dreyfus insane with his ineptitude. This time, Dreyfus had undergone mental treatment and has supposedly been cured-but when Clouseau comes back, it's back to square one.Except this time Dreyfus escapes from custody-and HE becomes the villain Clouseau has to find and deal with! Hiring some henchmen, he kidnaps a scientist and forces him to build a doomsday machine with far-reaching destructive powers, a la a James Bond villain. His demand-Clouseau must die, or he will rain destruction upon any part of the world he chooses.This is better than the prior movie, at least in terms of story. Then- US President Gerald Ford is shown stumbling like Clouseau (he had such a reputation then), Clouseau manages to cause other people misery with his stumbling, but he does use genuine detective work to find his way to the castle where Dreyfus has his lair. It could have been better-for instance the scene where Clouseau is at Oktoberfest in West Germany and all sorts of assassins try and fail to kill him falls flat. Also there are irrelevant scenes of "stumbling for a laugh", though not as many as in the prior movie.The best of the 1970's series movies, but the original two are far superior.

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.