Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)

Disorganized Crime

In this exquisitely comic masterpiece, Peter Sellers takes fewer pratfalls but dons elaborate costumes and cruises through what is essentially a live-action cartoon, complete with bowling ball bombs, circles sawed through floors and rubber parrots. He's ably assisted by Herbert Lom, Bert Kwouk and Dyan Cannon who is more than just a pretty face. She takes her own pratfalls and engages in daft dialogue with Clouseau in a classic scene that involves three brandy snifters.

As for the plot, it is THE FRENCH CONNECTION meets the GODFATHER defeated by the MUPPET SHOW. Some might criticize this comedy for running on the franchise, as Blake Edwards does here, but Edwards succeeded in creating a film franchise because he knew how to deliver on expectations and go a little bit beyond. At this point, Sellers and Edwards were the kings of comedy and this is a royally funny performance. September 21, 2008

Pink Panther

One of my all time favourites. If you enjoy Peter Sellers, I recommend this DVD to you. September 15, 2008

Great service

I bought this movie as a gift for my dad who has wanted it and could not find it in stores. Service was fast and the movie was brand new.
January 31, 2008

Satisfying Valedictory for Sellers' Clouseau

I'm going to preface my review by saying that in my opinion Peter Sellers was the greatest comic force to grace the silver screen. When he picked his material correctly. When Sellers reassumed the Clouseau character in 1975 with "The Return of the Pink Panther" he had been wandering in the wilderness somewhat(see "The Blockhouse"). Sellers regained some box office clout but I get the feeling that he may have been slightly bored treading familiar ground. That said, the Clouseau films probably gave him the standing to capture the part of Chance the Gardener in "Being There", arguably his greatest performance. As for this film, it's consistently funny in a scattershot way but doesn't reach the classic status of "A Shot in the Dark". What I particularly admired here is that Sellers defers some of his screen time to the talented Burt Kwouk as Cato much like he did for Herbert Lom's Dreyfus in "The Pink Panther Strikes Again". My advice to anybody unfamiliar with the Clouseau series is to watch them sequentially to enhance your enjoyment. August 31, 2007

Perfected Clouseau

Forget about the fact that this is one of the funniest, laugh out loud movies ever made for a moment. Take a close look at Peter Sellers in this film as the perfected character of Inspector Clouseau shines through. Far from the self-parodying, stale performances that many actors give when reviving roles for sequels, Seller's performance in this and the previous The Pink Panther Strikes Again (his last two Clouseau performances) are perfect and rank in the pantheon of all-time greatest comedic performances.

The Clouseau character is so perfected that practically every movement, every word spoken, elicits laughter. Prepare to crack up as Sellers (a Brit) portrays the bungling French chief inspector. With his goofy French accent, the self-proclaimed "master of disguises" gives us hilarious impersonations of (among others) a "Salty Sweedish Sea-dog," Toulouse Lautrec ("sorry, I'm a little short)" a peasant Chinaman, and an Italian mobster ("Mama mia, spaghettini Al Pacino"). The film is worth seeing for just those few moments, alone. But the hilarious plot yields us so much more.

More classic "battles" with sidekick Kato (with the obligatory damage to the downstairs apartment underneath Clouseau's), the conversion of Clouseau's apartment into a bordello, breaking and entering into the disco, the summary disposal of the vaunted assassin Chong (and the sound effects of his extended fall), and many other scenes leave you laughing for long after.

Although the classic dialog lines probably remain more relegated to cult classic status than, say, the classic lines from Seinfeld that have seeped into pop consciousness, one may still hear some oft repeated phrases from the loyal fan base of this classic: "It's green," "I've got a bit of a cold in the chest, you know," "The Pohhhp?", "Mr. and Mrs. Low Key," and of course "A very good month for the vintage, you know."

Bottom line is, whether you're a die-hard fan or not, this is one of the two Pink Panther movies that everyone must see. You don't need to see any prior films from the series to understand it. If you don't find it funny, there's a stick somewhere you need to find and move somewhere else. December 20, 2006

More reviews at Amazon.com ...