Pink Panther Strikes Again Cover Artwork
Superb comedy with Peter Sellers as one man show accompanied by an excessive Herbert Lom
After making life intolerable for clumsy Inspector Closeau (Peter Sellers) , former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfuss (overacting Herbert Lom) goes nutty and is interned in asylum . One time escaped from the mental asylum , the mentally ill Dreyfuss tries to destroy the world by means of a ray-laser . Besides , he hires a group of hit men to kill Jacques Closeau who's gone to England to investigate the abduction an eminent scientific forced to build a fantastic machine and being helped by British policemen (Colin Blakely , Leonard Rossiter).
This release is the fourth part of Closeau series and an enjoyable comedy starred by the great Peter Sellers as the inept and bungler Inspector of the French Surete . The movie gets entertaining and hilarious moments here and there . This slapstick contains funny scenes and never slowdown . Herbert Lom parodying his ¨Phantom of opera¨ personage is excellent . There appear as secondaries the usual series , such as Burt Kwouk as Cato , Grahame Stark and a gorgeous Lesley Anne Down who replaced Maud Adams . Omar Sharif , who had just played with director Blake Edwards on " The Tamarind Seed " has a brief cameo as an eastern murderer . Lively and atmospheric music by habitual Henry Mancini and magnificent opening and ending cartoon titles by Richard Williams . Colorful cinematography Harry Waxman , being mostly shot in Europe : Paris , France , Bavaria , Germany , Ireland and Shepperton Studios , Surrey , England . The film was well penned and directed , as always , by Blake Edwards . Several chuckles and gags , the result of which is one of the funniest from series along with ¨A shot in dark¨ , ¨Return of pink panther¨, and ¨Revenge of pink panther¨. The flick will appeal to pink panther series and Peter Sellers fans . This is arguably one of the best pink panther . Two thumbs up.
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The Genius Of Peter Sellers
The inimitable Peter Sellers strikes again as Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau, in this fourth installment of the classic `Pink Panther' series, `The Pink Panther Strikes Again,' directed by Blake Edwards. Given the fact that the assessment of comedy is intrinsically subjective, this film is arguably laugh for laugh and sight gag for sight gag the funniest of the five (followed closely by the second of the series, the hilarious farce, `A Shot In The Dark). In this one, former Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) is about to be released from the mental hospital-- in which he has resided since being driven crazy by Clouseau-- when on the very afternoon of his hearing he is visited by none other than Clouseau himself, who has come to speak on behalf of his former boss. Suffice to say that by the time Clouseau is through `helping,' he is driven from the premises by the relapsed, raving madman, Dreyfus. And it's only the beginning of the inept French Inspector's antics that, before it is over, will include a trip to the Ocktoberfest, encounters with a dozen hit-men from around the world, a beautiful Russian spy named Olga (Lesley-Anne Down), a surprise Egyptian spy (who will remain nameless) and a one-man assault on a castle. As Laurel and Hardy proved so many times before, for every action there is a reaction; a theorem of which proof is unequivocally provided here by the relationship between Sellers and Lom. This was the film in which Edwards and his stars not only further devised, but honed to perfection, their foolproof formula for laughs: After the `first wave' of hilarity provided by Sellers, it is followed up-- in just enough instances to be totally effective-- by Lom's reaction to 1.) Sellers directly (as in the first, classic scene at the mental hospital), or 2.) Lom's reaction to Seller's antics as they are related to him by a third party. It's a one-two punch that never fails and which, in effect, derives twice the fun from a single gag. And it's brilliant. But at the end of the day, it must be noted that there is one element above all else that accounts for the success of this film, and that, of course, is the Man himself, Peter Sellers. Sellers must be regarded as-- if not `the,' then at least one of the-- funniest actors ever to grace the silver screen. There was no end to the ways he could make you laugh; from the subtlest expression-- an eye averted or perhaps the slight raising of an eyebrow-- to the broadest slapstick, it was all within his personal domain, and he was the Master. Physically, practically all he had to do to get a laugh was show up; consider the scene in which he arrives at the hospital to visit Dreyfus: As he saunters across the lawn of the vast grounds surrounding the buildings, a croquet mallet and ball lying to one side catches his eye; there is just the slightest hesitation in his step, the subtlest change of expression in his eyes and the merest inclination of the head. And there, in that briefest of moments upon the screen, you know-- beyond the shadow of a doubt-- what is about to transpire. And you're right; a moment later Clouseau has the mallet in his hand and his foot on the ball, and even as it's happening-- just as you knew it would in that split second before it did-- he has you on the floor laughing. That was the gift-- and the genius-- of Peter Sellers. Was every film he made a classic? A great film? Of course not; but you would be hard put to find a single performance of his, even in a bad film (Like 1970's `There's A Girl In My Soup'), that did not embody that unique spark that defined him. It was certainly alive in his portrayal of Clouseau (possibly the definitive Seller's character), and in retrospect, what a shame it seems that there were only five `Panther' movies ever made. But so it is, and shall ever be. The supporting cast includes Burt Kwouk (as the ever faithful and attacking manservant, Cato), Andre Maranne (Francois), Colin Blakely (Alec Drummond), Leonard Rossiter (Inspector Quinlan), Richard Vernon (Dr. Fassbender), Briony McRoberts (Margo) and Michael Robbins (Jarvis). A funny movie that showcases one of Cinema's truly unique and funny actors, `The Pink Panther Strikes Again' is a side-splitting, fun movie you can watch over and over and never grow tired of. The best of the series, it stands as a glowing tribute to the comedic genius of Peter Sellers. I rate this one 10/10.
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"The maddest of them all"
This was the fourth movie in the Pink Panther franchise and, despite the title, the titular diamond that was the namesake of the original and The Return of… has nothing to do with this entry. By now, Pink Panther had come to mean not gimmick for the sake of a comedy plot, but the world of the wonderfully inept Inspector Clouseau, and a vibrant brand of latter-day screen slapstick.
One of the most consistently brilliant elements of the earlier pictures was Clouseau's relationship with the increasingly demented Dreyfuss. For The Pink Panther Strikes Again, this relationship becomes the central premise of the whole movie. As such the scope is there for more-or-less continuous comedy with very little else to complicate it. Apart from, that is, a James Bond spoof slant, with Dreyfuss taking on the role of the eccentric super villain. This in turn allows for some large-scale actiony gags, reminiscent of the wilder escapades of silent comics Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. Peter Sellers's stunt double Joe Dunne received a lot of work here.
This also allows for a greater part to be taken in comic staging by director Blake Edwards. A Shot in the Dark was nearly all Sellers, and that was very good in its way, but for Strikes Again we really get to see Edwards's outsize and somewhat surreal comic creations at their most unbridled, from the perfectly-timed three way fight between Clouseau, Cato and Dreyfuss to Clouseau's bungled attempts to get into Dreyfuss's castle. But Edwards still has a way with the smaller comedy confection, as usual his trademark tactic being to make almost everything invisible to the audience, showing just enough to make a gag work. For example, there is a very funny set-up in a public toilet where we only see the feet at the bottom of the cubicles.
There's a lot of verbal comedy too in the Blake Edwards/Frank Waldman screenplay, which is of a middling quality and gets a little tiresome at times. But as we see for example in the scene where Sellers interrogates the professor's house staff, Sellers and Edwards have brilliant timing in punctuating a talky scene with physical gags. Occasionally the humour gets just a little too silly, and there are a lot of clich̩s Рsuch as the "that is not my dog" line, which I'm sure predates this movie, and the stepping-on-a-rake gag, which predates cinema.
But perhaps this latter is a deliberate tribute to the staples of slapstick. It becomes apparent, as Clouseau inadvertently survives numerous assassination attempts, that he succeeds purely by virtue of the fact that he is a slapstick hero and a wake of chaos must follow him wherever he goes. It is a kind of meta-comedy. And herein lies one of the slightly disappointing things about this movie. Often Clouseau is saved, not directly by his incompetence, but by sheer luck. When a giant pretzel stops him getting skewered by a killer disguised as a buxom wench, it is funny, but it is not really a Clouseau gag. It seems, with Sellers's lessening interest in the franchise (not to mention the heart condition which kept the aforementioned Mr Dunne employed), that perhaps the character around whom the whole thing revolved was beginning to be watered down.
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The best of the Pink Panther movies still holds up over 40 years later!
Warning: Spoilers
Yes, Blake Edwards keeps repeating the same gag over and over. How many times do former Chief Inspector Dreyfus and the current Chief Inspector Clouseau have to fall into the water? In Dreyfus's case, it's a duck pond, and in Clouseau's case, it's a castle moat, but I count at least eight in this movie. In the end of "Return of the Pink Panther", the audience saw Dreyfus in a mental institution which is where he is preparing for a hearing to be released from here, every day in every way "feeling better and better". It's obvious that in a world without Clouseau, Dreyfus would be a completely sane man, but like that one co-worker nobody can stand (but can't get rid of), Clouseau is the Christmas Fruit Cake that keeps coming and coming every year. Clouseau makes the mistake of coming to see Dreyfus on the day of his hearing and makes the matters worse, driving Dreyfus back over the cuckoo's nest and more determined than ever to kill Clouseau, and destroy the world in the process if he has to!
References to Lom's earlier roles as Napoleon and the Phantom of the Opera are made here as part of a loving tribute, and as a result, Lom pretty much ends up stealing the film, reminding me of one of those delicious old movie serial villains you hiss at but somehow admire for their raw determination to reach an evil goal. There's no pink panther diamond here, only the visual of the pink panther in the opening and closing credits haunting Clouseau through some very clever movie moments, one having Mr. Pink in Julie Andrews' Maria Von Trapp on the hillside postulant dress. Andrews makes a brief vocal appearance, having recorded "Until You Love Me" and seeing her voice played back at a different scene for the drag bar sequence with Michael Robbins in hideous drag lip-sinking to the record as he makes his moves on Sellers. It's a rare 70's glimpse into a gay establishment, filled with stereotypes yet not offensively done. The yellow face references to Cato (Burt Kwouk) remain and might draw some awkwardness, but it's part of the period, and who can deny the hysterical antics between Clouseau and his hysterically funny, if violent, valet?
The scenes at the Oktoberfest come off very well too, with a German song that sounds like "Booby Bundy" playing in the background as a large hitman in drag with daggers in his falsies stalks Sellers. Omar Sharif makes a brief cameo as the Egyptian hit man and is very funny, although I found Lesley-Anne Down's appearances as the sexy Russian spy distracting and the one element that slows down the movie to a hault. The castle sequences are hysterical, especially the famous bit with aged hotel clerk Harold Berens, Sellers in disguise as a dentist, and Lom's attempts at torturing one of his kidnapping victims. Some audiences today might find the erasing of the United Nations building a little too close to the destruction of the World Trade Center 25 years after this was made, but representations of some political figures of this time (Gerald Ford, Henry Kissinger) are very funny. This is a goof-ball picture if there ever was one, and one of the best comedies of the 1970's that stands out from the other weaker entries in the series. Edwards went all out with this one, and even if some of the gags just seem desperate, there's a charm to them that can't be denied.
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More death and destruction at the hands of Inspector Clouseau
"The Pink Panther Strikes Again" is an apt title for this hilarious 1976 film starring Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom. In this story, Dreyfus, driven mad by Clouseau, escapes from the mental asylum. Determined to destroy Clouseau once and for all, he kidnaps the inventor of a Doomsday device along with his daughter. This machine makes buildings disappear without a trace, and can do the same to people and whole countries. The world has 7 days to kill Clouseau or Dreyfus, who has already used it to destroy the United Nations in a dazzling display of power, will turn it on the world. When the inventor says something about using it on Clouseau, Drefus replies that to Clouseau, this doomsday machine would be as effective as a water pistol. Yes, it's true, the man is a menace with an uncanny way of killing and trashing anything around him and walking out unscathed.
There are too many funny bits to go into, but Clouseau trying on his hunchback disguise and overinflating it so that he floats outside is great; Clouseau attempting to get into the castle is wonderful; there's the drag club scene, the scenes with Olga (Lesley-Anne Down) - well, the movie will keep you laughing. And, if you're like me, it's just what the doctor ordered.
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Hilarity and good fun
Inspector Clouseau...Commissioner Dreyfuss...Gerald Ford. What don't you have in this movie?
Funny film to watch again and again. The chemistry is perfect between Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom. There are so many jokes and laughs throughout, I usually pick up something new after each viewing, especially Clouseau's accent. The castle scene with the dentist visit has got to be one of the funniest moments recorded on film. You'd swear there really was nitrous oxide in the room. I always get a chuckle from the apartment scene in the start. I'd never knew how funny the use of slow motion could be. Timing of the jokes are crazier than a set of "parallels". Add Mancini's music which seems to fit each scene quite nicely, thank you.
Probably my favorite of the Pink Panther movies (next to A Shot in the Dark), you have to love Peter Seller's portrayal of the "hit and miss" wonder named Clouseau. Plus, Lesley Anne Down looks great as Olga and makes me appreciate a nice fur coat. Definitely a keeper.
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Hilarious from start to finish
Without a shadow of a doubt this was my favourite film as a child, I would watch it over and over again. Sometimes things can be remembered with rose tinted glasses, not in this case. Having not seen it for a while I watched it, and belly laughed the whole way through. I hadn't realised how much it felt like a Bond spoof, with our calamitous detective in the Bond role and Dreyfus the crazed villain.
The opening scenes are insanely funny, and coupled with that cheerful music, the whole thing starts off in style. The scenes where Clouseau interviews the staff are my favourites, with Shalk the Gardner, Mrs Leverlilly etc, incredibly funny.
So many stars, even a small appearance from the late great Omar Sharif. Michael Robbins is fabulous as the butler and transvestite singer. Peter Sellers of course steals the show, legendary of course, but only he could play the part.
Pure magic from start to finish.
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Kato! I'm on the Phone!!!
Oh my lord...I never laughed as hard as I did when I first saw this one....What a scream. A terrifically funny flick indeed. Where do you begin? The plunger arrow on Lom's forehead-'Kill! Kill! Kill!', the fast and furious fight with Kato, complete with floating Hunchback of Notre Dame sequence and air-hose escape scene...oh my God....Love the laughing gas scene with Clouseau and Lom...oh that one is priceless.
Lesley Anne Down as a fur coat and little else garbed Russian Spy is worth a watch too. I liked her then, I do now.
Essentially you can't go wrong with this one; it's the best in the series and makes me laugh very, very hard.
And yeah, 'Ford and Kissinger' are great too..
***1/2 outta **** oh this one is a scream
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The best one out of the series.
This is just one of those movies that, no matter how many times I've watched it, is an hilarious comedy that genuinely makes me laugh.
What I often love about Blake Edwards' comedies is his almost cartoon like approach of it. This is like a life action road runner/Wile E. Coyote movie. Along with "The Great Race" this is perhaps his most cartoon like comedy. The slapstick and timing of it in this movie is amazing and it of course also obviously work out due to the comical brilliance of Peter Sellers.
Out of all the Pink Panther movies this is the one with the most laughs and classic comical moments in it. Great moments such as the slow motion fight between Clouseau & Cato (it's the best Clouseau vs. Cato fights out of the whole series), in which Dreyfus also somehow gets involved, the Oktoberfest sequence, the questioning of the staff, Clouseau trying to enter the château, Clouseau disguised as a dentist and I'm sure I'm forgetting many more great sequences. It are all moments that just bound to make you laugh, even if you really don't want to.
For the comedy and the story itself is actually quite lame and predictable. You can often see things coming from miles away but this seriously doesn't make it any less funny to watch. Perhaps its even somehow part of the reason why it works out so incredibly hilarious. It's obvious that Blade Edwards and Peter Sellers both were lovers and inspired by the slapstick comedies of the '20's and early '30's. This movie features the same type of comical approach but not in an old fashioned way. The Clouseau character is still 'modern' and the approach original, even if it all has done somewhere else before.
Of course most credit goes to Peter Sellers. He was a brilliant comedian who never tried to be funny but simply just was funny. The way he handles all of the comedy within this movie is just brilliant. It are not just the antics but also the accent and other small subtle things that made him great and turned Chief Insp. Jacques Clouseau into an absolute classic comedy character. Even if you've never seen a Pink Panther movie you still know who Jacques Clouseau is.
But also the other actors deserve credit. Especially Herbert Lom, who just as Sellers doesn't try to be funny and instead plays a mean hateful character, who at the same time is of course totally hilarious. He is especially great in the scenes with Sellers, the two of them had some great interaction and chemistry together.
If you've never seen a Pink Panther movie and you have to see just one, be sure to watch this one. It's the absolute best and most hilarious one!
9/10
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Another funny farce.
This Pink Panther film ranks as one of the best there ever was... The plot was simple, Chief Inspector Dreyfuss (who is becoming a psycho since A Shot in The Dark), escapes from the mental institute and plan to kill Inspector Clouseau (which is by far one of the best comedy characters of all time). He then kidnaps a professor of high rank and builds a Doomsday device to kill off the world so that Clouseau is gone. Peter Sellers is at his best still as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, getting into and out of trouble with hilarious concepts and quotes. Dreyfuss is very funny and shows his psychotic personality when he becomes an even more psychotic person. Best scene is when Clouseau and his manservant Kato, wreck Clouseau's apartment as they usually do. THIS is comedy at it's finest along with A Shot in The Dark.
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Clouseau and Cato perform
Of the Pink Panther series of films, this is the best with the possible exception of the original. Clouseau and Cato outdo themselves in the hide and seek game they play in each film. In this one however they have learnt from the mishaps in previous films and set the tone for a truly hilarious turning of events. The visit to the Oktoberfest takes a real comic view of the Cold War but Clouseau's inspection of the Fassbender house is even better. Throughout the film the storyline twists and turns and together with the background tunes combine terrifically -- see Sellers assault on Mondschein castle! The lunatic Dreyfuss is at his craziest from start to finish, how did he get his eye to twitch so much? The Inspector's love interest played by the very sexy Lesley Ann Down adds a further dimension to the plot with James Bond overtones. A film you can watch again and again.
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A fabulous farce.
By rights this should have been just another moderately amusing pink panther film. Instead "The Pink Panther Strikes again" is an uproariously funny film that is not only the best in the series but one of the funniest comedies of all time.
As usual the main charactor is Klutzy French inspector Jacquez Clouseau. In this outing Clouseau has been promoted to chief inspector thanks mostly due to that fact his sheer idioicy has driven his former boss Charles Dreyfus insane.
After spending three years in an asylum, Dreyfus seemingly has overcome his Clouseau complex. However on the day the former chief inspector is to be released his old 'friend' Clouseau pays him a pratfall laden visit. Within minutes Clouseau's bumbling antics undo three years of intense psycho therapy and Dreyfus flies into a murderous rage.
His release revoked, Dreyfus is committed for life but refuses to except his fate. He escapses with one objective in mind, kill Clouseau. But the insideous plotting of a determined madman is nothng compared to blind luck and Clouseau none to gracefully eludes every attempt on his life.
Undaunted, the lunatic Dreyfus embarks on his most sinister scheme to date. A plot designed to force the governments of the world to use their top assassins to destroy Clouseau once and for all.
Peter Sellars is priceless as Clouseau. Herbert Lom is nearly as good as straightman supreme Charles Dreyfus. Still much of the success for the film belong to producer Blake Edwards who oversaw nearly every aspect of this brillant farce.
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My favorite Panther
I think "Strikes Again" is the most accomplished of the series.
Clouseau's attempts to enter the castle are just impossible to describe: so hilarious I still laugh whenever I recall the scenes. Not to mention the short conversations with the hotel owner (including the now classic "That is not my dog"), and many many others. This movie's probably the best Peter Seller performance, I think. This guy was such a genius: his accent, his acting and his expressions are all unique and still alive.
I can't understand why anyone would want to make new Pink Panther movies now that Peter Sellers is gone.
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One of the better "Panther" escapades...
The Pink Panther Strikes Again **** / *****
Dir: Blake Edwards; Starring: Peter Sellers
Funny gazillionth sequel (not literally!) sees Chief Inspector Clouseau (Sellers in his iconic role) being chased down by an escaped madman with nervous ticks. Fun from start to finish, and I actually prefer it to the original "Pink Panther" film. It's zanier, fresher, and seems more like a wild spoof in the vein of "Austin Powers" rather than an outdated, unfunny bore like (I find) the first film.
Highlight: Clouseau trying out the "Hunchback" costume and inflating himself into the air. This was used again in one of the worst films of 2002, "The Master of Disguise," but this is inarguably much better.
**** / *****
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Nowhere to be found
The first sequel to the Pink Panther did not even have the Panther name in the title. Now this one does (and the one before it "Return of the Pink Panther", which I have yet to re-watch again and unfortunately was not in the box set I own, for some unknown reason) and other sequels do to. And spin offs and remakes (I love Steve Martin, but Peter Sellers is one of a kind in this role) and even short animated movies/shows.
But as this shows, you have to have Peter Sellers in the movie. I will not do comparisons or anything, go ahead do them yourself, but Sellers is really glued to the Clouseau role in as I think a very good way. Now comedy lies in the eye of the beholder, so this going off the rails and having all those people trying to kill off Clouseau may feel annoying to some. Especially his stroke of luck (or is it all planned and he is way more intelligent than we think of him). Physical comedy and more lead to a really great sequel. The things we had in the Shot the Dark really grow here and it is a continuation of the story we began there. With a rivalry to really end all rivalries ... sort of. Great comedy, great acting and a welcome addition to the series.
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Pretty fair.
This fifth "Pink Panther" entry is a practically plotless collection of gags. Such comedies are always inevitably uneven, and this one is no exception. It contains at least one scene than never fails to bring tears of laughter to my eyes (the interrogation at the house of the kidnapped scientist, with Sellers at his best) and a wonderful animated title sequence, and it remains generally amusing throughout. But it does have its share of lulls, too, and some overly predictable sight gags that aren't likely to impress even the kids. Sometimes this is a very funny film, but it misses the mark now and then, as well.
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But that's a priceless Steinway!...Not any more!
For my money, The Pink Panther Strike Again is the funniest of all the Pink Panther movies.
Peter Sellers is back as the clueless Inspector Clouseau. Herbert Lom is hysterical as Chief Inspector Dreyfus who has finally gone mad and kidnaps a scientist in order to construct a death ray.
Clouseau's slow motion kung fu battle with Cato rates as one of the funniest slap stick bits of the 1970s. There are good comedy performances all around, and a cameo from Omar Sharif as the Egyptian assassin. The cross dressing butler, Jarvis, does a great job with "Until You Love Me," (voiced by Julie Andrews, who was married to Blake Edwards at the time).
There hasn't been comedy like this in years. Peter Sellers makes the others look second rate by comparison.
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One of the funniest Pink Panther films - if slightly uneven
Warning: Spoilers
One of the funniest films in the "Pink Panther" series: the best parts (the Poirot-style interrogation, Clouseau's attempts to enter the castle, the laughing gas, "does your dog bite?", "it was hard in the Resistance but not as hard as it is now", etc.) are hilarious, there is considerable cleverness in many of the elaborately staged gags, and although there are dry stretches, they are fewer than in the other series entries. Peter Sellers is in good form, and Herbert Lom is every bit his equal in laugh-getting. The cinephilic animated credits sequence is wonderful. *** out of 4.
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One of the better 'Panther' outings.
My Take: Sellers is still strong in this sillier, but just as hilarious, offering.
This is one of my favorite entries in the "Pink Panther" series of films. Peter Sellers is always in his most hilarious as clumsy Inspector Clouseau. Herbert Lom, Lesley Ann-Down and Burt Kwouk give superb supporting roles. And Blake Edwards makes everything hilarious as it should. This one ranks one of the best. It features one of Clouseau's clumsiest, the wonderfully hilarious karate sequence between Cato and Clouseau and a wonderfully exhibited comedy plot, about Clouseau's former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfuss cracking up and finds a sinister way to find Clouseau and uses a large laser to threaten the world to give away Clouseau. Though not A SHOT IN THE DARK, this is one of the funnier outings in the entertaining, if totally uneven PINK PANTHER series.
Rating: ***1/2 out of 5.
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Probably The Best In The Series
THE PINK PANTHER movies ? Started off well but then soon outlived their welcome in my opinion , I mean a French policeman with a silly accent , just how much milage can you get out of that ? But this 1976 offering is probably the best in the series simply down to the fact the best laughs are darkly comical rather than slapstick , an early example with Clouseau asking " How ? " to be followed a couple of minutes by a laugh out loud scene featuring a couple of old ladies . There's also a very funny sub plot of the world's best assassins trying to bump off Clouseau which includes several funny scenes . I don't feel any guilty at laughing at people dying in this movie
There are some weaker points like an overlong scene where Inspector Quinlan gives a shocked look which is embarrassing rather than amusing , and as some of the other people on this page has mentioned the movie does feel rather episodic at some points but I have no hesitation in saying this is Blake Edwards funniest comedy
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Funniest of them all
My favorite of the Panther series. The scene where Clouseau interrogates the staff is the funniest piece of comedy ever.
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and again and again...
Although this one doesn't actually feature the famous diamond, it's still a hoot, just for Insp. Jacques Clouseau's (Peter Sellers) gaffes. This time, former Commissioner Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) escapes from a mental institution - you may recall that he went crazy in the previous installment - and kidnaps a scientist to build a doomsday device. His demand: the world must kill Clouseau or perish.
Of course, this is all an excuse to have Clouseau make a mess everywhere that he goes. Whether it's his apartment, the piano, or anything else, you can always count on this guy to cause a series of mishaps. And of course, there's always Cato (Burt Kwouk) waiting to attack. And that final sequence was great (hint: think of a certain shark-related movie). All in all, a comedy classic. It's a shame to have to learn that Peter Sellers was such a jerk in real life.
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Highlight of the series
Warning: Spoilers
THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN really shouldn't be all that good, given that the series had been running for a long time by this point and there was nothing new to add to already well-established characters. However, it turns out to be a real delight and a highlight of the series so far, and that's down to the humour, which is funnier and more ferocious than ever. This is a pure slapstick delight, with Clouseau even dumber than before and undergoing continued and continuous falls, hazards, fights and generally amusing behaviour. Herbert Lom is the perfect foil for our hapless hero, while wide-ranging plot covers plenty of ground, the highlight being the sequences in which Clouseau is stalked by assassins even more accident-prone than he is.
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So much better than the new one
The Pink Panther Srikes Again is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. The Pink Panther 2006 was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Rent Strikes Again instead and enjoy humor that is not forced or faked. It's so brilliant mostly because of Peter Sellers, his believable and not forced delivery. I laughed until I cried. Herbert Lom was also perfection in this movie. Who could ever forget that crazy laugh? I miss Kato in the new versions also. When the French policeman came on as a poor Kato substitute in the 2006 film I was embarrassed for him. How painful the bad accents and bad acting must have been to endure. Beyonce was the worst. I give this movie 10 stars not only because it is the funniest thing I have ever seen, but because it is so much better than the Steve Martin version. Strikes Again is a classic. 2006 Panther is a disgrace.
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A little too weird
This movie is perhaps a little too weird in that it seems to take the characters from the Pink Panther movies way off the deep end. And while this makes for a very funny movie on the surface, down deep it shows that the series is sputtering a bit. Funny yes, but kind of dumb, too.
Chief Inspector Dreyfus takes center stage in this film as HE is the villain! After years of putting up with Clouseau's imbecility and somehow managing to avoid being killed by Dreyfus, the Chief Inspector has a plan to construct a doomsday weapon and force the rest of the world to kill Clouseau for him! This is very funny and the film abounds with cute scenes--it just is perhaps TOO odd and the film doesn't quite jell. A nice try, though.
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Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075066/reviews