Red-Barracuda
Like many film series before it, the 'Pink Panther' series adopted the approach of going for greater levels of absurdity as it went on. To this end The Pink Panther Strikes Again is by far the most cartoon-like in the series up to this point. It is notable in giving Herbert Lom his most prominent role in the series and he uses the opportunity to chew up the scenery at every given moment. His Chief Inspector Dreyfuss escapes from the insane asylum that he was incarcerated in and transforms into a master criminal who kidnaps a scientist and forces him to make him a death ray which he uses to hold the world to ransom. His demand? Clouseau of course. This results in the inspector being hunted down by an assortment of international assassins.This is the first film in this series where the 'Pink Panther' name has been used in the title with no relevance beyond familiarity. The Pink Panther jewel does not feature at all, although we do get the animated character in more entertaining credit sequence shenanigans. But like is always the case in this series, Peter Sellers is the star attraction as the bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau. His comedy routines do once more rely a lot on disguises and slapstick, with much of his physical comedy in particular being excellent. The interrogation scene in the country manor, especially, being a sequence of comic excellence. As a whole though, this one was probably a slight step down from the previous entry The Revenge of the Pink Panther (1975). The more exaggerated tone diluted the humour slightly for me, making it just a little too absurd for my preference. Still, there remains a good amount of amusing comedy here and Sellers is very good again. Also, of note was an appearance of Lesley-Anne Down as a slinky Russian hitwoman, bringing a nice dose of sensuality to proceedings.
gridoon2018
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.
irishm
We thought this was hilarious when it was run endlessly on HBO in the early 1980's, and we quoted it all the time: "Does your deug baht?" "Do you have a reum?". I was looking forward to seeing it again recently, but thought it fell rather flat when I finally did. It has its moments, and Herbert Lom is entertaining as "the lunatic Dreyfus", but it's not the gem I remember. (How's this for a line I bet they wish they could take back in a screwball comedy: on the topic of the disintegration of the UN, Dreyfus screams, "I want a crater! Wreckage! Twisted metal! Something the world will never forget!" In another couple decades the Twin Towers would fill that request for real.) The end picks up a little bit after a sagging middle (I thought that bedroom ambush between Clouseau and Cato would never end), so it's worth hanging on to get to the finale which has some clever stuff in it. Not as good as I remember it, though.
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.
AD
