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Post by Dreyfus on Jun 27, 2006 18:35:30 GMT
The Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)  Cast:Peter Sellers as Chief Insp. Jacques Clouseau I think this was one of Sellers better performances as Closueau. It seemed that he was more relaxed in the role and was enjoying the charatcer. Herbert Lom as Chief Insp. Charles Dreyfus: It was nice to see Dreyfus leave the mental institution and join the police force again. Burt Kwouk as Cato Fong: Well this I think is the best film with Cato as he is more of a central character and they developed him and added him in more of the gags. Dyan Cannon as Simone Legree: Well she looked lovely. It would have been nice for her to return in Trail of the Pink panther.
Robert Webber as Philippe Douvier: He was a good villian. I like this character but feel they could have developed him more. Plot: This is my favourite of all the PP plots. It was without a doubt the funniest. I like the Balls characters and it was nice to know where Clouseau's disguises came from. I alos like how most of the characters thought Clouseau was dead throughout the film. Its basically a powerful businessman who tries to kill Clouseau. Music: Well I love the music in this film. The Hong Kong fireworks which is used in the Hong Kong scenes is fantastic. The title music was nto very special but still good. Overall: This is my favourite film of the series. It features Cato & Dreyfus as more important characters. The music is excellent. Its probably the funniest. My favourite parts of it are - When Cato's car driven by Clouseau is take by Claude Russo (transvestite criminal) and Clouseau is forced to put the womans clothing on. - The scenes where Cato steals the snack bike and is driving through the city. - The end of the film in the Fireworks factory. - When Closueau is hiding in Dreyfus's closet and says "Peekabeau" There are many more but these are a few that come to mind. My Personal Rating: 9/10 MOD EDIT: just corrected spelling of thread title...  |
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Post by Clouseau on Jun 28, 2006 2:38:46 GMT
good job, Dreyfus! (nice avatar, too, btw! ) i plan to add my own review when i get around to watching this one again soon, too... might be interesting to compare our reviews when i'm done, since this isn't really one of my favorites...  |
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Post by Clouseau on Jul 22, 2006 16:30:43 GMT
alright, time i got around to it...  Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the movies...Plot Notes - with the whole world believing Clouseau has been assassinated, the Inspector goes undercover to find his would-be murderers... the continual shift from one disguise to another, along with the recycled "lets assassinate Clouseau" theme indicates to me that perhaps Blake Edwards was running out of ideas (a thought which may be supported by the fact that Sellers was writing his own Panther script for the next installment, and was planning to it without Edwards' involvment)... still, the film had its share of good moments... things to watch for: Cato's Chinese Nookie Factory, Clouseau and Cato trying to break in the back door of the club, and Dreyfus' repeated run-ins with the "dead" Inspector Clouseau... unlike others, though, i wasn't too fond of the climax to this movie... Clouseau's Godfather disguise, the insuing chase scene, and the whole thing at the fireworks warehouse was just a bit too silly for me... but thankfully, the ending, with Clouseau's decoration and his date with Simone, was a little more like it... Cast Notes: - Peter Sellers - it has long been said that Sellers didn't particularly like the Clouseau character, and that he only did the Panther films in order to save money to make Being There... it has also been said that Sellers' health was failing in his later years, and his body and energy had deteriorated considerably... i'm not sure if either or both of these are factors or not, but for some reason, i seem to detect that Sellers was getting tired of Clouseau... i sensed it slightly in TPPSA, but in this film, it's even more evident, IMO... also, his voice seems higher (possibly a sign of his age?)... but despite any of this - weak, tired, aged or not - he still gives a top rate performance... there is really almost nothing to criticize in Sellers' delivery...
- Herbert Lom - although Lom's part is much smaller this time around than in TPPSA, i think he was funnier in this film than in that one... it's nice to see that someone of his stature would be willing to step down a bit in order to have his few truly hilarious moments and then let the others take over to do their thing, as well... if that makes sense...
- Burt Kwouk - as Dreyfus' role lessens, Cato's role seems to increase... it's nice to see him doing something other than just attacking Clouseau at every opportunity for a change... you also get a glipse this time of Cato's loyalty and admiration for the Inspector, which is refreshing...
- Dyan Cannon - as Douvier's lover, Simone (the third character in this series to bear that name!), Ms. Cannon does a decent enough job... i couldn't get over the curly hair, but she has a lovely smile, and her look and voice remind me a lot of Meg Ryan several years later in When Harry Met Sally... i wasn't crazy over her at the beginning of the film, but from the scene with Clouseau in her apartment onward, she really grew on me...
- Robert Webber - i can't criticize Webber's performance as Douvier one bit, but the thing that annoys me about him is that he seems too much to me like every villain from late-70s-to-mid-80s TV shows like Matlock... i don't know that that's really his fault, though... it's just the combination, i think, of his appearance and voice, and the style of tough, business man-type character...
Animated Titles - though they're perhaps not the funniest in the entire series, the titles for this film are pretty good... the beginning, with the Panther shooting the Inspector repeatedly, is classic stuff... from the part with the neon sign until the bit with the Panther's shadow puppets, it lags a little, but after that, it's at least decent... one thing i particularly like, though is how the music seems to work with it in a way it hadn't done for the past few films' titles... Music - like Webber's portrayal of Douvier (noted above), i thought the music in this film was a bit too run-of-the-mill... for the large part, it sounded very much like the music from every TV show in the late 70s to mid 80s... the one exception, once again, was with the music for the opening titles... the revamped version of the PP theme song brought something new to the series, which was nice, but again, it seems almost like a rip-off idea, as it's still inferior to the "Bond 77" revamped version of the James Bond theme song, which was released a year before this film... that's not to say that this new PP theme wasn't good - it was! - but it just felt like a recycled idea, which kinda ties back into the fears i mentioned in my opening statements, that the series really was starting to wind down as ideas began to run thin...  |
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Post by Dreyfus on Jul 22, 2006 21:13:06 GMT
We differ a bit on opinions of Sellers but I do see what you mean. I was wondering what you said about his voice too it sounds very diiferent compared to the previous films.
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Post by jscartoonfan on Dec 18, 2007 21:37:25 GMT
Is Simone Legree is Clouseau's wife, before she met the panther theif?
JSCARTOONFAN
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Post by Clouseau on Dec 19, 2007 0:35:16 GMT
Is Simone Legree is Clouseau's wife, before she met the panther theif? JSCARTOONFAN it's never let on that she is... if she is, then the films are definitely out of order! you should post some reviews of the films like me and Dreyfus, JS! |
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Post by tournier on Jan 28, 2008 6:35:45 GMT
I was disappointed with Revenge when it first came out. It is not bad at all, but in some ways seemed more like a TV production to me. The slapstick was not executed with great precision and action scenes seemed like they were over almost before they began (except for the great finale).
Webber did not seem at all menacing to me - I agree with the typical TV villain comment. Also, I thought the references to "The French Connection" were silly and made it sound like the screenwriters hadn't thought things out at all.
I found Simone pretty, but bland. I think they would have been better off getting an actress who'd have played her a little more slinky, as the role of the mob boss's mistress would suggest. Some of the romantic bits between Dyan and Sellers were painfully unfunny, IMO. Sellers seemed a little heavy to me, although he was wearing so many loony disguises in the film, it was hard to tell
It was nice to see more of Cato, although again it smacked a little of desperation on the writers' part (where they under the gun in completing this?). Dreyfus' bit giving the eulogy was just priceless. They not only stole that scene for Trail, but were also forced to swipe the 'Clouseau is dead' theme from this film, so there were obviously things worth stealing from the movie, at any rate
One thing that bugged me no end was the violation of continuity in bringing Dreyfus back from the dead (or at least, the invisible).
Sorry to be so negative, but to me, it seemed like a film that kept threatening to be great, but usually not getting there
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Post by panther67 on Aug 4, 2008 18:50:12 GMT
When I recently bought all the DVD in the last couple of weeks, this was the 1st one I watched. I don't recall if I had seen this one before, and I had with Return, Strikes, Shot, PP. After watching it, I thought is was good. I probably should rewatch it, as I have since recently watched all the other titles recently since that one, and sometimes they are starting the blend in my mind. But I think Revenge is my 3rd favorite. Strikes, Return, Revenge, being my top 3.
Carl
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Post by panther67 on Aug 5, 2008 18:10:45 GMT
I watched this again last night, and it is a good one. It has my favorite disguise, the Godfather. It also has the inflatable parrot. If I had to be critical of anything, I guess it's Simone. Her character was sometimes too corny. But overall, I think this is my 3rd favorite.
Carl
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