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Post by Clouseau on Jul 1, 2006 18:56:59 GMT
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)Why are the world's chief assassins after Inspector Clouseau? Why not? Everybody else is.Plot Notes - taking a step further into the nonsensical, Former Chief Inspector Dreyfus breaks out of his mental asylum, and after a failed attempt to kill Clouseau himself, blackmails the world into sending its top assassins after him! at times, this one feels a bit like a kooky version of a James Bond film, but it works... it drags a bit at times, but the bulk of it's still mostly enjoyable... Cast Notes: - Peter Sellers - Sellers' age seems to be showing a bit more this time around, but he's still at the top of his game... highlights include his visit to Prof. Fasbender's house, his clueless avoidance of 27 assassins (and his unwitting seduction of another!), his attempts to gain entrance to Dreyfus' castle, and his forray into dentistry...
- Herbert Lom - Lom's star really gets to shine in this film... we finally get to see the full reprecussions of Dreyfus' insanity (pay particular attention to way he tortures Prof. Fasbender's daughter!), as he transforms from a respectable Former Chief Inspector trying to clear his name and resume his title into a megalomaniacal, blackmailing, criminal mastermind whose only ambition is to get rid of Inspector Clouseau... definitely Lom at his best!
- Lesley-Anne Down - in the role that Maud Adams turned down, as Olga, the Russian assassin who falls in love with Inspector Clouseau after making love to the wrong man, the beautiful Lesley-Anne Down has some of my favorite scenes in the movie... while i'm not sure just how difficult her role was, acting-wise, she was an inspired choice, and reiterates that being the second pick is not necessarily a bad thing (Peter Sellers, afterall, was originally the 2nd pick for Clouseau, behind Peter Ustinov)...
Animated Titles - though the segment doesn't seem to have anything to do with the rest of the movie this time around, this is perhaps my favorite title sequence of the series... the Inspector tries to catch the Pink Panther in a movie theater, and the Panther has a little fun impersonating characters from his favorite movies... it's a simple idea, but it works wonderfully with the adjusted version of Mancini's PP theme song... Music - as stated above, i think the adjusted version of Mancini's PP theme, as used in the title sequence, is fantastic... that said, i think the rest of the film's music is rather uninspired... i suppose the main recurring theme is somewhat catchy, but the rest of the score is rather unremarkable, and then the song sung by Michael Robbins - though it serves its purpose, i suppose - is just hideous! thankfully, the use of "Come to Me" and the Jaws spoof at the end were both funny and appropriate... Special Note - i thought it was amusing/funny that whenever Dreyfus' "Doomsday Machine" zapped buildings, they turned pink immediately prior to their disappearance... ;D
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Post by tournier on Jan 28, 2008 8:13:03 GMT
I thought the aura of strangeness present throughout this movie elevated it to a step above most of the Panther films.
The script was inspired, and there are many hilarous parts throughout the plot. The interrogation of the staff scene was perfect. The actors surrounding Sellers were mostly top-notch, and Sellers was in top form.
There's a few cases where the production budget let the script down, but overall this was one of the best Panther films for my money.
"Does youah duoog bahhyt?"
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Post by Dreyfus on Jan 28, 2008 17:06:30 GMT
Yes TPPSA was certainly the strangest PP movie, in the others you never see Dreyfus crazy enough to build a doomsday machine
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Post by georgelytton on Jun 30, 2008 15:44:47 GMT
I think making Dreyfus the all-out terrorist villain was a brilliant idea that gave this film the edge the other PANTHERS ever since lacked. A villain with a history with Clouseau, and a great character while at that.
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Post by panther67 on Aug 4, 2008 17:49:13 GMT
As it is right now, this is my favorite PP film. Everything was just right, and it couldn't be topped. Revenge was good, but could not compete with Strikes. Lom is great as always. The Sellers/Lom team really is the formula for these films, I think.
Carl
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Post by crimsonking on Apr 8, 2013 0:03:22 GMT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ok, here's the lowdown on the deleted-Strike Again-scenes from Trail:
1) the Balls sequence w/Harvey Korman was originally filmed for "Strikes again", but was deleted.....i actually prefer Korman to Graham Stark, because he seems to have more of a dignified, calm, arrogant, outgoing, even more "French" presence that Stark doesn't deliver in Revenge.....also, the short scene from Revenge at Balls' seemed rushed, obviously the writers trimmed the dialogue down considerably.
2) the scene in the office w/the fire was also from Strikes, and the interesting thing here is that it was originally shot as a reflection on Tournier the bank robber, and Edwards inserted a quick new shot of a newspaper headlining the theft of the diamond, INSTEAD of a headline showing that Tournier had escaped....also, when the Commissioner come in and starts talking, his lines were changed and dubbed in to say "theft of the pink panther" instead of something about the bank robber, which was original dialogue.
3) the scene with the rice and the elevator is also lifted directly from Strikes...only a longer version.....i wish that they had kept that long version, because it is funnier, esp. when he starts singing "Dancing in the Rice"!
4) the scene with the "pup-out" lighter was also from Strikes, and Edwards dubbed in some dialogue with Francois saying "Does Sir Charles KNOW you are coming?", which was taped on audio in 1982 and inserted into the old footage (note that we cannot SEE Francois' face when he says this!).
5) the airplane scene is lifted entirely from the "original" Strikes, since at the end we see Drummond and his assistant (who resembles Micky Dolenz from the Monkees, BTW)....also, in the original trailer for that movie they show Clouseau with the turban-bandage on at the runway-tarmac.
6) the scene with the phone operator-hotel manager is ALSO from Strikes, since this occurs right before Clouseau meets the detectives at Scotland Yard.
7) now, the LAST scene with Sellars, when he gets into the wrong taxicab, should also be from Strikes, as he is leaving for the Fassbender estate.
hope this clears things up!
Sincerely, Crimson_King
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