sol- Radically different from the previous three 'Pink Panther' movies, this popular fourth entry takes the story to absurdist extremes with a now completely mad Chief Inspector Dreyfus escaping from an insane asylum and holding the whole world hostage with a doomsday device, demanding Clouseau's life. The extra screen time that Herbert Lom gets as a result of this plot deflection is welcome given that he was one of the main highlights of the previous two 'Pink Panther' films. The multiple failed attempts by international assassins to be the successful one to kill Clouseau also leads to several funny sequences, the best of which involves some madness in the restrooms at Oktoberfest, which of course Clouseau is completely oblivious to. While his parodying of a megalomaniacal Bond villain is spot-on, something is definitely lost though by having Lom insane from the get-go as there is no delicious gradual descent into madness as in the two earlier films. The film also unsteadily walks a tightrope between absurdist lunacy and simple inane silliness and a number of gags backfire as a result of the filmmakers pushing things too far (the climax in particular is very over-the- top). And yet, for all its detriments, 'Strikes Again' is a hard film not to warm to since the filmmakers show such obvious passion for doing something different with series and as Lom proves himself to be worthy of every extra percentage of screen time that he is given. It is probably a film that is worth giving a spin even if one disliked the first three films -- that's how different it is.

John austin 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.

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.

Petri Pelkonen Former Chief Inspector Dreyfus is totally crazy and wants to kill Inspector Jacques Clouseau.He escapes from the psychiatric hospital and comes up with an evil plan.He forces a nuclear physicist professor to build a doomsday weapon.Can Clouseau escape Dreyfus' deadly plan? Or will he die of his own clumsiness? That, and much more you will find out in The Pink Panther Strikes Again.Blake Edwards, who we sadly lost at 88 last December, is the director of the movie, naturally.It's from 1976 and it's the fifth film in the series.Peter Sellers is once again on a roll as Clouseau, despite the fact he was in ill health and not the easiest person to work with.You've got to love Herbert Lom as Dreyfus with his eye twitching.Colin Blakely is great as Alec Drummond.Leonard Rossiter is excellent as Superintendent Quinlan.Lesley-Anne Down is quite sexy as Olga Bariosova.Burt Kwouk is fantastic as the attacking manservant Cato.Richard Vernon and Briony McRoberts are very good as Dr Hugo Fassbender and his daughter Margo.Dick Crockett is superb as The President, who looks a lot like Gerald Ford.Same thing with Byron Kane, whose Secretary of State character looks a lot like Henry Kissinger.Michael Robbins gives a great performance as Ainsley Jarvis.Julie Andrews is heard as "his" singing voice.Omar Sharif gives a brief but memorable performance as Egyptian Assansin.Henry Mancini's brilliant tunes can be heard there, as in all the Pink Panther movies.The movie is packed with hilarious stuff.When you see Sellers falling down the stairs off of the parallel bars, you have no choice but to laugh.Or his numerous attempts to get across the moat.And his disguises are very funny.Like him floating around in his hunchback disguise.Or the dentist, and you laugh with Sellers and Lom after they've had some laughing gas.Well, you don't need any laughing gas.This movie will make you laugh in any case.