The Pink Panther Strikes Again - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

If there’s one thing that’s true about The Pink Panther films is that for the core five films, it’s damned difficult to rank them. Humor is subjective, after all, and what may be funny as hell in one film might only give you a chuckle in the next. What might have a tight plot in one film to anchor the hilarity goes completely off the rails into absolute absurdity in the sequel. Thus, I come to my very close second-favorite film in the series, The Pink Panther Strikes Again. Now it might get confusing to say that I think this film is the funniest of the series, while also stating that A Shot in the Dark is the best film of the series. It’s a split hair, but I think that the witty plot prowess that Edwards and Blatty brought to A Shot in the Dark as a whodunit outweighs the bonkers, madcap mania that Edwards and his cowriter Frank Waldman delivered for The Pink Panther Strikes Again. Different flavors of comedic storytelling all within one franchise.

Edwards had hoped to make this film an epic near-three-hour comedy similar to what he did with The Great Race (studio heads wouldn’t budge and pushed for numerous edits; cut footage that’d later be used to glue the haphazardly awful Trail of the Pink Panther together). I can see where Edwards was going with the epic scale, but the tighter edit is what makes this work. As it springs from one ridiculous setup to the next, it leavs you with little time to breathe from laughing so hard and even less time to care that the plot doesn't make a whole lot of sense. So, while the plot isn’t as tight and refined as A Shot in the Dark, it’s still one of the funniest films ever made, and as I said, runs a very close second as my favorite film in the franchise. 

Here’s what I had to say about the entire series back in 2017 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
Following the trail of its sibling films onto 2160p, The Pink Panther Strikes Again arrives as a two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. The 4K is pressed on a BD100 disc with a Region A BD50 serving up 1080p and the bulk of the extras. The discs are housed in a standard black two-disc case with reversible insert art and slipcover.

After the strong but also somewhat disappointing outing for A Shot in the Dark, The Pink Panther Strikes Again enjoys a much more stable and robust 2160p Dolby Vision experience. Not as astoundingly beautiful as the original The Pink Panther, but it’s a contender. Some slight speckling and damage pop up here and there, but it’s far less apparent than what I saw with A Shot in the Dark. Right from the jump, this is a much better overall presentation of the film than we saw on Blu-ray all those years ago. The sanatorium opening is often flat-out gorgeous - especially when Dreyfus first encounters Clouseau again at the pond (out with the bad air, in with the good!). Fine facial features, clothing details, and production design work for that big castle climax all enjoy noticeable upticks in clarity. All of Clouseau’s disguises are clearer and sillier than ever! Film grain may be a tad more pronounced than the previous two releases; it does look like a little sharpening may have been employed, but nothing too egregious. Thankfully, I didn’t notice any kind of compression anomalies or visual distractions like that. The Dolby Vision grade is strong, letting those colors have their due. Black levels are nicely prioritized, letting shadows have their place. Bright whites that always looked a little hot are maybe a tad stronger than I’d like, but not distractingly so. Overall, I’m very happy with how this one came out.

As with the rest of the films on 4K, The Pink Panther Strikes Again arrives with DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 audio options. The 2.0 is the default, but unlike the past two films, I think this surround mix is more aggressive and satisfying. That’s largely because there’s a lot more going on with this film. The action isn’t contained to small rooms or single locations; there’s a bigger, more elaborate international flavor, and the sound design matches that. While there are stretches where the sonic spread is more Front/Center channel focused, there's more movement in the surrounds to justify the experience. The Oktoberfest sequence, the train escape, and the entire third act, where Clouseau tries to infiltrate the castle gives the 5.1 track more room to maneuver and be present. To that end, I will say the 2.0 track is still very strong. You could still argue it’s the better-balanced, as the 5.1 dialog is a tad soft and needed a little volume nudge, but not in a way that swayed my opinion away from enjoying the surround experience. Both tracks are strong and serve the viewer well.

Again, the same selection of extras from the previous Shout Factory Blu-rays has been carried over without any new materials produced. Click on the link to my previous review for more details.

• Audio Commentary featuring Jason Simos
• Panther Musings - Interview with Lesley-Anne Down
• A Cut Above - Editing The Pink Panther Films with Alan Jones
• Clouseau, The Greatest Fumbler in the World 
• Radio Spots
• TV Spots
• Franchise Theatrical Trailers:
• The Pink Panther
• A Shot in the Dark
• The Return of the Pink Panther
• Revenge of the Pink Panther
• Trail of the Pink Panther
• Curse of the Pink Panther
• Son of the Pink Panther

It’s a convoluted way of ranking these films, but while I think A Shot in the Dark is the better film overall, The Pink Panther Strikes Again is the go-for-broke funniest. You can see Edwards’ intention to turn the production into another madcap epic like The Great Race, and I think the film works better because of that. With Herbert Lom getting more of a centralized villain role, he gets to deliver his own brand of hilarity against Sellers’ effortless insanity. The only thing we’re missing is a pie fight! On 4K UHD, the film comes alive with a welcome 2160p Dolby Vision upgrade. In much better shape than A Shot in the Dark, it’s not quite picture-perfect, but it’s a huge step up over the old Blu-ray. Audio offers two solid options along with the same slate of archival extras. As the best overall release of these first four films, I’m rolling this as Highly Recommended