The Return of the Pink Panther Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Return of the Pink Panther Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 15, 2022

Blake Edwards' "The Return of the Pink Panther" (1975) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include audio commentary by critic Jason Simos; vintage featurette; archival promotional materials for the film; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The irresistible Frenchman

When a brilliant thief steals The Pink Panther, the largest diamond the world has ever seen, from a heavily guarded museum in Lugash, the Shah requests from the French authorities that they send him the man that was able to retrieve the precious stone the previous time it disappeared. Shortly after, Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) is summoned by his neurotic boss, Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfuss (Herbert Lom), and ordered to get on the first plane to the fictional country despite the fact that he has just been suspended.

At the crime scene, Clouseau examines a white glove with the letter P, which leads him to believe that he would have to deal with his old nemesis, the Phantom. Shortly after, Clouseau begins tracking down Sir Charles Litton (Christopher Plummer), who has retired and is enjoying life with the beautiful Lady Claudine (Catherine Schell). However, when Litton realizes that he has become a target again, he immediately heads to Lugash and begins looking for the mysterious thief to clear his reputation and preserve his lifestyle. The unexpected development confuses Clouseau, but then he adjusts his strategy and goes after Lady Claudine, convinced that she and Litton are working as a team and the latter’s actions are part of a rather brilliant bluffing game.

Blake Edwards directed The Return of the Pink Panther eleven years after A Shot in the Dark and without United Artists’ involvement. The other pretty significant development was David Niven’s refusal to reprise his character from the original film. This essentially meant that even though Edwards and Sellers would again have the ability to shape up the identity of The Return of the Pink Panther, the finished product would be a different film.

The Return of the Pink Panther did turn out a different film, but not to the extent top brass at United Artists had expected. (It is pretty clear now that when its production was discussed a lot of these important people had already concluded that both Edwards and Sellers were past their prime, so they made a business decision to turn down what they expected to be a dud). For example, while Plummer’s presence does add new flavor to the action, it does not feel like an unnatural new addition. Also, plenty of the slapstick is updated, but the quality of its delivery remains on par with the that witnessed in the previous two films.

There is something about The Return of the Pink Panther that feels different and not in a good way. It comes from the screenplay Edwards and Frank Waldman produced, which was clearly too busy and unfortunately too demanding of Sellers. Simply put, by the time Sellers reveals his intention to pursue Plummer it already feels like he is doing way too much to impress, and he isn’t even halfway through his adventure. In the original film with Niven present, this rather overwhelming hyperactivity never materializes. Lom and Burt Kwouk recycle identical material quite a few times as well.

Edwards and cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth shot on some quite spectacular locations in Switzerland and France that give The Return of the Pink Panther the vintage patina that is present in some of the classiest Eurospy films. Obviously, because of Sellers’ antics the vibe in The Return of the Pink Panther is very different, but the visual similarities are undeniable.

Unsurprisingly, Henri Mancini’s classic Pink Panther theme is once again used during the opening and closing credits, together with some wonderful animated footage.

The Return of the Pink Panther Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Return of the Pink Panther arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment.

The release is sourced from an older master that was supplied by Universal Pictures, but this is the same master that MGM licensed to Shout Factory in 2017 for The Pink Panther Film Collection. Now, there is room for improvement, but I like this master quite a lot because it gives The Return of the Pink Panther a solid organic appearance. There are two areas of the presentation where the age of the master shows. First, there are some blooming highlights that could have been avoided. This is a minor issue for me because on this master delineation and detail is still very good and there are no traces of past or recent digital tweaks. Second, density levels could be slightly better. This could be easily accomplished with a tighter, more even grain exposure. There are some color nuances that could be a tad better saturated, but without the blooming I mentioned above the overall saturation levels and balance would look very, very good. The rest looks fine. Some very minor stability enhancements can be performed, but this is a cosmetic improvement. I noticed a few white specks, but there are no distracting cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Return of the Pink Panther Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The audio is very clear and remains stable throughout the entire film. If there is any room for future improvements, I must speculate that they would affect only the overall dynamic balance, possibly a few areas where the middle range can be rebalanced as well. In other words, I don't see any room for dramatic improvements that will make it easy to describe the current lossless track as inferior. I think that when the current master was prepared the audio was transferred very well. There are no encoding anomalies to report in our review.

The Return of the Pink Panther Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - three vintage trailers for The Return of the Pink Panther. The final trailer includes some quite hilarious bloopers. In English, not subtitle. (7 min).

• TV Spots - a collection of vintage TV spots for The Return of the Pink Panther. In English, not subtitle. (4 min).

• The Return of Laughter - an archival promotional featurette with clips from am archival interview with Blake Edwards as well as raw footage from the shooting of The Return of the Pink Panther. In English, not subtitle. (9 min).

• Commentary - this audio commentary was recorded by Jason Simos of The Peter Sellers Appreciation Society. Mr. Simos deconstructs The Return of the Pink Panther and shares plenty of interesting information about its stars, some similarities and differences between this film and previous two Pink Panther films, the evolving qualities of the characterizations, Blake Edwards' style and career, etc.

• Music & Effects Track - presented as LPCM 2.0.

The Return of the Pink Panther Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Return of the Pink Panther is impossible to dislike because there is some very funny material in it. However, I do believe that Blake Edwards and Frank Waldman's screenplay was too busy and unfortunately too demanding of Peter Sellers. He is brilliant, but some of the slapstick is repetitive and eventually becomes a tad overwhelming. While quite different than David Niven, Christopher Plummer was a fantastic new addition and introduces a bit of a James Bond-esque flavor to the action that feels quite refreshing. Via Vision Entertainment's release is sourced from an older but solid organic master. RECOMMENDED.