(Review originally written at 6 September 2009) This is a typical '60's Harryhausen movie, set on a remote island with lots of big creatures on it, who of course got all created by Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion effects, for which he got so famous. It's a movie that got based on a Jules Verne novel, that isn't really his best known one today though. It still is a real fun and adventurous story, that has lots of entertaining moments in it. It has a great and imaginative main premise. Still the movie doesn't always know how to handle it very well and instead the movie decides to repeat itself too often, in an attempt to show off with its Harryhausen creature effects. Also the ending seems quite rushed and out of place, from the moment on that captain Nemo suddenly shows up in the picture. Otherwise, the movie still remains for most part a quite maintaining movie, that is made to look real fun and adventurous. It's definitely made a movie made for pure entertainment and this movie must have really exited some people at the time of its release. Now days it's of course all a bit too dated to watch and we look upon this movies more critical than when it got released for the mainstream audience in the early '60's. It's effects as well as all of its settings are quite dated and cheap looking by todays standards but this of course also has become part of the charm of these type of movies. The acting really isn't much special, including the performance from Herbert Lom. But this also is quite suiting for the genre, which never was about its performances or story but always all about its stunning early effects and its means to bring pure entertainment, that is made all the more spectacular by the great Bernard Herrmann musical score. 7/10 Watch trailer
No this movie is not as good as the earliest Pink Panter movies and no, Roberto Benigni ain't no Peter Sellers but fair is fair, this is an entertaining and fun enough comedy, that showed some potential for a new fresh start of the Pink Panther series.
Everything in this movie indicated that they intended this movie as a new and fresh start of the Pink Panther series. The movie was more of its time and modern and looked more like a James Bond movie done comedy style than an old fashioned made slapstick, like all of the other previous Pink Panther movies were done in.
Too bad that people never really gave this movie a fair change. People just thought that the Pink Panther series should had stopped with the death of Peter Sellers in 1980 and director Blake Edwards should had never went on making more Pink Panther movies, as he did. This was the third Pink Panther movie without Peter Sellers, so people were already mostly fed up with it and after the previous too disappointing Pink Panther entries, the expectations for this movie naturally weren't really high. But I for one however wouldn't had mind seeing more Pink Panther movies with the son of Clouseau in it.
No, I never really have been a Roberto Benigni fan, since he mostly only plays naive, smiling, jumping and screaming comical characters but he simply was well cast in this movie and did a good job with his role. I think it was a good move that they didn't let hem try to impersonate Peter Seller's performance as the famous 'brilliant' inspector but instead letting him be a total different character with Benigni his own interpretation.
Nevertheless it's not a movie that totally abandons the style or spirit of the previous Pink Panther movies. It still let some old character re-appear in this movie such as Police Commissioner Charles Dreyfus (finally he got his promotion), Professor Auguste Balls, Cato and Sergeant Francois Duval. It however also becomes painfully obviously that by now the actors who are portraying the characters got terribly old and it became time for some fresh blood. As much as I loved Herbert Lom in all of the previous Pink Panther movies as Dreyfus, he really was too old for his role in this movie to be still believable and good in it. Same goes for Burt Kwouk as Cato, who at the time of this movie already was well in his 60's.
The fact that this is a more comical approach of James Bond also means that there is some more story present this time, with a real villain and a love interested, action, shooting as well as most other typical genre clichés. The feeling that this is a more comical version of James Bond is being strengthened by the presence of Robert Davi, who previously played the main villain in the James Bond movie "Licence to Kill". Basically he plays the same role as he always does; a ruthless criminal boss who always is looking for more power and money. But if you're so great at playing these sort of roles, why wouldn't you take it? A only complaint could be that he doesn't play his role comically enough. He is serious as always, though I'm not to sure if this was what the film-makers originally had in mind. The different approach of the entire movie might also be a reason why some people have difficulties accepting this as a Pink Panther movie but I in fact think that all of the Pink Panther movies are somewhat- and always wanted to be like James Bond movies, only done in a complete different comical style.
Director Blake Edwards with this movie shows that old fashioned slapstick can still be incorporated properly into 'modern' movies, if done and handled correctly. Blake Edwards with this movie shows that he still had it in him, which also makes it sort of a shame that his career pretty much died right after this movie.
Give this movie a fair change and you might end up liking it for what it is.
The previous Pink Panther movie entry "Trail of the Pink Panther" already wasn't what you could call something successful but this movie, that was shot at the same time as this previously mentioned movie, is even worse comedy-wise, story-wise and whatever more wise.
This movie was obviously intended as an attempt to put new life into the Pink Panther series, after the death of Peter Sellers in 1980. The movie picks a new main character but keeps the same cast and crew of the previous more successful and better Pink Panther movies. So basically it's made in the same way as those other successful earlier Pink Panther movies but never does this movie work out as good as any other Pink Panther movie and it also is definitely the worst out of the long running series of movies.
Problem is that this movie really doesn't follow a script. Appereantly there is a main plot-line involving the Pink Panther again and Clouseau who is presumed missing. A New York cop is brought in to try and find Clouseau by picking up his trail he was on while investigation the disappearance of the Pink Panther. It basically starts off were "Trail of the Pink Panther" had ended, making this a direct sequel.
Don't be fooled by this movie its cast list people. Basically everywhere Ted Wass is listed somewhere like the 10th actor but he really actually plays the main lead within this movie. Actors such as David Niven, Robert Wagner, Robert Loggia and Burt Kwouk who are all listed higher are in it for like 10 minutes maximum. The reason they must have put David Niven on top of the billing must be done for commercial reasons or perhaps they were just being kind for him, knowing already how terminally ill at the time of making this movie he was. They even had to dub his voice, since he wasn't able to speak up good enough anymore. This was also the last movie he appeared in before his death.
So main lead is Ted Wass. Who? Exactly! He is one big nobody, without a real talent for acting or comedy. What was Blake Edwards when he casted him? Was he seriously thinking this would be the man that would be able to make us forget Peter Sellers? He is the type of actor that needs screaming and big surprised eyes to come across as being funny. He's too forced in his acting. Also his character is supposed to be like the American version of Clouseau but instead of being clumsy or stupid, he more comes across as a victim of unlikely circumstances. He never really gets himself into trouble because of his own stupidity like Clouseau always did.
It just isn't a very funny or well made movie. It tries to follow a story but it just looks as if the movie simply doesn't bother sticking to it. Appereantly it's about the search for Clouseau but really, does he ever seriously attempt looking for him? He just randomly questions people and travels around the world.
To me the movie gets still somewhat saved by the Roger Moore cameo. He actually shows that he has a great talent for comedy and actually would had been a worthy new Chief Insp. Jacques Clouseau for future movies in my opinion. Oh well, he probably was too expensive at the time to cast him for further Pink Panther, plus he of course at the time was still committed to playing James Bond, so no way they would had allowed him to play a different 'cop' in a different comedy movie series. Also the presence of Herbert Lom and Burt Kwouk and other Pink Panther regulars, as well as the immortal Henry Mancini musical score compensate somewhat for the movie its totally inapt to entertaining or be funny.
I believe Blake Edwards intentions with this movie were noble. I'm sure it was meant as a tribute to Peter Sellers, who passed away in 1980, for playing Chief Insp. Jacques Clouseau so greatly in the previous more successful Pink Panther movies. It does this by using archive footage of Sellers in his role as Clouseau and by incorporating 'interviews' with people Clouseau encountered in the previous movies. This also means the return of David Niven, Robert Loggia, Harvey Korman, Graham Stark, Capucine, Burt Kwouk, André Maranne and of course Herbert Lom. Some of them only had appeared in the earliest of the Pink Panther movies and I felt that they appeared in this movie because they felt they owed it to Peter Sellers. I mean they really didn't needed to appear in this movie unless they really wanted to. After all David Niven was already seriously ill at the time and also died shortly after shooting.
Therefor this movie can perhaps be better seen as a special you would normally see on a DVD, that is paying tribute to a past away actor. However there were obviously no DVD's yet in 1982 and a TV special would perhaps had been too expensive and simplistic as a tribute. I'm sure Blake Edwards wanted to make something special for his good old friend and at the same time also use this movie as a set up for the next sequel "Curse of the Pink Panther", which was also shot at the same time as this movie and is therefor also featuring most of the same actors.
However big mistake that Blade Edwards made was that he tried to incorporate a story into this movie. This story however seen gets abandoned again early on into the movie, as if they ran out of good usable Peter Sellers archive footage.
Watching this old cut archive footage also often makes it obvious why it got cut from the original movies. Often the sequences go on for too long and are stretched out far too much, as if Sellers and his fellow actors and director were merely trying out some stuff to see what would work and what wouldn't and how far they could go with things. The comedy in those sequences also often doesn't work out as intended, which explains why they never made the final cut. It's also confusing to see some sequences that were obviously meant original for mainly "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" and "Revenge of the Pink Panther" incorporated into this movie as part of the story but however these different sequences obviously don't really connect with each other also because most of those sequences are basically the same, though less good, ones that got eventually used in those earlier mentioned movies.
But also the originally shot comical sequences for this movie don't really work out. Peter Sellers is simply missed too much in this movie. Blake Edwards tried but his attempts simply weren't good enough. He tried to make it work by putting also new characters into the movie, such as Clouseau's father.
This was the last Pink Panther movie starring Peter Sellers as the clumsy Chief Insp. Jacques Clouseau, before his early death in 1980.
It's also one of the best Pink Panther movies, that still features the distinctive Blake Edwards/Peter Sellers slapstick like comedy approach. It's a genuinely funny movie with more than a couple of great moments, such as the opening sequence with the beumb, Clouseau dressed as a salty Swedish sea dog, Clouseau dressed as a mafia boss, Cato with his thick glasses in Hong Kong, oh and so many more moments. It's the last of the Pink Panther movies that entertains during its entire running time and only makes hits and no misses with its comedy.
It's perhaps a bit of an overwritten movie though, in which Clouseau is presumed to be death and he incognito starts to investigate who tried to kill him. Pink Panther movies were never really about its story but simply about the antics of Clouseau. The less- or the more silly the story, also the better the movie is. This movie has perhaps a bit too many characters in it and the storytelling is not always consistent and its last 20 minutes feel rushed. But oh well, it's comedy more than compensates for this all.
It's a movie that features all of the necessary required Pink Panther elements, such as Clouseau and Cato fighting, Dreyfus who is trying to kill Clouseau, Clouseau falling in love, Clouseau wearing outrageously stupid disguises and many returning characters from previous Pink Panther movies, such as André Maranne as Sgt. François Chevalier and of course Herbert Lom as Chief Insp. Charles Dreyfus. It's also the first Pink Panther movie to feature Professor Auguste Balls, the man who provides Clouseau with his 'brilliant' disguises. Professor Balls already appeared in the previous movie "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" but his scenes were eventually cut from the movie.
It was also nice to see that Cato's role got extended in this movie. He gets to show some crazy stuff in the second halve of the movie, proofing that Burt Kwouk himself was also one fine comedy actor, who has however understandably so never got rite of his Pink Panther label.
It's a movie that shows that director Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers were still at the top of their game with their Pink Panther movies. I'm sure that if Sellers had not died in 1980 many more successful Pink Panther movies would had been made. The movie "Romance of the Pink Panther" was already being written and developed by Peter Sellers (without any involvement of Blake Edwards by the way), which makes it all the more sad and a waste that Peter Sellers past away so early at the age of 54. "Romance of the Pink Panther" never got made and instead Blake Edwards continued the Pink Panther series with different actors in the main lead and use of archive footage of old cut Sellers footage from previous Pink Panther movies.
The last great Pink Panther movie out of the long running series of Pink Panther movies, which recently got a rebooting again with Steve Martin's rendition of Clouseau in the 2006 film, of which a sequel is already currently in development.
This is just one of those movies that, no matter how many times I've watched it, is an hilarious comedy that genuinely makes me laugh.
What I often love about Blake Edwards' comedies is his almost cartoon like approach of it. This is like a life action road runner/Wile E. Coyote movie. Along with "The Great Race" this is perhaps his most cartoon like comedy. The slapstick and timing of it in this movie is amazing and it of course also obviously work out due to the comical brilliance of Peter Sellers.
Out of all the Pink Panther movies this is the one with the most laughs and classic comical moments in it. Great moments such as the slow motion fight between Clouseau & Cato (it's the best Clouseau vs. Cato fights out of the whole series), in which Dreyfus also somehow gets involved, the Oktoberfest sequence, the questioning of the staff, Clouseau trying to enter the château, Clouseau disguised as a dentist and I'm sure I'm forgetting many more great sequences. It are all moments that just bound to make you laugh, even if you really don't want to.
For the comedy and the story itself is actually quite lame and predictable. You can often see things coming from miles away but this seriously doesn't make it any less funny to watch. Perhaps its even somehow part of the reason why it works out so incredibly hilarious. It's obvious that Blade Edwards and Peter Sellers both were lovers and inspired by the slapstick comedies of the '20's and early '30's. This movie features the same type of comical approach but not in an old fashioned way. The Clouseau character is still 'modern' and the approach original, even if it all has done somewhere else before.
Of course most credit goes to Peter Sellers. He was a brilliant comedian who never tried to be funny but simply just was funny. The way he handles all of the comedy within this movie is just brilliant. It are not just the antics but also the accent and other small subtle things that made him great and turned Chief Insp. Jacques Clouseau into an absolute classic comedy character. Even if you've never seen a Pink Panther movie you still know who Jacques Clouseau is.
But also the other actors deserve credit. Especially Herbert Lom, who just as Sellers doesn't try to be funny and instead plays a mean hateful character, who at the same time is of course totally hilarious. He is especially great in the scenes with Sellers, the two of them had some great interaction and chemistry together.
If you've never seen a Pink Panther movie and you have to see just one, be sure to watch this one. It's the absolute best and most hilarious one!
(Review originally written at 12 February 2007) The movie really isn't technically build up well or constructed. The way of storytelling really means that the movie shouldn't work but yet it does. Never have been too fond of Stephen King adaptations. His horror stories are always too formulaic to bring them to the screen and deliver a fine and original genre movie, although there are the obvious exceptions, this being one of them. Still the movie heavily suffers from the book elements. It of course is always hard to turn a 500 pages book into a feature length movie is always hard. You have to drop a lot of elements and story lines but still keep the spirit and essence of the story. The story keeps switching plot lines in basically every 15 minutes. It's ridicules! It shouldn't work! But yet it does work out fine, with as a result an original fresh thriller/horror movie. This is an early movie from director David Cronenberg, that differs quite a lot from his normal style. I think he wanted to stay true to the novel and tone thing down a little. Nothing is forced and it has a realistic approach. So just don't expect any 'scare' moments or things like that but simply expect a well constructed and made movie, without any big production values. Just like the story, the movie is kept overall simple and close to home. It provides the movie with a good atmosphere and it are the actors of the movie that really take the movie to another level. Christopher Walken is a great leading man and its fun to see that his style of acting has very little changed over the years. The movie further more features Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe and Martin Sheen in some good and smaller roles. The movie features many different events and linear told plot lines, such as the first one focusing on Johnny Smith's own struggles after his accident, the one that concentrates on the serial killer, the one with the Stuart boy and the final one with congress candidate Greg Stillson. As the movie progresses things start to develop well and take more and more form and it becomes obvious were the story is heading to. This isn't clear yet from the beginning on. It makes the ending work out all the more well and fitting. One of the better King adaptations and also one of the more accessible David Cronenberg movies. 7/10 Watch trailer
