The (mis)adventures of Inspector Clouseau return to DVD with a six-disc Special Edition featuring five of the "Pink Panther" movies (with upgraded transfers and new 5.1-channel audio remixes, and the first DVD release of "Trail Of The Pink Panther"). Nicely packaged in a multi-fold slipcase, the set includes on Disc 1 ("The Pink Panther") a scene-specific Blake Edwards audio commentary, a trivia track, a trailer, and a "Shots In The Dark" photo gallery. Discs 2 - 5 ("Shot," "Strikes Again," "Revenge," and "Trail," respectively) include the photo gallery and trailer. Disc 6 (the bonus disc) includes "The Pink Panther Story," which offers a look back at the creation of the film series with vintage photos, film clips, and interviews with the many talents involved with the productions including director Blake Edwards, producer Walter Mirisch, stunt double Joe Dunne, and others. The 29-minute documentary was produced by John Cork and Bruce Scivally, the team responsible for the many great James Bond DVD documentaries. Also included is Cartoon Theatre, which includes the 11-minute featurette "Behind The Feline: The Cartoon Phenomenon" and six original "Pink Panther" cartoon shorts. The featurette addresses the creation of the cartoon character and includes interviews with Blake Edwards and cartoon co-creator David DePatie of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. The animated shorts are: "The Pink Phink," "Pink, Plunk, Plink," Psychedelic Pink," "Pinkfinger," "The Ant And The Aardvark," and "The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation." "Inspector Clouseau" (1968), "The Return Of The Pink Panther" (1975), "Curse Of The Pink Panther" (1983) and "Son Of The Pink Panther" (1993) have not been included in the set and (except for "Return") have yet to be released on DVD. The titles as they appear in this set are available (at this time) only in the set. Individual DVDs available are the previously released versions.
Special Notes:
This edition available only in "The Pink Panther Film Collection" five-movie, six-disc set ($69.96/cat no. 1006065). Also see "The Pink Panther Film Collection" entry in our database for more review data.
Story Synopsis:
With a story based on the plays of Harry Kurnitz and Marcel Achard, "A Shot In The Dark" revisits the bumbling, tumbling, stumbling antics of Paris
DVD Picture:
This new anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 DVD exhibits improvements over the previously released DVD (also anamorphic). One of the biggest differences is noticed in the color scheme, which is warmer and better saturated, while the previous DVD looked dated with brown overtones. Fleshtones can appear a bit ruddy at times, but overall hues are much better balanced. The picture is also considerably cleaner than the previous DVD, with much fewer artifacts noticed. Images are satisfyingly sharp, though some softness is still inherent. Pixelization is occasionally noticed and edge enhancement is also quite limited. (Suzanne Hodges)
Soundtrack:
The remastered Dolby
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