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The Pink Panther (1963)
The Pink Panther (1963) poster

The Pink Panther (1963)

Comedy, Crime • 1h 55m

Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-friendly release

Updated 5 months ago

Best video release

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray fixes stretched ratio problem


Upcoming

88 Films 4K Blu-ray scheduled for August 24, 2026 release

Best audio release

MGM Letterbox LaserDisc PCM mono

Additional info

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray fixes ratio issue due to new scan but has no original audio, only remixes. The MGM and Shout! Factory Blu-ray use the same HD master with stretched image and horrible muffled processed to death mono. The PCM mono on the MGM letterbox LaserDisc reissue is the only untouched original mix audio and sounds incredible.


About the film

The trademark of The Phantom, a renowned jewel thief, is a glove left at the scene of the crime. Inspector Clouseau, an expert on The Phantom's exploits, feels sure that he knows where The Phantom will strike next and leaves Paris for the Tyrolean Alps, where the famous Lugashi jewel 'The Pink Panther' is going to be. However, he does not know who The Phantom really is, or for that matter who anyone else really is...

Featured Lists
National Film Registry

Year of Induction: 2010

Alternative Titles
Pink Panther, The Pink Panther 1 - The Pink Panther

Part of Pink Panther

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Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray with audio issues

Best Audio:

MGM Letterbox LaserDisc, 2004 DVD mono, or Shout! Factory Blu-ray mono

Additional Info:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray introduces pitch issues on the mono mix. LaserDisc mono is from worn element but sounds mostly natural with possibly some attempts at noise reduction. MGM 2004 DVD mono transfer is higher quality without the wear but may have some processing applied. Shout! Factory Blu-ray is the same MGM mono now in lossless but seems to be EQ'd a bit differently. LaserDisc, DVD or Blu-ray is a toss up but those are your three options. The Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray is useless due to the pitch issues. The remixes are very poor.

Director: Bud Yorkin

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Director: Blake Edwards

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Shout! Factory Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Live Home Video 1996 remastered letterbox LaserDisc 

Additional Info:

The remastered LaserDisc PCM mono sounds the most untouched and natural of any version. In 2006, Universal made a new HD master used on all subsequent DVD and Blu-ray releases. The Universal 2.0 mono mix may be a new transfer, different source or remix made from stems as the music and effects are at different levels throughout the track when compared to older copies featuring the mono mix. Additionally there is extreme noise reduction with dialogue sounding too clean and hiss being almost gone. Comparing with the 1996 LaserDisc mono clearly shows in all of these moments that the original mono was mixed differently and to serve the jokes.

Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

MGM Letterbox LaserDisc

Additional Info:

The original mono mix has bad pitch and sound quality issues on the Shout! Factory Blu-ray and is terrible sounding. The LaserDisc PCM mono is very good but sounds a tad muffled in comparison to the MGM 2004 DVD mono at first listen. Yet the DVD mono has the volume of the entire track normalized so that effects and music remain at consistent levels which they don't in the LaserDisc mono-meaning that the jokes and gags hit harder in the LaserDisc mono because the mix varies as it was intended. It may be that the same source was used and then EQ'd and processed for the DVD boxset as all the mono mixes were messed around with. For example, when the hunchback disguise goes off with the explosions, the DVD mono has everything at a mostly consistent level. On the LaserDisc the effects build and fall off in loudness so the intensity is entirely different because they were mixed that way for comedic effect. Another is the piano smashing-on the DVD mono it's at the same level as the rest of the scene. On the LaserDisc it's loud and aggressively so which again makes the gag hit so much harder.
Again, the remixes are existing MGM ones and not good. The 5.1 remix on the Shout! Factory Blu-ray does not have pitch issues but the stereo remix does.

Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

MGM letterbox LaserDisc

Additional Info:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray is from a new 4K master with some transfer issues, notably in the title sequence. The mono mix had errors and slight deletions introduced in the 2004 DVD remaster which were corrected on a 2006 DVD repressing. The Shout! Factory Blu-ray uses the 2006 corrected mono but those sections sound added in and in lower quality. The Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray reverts to the defective 2004 mono. All the DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray mono mixes sound poor when compared to the untouched uncut MGM LaserDisc mono PCM mix which is a direct perfect transfer and sounds excellent.

Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Shout! Factory Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Shout! Factory Blu-ray or MGM DVD

Additional Info:

Shout! Factory uses MGM's HD master and mono mix which sounds similar to their 2004 DVD mono. They sound nearly identical aside from volume differences-except that the sound effects seem a bit flattened again on the DVD and this Blu-ray mono mastering seems to be EQ'd a bit differently.

Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best Audio:

MGM letterbox LaserDisc

Featured in National Film Registry

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Director: Richard Brooks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Jonathan Demme

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion Blu-ray has exclusive extras

Director: George B. Seitz

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

Director: Elaine May

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray > MoC > Olive Films. From nicolas:

The master is good but it’s not that big an upgrade from the Olive Films disc and Vinegar Syndrome’ encode has some blocky highlights. A shame that they didn’t hire David Mackenzie here.

Audio Notes:

Cinématographe has unnecessary noise gating not present on the previous releases.

Director: Sidney Lumet

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber US / Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K  / Capelight 4K

1.66:1: Criterion 4K

Video Notes:

1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K  / Capelight 4K

1.66:1: Criterion 4K but low pass filtered

Comparison between the 4Ks, Criterion on the AR choice

Audio Notes:

Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible

Director: Dennis Hopper

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony UK 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: F. W. Murnau

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

MoC OOP Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

Flicker Alley 4K confirmed for 2027 https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24404584&postcount=1

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the Universal release without the filtering.

Audio Notes:

DTS:X mix on Universal 4K Blu-ray most closely approximates original surround mix

Additional Info:

Criterion DVD and Universal 4K Blu-ray has additional features not found on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Sam Peckinpah

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Plaion Germany Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

4K Blu-ray said to be coming from Criterion, per Bill Hunt

Video Notes:

Includes Director's Cut and Roadshow Version

Same master as old WB Blu-ray but better encoding

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.

Best Audio:

1984 MGM Hi-Fi VHS

More from Blake Edwards

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Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly:

Eureka UK Blu-ray

Best Video:

Eureka UK

Video Notes:

Eureka UK > Kino Lorber US

Best Audio:

Mono: Kino Lorber US Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Mono: Kino Lorber US Blu-ray possibly?

Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Paramount Blu-ray

Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

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Researched and maintained by

JojoTheMovieOtterDISKANBGR8captainsoloAdamA

· last reviewed 5 months ago

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