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The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) poster

The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)

Comedy, Crime • 1h 43m

Director: Blake Edwards

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Best English-friendly & video release · updated 7 months ago

Overview

Charles Dreyfus, who has finally cracked over inspector Clouseau's antics, escapes from a mental institution and launches an elaborate plan to get rid of Clouseau once and for all.

Release details

Best Audio Release

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.

Featured Lists
Length
103 mins
Type
Movie
Alternative Titles
The Pink Panther 4 - The Pink Panther Strikes Again

Part of Pink Panther

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Director: Blake Edwards

Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

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

Best Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray fixes stretched ratio problem

Best Audio:

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.

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:

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

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

More from Kino Lorber

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Director: Preston Sturges

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Video Notes:

No information on French Elephant Films Blu-ray

Director: Martin Scorsese

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Other releases have horrendous DNR

Director: Lewis Milestone

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Sourced from a 4K scan of the 35mm Fine Grain. Even with its unfortunate and noticeable print damage, tears, and other issues, still easily beats any prior disc release, though the Imprint BD (same master as Kino, but inferior encode) included in their Essential Film Noir Collection Vol. 3 set does include more extras. https://youtu.be/-Wrsn6-XJCo

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode

Director: John Frankenheimer

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1994 MGM LaserDisc

Director: Paul Leni

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical/Original A negative: MoC Blu-ray

European C/D negative but better picture quality: Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

From DVDBeaver: The MoC Blu-ray is scanned from the American A negative, as opposed to the European C or D negatives used by Photoplay and others (Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray), so it is identical with the film US audiences saw in 1927

See caps for comparison

In addition, the Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has sepia tinting throughout while the MoC Blu-ray has yellow for normal scenes, blue for night scenes, and some even green tintings.

Director: Lewis Teague

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Disappointing
Upcoming Release:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray disappointing

Best Audio:

R1 DVD

Audio Notes:

R1 DVD sounds best and has the original mono and a Dolby Stereo remix

Director: Hal Ashby

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

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has excellent master in SDR and a good encode. BD caps here.

Audio Notes:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor audio: The 2.0 is fine but unremarkable, the 5.1 is presumably an upmix with a botched, strongly raised LFE channel which makes the entire track unlistenable on well-tuned equipment. Audio graphs here.

Director: Miguel Sapochnik

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Director: Andreas Prochaska

Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray or Germany Blu-ray but no comparison available 

Germany Blu-ray doesn’t have good encoding, with visible blocking and banding etc.

Additional Info:

Germany Blu-ray lacks English subtitles. Kino Lorber Blu-ray has English subtitles but is OOP 

Kino Lorber Blu-ray retains both the French and German dialogue in their native languages.

Germany Blu-ray dubs over the French dialogue in German.

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Researched and maintained by

JojoTheMovieOttercaptainsolo

· last reviewed 7 months ago

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