MovieChat Forums > The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) Discussion > Are these movies out of order? (SPOILERS...

Are these movies out of order? (SPOILERS)

posted 19 years ago by raindoggy
12 replies | jump to latest

I just watched "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" (1976) and "Revenge of the Pink Panther" (1978) back-to-back, and clearly "Revenge" comes before "Strikes Again."

For one thing, Dreyfus is annihilated at the end of "Strikes Again" but he figures prominently in what's supposed to be the later release, "Revenge..."

Also, the actors all look older in "Strikes Again."

What gives? If the release dates shown on IMDb and on the DVDs I rented are correct, then the films must have been released in a different order than they were conceived and produced.

Dreyfus is miraculously NOT dead, and is eligible to resume his post as Chief Inspector in the LATER movie, when he had gone all evil and disintegrated himself in the "earlier" one?

Anyone else find this peculiar?

[–] ScrambledMess 19 years ago

The orders are right. It's a little confusing, but since they figured they couldn't do a movie without Dreyfus, they just forgot about this one in Revenge. But still, and I suppose you are not a big fan of the post 1980 films (since in those Dreyfus also still lives) you can watch the films in this order without getting those continuity problems.

The Pink Panther
A Shot in the Dark
The Return of the Pink Panther
Revenge of the Pink Panther
The Pink Panther Strikes Again

Cheers!

[–] slokes 19 years ago

Once you accept the fact Dreyfus is still in charge of the French police in "Return Of The Pink Panther" after murdering ten people in "Shot In The Dark," you kind of throw away any reason to dispute Dreyfus's employment situation in the later Panther films. Either that, or French police inspector unions are very, very strong.

[–] Karma4301 18 years ago

Actually it's more like FOUR people. You can't count the Ballon household staff because characters don't die in explosions in the Pink Panther movies. Why? Because it's sort of like a cartoon. Clouseau obviously never dies. Dreyfus never dies, Cato never dies, even Prof. Balls (Clouseau's disguise maker) and Francois (Dreyfus', and later Clouseau's, assistant) never die in explosions (although the former survived in part by the inflatable goiters he was behind). Also, the reason why Claude Russo, the transvestite who stole Clouseau's clothes in Revenge and got killed by Douvier's men, was killed was because he was shot to death before his car crashed into the telephone pole. I TOTALLY agree with the coroner's report, even though they thought it was Clouseau and not Russo.
Anyway, my point is if Clouseau, Dreyfus, Cato, Balls, and Francois can survive, then so can Monsieur and Madam Ballon, and their staff!

[–] slokes 18 years ago

I hope you are right about Madame Ballon. She was very hot!

[–] Ultimate007 18 years ago

ahh, but then, after the explosion, Dreyfus tells Clouseau that they're dead, so perhaps people DO die in explosions... just not people that the filmmakers want to return... hmmmm...

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[–] night_is_silent 18 years ago

But does Dreyfus ever actually admit he set the bomb in the car, or that he killed the other people? He may have simply gotten away with it.

[–] skprod2000 18 years ago

I think that the continuity is fine, if you watch it like: A Shot in the Dark (Dreyfuss goes insane), Return of the Pink Panther (Dreyfuss is commited), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (Dreyfuss escapes and wreaks havoc and then is evaporated). I think those are the three best and they make sense if you watch them in that order.

Of course, with "Revenge...", they realized they couldn't make another movie without Herbert Lom, so they simply made an alternate plotline that continues from the end of "Return...", but I think its "Strikes again" is better. Revenge has its moments too, but all of the ones after that suck.

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Oogly Boogly!

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Ultimate007 18 years ago

that's a nice spin to put on it, prb... i'd never thought of it in quite those terms, but yes, you're very well on the mark!

http://therapeuticpink.proboards102.com

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] douglasp 17 years ago

I think not out are the stories out of continuity, but the titles work better when swapped too because Strikes Again is more about revenge then Revenge is.