THE PINK PANTHER
(2006)
Starring:
Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Beyoncé Knowles, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, Clive
Owen, Jason Statham and Henry Czerny
Director:
Shawn Levy
Running Time:
93 mins
Out to buy on Blu-Ray Now
"Get me Clouseau"
When the French soccer coach Yves Gluant (Statham) is murdered during the International Championship and the priceless Pink Panther diamond he was wearing has been stolen. Wanting to solve the case for himself and win the medal of honour, Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Kline) assigns the worst officer in the entire French police force who could possibly catch the murderer, Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Martin).
It's official, Hollywood has ran out of ideas. Now instead of remaking minor or low budget hits from yesteryear, they decide to re-imagine a comedy classic! Shame on you, shame on you!
Anyone who loves comedy movies will adore Blake Edward's five 'Pink Panther' movies that starred the genius that is Peter Sellers. As Inspector Jacques Clouseau he created a character that is quite literally a classic and one of the funniest to ever grace the silver screen. So the idea of anyone trying to take this character from the great man is almost criminal. This means that Steve Martin should now be classed a criminal!
The first question you have to ask yourself before watching this movie is 'what is the point?' There are already five brilliantly hilarious films starring everyone's favourite bungling detective, so do you really need to see a movie that is completely unfunny and a travesty from start to finish. During the current Hollywood fascination with remaking anything they think might make them some money, this film has to be the worst they have ever done.
Steve Martin's career has been going downhill since 'L.A. Story' back in 1991. Once known as the wild and crazy guy who was the funniest stand-up comic in America, his film career started with surreal and wacky comedies like 'The Jerk', 'The Man with Two Brains', 'All of Me' and then he went onto star in some brilliant and extremely funny classics like 'Roxanne', 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' and 'Planes, Trains & Automobiles' but after that his career started to slide. Now in the new Millennium his career has consisted of lowlights like 'Bringing Down the House', 'Cheaper by the Dozen' and 'Cheaper by the Dozen 2' but in remaking 'The Pink Panther' is a new low. He is just awful. While Peter Sellers' French accent was intentionally over the top and extremely funny but Martin's is just annoying and very amateurish. How many times can he try saying 'Hamburger' and fail before you just want to punch him?
The rest of the cast don't fair much better. You have to think that they just did this film for the money because this is the only reason that good actors like Kevin Kline, Jean Reno, Beyoncé Knowles, Clive Owen, Jason Statham and Emily Mortimer would be involved with this drivel.
The new version of 'The Pink Panther' is the best example of why Hollywood stop doing remakes. This film is criminally awful and Peter Sellers should haunt Steve Martin and director Shawn Levy. But then again that would actually be pretty cool and far too good for them. If you are thinking about watching this film DON'T, rent the classics on DVD instead.
BLU-RAY
PICTURE & SOUND
The Blu-Ray disc presents the movie in High Definition wide screen 1:85 up to 1080p, with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound.
BONUS FEATURES
Code Pink: Animated
Graphics in Picture Track
Watch the movie with animated Pink Panther and Inspector Clouseau popping
up with facts and trivia about the movie and much more.
Feature Commentary
by Director Shawn Levy
The man at the helm talks passionately about the disastrous and blasphemous
remake. He talks about the approach to the movie and trying to pay homage
to the original franchise and the performance of Peter Sellers. He also
talks about the comedic style of the movie and the locations of the film.
He never does apologise for the movie however.
Deleted Scenes
Entitled 'Extended Soccer Open', 'Dreyfus gives Clouseau the case - extended',
'Dreyfus describes the case', 'Clouseau destroys the Arch', 'Clouseau and
Bizu in practice field', 'Dreyfus watches Clouseau on TV', 'Clouseau destroys
Arch again', 'More language coach/"Hamburger"', 'Clouseau has a bad fight',
'Clouseau hangs on back of car' and 'Laroque threatens Xania', these deleted
or extended scenes are accompanied by optional commentary by director Shawn
Levy
Cracking the
Case (22.04 mins)
Director Shawn Levy, executive producer Ira Shuman, writer Michael Statzman,
production designer Lilly Kilvert, costume designer Joseph G. Aulist and
stars Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Beyoncé Knowles, Jean Reno and Kristin
Chenoweth come together to talk about remaking a comedic classic. As the
40th anniversary of the original film approached, the cast and crew try
and explain why they wanted to bring the character back and remake what
was already considered a classic for a modern audience. The featurette looks
at Steve Martin's approach to the role and how he would go about making
the character his own and not trying to copy the legendary Peter Sellers.
We also get to look at the director, Kevin Kline's Dreyfus and the locations
and look of the movie.
Animated Trip
(8.52 mins)
Animation director Bob Kurtz, animator Eric Goldberg and editor Ken Smith
show you how the animated opened credited were conceived and created. Paying
homage to the original films, the team talk about updating the classic style
but sticking to the style and humour of the original sequences.
Deconstructing
the Panther (10.15 mins)
Director Shawn Levy, first assistant director Marty Eli Schwartz, stunt
coordinator Dominique Fouassier, costume designer Joseph G. Aulist and stars
Steve Martin, Kevin Kline and Beyoncé Knowles take you behind the scenes
of the palace scene as they film the climax to the movie.
Sleuth-Cams
Entitled 'Killer Press Conference', 'Soccer Set up' and 'Curtain Call',
these are behind the scenes featurettes that reveal how these set-ups where
made.
Alternative Opening
(3.30mins)
With optional commentary from director Shawn Levy, watch the original 3D
computer animated opening credits with a new version of the Panther.
Music Video Beyoncé
'Check on it' (4.14 mins)
Watch the promotional music video with the sexy singer accompanied by clips
from the movie.
Exclusive Beyoncé
performance 'A Woman Like Me' (4.32 mins)
With optional commentary by director Shawn Levy, you can watch the full
musical performance of Beyoncé during the final sequence of the movie.
BD-Live
Place the Blu-Ray disc into an Internet enabled player or PS3 and you can
gain access to extra features online.
OVERALL
The Blu-Ray release of 'The Pink Panther' remake is very similar to the DVD release. The added 'Code Pink' feature is fun however and fans, if there are any' will enjoy this added bonus to the HD version.
BLU-RAY
DVD
PICTURE & SOUND
Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1, the movie is presented well.
BONUS FEATURES
Feature Commentary
by Director Shawn Levy
The man at the helm talks passionately about the disastrous and blasphemous
remake. He talks about the approach to the movie and trying to pay homage
to the original franchise and the performance of Peter Sellers. He also
talks about the comedic style of the movie and the locations of the film.
He never does apologise for the movie however.
Deleted Scenes
Entitled 'Extended Soccer Open', 'Dreyfus gives Clouseau the case - extended',
'Dreyfus describes the case', 'Clouseau destroys the Arch', 'Clouseau and
Bizu in practice field', 'Dreyfus watches Clouseau on TV', 'Clouseau destroys
Arch again', 'More language coach/"Hamburger"', 'Clouseau has a bad fight',
'Clouseau hangs on back of car' and 'Laroque threatens Xania', these deleted
or extended scenes are accompanied by optional commentary by director Shawn
Levy
Cracking the
Case (22.04 mins)
Director Shawn Levy, executive producer Ira Shuman, writer Michael Statzman,
production designer Lilly Kilvert, costume designer Joseph G. Aulist and
stars Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Beyoncé Knowles, Jean Reno and Kristin
Chenoweth come together to talk about remaking a comedic classic. As the
40th anniversary of the original film approached, the cast and crew try
and explain why they wanted to bring the character back and remake what
was already considered a classic for a modern audience. The featurette looks
at Steve Martin's approach to the role and how he would go about making
the character his own and not trying to copy the legendary Peter Sellers.
We also get to look at the director, Kevin Kline's Dreyfus and the locations
and look of the movie.
Animated Trip
(8.52 mins)
Animation director Bob Kurtz, animator Eric Goldberg and editor Ken Smith
show you how the animated opened credited were conceived and created. Paying
homage to the original films, the team talk about updating the classic style
but sticking to the style and humour of the original sequences.
Deconstructing
the Panther (10.15 mins)
Director Shawn Levy, first assistant director Marty Eli Schwartz, stunt
coordinator Dominique Fouassier, costume designer Joseph G. Aulist and stars
Steve Martin, Kevin Kline and Beyoncé Knowles take you behind the scenes
of the palace scene as they film the climax to the movie.
Sleuth-Cams
Entitled 'Killer Press Conference', 'Soccer Set up' and 'Curtain Call',
these are behind the scenes featurettes that reveal how these set-ups where
made.
Alternative Opening
(3.30mins)
With optional commentary from director Shawn Levy, watch the original 3D
computer animated opening credits with a new version of the Panther.
Music Video Beyoncé
'Check on it' (4.14 mins)
Watch the promotional music video with the sexy singer accompanied by clips
from the movie.
Exclusive Beyoncé
performance 'A Woman Like Me' (4.32 mins)
With optional commentary by director Shawn Levy, you can watch the full
musical performance of Beyoncé during the final sequence of the movie.
Trailers
Previews of 'Cutting Edge: Going for Gold', 'Open Season', 'Yours, Mine
and Ours', 'Zathura' and 'The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl'
OVERALL
Even though the film is excruciatingly bad, the DVD treatment is up to Sony's usual high standards. Packed full of bonus featurettes, deleted scenes and a good commentary, fans (if there are any) will be very pleased with this DVD.
DVD
