bump for that,

and a reminder that Return is out on tuesday

Return of the Pink Panther is part of a 2 for $15 deal at Circuit City going on this week. Some good titles are in the mix.

Has anyone watched or are there any reviews of the Return of the Pink Panther DVD that came out today? I've never heard of "Focus" and the package doesn't list any extras. It only says anamorphic and DD 2.0 sound.

I believe the previous release was non-anamorphic, but other than that is the movie transfer sufficiently better to justify the purchase? Are there any extras? Is this a DVD-9 with a higher bitrate or did they wimp out and squeeze it onto a DVD-5?

Though I bought it today for $7.50, I'll be returning it within 30 days unless I can find some reviews that say it's a big improvement over the Artisan one.

well...its anamorphic....so thats major....

as far as Focus...

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

just a name on a box...

I guess Focus has done a few things, but those are less mainstream movies even though they have well known actors. Hopefully someone who has watched the Focus release of Return of the Pink Panther can post here how good the quality is compared to the Artisan release, if there are any extras, and if possible if it's DVD-5 or DVD-9 and the average bitrate.

There's a new thread over in the DVD Bargains section noting the $7.50 price for the new "Return" at CC, where the poster says the new one is much better. I can't find any actual reviews yet. I do know it wouldn't take much to beat the old Artisan version. Very poor PQ on that.

I'm also waiting for a review of Return of the Pink Panther. I saw this the other day in the store when I went in to get Red Eye. but I just couldn't pull the trigger on Return yet without hearing anything about it. I guess it's because the first release was done so terribly i'm afraid to pull the trigger on it untill I hear it's been made well. That's what happens sometimes when an original release is made poorly, sometimes it leaves a bad impression on a future release.

man he is boring Pink Panther equals naptime for me

i have it watched it.

it is a monstrous improvement over the old washed out, misframed, bad sound, (everything is wrong with the old release) artisan release.

you wont find that one anymore anyway so if you like this film you should keep it and watch it.
it may be the funniest of the series.

even the cover art was bad.
ok i lied about that, it was ok art.
up until the announcment of this version the artisan release was selling well on ebay.

That's good to hear about the picture and sound quality. How was the quality of the print (lots of damage or very clean)?

My only remaining questions are:
- Are there any extras on the DVD?
- Assuming most people don't have a utility to calculate the average bitrate, I'd be happy knowing if this is a DVD-5 or a DVD-9 or alternately knowing how many megabytes the disc uses which can give me a good idea of the bitrate especially if I know it has no extras. I'd guess they probably cheaped out and did a DVD-5 with a lower bitrate, but it would be nice if it were a full DVD-9.

There are no extras on the DVD and I'm not sure about whether the disc is DVD-5 or 9 or the bitrate. This new anamorphic transfer is very pleasing and a vast improvement on the old Artisan release. There is no insert but I kept the nice insert from my old Artisan DVD before I got rid of it months ago. The chapter stops listed on that insert are identical to the ones on this new Universal release. The movie is my favorite from the Pink Panther series and for under $10 (I paid $7.50) I think it was well worth it.

Good, I'll have to pick it up this weekend.

Thanks for the info and quick reviews of this DVD. I guess $7.50 is borderline worth it, but my gut feeling is that barebones DVD-5s like this belong in the Walmart $5.50 bin, so it feels $2 overpriced. I could be wrong about it being DVD-5, but I think the probability is high.

Typically you can tell DVD-5 or DVD-9 by visual inspection because DVD-9 has multiple "mint marks" around the bottom of the hub from each layer. It's hard to describe but easy to figure out once you see some examples. Another way is to put the DVD into your computer, click on Properties for the VIDEO_TS directory and if it's less than 5 GB (roughly 4,690,000,000 bytes) then it's a DVD-5. For those who don't know, DVD-5 is the cheapo route for studios that don't want to put as much time, money, and effort into a DVD release while usually trying to sell it for just as much as a DVD-9 with almost twice as much data (either extras or a much higher bitrate).

Well, not sure it is accurate, but for what it's worth the product information at dvdempire.com lists it as SS-DL, single-side dual- layer, i.e., DVD-9.

Thanks for trying to help. I have found many errors on DVD Empire's site regarding SS-SL vs. SS-DL, so while I'd say they are right most of the time they are far from a definitive source. I have yet to find a complete and accurate database for this info. I've decided I will just keep this DVD, open it, and find out myself since the reviews of it are generally positive and it goes with my Pink Panther set.

Manzana, on the back of your DVD cover, it very clearly lists the DVD as dual layer. That would make it a DVD-9.

sheesh, i never saw a dvd release so scrutinized before buying it.

and to think it cost the huge sum of $7.49 at Walmart. Seriously though, this is a worthy title in the Pink Panther movies (at least it is better than the ones without Peter Sellers), and I am thankful to finally replace that crappy Artisan abomination.

Could anyone explain what is happening with all the Pink Panther movies? According to Amazon, all of them are coming out individually with new covers on Tuesday 1/31, but are these the same releases (i.e. same transfers and extras) as are found in the existing 6-DVD set (which has 5 movies in it)?

Or are these a triple-dip with new transfers and extras? I could only find 1 Pink Panther Film Collection set on Amazon - and it's the old 6-DVD set, so am I correct that they are not releasing a new DVD set with newer transfers and including the missing movies (Curse, Son of, and Return).

I recently bought the Focus edition of Return, and I haven't opened my Pink Panther 6-DVD set from Costco (so I could still return it), so I'd like to make sure these newer editions aren't better. Unfortunately there are no reviews of the new DVDs and Amazon's site only has info for the old single releases (even though the new covers are pictured).

From all I've heard, the movies releasing tuesday that were included in the box set are the exact same discs, just individually released...Open up that box set and enjoy...I just did! Am looking forward to picking up the cartoons and the other 2 panther flicks on tuesday...I know they aren't great, but I love me some Pink Panther...

MATT

I saw the new individual titles today at Kroger. The individual version of The Pink Panther did not seem to have any extras listed on the back cover. I think the version in the box set had a commentary.

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Arrgh... I'm going to have to return "Curse of the Pink Panther" to Wal-Mart. Bought it yesterday, and it has severe "freeze up" problems starting with the scene where the computer is looking up Chief Inspector Dryfuss' information. :-(

You stole the words right out of my mouth.