The Incredibles
Description
From the Academy Award(R) winning creators of FINDING NEMO (2003 Best Animated Feature Film) comes the action-packed animated adventure about the mundane and incredible lives of a house full of superheroes. Bob Parr and his wife Helen used to be among the world's greatest crime fighters, saving lives and battling evil on a daily basis. Fifteen years later, they have been forced to adopt civilian identities and retreat to the suburbs where they live "normal" lives with their three kids, Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack. Itching to get back into action, Bob gets his chance when a mysterious communication summons him to a remote island for a top secret assignment. He soon discovers that it will take a super family effort to rescue the world from total destruction. Exploding with fun and featuring an all-new animated short film, this spectacular 2-disc collector's edition DVD is high-flying entertainment for everyone.Amazon.com essential video
After creating the last great traditionally animated film of the 20th century, The Iron Giant, filmmaker Brad Bird joined top-drawer studio Pixar to create this exciting, completely entertaining computer-animated film. Bird gives us a family of "supers," a brood of five with special powers desperately trying to fit in with the 9-to-5 suburban lifestyle. Of course, in a more innocent world, Bob and Helen Parr were superheroes, Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. But blasted lawsuits and public disapproval forced them and other supers to go incognito, making it even tougher for their school-age kids, the shy Violet and the aptly named Dash. When a stranger named Mirage (voiced by Elizabeth Pena) secretly recruits Bob for a potential mission, the old glory days spin in his head, even if his body is a bit too plump for his old super suit.
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Bird has his cake and eats it, too. He and the Pixar wizards send up superhero and James Bond movies while delivering a thrilling, supercool action movie that rivals Spider-Man 2 for 2004's best onscreen thrills. While it's just as funny as the previous Pixar films, The Incredibles has a far wider-ranging emotional palette (it's Pixar's first PG film). Bird takes several jabs, including some juicy commentary on domestic life ("It's not graduation, he's moving from the fourth to fifth grade!").
The animated Parrs look and act a bit like the actors portraying them, Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter. Samuel L. Jackson and Jason Lee also have a grand old time as, respectively, superhero Frozone and bad guy Syndrome. Nearly stealing the show is Bird himself, voicing the eccentric designer of superhero outfits ("No capes!"), Edna Mode.
Nominated for four Oscars, The Incredibles won for Best Animated Film and, in an unprecedented win for non-live-action films, Sound Editing.
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The Presentation
This two-disc set is (shall we say it?), incredible. The digital-to-digital transfer pops off the screen and the 5.1 Dolby sound will knock the socks off most systems. But like any superhero, it has an Achilles heel. This marks the first Pixar release that doesn't include both the widescreen and full-screen versions in the same DVD set, which was a great bargaining chip for those cinephiles who still want a full-frame presentation for other family members. With a 2.39:1 widescreen ratio (that's big black bars, folks, à la Dr. Zhivago), a few more viewers may decide to go with the full-frame presentation. Fortunately, Pixar reformats their full-frame presentation so the action remains in frame.
The Extras
The most-repeated segments will be the two animated shorts. Newly created for this DVD is the hilarious "Jack-Jack Attack," filling the gap in the film during which the Parr baby is left with the talkative babysitter, Kari. "Boundin'," which played in front of the film theatrically, was created by Pixar character designer Bud Luckey. This easygoing take on a dancing sheep gets better with multiple viewings (be sure to watch the featurette on the short).
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Brad Bird still sounds like a bit of an outsider in his commentary track, recorded before the movie opened. Pixar captain John Lasseter brought him in to shake things up, to make sure the wildly successful studio would not get complacent. And while Bird is certainly likable, he does not exude Lasseter's teddy-bear persona. As one animator states, "He's like strong coffee; I happen to like strong coffee." Besides a resilient stance to be the best, Bird threw in an amazing number of challenges, most of which go unnoticed unless you delve into the 70 minutes of making-of features plus two commentary tracks (Bird with producer John Walker, the other from a dozen animators). We hear about the numerous sets, why you go to "the Spaniards" if you're dealing with animation physics, costume problems (there's a reason why previous Pixar films dealt with single- or uncostumed characters), and horror stories about all that animated hair. Bird's commentary throws out too many names of the animators even after he warns himself not to do so, but it's a lively enough time. The animator commentary is of greatest interest to those interested in the occupation.
There is a 30-minute segment on deleted scenes with temporary vocals and crude drawings, including a new opening (thankfully dropped). The "secret files" contain a "lost" animated short from the superheroes' glory days. This fake cartoon (Frozone and Mr. Incredible are teamed with a pink bunny) wears thin, but play it with the commentary track by the two superheroes and it's another sharp comedy sketch. There are also NSA "files" on the other superheroes alluded to in the film with dossiers and curiously fun sound bits. "Vowellet" is the only footage about the well-known cast (there aren't even any obligatory shots of the cast recording their lines). Author/cast member Sarah Vowell (NPR's This American Life) talks about her first foray into movie voice-overs--daughter Violet--and the unlikelihood of her being a superhero. The feature is unlike anything we've seen on a Disney or Pixar DVD extra, but who else would consider Abe Lincoln an action figure? --Doug Thomas
More Incredibles at Amazon.com
 The Incredibles Toy Store |  CD Soundtrack |  The Art of The Incredibles Book |
 Game Boy Advance |  On VHS |  The Essential Guide Book |
The Pixar Feature Films
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More Animation DVDs
 Favorite Animated Performances |  Previous Animated Oscar Nominees |  If You Like The Incredibles... |
 Our Disney DVD Store |  Looney Tunes Golden Collection |  Walt Disney Treasures |
More Superheroes on DVD
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Also from Filmmaker Brad Bird
 The Iron Giant (Writer/Director) |  "Family Dog" on Amazing Stories (Writer/Director) |  Batteries Not Included (Cowriter) |
 The Simpsons (Director/Consultant) |  King of the Hill (Consultant) |  The Critic (Consultant) |
$6.90
The Incredibles
Filed Under: Entertainment
With Finding Nemo I thought that Pixar films couldn’t get much worse. I thought that the Incredibles would finally be the one movie that redeemed the stuido. Boy was I wrong. The film is too dark for kids, yet to childish for adults. The plot is incredibly bad and poorly written, and there isn’t even that match humor, unlike films such as Toy Story. It’s pretty much for the most part just mindless violence throughout the entire flick. If that’s what Brad Bird thinks that’s what makes a good movie, then he’s wrong.
Rating: 1 / 5
This is the VERY WORST movie EVER. it isn’t funny, it’s simplistic, it’s stupis. It’s BORING. What you see in the previews for it, is the funniest and most exciting stuff in the whole movie. And that sutff SUCKS. Don’t waste any of your life on this Horrible movie. I HATE it!
Rating: 1 / 5
I had to watch tthe incredibles with my parents at the movie theatre when it came out, didn’t like it at all then. It was just plain dumb! Then months later, I had to watch it again at somebody’s party. WHAT A NIGHTMARE! This movie is a real sleeper and it’s a shame it was ever made! If there were zero stars as an opiton, I would definitely pick it! When I got home from that party, I was so mortified from having to watch that awful film, that I plugged in “Funny Farm,” to help myself forget about it. This movie should go out of print.
Rating: 1 / 5
My mother purchased this movie for my 4-year-old son and I am very disappointed with the content. There are LOTS of fighting scenes and guns in this movie. There are also fighting scenes where the Incredibles’ adversaries die. We thought it would be a good movie for my son since he liked other Pixar movies, but this one made my jaw hit the floor within the first 20 minutes. It’s waaaaay too dark for kids and too childish for adults. The baby bursting into flames at the end would probably give most kids nightmares. This was a total waste of money and should be completely avoided.
Rating: 1 / 5
Many of the people I knew seemed to applaud for the movie. I really find almost all the characters incredibly annoying. That’s just about the only incredible to this movie. I give credits to those CGI specialists who spent tremendous amount of time creating such elastic characters and by no means it was an easy feat. However, computer generate special effects does not a good movie make. Sometimes I feel as the director/producer focused too much on the CGI and not merely enough on a solid story. I guess it would be a fun movie for kids.
Rating: 2 / 5