THE INCREDIBLES [2004 / 2011] [World Exclusive Mondo #20 Limited Edition SteelBook] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ is Edge-Of-Your-Seat Entertainment For Everyone!
From the creative mind behind the ‘TOY STORY’ films and ‘RATATOUILLE’ comes this hilarious, action-packed animated adventure about a seemingly ordinary family with an incredible secret. Known to the world as superheroes Mr. Incredible/Bob Parr [Craig T. Nelson] and Elastigirl/Helen Parr [Holly Hunter] are 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 to live "normal" lives with their three children, Violet Parr [Sarah Vowell], Dashiell 'Dash' Parr [Spencer Fox] and Jack-Jack Parr [Eli Fucile/Maeve Andrews] and are itching to get back into action, and Bob Parr gets his chance when a mysterious communication summons him to a remote island for a top secret assignment and soon discovers that it will take a super family effort to rescue the world from total destruction. Exploding with fun, ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ is edge-of-your-seat entertainment for everyone and is a high definition spectacular adventure. It was the sixth film produced by PIXAR Animation Studios.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 2004 New York Film Critics Circle Awards: Won: Best Animated Film. 2005 Academy Awards®: Won: Best Sound Editing for Michael Silvers and Randy Thom. Won: Best Animated Feature Film for Brad Bird. Nominated: Best Sound Mixing for Randy Thom, Gary Rizzo and Doc Kane. Nominated: Best Original Screenplay for Brad Bird. 2005 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Won: Best Animated Film. Nominated: Best Music for Michael Giacchino. Nominated: Best Writer for Brad Bird. 2005 Art Directors Guild: Nominated: Feature Film for Period or Fantasy Film for Lou Ramano and Ralph Eggleston. 2005 BAFTA® Awards: Won: BAFTA Children's Award for Best Feature Film for John Walker and Brad Bird. 2005 Hugo Awards: Won: Best Dramatic Long Form Presentation.
FILM FACT No.2: ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ is the first PIXAR film to be scored by Michael Giacchino. Brad Bird was looking for a specific sound as inspired by the film's design and the future as seen from the 1960's. John Barry was the first choice to do the film's score, with a trailer of the film given a rerecording of John Barry's theme to ‘On Her Majesty's Secret Service.’ However, John Barry did not wish to duplicate the sound of some of his earlier soundtracks; the assignment was instead given to Michael Giacchino.
Voice Cast: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee, Dominique Louis, Teddy Newton, Jean Sincere, Eli Fucile, Maeve Andrews, Wallace Shawn, Spencer Fox, Lou Romano, Wayne Canney, Sarah Vowell, Michael Bird, Elizabeth Peña, Bud Luckey, Brad Bird, Bret 'Brook' Parker, Kimberly Adair Clark, John Ratzenberger, Mark Andrews, Nicholas Bird, Louis Martin Braga III, Mary Elizabeth Clark, Pete Docter, Louis Gonzalez, Elizabeth Greenberg, Juliet Greenberg, Billy Guardino, Dennis 'D.J.' Jennings, Ollie Johnston, Brad Lewis, Ted Mathot, Jazzie Mahannah, Randy Nelson, Bob Peterson, Jeff Pidgeon, Juliet Pokorny, Joe Ranft, Lori Richardson, A.J. Riebli III, Katherine Ringgold, Stephen Schaffer, Bob Scott, Peter Sohn, Andrew Stanton, Frank Thomas, Pamela Gaye Walker, Patrick Walker, Deirdre Warin and Philip Wong (uncredited)
Director: Brad Bird
Producers: John Lasseter, John Walker, Kori Rae and Katherine Sarafian
Screenpay: Brad Bird
Composer: Michael Giacchino
Cinematography: Andrew Jimenez, Janet Lucroy and Patrick Lin (Directors of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (opening interviews) and 2.35:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio ES
English: 2.0 Audio Descriptive Service
Spanish: 5.1 DTS-HD ES
Potuguês: 5.1 Dolby Digital EX
Hindi: 5.1 Dolby Digital EX
Spanish [Catalan]: 5.1 Dolby Digital EX
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish and Português
Running Time: 115 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: PIXAR Animation Studios / Walt Disney Pictures
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: In 2004, seeing the animated film ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ at the cinema, I became a massive fan of the brilliant and inventive PIXAR Animation Studios and especially of Brad Bird's previous animated films. Even with such high hopes, ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ managed to exceed all of my expectations, because I watched it with a mixture of awe and unbridled glee. So enraptured was I by the experience, I even sat through all of the closing end credits, because they were truly spectacular and very inventive.
The animated film ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ is the name of a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their powers and live a quiet suburban life. Mr. Incredible [Craig T. Nelson] desires to help people draws the entire family into a battle with an evil villain and his killer robot. Bob Paar [Craig T. Nelson] used to be one of the world's greatest superheroes, known to all as "Mr. Incredible," saving lives and fighting evil on a daily basis. But now, 15 years later, Bob Parr and his wife Helen Parr [Holly Hunter], a famous former superhero in her own right, have adopted civilian identities and retreated to the suburbs to live normal lives with their three kids. Now he's a clock-punching insurance claims adjuster fighting boredom and a bulging waistline. Itching to get back into action, Bob Parr gets his chance when a mysterious communication summons him to a remote island for a top secret assignment.
With my multiple viewings of this superb animated film, ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ have lost none of its considerable brilliant lustre and inventiveness. It still manages to shock, surprise, thrill, delight, and even inspires a tear or two. It's the best superhero of the "comic book" genre transferred to the silver screen, despite not being based on any specific comic book genre. It is a cinematic glorious funhouse, and sort of chooses the best bits from a variety of comic book cultures with a different spin on the genre. Brad Bird's masterpiece is proof that a special-effects animation film can be artistically and visually astounding without having to sacrifice the story scenario. ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ really stands apart from other action hero animated films and there is nothing else like it.
The plot summary for those who have not viewed this PIXAR Animation Studios animated film is as follows: Once upon a time, America's streets were kept safe by superheroes in colourful costumes. Chief among them were Mr. Incredible [Craig T. Nelson] and Elastigirl [Holly Hunter], an adventuring duo who may have fought crime on their own, but who fell in love and married and tackled the adventure of life together. Eventually, however, the public turned against its costumed do-gooders and super heroics were outlawed. The caped and non-caped crusaders alike were relocated a la witness protection and given normal lives. Mr. and Mrs. Incredible became Bob Parr and Helen Parr. Bob Parr worked in insurance, she became a homemaker, and they had three kids: Violet Parr [Sarah Vowel], Dashiell 'Dash' Parr [Sebastian Fox], and baby Jack-Jack. The eldest kids develop superpowers, especially with Violet Parr can turn invisible, Dashiell 'Dash' Parr can run extremely fast, but they must act like a normal family.
Enter the mysterious and sexy Mirage [Elizabeth Peña], who offers Mr. Incredible a chance to don his tights again and perform covert operations for an unseen benefactor. Bob jumps at the opportunity, unaware that the benefactor is a former fan Buddy Pine/Syndrome [Jason Lee] who he once offended. This deranged kid has taken to calling himself Syndrome, and he's been killing supers while perfecting the inventions that will make him the greatest "hero" of all time and allow him to get his revenge on the man who rejected him. Bob Parr's disappearance draws his wife out of retirement, the children stow along, and before you can say "shazam" The Incredible family are a genuine super-team, as well as a crime-fighting family like no other.
As far as computer animation goes in general, PIXAR Animation Studios has advanced since their inception since ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ was first released; and it is still amazing to see how far advanced they have come compared to their competitor animation studios was when ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ came out. This is the level at which most other animation outfits are operating at today, if they are lucky and even if their tech is up to the job, their art department has nowhere near the attention to detail that PIXAR Animation Studios have. There isn't an inch of any single one frame of ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ that hasn't been carefully considered, because its computer animation is at its very best.
Blu-ray Image Quality – PIXAR Animation Studios brings you ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ and has given us an absolutely stunning 1080p encoded image, and the 2.39:1 aspect ratio presentation enhances PIXAR computer animation with a brilliant and stunning technological achievement. The image resolution for the ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ is as close to perfect as you are likely to get. Minor details are given a new boost to the clarity, you will notice sparkle and dust and other finely rendered touches that you probably didn't even see in cinemas or on the previous inferior DVD. Colours pack a lot of punch, including a proper distinction between hot and cold, literally. Compare the lava of Syndrome's lair to Frozen and his ice slides, and see how they glow in entirely different ways. Also look at the individual embers and icicles. You can really see how this computer animated film is totally spectacular. Other fine details like their hair, water, expression all gets their due as well. ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ simply looks totally marvellous and totally stunning.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – PIXAR Animation Studios has created a brilliant 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix compared to the original soundtrack and makes the animated film ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ pull out all the stops to give you the most amazing audio experience and gives all of your speakers an amazing spectacular workout experience, and creating an entirely immersive atmosphere, complete with between-speaker effects on all levels of the audio and music, and dialogue. Subtle details ping between channels while the big moments boom with the full force of the entire system. Ambience prevails at all times, acoustics are convincing, and directionality is wonderfully precise. Simply put, everything from the track's arresting dynamics to its extraordinary immersive is as flawless and faithful as PIXAR purists have come to expect from the surround audio mixes. ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ deserves to be turned up extremely loud.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Director Audio Commentary with Director Brand Bird and Producer John Walker: Here we are personally invited to join Brad Bird, who informs us he was the director of ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ and next to introduce them self is Producer John Walker, who was also involved with the animated film. Brad Bird informs us that the opening music was going to be totally different composed music. With the open scene where the Incredibles are talking in front of the camera, Brad Bird originally wanted a different start to the film, but felt it would not have been the ideal start to the animated film. Brad Bird cannot thank everyone who was involved with the main characters so perfectly and they came from lots of different countries, and were also very creative. As we get to the very end, Brad Bird and John Walker thanks us the audience for sticking with them both throughout the animated film, but what slightly annoyed me is that they were watching the DVD that had just been released when they did the audio commentary, and what a shame they could not of done a new editing, so they mention that they were viewing a Blu-ray disc, as I find that a very lazy attitude. But with this audio commentary with Brad Bird and John Walker dig into all aspects relating to the heroes and villains in the animated film, especially with their powers, the on-screen action and quieter character beats, the voice casting process and subsequent performances, the animation and stylistic flourishes, and much, much more.
Animators Audio Commentary: With this particular audio commentary we have Supervising Animators Tony Fucile, Steven Hunter and Alan Barillaro. Plus Animators Gini Santos, David Devan, Kureha Yokoo, David Mullins, John Kahrs, Robert Russ, Angua MacLane, Travis Hathaway, Doug Frankel and Peter Sohn, and of course they all introduce themselves individually. In general, they talk like we know what they are on about, as it is all very technical, that other computer generated animators will know what they are talking about in production this animated film, whereas for me it all sounded like gobbled gook talk and totally incomprehensively and eventually it got totally boring and should talk to us so we can understand what they were talking about in non-technical terms and that is why the Brad Bird and John Walker audio commentary was far superior and interesting and that should have been the only audio commentary on this Blu-ray disc. This audio commentary gets zero points from me, as it is definitely one of the worst audio commentary I have ever had to endure and eventually I kept pressing the chapter button on my remote control to see if further on the comments would get far more interesting, but eventually I gave up as a hopeless case of total tedious boredom.
Special Feature: Boundin' [2003] [1080p] [1.78:1] [4:42] The PIXAR short animated film features a sheep that lives in the American West that dances proudly in his southwestern landscape, and his elegant dancing is popular with the other animals. One day the sheep-shearers arrive and shear him for the wool and is left naked. Having lost his coat, the other animals laugh at the sheep and he becomes shy and loses the confidence to dance and gets depressed. Suddenly a cheerful jackalope comes along and shows him how to leap proudly and not to be ashamed. The sheep is converted and his joy in life is restored. The sheep's wool eventually grows back in the winter, only for it to be cut again, but his pride is now completely unshaken and he continues to "bound." Writer-director Bud Luckey designed and voiced all the characters and composed the music and wrote the story. This is the first PIXAR short that had a theatrical release that included vocal performances with words by Bobby McFerrin. You have the option of viewing the animation with an audio commentary by Director Bud Luckey. As an added bonus, you can view the animated cartoon in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.
Special Feature: Jack-Jack Attack [2005] [1080p] [1.78:1] [4:44] In a dark room, Agent Rick Dicker interrogates Kari McKeen, a young girl with braces what happened. Kari McKeen explains that she was babysitting for an infant, Jack- Jack, who seems able to levitate, float, pass through walls, catch fire, and cause havoc. Experts say classical music helps infants to develop better cognitive skills, but for this exceptional child Mozart proves the key to unlocking some truly remarkable superpowers for Jack-Jack. However, things take a darker turn with the arrival of the villainous Syndrome. ‘Jack-Jack Attack’ computer animated short film was produced by PIXAR which is based on their animated film ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ and was also directed by Brad Bird. As an added bonus, you can view the animated cartoon in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.
Special Feature: Jack-Jack Attack Exploded [2005] [1080p] [1.78:1] [4:44] Here we get a visual audio commentary with Brad Bird [Screenwriter/Director], Bret Parker [Kari McKeen Animation Voice], Teddy Newton [Character Designer] and Mark Andrews [Storyboard Supervisor]. As a bonus, you get to see at the bottom of the screen, visual inserts, including black-and-white storyboard illustrations, photographs and behind-the-scene studio scenes.
Special Feature: The Incredibles Revisited [2005] [1080p] [1.78:1/2.35:1/1.37:1] [22:09] By far the best of the best, and here we get to view an assembled filmmakers Blu-ray roundtable featuring a discussion and look-back at their work on the animated film ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ with Brad Bird [Screenwriter/Director], John Walker [Producer], Rick Sayre [Supervising Technical Director], Teddy Newton [Character Designer], Tony Fucile [Animation Supervisor], Lou Romano [Production Designer] and Mark Andrews [Storyboard Supervisor]. We get to see them joke a lot and lots of funny anecdotes and providing rare insights into the making of the animated film, especially with the storyline and its characters are invaluable, and their exceedingly candid reflection on the development and production of one of PIXAR's finest computer generated animated film. Whatever you do, please do not miss this one. As an added bonus and at the same time, we get to view some rare colour illustrations of the characters, also get to view some rare animated black-and-white storyboard illustrations, lots of behind-the-scenes at the PIXAR Studio, plus lots of clips from the animated film.
Special Feature: Studio Stories: Gary's Birthday [2005] [1080p] [1.78:1] [1:25] Here we get to view a totally brilliant black-and-white animated storyboard, with an amusing story told by the team who tried to maintain their sanity while working on Brad Bird's superhero animated film epic. So they decided to do a preparation for a birthday celebration for all the staff, on one day of the year, because there would be too many birthday celebrations that would stop the flow on working on ‘THE INCRDIBLES,’ so they ordered a birthday cake to have the words “Happy Birthday Gang” on it, but when it arrived, instead it had the words “Happy Birthday Gary” on it, and despite this mistake, they say "Gary means everyone" and so they celebrated one good birthday party. Narration contributions were John Walker and brad Bird.
Special Feature: Ending With A Bang: Making the End Credits [2005] [1080p] [1.78:1/2.35:1] [1:35] Learn about the genesis and creation of the end credits sequences in this all-too-short documentary. Here we get an in-depth information and explanation on how the end credits were created and wanting it to look in a simple design of the 1960s, which were produced and designed by Lou Romano. Narration contributions were Teddy Newton [Character Designer] and Andrew Jimenez [Director of Photography].
Sneak Previews: PIXAR’s Cars 2 [2011] [1080p] [2.39:1] [1:14]; Disney’s The Lion King [Diamond Edition] [1994] [1080p] [1.78:1] [1:16] and Disney Interactive Studios: EPIC MICKEY [2010] [1080p] [1.78:1] [1:00].
PLUS: MAXIMISE YOUR HOME THEATER! Get the most out of your Home Theater by conducting the following instructions for some simple tests. Use the left and right arrows on your remote control for each test, which are as follows: 01. Getting Started. 02. Aspect Ratio and Framing. 03. Brightness. 04. Contrast. 05. Gamma. 06. Audio.
BONUS: The Mondo #20 Blu-ray SteelBook features the original Mondo artwork by Tom Whalen who is a talented designer and accomplished illustrator from Pennsylvania who has made a career out of illustrating his passions for such things as comic books, poster art, movies, pop art, toy packaging, and more. This Limited Edition SteelBook comes in a translucent sleeve to protect the Tom Whalen fantastic artwork.
Finally, this is the first CGI animated film to feature an all-human cast. PIXAR Animation Studios ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ is absolutely fun, fun, fun all the way and at the same time we get to look at the Incredibles and their humdrum suburban middle-aged life. The story comes with a wonderfully memorable cast of characters and tons of exciting explosive action, so making this a very unique and highly entertaining family animated film. The Blu-ray has a totally remarkable ultra-demo quality image presentation and an outstanding audio experience, and an extensive collection of wonderful bonus special features and definitely a must own release for sure! Needless to say, I simply can't think of a single reason why the ‘THE INCREDIBLES’ shouldn't earn a coveted place in your Blu-ray collection and that is why I am so proud to add this to my ever expanding Blu-ray PIXAR Collection and especially in my ever growing Limited Edition SteelBook Collection. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
