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As I contemplate writing a review for this wonderfully entertaining film that sports a pristine, demo-quality, direct transfer, superb 6.1 audio track, and a terrific cornucopia of extras, I'm left with two choices: use the adjective wherever possible and risk a decent into sophomoric humor, or scrupulously avoid its use. I opted for the latter, but it's going to be damned difficult. Pixar's productions just keep getting better and better. Not only has the technology improved, but the writing - the wit and underlying emotional core - has improved as well. And considering the Pixar films that preceded The Incredibles, that's very high praise indeed.
As the film begins, we learn that the world is blessed - and cursed - with innumerable superheroes, beings with extraordinary powers who fight evil and crime and who make the planet a little safer. But the downside is that collateral damage and injured civilians provoke lawsuits, and the government decides that it can no longer provide the superheroes with a financial safety net. The superheroes are directed to stand down, and their super exploits are made illegal.
No hero is more devastated by this news than Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson). He basked in the glory of superhero adulation, but more importantly, he lived to save the day. He settles down with Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), but in their secret identities as Bob and Helen Parr, he's miserable. Commuting to work each day to sit behind a desk to be pressured by his boss, Gilbert Huph (the always droll Wallace Shawn), to deny people's insurance claims is not Bob's idea of helping people. Perhaps that's why he slips from time to time; his instincts to save people are so strong that he occasionally lapses into superhero mode. He and his family had to be moved by the government's Superhero Relocation Program several times.
He commiserates with his best friend, Lucius Best (Samuel L. Jackson), someone who's in a position to understand Bob's frustration; Lucius used to be Frozone, a superhero with the power to generate vast quantities of ice (sort of an organic Mr. Freeze come over to the light side). One night each week - bowling night - they sneak off to listen to a police scanner and secretly help out. And that's how they were discovered by a shadowy organization that makes Bob an offer he cannot refuse.
The Parr's have three children. Violet (Sarah Vowell) is a dating-age teenager full of angst with the abilities to become invisible and to generate impregnable force fields. Dash (Spencer Fox) is a prankster who cannot resist the temptation to torture his teacher using his unbelievable speed. And there's a baby, affectionately called Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile and Maeve Andrews), who may be the only "normal" being in the house. It's going to be hard for Bob to conceal his new supergig from the family.
But Helen is as bright and talented as she is stretchy. When she finds a single blond hair on Bob's clothing - which we all know belongs to Mirage (Elizabeth Pena), the visible representative of the shadow organization - and notices a repair on Bob's supersuit, Helen springs into action. She visits Edna Mode (voiced by director Brad Bird), a fashion designer likely inspired by award winning Hollywood costume designer Edith Head. Edna may be a famous designer by day, but her secret is that she created all the superhero outfits. All is revealed, and before you can say Shazam, Helen is off to track down Bob.
I was impressed with the writers' blending of humor, adventure, and the superheroes' psychological problems of being rejected by society, having an irresistible urge to assume the hero role, and trying to maintain a normal existence within a loving home. And I enjoyed the irony that it takes a superhero wannabe, Syndrome (Jason Lee), to show society that perhaps it does need superheroes after all.
There is also a distinct touch of a James Bond influence that runs through the second half of the film. The situations are familiar to fans of Ian Fleming and the films based on his work. There is a super-villain. The plot device of the hero's winning over the bad girl - in this film with compassion rather than sex - is fully intact. And composer Michael Giacchino had to be channeling John Barry as he put notes to staff.
Laugh out loud funny and touching at the same time, I was fully engaged. The voice cast is uniformly excellent. Writer/director Brad Bird, who wrote and directed The Iron Giant, ably delivers a wonderful film, while John Lasseter assumes the role of executive producer. But I would be remiss if I didn't send my most sincere compliments to the vast army of animators, software engineers, and other technical personnel that brought this film to life. It's a stunning achievement.
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?
The film's theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1 is presented in anamorphic video. Regular readers know that when it comes to the visuals, I am very hard to please. Watching DVDs on an eight-foot wide screen with a 43-degree field of view readily reveals any flaws in the transfer. So it is very rare indeed that I award a disc with our highest possible video score of five; The Incredibles earned it the hard way, with a fabulous presentation. If you listen to Brad Bird's introduction before starting the film, he'll explain that this was a direct digital transfer. The telecine bay may be a potential weak link, but a skillful compressionist is also required for a great transfer. Halo-free, sharp as a tack, vivid and noise-free colors (don't be fooled by a subdued palette during scenes in which Bob is feeling a bit low), and terrific shadow detail, this is demonstration quality anamorphic video.
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
The Dolby Digital 6.1 (5.1 EX) track is also terrific. A broad dynamic range, wide frequency response, highly enveloping surround effects, and bass that extends deep into the lowest octave make this an exciting and highly pleasing track. Michael Giacchino's score is conveyed with satisfying fidelity, and the studio recordings of the voice actors remain crystal clear throughout. The dialog is even directional. Demo quality? Yes. Perfect? Not quite. Although the surrounds were used to great effect, I thought they could have been used a tad more. But this is a small quibble. This is one very fine audio track.
The alternate languages of French and Spanish are also presented in Dolby Digital 6.1. Optional subtitles include French, Spanish, and English, for which Closed Captions are also provided.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
Disc one opens with the familiar feature of a group of trailers, and I think you may want to sit through at least one of them, perhaps two. First up is Pixar's next feature, Cars (1:57), a tale about a world in which cars have no drivers. Then there is what I recall as Disney's first foray into CGI animation since its parting from Pixar, Chicken Little (1:10). And a Cinderella Special Edition (1:20) is being prepared for DVD by Disney. These trailers may be skipped and saved for later. They are among others on the Sneak Peeks screen, which also offers: three recent Miyazaki releases (2:20); Lilo & Stitch 2 (1:02); The Incredibles video game (0:32); and, a promo for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disneyland (0:30). An interesting sidenote: these trailers are all in anamorphic video, with equal height. As the aspect ratio drops, the image becomes window-paned. I appreciate not having to change the display mode on my projector to watch them. Nice touch, Buena Vista.
Since this is a THX-certified DVD, the THX Optimizer is also found on disc one. Other than for the Optimizer and trailers, Disney wisely conserved the bit budget for the feature film, its audio tracks, and its optional one-minute introduction by the director suggesting the Optimizer's use, so the only other supplements on the first disc are two commentaries.
The first commentary is by writer/director Brad Bird and producer John Walker. You will be exhausted quickly by Bird's energy level. We get glimpses of his enthusiastic style in the featurettes on disc two, but his performance in the commentary is a broad hint. Theirs is an enjoyable discussion of the evolution of the film as the story was changed to resolve issues and elevate the emotional tone. We hear about artistic goals and the difficulties of overcoming technical problems. Interesting.
The second commentary includes Pixar supervising animators Tony Fucile, Steven Hunter, and Alan Barillaro, and what sounds like a dozen of their animation staff. They discuss the technical aspect of making the film and credit the people who performed the work. These talented folks are essentially invisible, so one can't blame them for spending time expressing credit. They seem amused over how many times the software let them down and re-rendering was required. (Does this represent some friendly competition between the technologists and the artists?) If you enjoy hearing about the process, you'll enjoy the track.
Disc two contains the bulk of the generous supplements in this release. First is a 52-second introduction by Brad Bird that tends to be a tad superfluous, but things soon warm up nicely.
During the feature film, there's a sequence in which Helen retrieves some rather alarming messages from a ditzy babysitter with hidden depths, Kari (Bret Parker). She's been watching Jack-Jack and off-screen all hell's broken loose in the Parr home. We discover precisely what had been going on during this delightful little short, em>Jack-Jack Attack< (4:43). As Kari's interrogated by agent Rick Dicker (Bud Luckey) - clearly based on Richard Nixon - she recounts the incident and we get to see it. Great fun.
There are six deleted scenes, a feature that includes an introduction. A "Play All" option is most convenient, and when you opt for that mode the scenes will run 34:20. Most are in an animatronic form based on line drawings. Some rough monochrome CGI backgrounds had been rendered. One sequence had been partially rendered in color. The feature film is surprisingly long for animation, just shy of two hours, so it's completely understandable that these sequences were cut. It's an interesting exercise in artistic decision-making.
The next supplement is called Behind the Scenes, and it includes six features. em>The Making of The Incredibles< (27:24 and presented in anamorphic video) shows Brad Bird in hyper mode motivating his troops. This is similar to other Pixar documentaries in that we are ushered behind the scenes to listen to the various filmmakers and animators discuss working with one another and working with the technology. Regardless, the personalities are different and the animators are different and everyone seems to enjoy poking fun at Bird's manic style. A great look inside.
This is followed by More Making of The Incredibles (40:53, and also in anamorphic video), which addresses different aspects of the film: Story; Character Design; E Volution; Building Humans; Building Extras; Set Design; Sound; Music; Lighting; and, Tools. All but two are self-explanatory. E Volution is about Brad Bird's voicing of Edith and the design of that specific character. Tools places the spotlight on the software developers and the tools they created for the show, a mere two minutes and forty-five seconds on the people who made the whole thing possible.
Incredi-Blunders (1:42, anamorphic) is the gag reel for the show, animation goofs, rendering glitches, and just plain screwing around. It's accompanied by a satirically annoying laugh track.
Next is Vowellet: An Essay by Sarah Vowell (9:21). The voice actress, writer, and (I'm not completely sure about this) standup comedian talks directly into a camera to share her life's interests and the experience making the film. This is a quirky and bizarre piece that had me wondering whether she had her tongue thrust deep in cheek for the duration. Smile inducing.
The Art Gallery is organized into several sections to cover Story, Character Design, Set Design, Color Scripts, Lighting, and Collages. Dozens and dozens of stills. The Publicity screen offers several choices but I'll suggest "Play All" (13:04). Here you'll find droll character interviews (6:30), a teaser (2:03), and two theatrical trailers (1:58 and 2:33). All are in anamorphic video with appropriate window-paning where required.
The next group of extras is found on the Top Secret screen. Mr. Incredible and Pals is a retro cartoon that can be viewed with or without commentary by Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) and Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson). It's intentionally lame and is best watched with the commentary. Frozone gets genuinely pissed off. Mr. Incredible gets defensive. Clever. The second feature in this section is NSA Files. This full screen feature is a collection of dossiers for an impressive group of superheroes. Each is complete with a text outline of powers and characteristics and an audio file.
Next we have Pixar's Academy Award nominated short animation entitled Boundin' (4:40), presented in anamorphic video. It may be played with and without a director's commentary. This is a delightful little film that amuses and, not surprising in a Pixar production, offers a bit of heartwarming philosophy. The short was directed by Bud Lucky (who also did all the vocals) and if you are wondering Who is Bud Lucky? another full screen short of that name answers the question.
The 115-minute feature film is organized into thirty-two chapters.
Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?
There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.
Easter Eggs
Every once in a while on disc two, on one screen or another, a silhouette for the film's battle robot appears in the upper right corner of your screen; select it and be treated to a little something special.
Final Thoughts
I received this screener the day before the Academy Awards and that may have been somewhat fortuitous, for it gave me the opportunity to acknowledge that The Incredibles won for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year and Best Achievement in Sound Editing. This is a charming film that has the broadest possible appeal; I cannot imagine any age group not finding this film highly entertaining. (Well, perhaps toddlers or younger.) The immaculate transfer, the impressive sound, and a slew of informative and engaging supplements make this a must buy. Very highly recommended.
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