The Incredibles
May 2005 Reviewed by: Josh Barber Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Years ago, Bob Parr was Metroville's premiere superhero, Mr. Incredible. When public opinion turned against them, Bob and his superhero family are forced into hiding. But life incognito is getting harder for Bob every day -- will his restlessness force him to uproot his family yet again? Ultimately, The Incredibles isn't so much a superhero movie as it is a movie with superheroes; the story is not about secret origins and pseudo science but about a man trying to find the balance between his work and family life. And a very good story it is.

Director Brad Bird's last project, The Iron Giant, was overlooked in its theatrical release, but The Incredibles was a big hit at the box office. That is surprising, since the movie never panders to its audience nor tries to coddle anyone's sensibilities. The villains use bullets, not color-coded lasers, and when airships explode, no parachutes pop out at the last second. As Elastigirl (aka Helen Parr) tries to impress upon her kids: "Remember the bad guys? On those shows you used to watch on Saturday mornings? Well, these guys aren't like those guys. They won't exercise restraint just because you're children. They will kill you if they get the chance." This ain't your father's Superfriends.

The DVD transfer is excellent. Now, mind you, it is not as stunningly good as Finding Nemo was, but that was an incredibly high, razor-sharp bar to get over. The few errors here and there are not enough to complain about. There was no crawling or noise even on the bright red uniforms. All detail is crisp, from backgrounds to close-ups.

The movie starts slowly, so the sound won't grab you right away. After the opening flashback, things settle down for quite a while until Bob gets to the tropical island of Nomanisan. But there is plenty of range, and if you have a home-theater setup, you will probably want to make sure your breakables are nailed down before the rockets start firing.

The Incredibles is a two-disc set, with a nice selection of extras spread between them. Brad Bird and producer John Walker sit down for a commentary, and so do a pile of Pixar codemonkeys. Both commentaries are informative. Bird and Walker discuss the story, while the artists talk about inspiration.

The second disc gives us Boundin,’ a wonderfully cute short that was in front of the film in theaters. With it are a commentary and a brief bio of its creator, Bud Luckey. Another short, Jack-Jack Attack, a scene in the Parr household, is just a little five-minute thing, but it's cute too. There is half an hour of deleted scenes in animatic form with Bird and Walker talking about them.

Another half hour is taken up by "Making of The Incredibles," which is a light look at the music, the endless story meetings, and Pixar’s attempts to make realistic animated humans for the first time. "More Making of The Incredibles" is ten minutes longer and much more focused. We get two minutes of programming errors ("Incredi-blunders") and an essay from Sarah Vowell, the voice of Violet Parr. The art gallery shows production art from all stages of production. Finally, there is a "lost" episode of Mr. Incredible and Pals and in-character commentary from Bob and Frozone.

The Incredibles is a fun movie that manages to be a bit dark and family friendly at the same time. Brad Bird is a man with great stories to tell, and let’s hope Pixar will always be there to bring them to the public.

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