Customer Reviews

The Incredibles [Blu-ray] [2004] [Region Free]

I expected the Incredibles to be impressive on the visual side of things. I was not disappointed in those respects. I was even more suprised that an animated mainstream film from Disney was as knowing, well writen and even original as any live action film.
I thought that the take on superhero themes is refreshing. The Incredibles draws from the superhero comics heritage from the 60's to the cynicism of postmodernist sentiments from the Simpsons. Superheroes have been made to go into civilian life and refrain from any heroic activity because of the cost of lawsuits to the economy made by ungrateful rescued people. Mr Incredible cant help helping good citizens by approving their insurance claims.
The parts about the new lives of the Parr family is an welcomed change of focus and pace in my opinnion. It all makes the action later more dynamic. But watching a cgi family bicker about how boring thier lives are is strangely fascinating because it is so believable, without trying to copy realife.
The action scenes are varied and clever. There's enough crash and bang, that stand up to the likes of Jurrasic Park and Starwars. More importantly is the capital the film makes from the abilites of Elastimum, who's more versatile than a survival expert with a bundle of sticks, her performances 'stretch' the possibilites of what could be acheived in live action evrn with CGI.
The art and design of big animated films is often passed of as being 'great graphics'. As an animation student there is a true appreciation of the difficulties of working in the medium. The commentaries make no few words about this point. Most people should go away with the unique quality and detail that the Incredibles has in its presentation. The characters have a claymation, Wallace and Gromit quality to them. The sets are the best I've seen. Even the ending credits are animated. In short fantastic. Pixar has done good.
The Incredibles has a lot to answer to Marvel's Fantanstic Four, which is coming out soon. I think Incredibles will probably be the better film.

Just received this in the post this morning after pre ordering. Major disappointment is the only way i can explain how i feel about this disc and with Disney for their treatment of their uk customers. Ok the disc only cost £12, and for that you do get an excellent picture and sound experience, but the fact that 99% of the extra features from the original DVD are now missing and most of the new features that i understand are in the American version of the disc have not been included is a real shame. Why should i have to keep changing between the standard definition DVD edition of the film and the high def on the blu-ray? For all those people that say i should have imported the 4 disc set from the US, why should i? i would have happily have paid more money for the extra features in hi-def, but Disney in their all powerful, all knowing dictatorship of a company decided to remove my right to choose. In future i will not pre-order any discs from Disney or maybe just stick to buying their films on DVD as you seem to get better value for money.

...let down by a cut-and-paste effort with the special features. Reading through what's available on the 4-disc US release (2 blu/1 DVD/1 digital copy) we're missing 3 discs of stuff. Digital copies don't matter that much, nor do DVD versions, but to be missing the 2nd blu-ray smacks of utter contempt to UK customers.

Yes, the UK version may well have SOME of the US bonus features. But not all of them. Nor does it port over any of the classic DVD features - yet EVERY Disney release previously does! What gives?

To be short-changed to such an extent is a real disappointment, saved only by the film and its excellent HD presentation. Boo hiss boo, Disney. Boo hiss boo.

There are two crowds with this movie. Those who think it was OK, and those who think it is brilliant. Few dislike it.
My thoughts here are strong -- Brilliant, and then some.
"The Incredibles" is the beginning of a new era of superhero movies. It pokes at the genre, and it tells a fantastic story in the process. More than a parody, it has a rich pro-family flavor, folded into a drama about relationships, yet never taking itself too seriously.
The Plot
Take a couple with superpowers, move them into a federal protection program after superheroes are sued, give them three kids who aren't allowed to use their powers, and wait. Prod them occasionally with anxiety and restlessness to keep them in minor trouble. Soon, a powerful, intelligent enemy bent on becoming a self-made messiah will come along.
Will the retired and in-hiding superheroes don the uniforms and save the day? Can they after all these years? Who is this amazing arch enemy?
Does my version of the plot tell as well as it works in the movie? Probably not, because what is missing is the funny sight gags, situation humor, and spectacular animation. You also don't hear the swift one-liners, allusions to classic comic books or sarcasm about society.
The movie soars farther than the average superhero movie because, like Spiderman, it looks into the reality of the kind of personal life a superhero would have. If a world with superheroes existed, what would it be like? While the X-Men movies have attempted to address this, the concept of Charles Xavier's mansion is not easy to believe. Thinking that after Mr. Incredible unretired, he would have a beer gut is believable. These superheroes are just like us, after all, only "super."
The art and design of "The Incredibles" is not the usual either. Calling it art may seem too much, and I don't want to suggest that this is an animated version of the Louvre. However, "The Incredibles" angles beyond comic book art, and into art deco, and pop art akin to a more sophisticated, moving Andy Warhol.
The messages in the movie encourage us to be ourselves, be humble, do the right thing, and, in the case of peril, be courageous.
I fully recommend "The Incredibles." I am looking for a sequel or two, and am hoping they can continue this style and quality.
Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

This is a fantastic film - one of Pixar's best and as good as the Toy Story films in my view (high praise indeed!)

However for the upcoming blu-ray release Disney UK appears to have decided to release a single disc version with minimal extras. The recent US version was a four(yes four) disc set. It included the now obligatory digital copy and DVD version of the film which seems to be one of Disney's selling points (Buy ANOTHER DVD copy of a film you have already!) But the package also includes an additional blu-ray disc with 8 hours of extras. What do UK buyers get? Looks like a single disc without even all the extras that were on the 2 disc DVD. If Disney UK want to continue selling blu-ray's maybe they should ask their friends in the US office for a few tips as it seems to be better value to import titles from the US than to make do with the UK hatchet job on offer.

My son is 7 and we went to see it because it was the latest film out ,I wasn't particularly bothered about seeing it but all the kids were talking about it at school.I'd made up my mind that I was just going to enjoy the time to relax , the film was fantastic though and my son would have sat and watched it again straight away.Its a must in this household on DVD.

Pixar just gores from strength to strength. The animation studio responsible for Toy Story, Monsters Inc and Finding Nemo has out done themselves for this film. The Incredibles is the story of a family of Superheroes who must live among the general population in fear of law suits. When Bob Parr loses his job he gets a mysterious communication that asks him to resume his super identity of Mr Incredible. The Incredibles is a great film, well made and has a brilliant script that should keep you entertained throughout. The has been heavily influenced by existing superhero comics, especially the Fantastic 4 and actually outclasses the Fantastic 4 live action film in every way. Of the special features the best has to be the short piece of animation Jack-Jack Attack which shows what happened with the youngest member of the Parr family while the family were saving the world. The Incredibles should be enjoyable by most people's standards but especially Sci-Fi fans.

It's not every animated movie that deals with midlife crisis, marital dysfunction, child neglect, impotence fears, fashion faux pas and existential angst. But The Incredibles -- the latest in the line of miracles from Pixar (A Bug's Life, Toy Story 1 and 2, Finding Nemo) -- is not like any animated movie you've ever seen. While delivering the goods as a rip-roaring action-adventure and in the process rocketing the art of animation to new heights of imagination, humor and wonder, director-writer Brad Bird has crafted a film that breaks fresh ground and defies fogy rules. For starters, there's no talking fish, insects or toys. Bird -- who cut his satirical teeth working on The Simpsons and the criminally underseen 1999 feature The Iron Giant -- animates human beings.

I watched this film with very high expectations having loved most of the earlier PIXAR films (particularly Toy Story 1 & 2 and Finding Nemo), The Incredibles exceeded these high expectations. It is a great film
It almost goes without saying that the state of the art animation is fantastic (as is the transfer to DVD). The animation of the hair and costumes is particularly impressive.
The real strength of the film is the story and the cast. They have taken a number of clichés/jokes and created a family that is simultaneously familiar while being new and interesting. The strong man unable to use his strength and struggling to be a good father (Mr Incredible), the mother pulled in all directions (Elastigirl voiced by Holly Hunter), the teenage daughter who wants to be invisible and can be (Violet), the hyperactive son (Dash) and the baby (Jack-Jack). The supporting cast is also excellent - Samuel L. Jackson has great fun as Frozone, director Brad Bird steals every scene he is in as Edna ("No capes!") Mode although I am a little less sure about Jason Lee's performance as the bad guy, Syndrome.
After an opening sequence that shows Mr Incredible & Elastigirl in action, the story follows this family of superheroes attempting (not entirely successfully) to lead quiet lives after a series of lawsuits and public disapproval forces them to give up their superhero identities and adopt their 'secret' identities permanently. Then Mr Incredible is tempted out of retirement and sets out on an action packed adventure.
As usual for PIXAR the film works on multiple levels. It is an action adventure packed with humour and references to comic books and movies (that are almost seamlessly integrated into the story). It is a family drama about the father coming to terms with how important his family is to him. There is some biting social commentary ("It's not graduation, he's moving from the fourth to fifth grade!", everybody will have super powers, meaning that nobody will be super).
This is a triumphant success - beautifully made, action packed yet engaging, funny and moving. This is a film that I already know my family and I will watch again and again.

My preorder just arrived in the post -- apparently Disney decided to give the UK a completely stripped out version, and I am highly disappointed, compared to all the other Pixar and Disney BluRay releases (*all* of which I own). This would appear to be essentially disc one of the 2disc BluRay set in the US (packaged with a few extra discs there, as well, but then varying combinations of 3D Blu, Blu, DVD copy, and Digital Copy at varying price points are standard between territories). This means that the only extra that is ported over is the commentary, as the rest were on disc two. So yeah, it's six quid cheaper, but this is not up to the standards set by Disney on previous UK releases or *even* the standards set by Disney for *this* release elsewhere.

The movie, of course, still worthwhile, and no doubt the transfer quality will be excellent, but the package gets a thumbs down. Recommend an import.