THE INCREDIBLES (WIDESCREEN 2-DISC COLLECTOR'S EDITION) (2004)

The Incredibles (Widescreen 2-Disc Collector's Edition) (2004)

Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter
Director: Brad Bird
Number of discs: 2
Encoding: Region 2 encoding (Europe, Japan, South Africa and the Middle East including Egypt)
Format: Widescreen, Color, Animated, Dolby

• Available subtitles: English
• Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX), French (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX)
• Commentary by writer/director Brad Bird and producer John Walker
• Commentary by the animators
• "Jack-Jack Attack" exclusive all new short film
• "Incredi-Blunders" bloopers and outtakes
• Deleted scenes, including alternate opening
• Making of "The Incredibles" featurette
• Seven additional behind-the-scenes featurettes
• Pixar short film "Boundin'" with optional commentary by director Bud Luckey
• "Who is Bud Luckey?" featurette
• Top secret NSA files on all the Supers
• "Mr. Incredible & Pals" cartoon with optional comtary by Frozone and Mr. Icrediblemen
• "Vowellet" an essay by vocal talent Sarah Vowell (Violet)
• Introductions with Brad Bird
   

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Skillfully mixing elements from Fantastic Four comics, old James Bond movies and Alan Moore's Watchmen, The Incredibles proved an unexpected movie for Pixar.

It was the studio's first movie to deal with human characters unlike the assortment of fish, insects, critters, living toys, etc. featured in their previous films, namely Monsters, Inc., A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo and the Toy Story movies.

Here was a superhero movie that dealt with some surprisingly adult situations (such as being stuck in traffic during your daily commute, working in a dull job, etc.) which probably explains why it was outshone at the box office by the likes of Shrek 2. Still, it made a very healthy US$260 million so the accountants at cash-strapped Disney must be smiling, or at least until their deal with Pixar runs out after the upcoming Cars and they have to start counting the grosses for the upcoming Chicken Little . . .

Still, The Incredibles is one entertaining flick, but one which probably lacks the universal appeal of Finding Nemo and will probably appeal more to boys and aging comic fans such as myself. (That is however not to say that the entire family won't enjoy it.)

THE DISCS: Except for the two animated features found on the DVD, the special features are mostly aimed at adult movie geeks. (I, of course use the term ?adult? here loosely.) No computer games aimed at kids but rather lots of ?making off? stuff and even the usual ?this superhero has this power? stats have their tongues firmly in their cheeks.

The Jack-Jack Attack short is exclusive to the DVD while the Bounding short was shown in cinemas before the main feature. This latter short isn't as good as the previous shorts showed with Pixar movies and may be a sign that Pixar is finally slipping up - along with that lousy Cars trailer.

Jack-Jack Attack (directed by Incredibles director Brad Bird) however is a gem and humorously fills in the gaps as to what happened to the Incredibles' babysitter in the movie. Also watch out for the traditionally animated short that consciously imitates poorly animated TV superhero shows from the 1960s. Noteworthy too are the deleted, or rather omitted scenes: they have a soundtrack but have only been storyboarded. Some good stuff in there and even enough material for a sequel one day.

(Note: under their current agreement, Disney owns the rights to all Pixar movies and can make sequels to them without the studio's permission or input, something it is planning to do with Toy Story 3 and expect some more sub-par sequels from those wonderful folks who gave us Peter Pan 2 and endless worthless ?two-disc special editions? of old Disney classics such as Bambi . . .)

WORTH IT? Great movie, great extras. What's not to like?

RECOMMENDATION: Buy it for your kids, ahem . . .