The Incredibles - Music (Original Soundtrack)

Pixar Studios continues its string of computer animation successes with this satirical tale of a family of superheroes (picture a flabby, suburbanized Fantastic Four) forced out of retirement by--what else?--an evil genius and his plot for world domination. Director Brad Bird, whose Iron Giant was one of the 90's most sublime, if underappreciated animated triumphs, decided he wanted his Incredibles score to be a throwback to the spy-action genre of the mid-60's. Enter Michael Giacchino, the young composer who'd previously conjured a marvellously eclectic range of musical styles in service of TV's Alias. In his feature film debut, Giacchino (with a key assist from veteran arranger Jack Hayes) ups the ante of Bird's back-to-the-future spy-score gambit with an orchestral jazz soundtrack powered by the brash rhythms of television's Mannix and Man From U.N.C.L.E. beneath a veneer of melodic intrigue and detached elegance that recalls the prime of John Barry's James Bond oeuvre. More importantly, the young composer serves it all up with a sense of assured retro-cool and a distinct lack of irony that makes it all the more inviting. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews of The Incredibles

Kurt A. Johnson
Marseilles, IL USA
29th April 2005

Really great!
In 2004, Pixar released its *sixth* smash-hit movie, The Incredibles. When making the movie, writer-director Brad Bird found his dream composer in the form of Michael Giacchino, a film composer who could make the big jazzy music that the story demanded. This CD contains the soundtrack of the movie that Bird created and Giacchino brought to life.

OK, sound like hyperbole? Well, once you get a chance to listen to this soundtrack, you will realize just how much the music brought the story to life. And I'll go beyond that, this soundtrack is great to listen to on its own. Some soundtracks are all variations on the same theme, and quite boring, but this soundtrack is really great to listen to, swinging between smoky quiets to screaming crescendos.

Yep, I loved the movie The Incredibles, and I loved this soundtrack. If you love good jazz, then this CD is for you. I highly recommend it!

M. C Coulson

24th March 2005

Uber-cool Bond-style soundtrack - give this man a Medal
If the rumours are true, that John Barry was set to score Pixar's wondrous new feature The Incredibles, but had to drop out at the last minute, then his replacement Michael Giacchino was an inspired choice.

This soundtrack is simply one of the best John Barry style Bond scores, that current Bond composer David Arnold could only dream of writing.

Currently best known for his stunning Medal of Honor games soundtracks that recall John Williams at his peak, Michael Giacchino has the knack of writing strong memorable themes and his use of brilliant orchestrators enables him to sound so like the composers he obviously admires. With the Incredibles Giacchino has captured the swagger and sass of John Barry's early Bond soundtracks for From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball and OHMSS, without blatantly pinching a single tune from Barry.

Ok there are times when it's obvious you are listening to the underscore of a frenetic piece of action more akin to Carl Stalling's Looney Tunes music, but on the whole it's like listening to a long lost Bond soundtrack.

If you love movie music buy this album - it's a lot of fun.

benheywood

7th January 2005

perfect slice of retro
Whilst watching The Incredibles I was puzzled to see, on numerous occasions, what I thought were tell tale "lines" on the screen, usually the product of 32mm film whizzing through the projector gate. An odd thing to see indeed in this day and age - especially when animated films are created entirely digitally! After a moment's thought, however, this made perfect sense; it was clearly a deliberate stylistic cue, a nod to the classic 60s spy genre that the Incredibles gently spoofs. It should come as no surprise then to find that the music, which I loved throughout the movie, should bear the same traits.

Take Lalo Schifrin, mix his riffs for Mission Impossible and Bullit up with John Barry's early James Bond scores and Henri Mancini and you have a labour of love soundtrack every bit as good as the movie it accompanies. Michael Giacchino's original score will remind you of the great 60's TV/movie action-adventures themes while at the same time making the genre seem new again - and that's no mean feat. Recorded in analogue just as great scores used to be (yes, the ENTIRE orchestra is in front of the mic - no layering here), with an unmistakeable big-band sound, it's a cool, knowing and yet affectionate hommage to the jazzy scores of the 60s - retro-cool at its finest. Just like the film.