Heroes - Season 1

What if you suddenly found yourself with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men and were able to change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in your bare hands, survive bullet or bomb blasts, or leap tall buildings in a single bound? What would your life be like from that point? If you think I’m talking about Superman, think again. From this decades-old premise comes the concept of “Heroes”, which after only its first season on NBC in 2006-07 has found itself to be a highly entertaining series and a major surprise hit for the Peacock Network.

Created by Tim Kring, who had previously worked on the series “Providence” and “Crossing Jordan”, “Heroes” brings together ordinary people from different walks of life into contact with one another, all of whom have different concerns that are addressed throughout the series. Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy), a genetics professor from Chenmai, continues with the research begun by his late father and discovers that people across the world are developing superpowers. A drug-addicted artist (Santiago Cabrera) is able to predict the future through his incredible paintings. A politician (Adrian Pasdar) is blessed with the ability to fly like a certain Man of Steel. A New York police officer (Greg Grunberg) can hear and read other people’s thoughts. A shy Japanese computer programmer (Masi Oka) finds himself with the ability to distort the space-time continuum. A single mother (Ali Larter) who raises her son by working as a prostitute now finds herself with a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality split. A high school cheerleader (Hayden Panettiere, who made “Save the cheerleader, save the world” a household phrase) finds herself with the gift of invulnerability. And that’s just for starters. These and other ordinary people are linked together with a mysterious helix that brings them into contact with one another at different points, but are their lives changed for the better? To further complicate matters, they are all pursued by the mysterious villain Sylar (Zachary Quinto, who will inherit the role of Mr. Spock in the next “Star Trek” feature film) as well as a mysterious billionaire businessman (Malcolm McDowell), who has a few super-abilities of his own. And you thought keeping up with the “freak of the week” over the years on “Smallville” was complicated enough?

Until the DVD release, I’ve not seen a single episode of “Heroes”, but I’ve heard about how it’s become the hot “in” series right now on television. With lots of plot twists and turns, some of the best visual effects done for a TV series, and one of the most diverse ensemble casts this side of “Twin Peaks”, there’s lots for everyone to enjoy about “Heroes”. Given its comic book-style look and appearance, it’s one of the best comics-style live-action series to grace the TV screen this side of “Smallville”. Even more appealing is the fact that it’s not so much about the special effects as it is about the characters themselves and their quirks. (Of course, the only way I’ve been able to keep up with any recent TV series has been through DVD, since we don’t have cable or satellite TV in our house.) Now as the series prepares to launch into its sophomore year in September (and on my birthday, no less!), Universal Home Video has issued the complete first season of “Heroes” in a seven-disc set on simultaneous standard DVD and HD-DVD formats with lots of generous content that not only brings the excitement home but also expands upon the phenomenon by immersing the viewer into the mysterious realm.

Please note that this review will cover only the standard DVD version of “Heroes”, as I do not have a HD-DVD player in my home (see my earlier blog for the reasons why). I will, however, reference the exclusive HD-DVD features within the context of this review for completion’s sake.

All 23 episodes of the series’ first season are presented in this seven-disc set that takes advantage of the high-quality features only DVD (and I’m sure HD-DVD and even Blu-Ray) can offer. Each episode is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen format and English Dolby 5.1 Surround sound, with optional English, Spanish, and French subtitles. The 5.1 track really does this series justice! First off we have an extended version of the series’ premiere episode “Genesis”, running 73 minutes in length, with a lot of footage not shown on television. This version really does justice by introducing all of the characters and setting up the scenario for the season to come. Also accompanying the extended pilot is a running audio commentary with Tim Kring on how he developed the idea for “Heroes” and some of the substantial and nuanced changes from the broadcast version of the pilot to the extended version. It becomes very clear that this is his preferred cut that he wanted to see air on television but never got the chance. Thanks to DVD, he (like the rest of us) now has that chance. Since I missed out on the series’ run, I’m not able to compare the broadcast version to the DVD version (as with the broadcast and extended versions of “Pegasus” on the second season sets of “Battlestar Galactica”), though I would have liked to have seen an optional footage marker (similar to the “Gladiator” Extended Edition DVD) on the episode indicating where the extra footage was restored into the pilot episode. From what I understand, this extended pilot presents an alternate look at character and plot developments, including an interesting subplot that was ultimately cut from the broadcast version.

In addition, we have no less than 50 deleted and extended scenes from “Genesis”, “Don’t Look Back”, “One Giant Leap”, “Collision”, “Hiros”, “Nothing to Hide”, “Seven Minutes to Midnight”, “Homecoming”, “Six Months Ago", “Fallout”, “Godsend”, “The Fix”, “Distractions”, “Run”, “Company Man”, “Parasite”, “.07%”, “Five Years Gone”, and “Landslide” spread out across the seven-disc set. Most of these moments are cut bits of dialog and extensions that didn’t make the final telecast versions, but some of these lost moments add further bits of character development that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise, while others were cut simply for broadcast pacing. Having these deleted and extended scenes together on the set is a nice touch.

Along with the deleted scenes, there are selected audio commentaries on the extended pilot and many of the episodes on the set. These audio commentaries with Kring, executive producer Dennis Hammer, and various cast members and episode directors provide further insight into the creation of “Heroes” and the challenges this series brings to the table. On Disc 5 we have an interesting interactive bonus feature entitled “Mind Reader”, in which Matt Parkman’s mind-reading abilities reveal the viewer’s inner hero with a series of simple mathematical tests. It’s not too complex, just a fun little look at what kind of hero you are. I’ve taken it three times thus far, and each time he’s guessed my choices accurately! There’s no way you can fool him!

The remaining bonus features are located on Disc 7. Leading the block off is “The Making of Heroes”, which is a behind-the-scenes look at how the series went from concept to pop culture phenomenon. Next is “Special Effects”, a featurette on the secrets behind the spectacular visuals that give the heroes their amazing powers. This is followed by “The Stunts”, which is a backstage look at the many different stunts seen in the series. We also have a profile on comics artist Tim Sale, best known for his work on the DC Comics series “Batman: The Long Halloween”, among others, who discusses how his manga-style artwork influenced the look of the series. Finally, “The Score” is a 10-minute interview with Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman (yes, that Wendy and Lisa from Prince’s band The Revolution), as they discuss the creation of the award-winning musical score and discuss their influence on the main hero theme for the series. They’ve come a long way since the days of “Purple Rain” and “When Doves Cry”, I’ll tell you that!

The DVD set is rounded out with two trailer galleries on Discs 1 and 7. The gallery on Disc 1 contains a teaser trailer for NBC’s upcoming remake of “The Bionic Woman”, DVD trailers for “Hot Fuzz” and “Knocked Up”, a Nissan spot, and a generic spot promoting the wonders of HD-DVD. This trailer gallery can be completely bypassed using the menu button on your DVD remote in order to get to the main menu. The gallery on Disc 7 contains DVD trailers for “House”, “30 Rock”, “Friday Night Lights”, “The Office”, and “Miami Vice”, among others, as well as another Nissan spot.

As if that weren’t enough to wet your whistle, the HD-DVD version of “Heroes” features even more exclusive interactive content that will further immerse yourself into the series. Each disc contains three exclusive features – “Character Connections”, which allows you to follow your favorite heroes throughout the series; “The Helix Revealed”, an interactive guide to the mysterious helix symbol that appears throughout the series; and “Artwork Presentation”, in which you can further study Tim Sale’s artwork that appears in the series. Disc 2 contains two more exclusive features – “Download Center”, where you can download exclusive content, trailers, and updates to your HD-DVD player; and the “Genetic Abilities Test”, which allows you not only to determine what kind of hero you are but also upload the test results to NBC.com and receive a unique access code to unlock even more exclusive media content. Finally, there is a running Picture-in-Picture cast and crew video commentary on Discs 4, 6, and 7 with the episodes “Godsend”, “The Fix”, “Distractions”, “.07%”, “Five Years Gone”, “The Hard Part”, “Landslide”, and “How to Stop an Exploding Man”. These PIP commentaries allow you to view exclusive running commentaries during the respective episodes. Since I’m not familiar with HD-DVD usage, this sounds like running video commentaries I’ve seen on “The Scorpion King” and “Superman: The Animated Series” in years past. For those of you who have HD-DVD access, these additional features only enhance the enjoyment of the series.

But we’re not done yet. Target has included a bonus eighth disc that includes 45 minutes of additional content not found on either the standard or HD set. From what I have heard, the additional content includes bonus interviews with creator Tim Kring and the cast members, as well as a series of character profiles. There’s also an exclusive deluxe collector’s edition available at Target that contains bonus foldout artwork and postcards. Even more so, Best Buy has included a free “Heroes” comic book with its standard DVD release. None of these bonuses were provided for review.

I’ve got to admit, just the concept of the series alone had me hooked from the beginning. Even my wife seems to like the concept just based on the premise alone, and for me that’s saying quite a bit. And bringing the first season of “Heroes” to DVD and HD-DVD is a great way to relive your favorite moments and catch up for the forthcoming second season, which I’m sure is going to be even bigger and better than the first season. Couple that with the absolutely staggering amount of bonus content on both the standard DVD and HD-DVD releases, and you’ve got a winning set that I’m sure will be one of the top TV-on-DVD sets of the year to beat. With Universal’s commitment to quality DVD presentations (as with their recent “Battlestar Galactica” sets), this is a nice addition to any DVD collection. I only wish I had been able to watch it from the beginning – oh well, better late than never. Time to save the world!