Heroes – Season One (HD-DVD + DVD-Video Box Sets)

 

Picture: B/B-     Sound: B/B-     Extras: A     Episodes: A

 

 

Post-modern, hyper-realistic interpretations of the super-hero genre often carry with them a harder edge (Batman: Dark Knight Returns) or a close examination of what makes the characters human (Astro City).  Heroes manages to mix both of these elements of post-modern super-heroes into a cohesive blend that succeeds on many levels.  Heroes tells the tale of a group of individuals who suddenly realize they've developed incredible powers. Most of the characters generally exhibit one or two super-powers.  Characters manifest powers like cellular regeneration (rapid healing), invisibility, intangibility, mind-reading, super-strength, and many more.  They also find themselves hunted by a shadowy, quasi-governmental organization known only as "The Company".  It's never quite clear what the company's ultimate goals for the heroes are, but one can rest assured that they are not pleasant.  From the corners of the United States (and abroad) these characters converge on New York City for a final showdown with each other and the agents of the Company.  It's classic stuff and expertly handled by the show's excellent creative crew.

 

Creator Tim Kring delivers a brand of television with these characters and stories that dissuades the viewer from flipping channels during commercials for fear he might miss a few precious seconds of the episode in the bargain.  Heroes represents quintessential "slow burn" television; it builds almost agonizingly over the course of its first five episodes, and when episode six rolls around the show possesses all the momentum of a speeding locomotive.

 

The ensemble cast features a potpourri of talent from grizzled veterans like George Takei (Kaito Nakamura) and Malcolm McDowell (Mr. Linderman) to fresh-faced newcomers like Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet) and Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura). The entire cast provides energy and spirit, enlivening the solid scripts and helping the viewers feel their way through a sometimes tangled plot.  Christopher Eccleston (Dr. Who) plays Claude, a drifter who can turn invisible, in a small but pivotal role in the mentoring of Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia), one of the show's main characters.  He represents another example of the obvious value placed on good casting in this show.

 

Picture and sound on this gem are both solid and watchable in both format releases.  The 1080p VC-1 digital 1.78 X 1 High Definition image is good, but not great with more instances of haziness than should be present.  Smallville is the most immediate show to compare it top and besides having a more limited color palette, the HD-DVD of the fifth and sixth seasons have been clearer for whatever reasons.  The anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 aspect ratio on the DVD does not show as many flaws, providing extremely crisp images for a television feature and the DVD format, though the HD-DVD is still better.  The color and digital sound both perform to more than acceptable levels just the same.

 

As one might expect from a box of this size (more than 1000 minutes of material), Heroes – Season One is packed with extras, the same massive amount in both format release versions.   We get over fifty deleted scenes pepper the discs, giving viewers access to bits of the show chopped for reasons of time or continuity flow.  Disc One features an uncut version of episode one that features several sequences with D.L. Hawkins (Leonard Roberts).  In the originally aired episodes, D.L. doesn't appear until after episode one.  Also included are numerous featurettes on the making of the show, and a nice piece on comic artist Tim Sale (Daredevil: Yellow, Batman: The Long Halloween).  It's Sale's artwork that appears throughout the series as the prescient paintings of tortured artist Isaac Mendez (Santiago Cabrera).

 

After a slow build-up, Heroes never fails to impress.  The creative team does an incredible job managing a huge cast of characters, and the actors play those characters almost flawlessly.  A must for fans of the show when it originally aired, this box will also delight new fans late to the game, and prime everyone for Season Two.

 

 

-   Scott R. Pyle