I have finally seen the entire first season of “Heroes” and I know what all the fuss is about. This year at Comic Con the cast made an appearance in a room that sat 5,000 people and swarms were turned away at the door. I can only assume some would give parts of their bodies just to know what happens in the next episode of this show. So when Universal sends me both the HD DVD and the DVD set of the first season of the show for review I wasn’t quite sure which one to review considering more people will be buying the DVD season and will be interested in hearing what it has to offer. Yet some people will also be interested in the cool features the HD DVD release has and may finally decide on a high-def upgrade.
Thankfully, or maybe not so thankfully depending on who you are, I am here to review both in one all encompassing article since I actually needed both sets to watch the season, that is if I had actually intended on watching the whole season on HD DVD. More on that in a second.
First for the show itself. “Heroes” is a show about a random group of individuals spread across the globe that have one thing in common, they are special. Where they differ is in how they are special, and how they choose to use what makes them special. For Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) he can teleport and time travel; for Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) she can’t be hurt; for Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar) he can fly; and for Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) and Sylar (Zachary Quinto) they can do what the other special folks can do, the difference is that one acquires the power while the other one “takes” the power respectively.
Making up this story you will quickly learn that Sylar is our primary baddie and he influences the actions of several of the “heroes” and organizations that know about these folks’ existence. The major thread running through the entire first season is the impending doom that is destined to befall New York City in the form of a massive nuclear explosion. This event is seen through the paintings of Isaac Mendez and the dreams of Peter Petrelli. Most want it stopped while others have their own goals.
Story wise this show works very well and the writers do a fantastic job of managing the massive ensemble cast and never leaving anyone behind for too long despite the demands certain characters require. The most intriguing of the bunch is certainly Sylar, a role that has helped earn Quinto a spot on the next Star Trek movie as a young Mr. Spock. Oddly a similar theme to that of “Star Trek” is very prevalent throughout the entire series as we watch a diverse group of individuals working together to achieve an ultimate goal. Oka’s character Hiro is constantly referencing the show in the early stages of the series and it is the group dynamic that makes up the show, along with the feeling of dread and the sheer doubt you may have towards some of the characters motivations, that keeps you moving from episode to episode.
With the plot out of the way how about a look at the two separate DVD and HD DVD sets?
Easily the best feature that spans across both sets is the unaired 73-minute premiere episode, which also includes a commentary by creator Tim Kring (audio only on both sets). This is a chance to see how the show initially would have gone, and it isn’t a massive difference, but let me give you an idea of how it breaks down (beware of spoilers if you want to see it fresh in the description below):
The biggest difference is in the introduction of Greg Grunberg’s Matt Parkman including a different first introduction to his wife, which was ultimately recast for the pilot that was seen on air. This was a good choice if you ask me for no other reason than the previous actress was tiny in comparison to Greg and it looked a bit odd as he towered over her. On top of that, instead of meeting Parkman as he investigates a missing child and a family murdered by Sylar he is involved in a terrorist story which was dropped from the show completely, another very good move if you ask me. Since all of this was dropped it is the reason we aren’t introduced to Parkman until episode two.
The other little added extra is an early look at Sylar’s apartment much in the same way Mohinder Suresh ends up searching the apartment a few episodes later, but the later reveal is far better and worth the wait. Plus the tape he finds of Sylar talking to his father is different and we even get an early shadowy look at Sylar in Mohinder’s apartment.
Kring does a good job guiding you through the episode, adding pieces of information here and there as to why certain cuts and decisions were made. It is truly an interesting look at the production and creation process of a television show pilot.
As far as the featurettes are concerned nothing really stands out too much. Each of the featurettes are watchable as you see a feature on the making of the show, the stunts, the effects (this one is cool), the score and a look at Tim Sale as he discusses his artwork which is used on the show. There is also a mind reader game that has a little catch to figuring out how it works if you take the time, but if you get duped like I did a couple times in a row it is a little fun.
The final feature to span both sets is the 50 deleted scenes, which are actually interesting in their own right. A lot of these are your traditional and generic deleted scenes that should have seen the cutting room floor, but early on there are a few that would have introduced characters earlier and in a different light. Some of these cuts could have really changed your perspective on these characters, but the way they would have been added to the show would have muddied the episode up and they were best left deleted.
For this HD DVD set I ran into the issue that disc four wouldn’t play at all (thus why the DVD set came in handy) and the highly touted web connect features didn’t work at all.
Starting with the web connect features we have one called the “Genetic Abilities Test“. This is supposed to ask you a few questions to see what kind of hero you are. I already know I am Michael Jordan’s equal, but I thought what the hell. Unfortunately after 30 seconds the feature continued to restart on me. I quit after three tries a little flustered. Next was the “Download Center” where I could download a peek at “Heroes” season two. Cool, right? Too bad after I downloaded it, I tried to play it only to get an error code telling me it was not of the correct format. If you are wondering if I have updated my HD DVD firmware that would be an affirmative. So, how do the web connect features work? They are shitty, at least in my experience using a player that hasn’t had any problems since Toshiba started updating the firmware.
Now, outside of the crappy web connect features and the fact that my disc four wouldn’t play at all, the rest of the features are actually pretty cool as Universal has improved on their U-Control feature once again.
With “Heroes” on HD DVD the U-Control feature offers a “Character Connections” feature, “The Helix Revealed” feature, “Artwork Presentation” feature and a “Video Commentary” feature. All of these are cool, but a couple of them really do make it worth a second look. The best part of the whole thing is that Universal has now added the option of being able to turn any one of the four (or all of them) on from the beginning and you don’t have to continually push the button on your remote to activate them. This may sound like a small issue, but trust me it is a very cool upgrade.
“The Helix Revealed” feature shows you just how often the Helix symbol is actually seen inside the show, many times in places you didn’t even notice. It is a fun and not at all intrusive way to watch the shows and can be activated even if you have never seen the show before without ruining the experience. The “Artwork” feature is probably the least entertaining of the bunch as it pops up navigatable artwork as the episode is playing. Big whoop.
Now, the Video Commentaries and Audio Commentaries are worth a mention. They are the exact same audio on both the HD DVD and DVD versions, the only difference is that with the HD DVD you also get to see them while they are talking. This might not sound like a huge deal for you DVD buyers, but the only issue here is that they speakers know they are going to be video commentaries and perhaps let that influence the way they talk in some instances. Another beef I have with the commentaries is that the actors that play the heroes are not featured as much as I think they should be.
I personally see this as a show that should have a commentary on every single episode, and considering the massive size of the cast I don’t know how they couldn’t pull it off. Yet, outside of the 73-minute premiere episode the commentaries don’t start until disc four, which means we go 11 episodes without a peep and then we get commentaries dominated by some of the actors, Greg Grunberg oddly appears on a lot of them. However, we only get tastes with Milo, Zach, Hayden, no Ali, one commentary with Masi and no Adrian.
Of the bunch, the commentary on “Distractions” is easily the most entertaining, at least the first half is until Milo and Zachary are broken up as Milo had to leave. Those two really seem to get along and the commentary was a lot of fun to listen to. Notice I said “listen” because this happened to be on my busted disc four so I had to listen to it on the DVD version. Oh, and if you want to know who is talking in the commentaries on the HD DVD beforehand, too bad, there is nothing that tells you. On the DVD, however, it lets you know.
As far as the two sets are concerned I would probably recommend the DVD set only because we are still in the middle of a format war with no clear winner in sight and the DVDs are going to save you roughly $33 over the HD DVD set. Obviously you will be able to get a working copy of the HD DVD set and my bum disc four is a fluke occurrence, especially since the rest of the discs work fine and I have only had one bad HD DVD disc in the past, but who hasn’t had a bad regular DVD out there? Truly it all comes down to money in my opinion. If you are an HD die hard then go for the HD DVD set, but if you are a regular fan of the show and would rather spend that $33 savings on buying season two on iTunes then that is the way I would recommend you go.
The HD DVD version looks and sounds superior, but $70 is a lot for one season of television, but I will say that you certainly should buy this set one format or the other, if anything I have said interests you. “Heroes” is a lot of fun and well worth the time spent watching it commercial free.
To buy the DVD version click here and for the HD DVD version click here. Both versions hit stores on Tuesday, August 28th. Also, if you are up for it, check out my exclusive interview with Sylar (Zach Quinto) right here.
