Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		2.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Heroes: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Remember when Heroes was a good show?

Reviewed by Ben Williams November 18, 2008

NBC, the former king of all broadcast networks, has eaten its fair share of crow over the past few seasons. As their stable of hit shows has dropped off the air one by one, NBC has struggled to find a network identity or even compelling content. With the success of “Lost” on ABC, NBC gambled that genre content could be the key to renewed ratings success. With that in mind, “Heroes” was created. The network quickly placed high expectations on their new tentpole drama and, for the most part, the show has been an unqualified success for the network. “Heroes: Season One” was a terriffic, if not flawed, entry into the growing landscape of science fiction themed prime-time entertainment.

Peter Petrelli confronts his fear of heights.

“Heroes” follows the lives of a wide-ranging group of characters that have begun to exhibit special abilities. The story is crafted like a mystery with each episode offering small tidbits of exposition to move the story along. “Heroes” offers characters from just about every walk of life: Claire “The Cheerleader” Bennet (Hayden Panettiere), Hiro “The Japanese Guy” Nakamura (Masi Oka), Peter “The Soft-Hearted Dreamer” Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia), Matt “The Cop” Parkman (Greg Grunberg), Sylar “The Psychopath” (Zachary Quinto), Nathan “the Politician” Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar), Niki “The Stripper with Multiple Personalities” Sanders (Ali Larter) and Mohinder “The Scientist” Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy). All of these seemingly unrelated characters are drawn to an impending apocalyptic event in New York City where there special abilities will either save or doom the city.

“Heroes” is, without a doubt, a very complex narrative. Series creator Tim Kring has done a masterful job of weaving a complex array of plotlines into a coherent series that offers something for just about everyone. That’s not to say every element of the show is worthwhile. Take for example the plot involving Niki and her struggle with multiple personalities that take control of her body and go on murderous rampages. I was bored to tears with the whole Niki story. Fortunately, any one thread is represented by only a fraction of each episode. So, as soon as I would grow tired of Niki, the show would move on to something more interesting. I was most interested in the plotlines involving Sylar, Peter and Nathan Petrelli, Claire Bennett and Hiro Nakamura. Clearly, these characters are the center of the show’s universe and every time one of these characters is on screen, the show is infinitely better for it. Peter Petrelli, in particular, is the most compelling of all the heroes. He brings an interesting twist to the show as a character with no ambitions beyond helping others and fulfilling his romantic outlook on life. As the show progresses, Peter undergoes a dramatic change as he slowly awakens to the reality of his abilities. I was also particularly impressed with the story surrounding Isaac Mendez, a painter and comic book artist who has the ability to paint scenes from the future. Isaac’s paintings showing an apocalyptic event in New York help to create a sense of impending doom and add a layer of urgency to the show. Of course, the fact that Isaac is also a heroin addict makes for the kind of subject matter that isn’t often tackled on network television.

Regardless of all the special powers and superhero stories presented in the show, "Heroes" succeeds because the show is so firmly planted in reality. All the major characters are just average people who are faced with extreme situations. This common man mentality helps to make the characters relatable. Unfortunately, the show hasn’t followed this same approach in subsequent seasons, but there is some hope that if "Heroes" can get back to this focus on ordinary people in extraordinary situations, the show will return to form. In the mean time, "Heroes" Season 1 stands as a prime example of what can be achieved when great storytelling is brought to television

Heroes: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

"Heroes" comes to Blu-ray in a port of the previous HD-DVD version. Video is presented in the show's original broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and has been encoded in VC-1 at full 1080p. To say that "Heroes" is something of a disappointment on Blu-ray is a bit of an understatement. The show has a very uneven look to it and features some distracting digital picture anomalies.

There is a huge amount of digital noise present in "Heroes" and it is delivered inconsistently throughout the series. Some scenes look clean and clear while others devolve into a noisy mess. Black levels are also inconsistent with some scenes presenting deep and well-saturated blacks while others are heavily crushed. Skin-tones are also poorly represented with many scenes veering in to orange skin-tones and others looking perfectly natural. The whole presentation of "Heroes: Season 1" is completely inconsistent and frustrating. Given the show's current ratings struggles, I doubt that "Heroes" will be on the slate for a remaster anytime soon, but this Blu-ray set just isn't up to snuff and needs one desperately.

Heroes: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Fortunately, "Heroes" fares much better in the sound department. Presented in DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1, the show is actually a surprisingly active sound presentation for a television show. I'd like to commend Universal for opting to include a lossless soundtrack on television title. Other studios make the mistake of skipping this crucial step in high definition media with their television releases and this release proves that lossless sound is just as vital for TV material as it is for theatrical releases.

In spite of its superhero and action plot, "Heroes" is a surprisingly talky show. There's a wealth of great dialogue in the series and the DTS HD-Master Audio track does an amazing job of accurately presenting all the speechified exposition that drives the series. Of course, the show has its fair share of action scenes that pointedly take advantage of the surround channels and fill the room with an abundance of atmosphere and directional information. It's an impressive mix and stands as proof that television soundtracks don't have to be boring.

Heroes: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Universal has graced this Blu-ray edition of "Heroes: Season 1" with a wealth of special features that includes everything from episode specific commentaries to detailed behind the scenes documentaries and BD-Live content.

Here's what's included:

Disc 1:
-Artwork Presentation
-Hero Connections
-73-Minute Premiere Episode with Audio Commentary by Show Creator Tim Kring
-Making Of
-Special Effects
-The Stunts
-Profile of Artist Tim Sale
-The Score
-Deleted Scenes

Disc 2:
-Artwork Presentation
-Hero Connections
-Deleted Scenes

Disc 3:
-Artwork Presentation
-Hero Connections
-PIP Cast Video Commentaries
-Deleted Scenes

Disc 4:
-Artwork Presentation
-Hero Connections
-PIP Cast Video Commentaries
-Deleted Scenes

Disc 5:
-Artwork Presentation
-Hero Connections
-PIP Cast Video Commentaries
-Deleted Scenes

While "Heroes" features a large amount of supplemental material, much of it is of lackluster quality. The ubiquitous deleted scenes and video commentaries on each disc do flesh out the material a bit, but don't really provide much more than a cursory overview of each episode with a bit of light banter thrown in. I wasn't terribly impressed. The features worth your time include the 73-minute unaired pilot episode as well as the documentary related to the show's outstanding score. The unaired pilot episode is an interesting piece of "Heroes" history as it presents many of the same events that appeared in the actual premier episode with a surprising additional plotline. It's an interesting example of how a show can change dramatically before it ever hits the airwaves. The artwork presentations are also worthwhile in that they allow the viewer to linger over the show's fantastic comic book inspired artwork. All told, I wasn't terribly impressed with the extras on the "Heroes: Season 1" Blu-ray. Quantity, in this case, definitely doesn't trump quality.

Heroes: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Watching "Heroes: Season 1" again was a constant reminder of how great the show was in its first, fantastic season. While some characters aren't necessarily the most endearing or even interesting, the majority of the show is well written, acted and moves along with a boundless intensity that presented a fresh mystery in every episode. It's amazing to reflect on this season in the light of how far the show has fallen in its second and third seasons. Clearly, "Heroes" has an amazing amount of potential that isn't being properly mined. Unfortunately, this superior first season on Blu-ray is marred by an inconsistent video presentation and lackluster supplements. Audio, on the other hand, is quite impressive with an abundance of surround activity and an exciting mix. For fans of the show, this first season is, regardless of this set's flaws, a must buy. I hope casual viewers of the later seasons will re-visit the show to remember just how great it could be. I also think the show's creators and writers should spend a few days watching as well. It's not too late to save this once great show