Customer Reviews

Heroes: Seasons 1-2

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What if you discovered that you had a superpower -- great strength, flight, teleportation, or amazing healing? And what if you could use it to save the world?

Superheroes are everywhere in entertainment, from comic books to movies. But they suddenly got new attention in "Heroes," which explores the repercussions of "ordinary" people who discover that they have strange -- and sometimes dangerous -- powers. The first season is a a solid comic-book style TV series, although the second season trips over itself.

It opens with Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) reflecting on the human quest for knowledge -- even knowledge that we shouldn't have -- right before learning that his father has been killed, possibly murdered. Suresh's dad believed that "special" people were cropping up, much like in X-Men.

And we are introduced to the "heroes": stripper Niki (Ali Larter) harbors a secret dark side, cheerleader Claire (Hayden Panettiere) heals from any injury, cubicle worker Hiro (Masi Oka) bends time and space, Senatorial candidate Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) is able to fly, his brother Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) can copy others' powers, cop Matt (Greg Grunberg) can read minds, and junkie artist Isaac (Santiago Cabrera) sees the future.

Their lives are dramatically changed by their powers -- some explore them, some are haunted by them, and a superpowered serial killer is hunting and murdering the others. Even worse, Hiro witnesses the explosive destruction of New York a mere five weeks into the future -- and a future version of himself says that saving the cheerleader will save the world.

The second season is a much shorter one (because of a writers' strike) and doesn't quite measure up to the epic heights of the first season. The Heroes are struggling to deal with the aftereffects of the past season, especially the now-alcoholic Nathan and amnesiac Peter. Meanwhile, Hiro uses his powers to travel to medieval Japan -- and finds out some shocking facts about his boyhood hero.

Unfortunately while the malevolent Sylar has lost his powers, he's still dangerous -- especially since he's teamed up with a woman who emits poison. The season revs up when a trip into the future reveals that the Shanti virus is going to kill over nine-tenths of the world. With no time to waste -- and a mysterious man who may or may not be an ally -- the Heroes must save humanity once again.

Unlike most shows about people with superpowers, "Heroes" isn't really about the action or flashy battles. It's half epic save-the-world-as-a-team story, and half exploration of how real, ordinary people would react if they suddenly found out that they had superpowers, and how this would change -- or NOT change -- their lives.

And the first season is a brilliant piece of work -- incredibly intricate and complex, since there are a dozen subplots and a lot of time travel, and a lot of exploration of the Heroes' previous lives. These complex storylines are enhanced by lots of suspense and tightly directed action, and the makers always know how to throw in a shocking twist (a sword-carrying future Hiro showing up) and some dark humour (Claire wakes up in mid-autopsy).

The second season is not quite as good -- the forcibly truncated length means that it's a bit oddly paced, and the vision-of-a-disaster-that-must-be-prevented is too similar to the first season. But it's still worth watching with all those creepy moments (such as the poison-woman with black eyeballs), and especially the malevolent Sylar.

The actors are pretty much all good -- Larter gives a great double performance, Zachary Quinto is a wonderfully twisted villain, and Panettiere gives a good performance as a teen whose adolescence has a lot more than hormones in store. Masi Oka is the standout, though -- his Hiro is sweet, endearing, geeky, heroic, sad, kindly, funny and thoroughly lovable, and grows in maturity as he works his way through the series.

The first two seasons of"Heroes" start off brilliantly and continue a bit less brilliantly, but overall it is a solid, unusual sci-fi-drama that's well worth watching.

What if you discovered that you had a superpower -- great strength, flight, teleportation, or amazing healing? And what if you could use it to save the world?

Superheroes are everywhere in entertainment, from comic books to movies. But they suddenly got new attention in "Heroes," which explores the repercussions of "ordinary" people who discover that they have strange -- and sometimes dangerous -- powers. The first season is a a solid comic-book style TV series, although the second season trips over itself.

It opens with Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) reflecting on the human quest for knowledge -- even knowledge that we shouldn't have -- right before learning that his father has been killed, possibly murdered. Suresh's dad believed that "special" people were cropping up, much like in X-Men.

And we are introduced to the "heroes": stripper Niki (Ali Larter) harbors a secret dark side, cheerleader Claire (Hayden Panettiere) heals from any injury, cubicle worker Hiro (Masi Oka) bends time and space, Senatorial candidate Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) is able to fly, his brother Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) can copy others' powers, cop Matt (Greg Grunberg) can read minds, and junkie artist Isaac (Santiago Cabrera) sees the future.

Their lives are dramatically changed by their powers -- some explore them, some are haunted by them, and a superpowered serial killer is hunting and murdering the others. Even worse, Hiro witnesses the explosive destruction of New York a mere five weeks into the future -- and a future version of himself says that saving the cheerleader will save the world.

The second season is a much shorter one (because of a writers' strike) and doesn't quite measure up to the epic heights of the first season. The Heroes are struggling to deal with the aftereffects of the past season, especially the now-alcoholic Nathan and amnesiac Peter. Meanwhile, Hiro uses his powers to travel to medieval Japan -- and finds out some shocking facts about his boyhood hero.

Unfortunately while the malevolent Sylar has lost his powers, he's still dangerous -- especially since he's teamed up with a woman who emits poison. The season revs up when a trip into the future reveals that the Shanti virus is going to kill over nine-tenths of the world. With no time to waste -- and a mysterious man who may or may not be an ally -- the Heroes must save humanity once again.

Unlike most shows about people with superpowers, "Heroes" isn't really about the action or flashy battles. It's half epic save-the-world-as-a-team story, and half exploration of how real, ordinary people would react if they suddenly found out that they had superpowers, and how this would change -- or NOT change -- their lives.

And the first season is a brilliant piece of work -- incredibly intricate and complex, since there are a dozen subplots and a lot of time travel, and a lot of exploration of the Heroes' previous lives. These complex storylines are enhanced by lots of suspense and tightly directed action, and the makers always know how to throw in a shocking twist (a sword-carrying future Hiro showing up) and some dark humour (Claire wakes up in mid-autopsy).

The second season is not quite as good -- the forcibly truncated length means that it's a bit oddly paced, and the vision-of-a-disaster-that-must-be-prevented is too similar to the first season. But it's still worth watching with all those creepy moments (such as the poison-woman with black eyeballs), and especially the malevolent Sylar.

The actors are pretty much all good -- Larter gives a great double performance, Zachary Quinto is a wonderfully twisted villain, and Panettiere gives a good performance as a teen whose adolescence has a lot more than hormones in store. Masi Oka is the standout, though -- his Hiro is sweet, endearing, geeky, heroic, sad, kindly, funny and thoroughly lovable, and grows in maturity as he works his way through the series.

The first two seasons of"Heroes" start off brilliantly and continue a bit less brilliantly, but overall it is a solid, unusual sci-fi-drama that's well worth watching.

Wow... Where to start... I started watching this show AFTER season 3 had ended. It had been highly recommended to me by a co-worker, but I just never got around to it. Then, after seeing the new Star Trek movie, I became more curious about Zachary Quinto, and all the excitement related to his character on Heroes, Sylar. By the time Sylar shows up (episode 8? 10?), I was so deeply hooked into the stories and other characters of the show, that his appearance was icing on the cake (haha, ahem...).
This is one of the most well-crafted series I have ever watched! Does it have any flaws? Sure, but they are worth over-looking for the incredibly fun ride the show provides.
In season One, we are introduced to a number of characters who are gradually discovering that they have "abilities", and to a scientist, Mohinder Suresh, who is following in his father's footsteps to find these people, and study them. One of the central characters is Claire, a high school cheerleader... Others are Hiro and Ando, a couple of best friends from Tokyo; a young boy, Micah, and his mother, Niki, who is struggling to make ends meet; brothers Nathan, who is running for office, and Peter, a hospice nurse; Isaac, an artist in NYC, and his girlfriend Simone; Sylar, who starts out as a watch repairman, and ends up...wow, there just isn't space available here...nor would I wish to spoil it for you. There is also a secret organization, known as "The Company", with questionable motives... There are others, of course, but I don't want to give too much away...half the fun is meeting and learning about these people.
The storylines examine Good vs Evil, and all the grey in between... It's really that grey in between that becomes so intriguing...
Season Two is a shortened season, due to the writer's strike that was occurring at that time. Unfortunately, the show does suffer a bit from that, but it is still well worth the time spent to see what these characters will do next, and how the story will develop.
With Season Three coming out on DVD on September 1st, I would suggest you catch up quickly, since the two-hour premiere of Season Four on September 21st looks to be amazing!
Bottom line: Best money I've spent on Amazon this year!

I love watching heroes but the dvds are cool too. Bunches of little special bonuses. Season one has great commentary with the cast that is very funny and interesting. The second season is not nearly as good as the first so if you had to choose one dvd set to get. Get the first season.

Over all I loved this purchase and would recomend it to anyone who likes the show!

Heroes surprised me with it's excellent writing, production values, and cast. Most of the ensemble are new faces, at least to the casual television viewer, and they quickly become family as you follow their adventures through the series.

I didn't watch the show until the series was midway through it's third season (just wrapped in May, 2009), but a friend heard about it from his brother, who insisted he would love it. Well, he did, so he bought the first two seasons and decided I would love it, too. We spent two weekends watching episodes back to back. Yeah, Heroes overload! But I think it's one of the best ways to watch this show. Just hold your breath, dive in, and stay submerged as long as possible. Not having to wait a week for the next installment was great, and without the commercials made it even better.

I don't watch much serial television. Been there, done that, as they say. But Heroes is a standout in every respect. My favorite character? I pretty much like them all (and if there is one you don't enjoy much, it's okay, because their stories are broken up and each character has only a few minutes at a time to get your attention before another character takes center stage), but I will sheepishly admit to secretly enjoying Sylar the most. He's one of the best villains to come along in decades. Seriously conflicted, Sylar (Zach Quinto) is a joy to love and hate as he veers from evil to good and back again, struggling to come to terms with his power addiction.

Fourth season is coming up and I can't wait to see it!