Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #124 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-10-12
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 6
• Running time: 1050 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
There’s a lot that’s fitted in to Heroes’ third season, a run that tried valiantly to correct some of the problems that the show encountered with its less-than-successful second series. Season three features two volumes of the Heroes story, Villains and Fugitives, but once more it gets off to a bumpy start.

The early stages of Heroes’ third season suffer from many of the problems that plagued season two, as it tries to deal with the threads that were left behind. But the show finally finds its feet as it heads towards the back end of the series, with a genuine feeling returning that the show knows exactly which way it’s going again. Characters begin to find out more about one another, there’s a bit more of a grounding in some kind of reality, and finally a narrative thrust that scoops back up many who have been left baffled by the direction that Heroes has taken since its terrific maiden season.

And it’s good to see the show back on form. Even in its weaker moments, Heroes’ production values were sky high, and there are many genuinely impressive sequences thrown in your direction over the course of season three. But most impressive of all is the feeling that the show has dug itself out of the hole that it managed to find itself in, and courtesy of an impressive rally at its back end, season three is certainly worth picking up. Even if you might need to grit your teeth a bit in the early stages… --Jon Foster

DVD Description

Experience all the explosive action and shocking twists as Heroes Season 3 comes to DVD! Rediscover the phenomenon in this 6-disc set, which includes all 25 suspenseful episodes from the series-redefining third season’s volumes, Villains and Fugitives. Plus, go behind the scenes with the show’s writers, stars and artists as you explore hours of exclusive and revealing bonus features.

Special Features

• The Super Powers of Heroes
• Genetics of a Scene
• The Prop Box
• Tim Sale Galleries of Screen Art
• Alternate Stories
• Completing the Scene
• The Writer's Forum
• Deleted Scenes

Hayden Panettiere as Claire Bennet	Milo Ventimiglia as Peter Petrelli	Zachary Quinto as Sylar

Synopsis
The third volume of the sci-fi saga HEROES opens with an assassination attempt on Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar), and traces the event's consequences well into the future. Shortly thereafter, the slippery Sylar (Zachary Quinto) accidentally frees a dozen super-criminals who were held by the Company, giving Claire (Hayden Panettiere), Peter (Milo Ventimiglia), Matt (Greg Grunberg), Hiro (Masi Oka), and the other heroes a whole new line-up of powerful evildoers with whom to contend. This action-packed collection includes each of series three's 25 episodes.

Customer Reviews

A confused and convoluted third season
Heroes season 3 proves to be a shaky ride, both behind the scenes and the final product on screen, suffering from muddled writing, too many characters and an overblown episode count. However it's not all bad as for the most part season 3 remains enjoyable; though a far cry from the quality of the first season.

The first half of the season volume 3 revolves around a company (another one) known as Pinehurst who are recruiting people with special powers for dubious reasons, Nathan is still reeling from his assassination attempt; having found god, Peter winds up trapped in the body of one of the villains held by the company, who all escape. Hiro and Ando track attempt to track down a villain who has stolen part of a formula for the superhuman gene, while Mohinder begins transforming, Maya remains annoying and Matt follows a turtle in the dessert.

The first half of season 3 is the worst, as it meanders round fairly aimlessly and having little bearing on Heroes overall story arc. Nathan's god sub plot simply disappears from the story, the villains released form the company aren't very interesting or developed particularly well; most of them disappearing as the first half of the season progresses. Mohinder's story is rather dull and he becomes more of a supporting character this season while Maya simply disappears from the story (Thankfully).

Were also treated to the obligatory 5 years time story and Sylar switches sides more times than you can count. Recycled ideas and not very engaging stories for the first half of the season blight the story, as well as it being overloaded with far to many characters, who are simply written out again a few episodes later. This makes the first half of the season fairly unsatisfying though it does have it's moments.

The 2nd half of season 3, volume 4, revolves around the reveal to the world of the heroes and as such the government project to capture them. Volume 4 picks up the pace a bit with more focus on a more interesting story line an less on guest characters, its not perfect though still blighted by repeating story lines ( the end of 'cold wars') and some uninspired writing at times.

We focus on improved characterisation for the most part, Sylar's searching for his father with an annoying sidekick is hardly satisfying but it quickly dealt with and we get some great performances form Zackery Quinto in ' I am Sylar'. For me he was the best thing about this season giving great performances; if blighted by somewhat poor writing at times.

The rest of cast are mixed. Noah and Sandra Bennett give some great performances particularly in the latter half, Peter gets quite whiny for a fair part of the season, though brings it back at the end; likewise the same for Hiro. Nathan plays a key role this season and does so very well but suffers from switching sides syndrome which plagues a fair few of the characters this season. Claire takes a more active role this season and shows signs of growing up a bit, though sadly very little is seen of Mr. Muggles.

The final episode is for the most part satisfying, but yet again we do not see the big battle between the brothers and Sylar with is becoming a annoying re-occurrence for the show, we see the violent death of a major character and a twist ending; which will be interesting to see how it plays out in season 4.

Overall season 3 proves very mixed, unimportant supporting characters dominate the story, coming and going, character motivations shift regularly for little reason, the storyline seems stretched at times likely due to the length of the season clocking in at 25 episodes ( with season 4 reportedly trimmed down to 18-20 episodes)but for all it flaws the characters remain engaging, the direction slick and the stories interesting, for the most part anyway, if your a fan its worth a watch; it's just not the return to form I was hoping for.

"I'll Keep Trying to Kill You." "Well, Everybody Needs a Hobby."
Season 3 of this once great show continues the decline. And instead of one story arc, it contains two distinct stories.

In "Villains," there is a mass escape of villains from Level 5, a detention facility used by The Company to house evil people with superpowers. Noah Bennett (Jack Coleman) gets to work trying to track them down. He's surprised to see his new partner is Sylar (Zachary Quinto) who is trying to give up his murderous ways and get back on the straight and narrow. Can they catch these bad men? Will Sylar remain a hero?

The second half of the season found our characters on the run. "Fugitives" found now Senator Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar) heading a task force aimed at bringing all those with special powers in "for their own protection." Of course, he's failed to mention his own unique powers. Leading the charge against him is his own brother Peter (Milo Ventimiglia). Will Nathan see the error of his ways before everyone is captured or killed?

The problem with this season lay in the story telling. When the show was actually good (back in season 1), the episodes spent time with the characters, letting us get to know them so we cared about what they were doing or why. That really drew me in. Here, we are forced plot points with cardboard characters. Heck, I had a hard time keeping track of who was doing what to whom it changed so often. And I just don't care about the characters the way I used to because there is no depth to them.

Then there's the case of Sylar. Don't get me wrong, I think Zachary Quinto is a great actor. But the way they keep including that character in events is forced and makes me wonder if we'll ever actually go somewhere with the story.

Yes, I am still intrigued to see where they are going next to keep watching, but just barely. They seriously need to make some tough decisions about how to best move the story forward and then stick to it, or they will continue to lose their audience.

t Sucked To Start, But It Gets Better...
Like many people, I loved Seasons 1 and 2, but Seson 3 just got overly complicated and then I turned off! However, the television comany who make Heroes noticed a lot of people turning off and so they sacked the majority of writers and producers of the show and started afresh with Volume 4 (in the middle of Season 3). Though I have clearly missed a few important details, the second half of Heroes is a lot better and I'm actually starting to enjoy the programme again. For that reason I have to buy the Box Set!