Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #598 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-07-28
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 462 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Truncated to a slim 11 episodes as a result of the writers’ strike that was ongoing in America during its production, Heroes’ second season nonetheless packs enough in to keep the momentum rolling on one of the most exciting Stateside shows of the moment.

Heroes is, at heart, the comic book tale of a varied group of people, each with special powers that they struggle to come to terms with. With such powers, of course, come troubling foes and situations to face, and that proves to be the case here. So this time, we pick up four months after the events of the first series, and there’s the small matter of the Shanti virus to contend with. This provides the main thrust for the series’ story arc, and allows room for several interesting sub-plots to develop too.

Yet while, in the world of Heroes, you suspect that this second series will never rank with the best, there’s easily enough here to justify the asking price, and the show emerges easily with its reputation intact. Even when it’s not at the top of its game, Heroes is exciting, interesting and polished entertainment. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
Combining comic book style and geeky in-jokes, Heroes is a stellar series that draws comparisons to fan favourites such as Lost and The X-Files. But thanks to its well-drawn characters and intricate plot, this drama reels in more than just superhero fans. Heroes revolves around the premise of seemingly ordinary people developing fantastic powers. There's Claire (Hayden Panettiere, Ice Princess), a cheerleader who can't appear to be injured or killed. Matt (Greg Grunberg, Alias) is a cop who can read minds. New Yorker Peter (Milo Ventimiglia, Rocky Balboa) has the power to adopt other heroes' abilities, while his politician brother (Adrian Pasdar, Judging Amy) has a special power of his own. Though the show boasts many other characters, its secret weapon is Hiro (Masi Oka), a Japanese office worker who is delighted to discover he can move through space and time. Set four months after the end of series one, the second series of Heroes thrillingly builds on the previous events, introducing a variety of new characters including Honduran twins Maya (Dania Ramirez, The Sopranos) and Alejandro (Shalim Ortez), the devious and lethal Elle (Kirsten Bell, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), and Hiro's idol, Takezo Kensei (David Anders, Alias).

Customer Reviews

Generation Effect
Heroes season 2 (Generations), begins four months after the events of Kirby Plaza (Season 1 - How to Stop an Exploding Man). The main plot arc of "Generations" deals with the Company and its research on the Shanti virus, exploring the history of the Company's founder. Interwoven with the main plot are several secondary plots introducing a host of new characters. These include the journey of new characters Maya (Dania Ramírez) and Alejandro from Honduras to the United States; Monica Dawson (Dana Davis) discovering her powers in New Orleans; Hiro's journey to Feudal Japan, where he meets his childhood hero, Takezo Kensei (David Anders) and Elle Bishop's (Kristen Bell) search for Peter Petrelli.

After a extremely well writing and well acted first season, season 2 is a mixed bag. The introduction of a number of new principle and secondary characters leads to a neglect in the development of some of the original characters, most notably Niki Sanders. Episodes are also slow moving in comparison to the first season, again likely due to the secondary plots involving the new characters. The highlights of season 2 is the portrayal of Angela Petrelli by Cristine Rose, who frequently outshines the principle cast and the introduction of Kristen Bell as the sociopathic Elle Bishop. Standout episodes include; Four Months Ago... & Powerless.

the slow motion heroes
some tv shows start slowly and take a year or two before they really get up to speed and the top of their game. some shows by contrast hit the ground running and bring us brilliant first seasons. only for later ones to never quite manage to measure up.

Alas, heroes falls into that trap with a second year that underwhelms after it's brilliant opening one.

You could possibly get into this if you haven't seen that, but it's better to start with it instead [[ASIN:B000MRAA7O Heroes - Season 1 Complete [DVD] [2006

season two splits all the characters who came together at the end of year one apart, and begins a few months later with them all having moved on with their lives. this is a slight disappointment as you wanted to know what they'd all do next together, and it makes the major mistake of leaving hiro and ando separated till late in the season. the two work better when they're together as their banter is a highlight.

all characters have to adjust to changes in their lives and deal with the legacy of their parents. there was another generation before this current one who had powers, and they made rather a mess of things when they attempted to make the world a better place. now that legacy returns to haunt them.

there's lots going on here with new storylines and a few new characters but it all moves at a very slow pace for the first two thirds of the year. even the shows creator did later admit that some of the storylines went on for too long. villain sylar spends the entire season trying to get his powers back which is not good for those who like him as an all powerful foe [he's not my favourite character but these are those who like him].

however it does manage to pull itself together as the season goes on and later episodes do pick up the pace slightly. in the process some things are dropped quickly and a few characters just vanish or are left in limbo. the whole season is only eleven episodes long, due to the us writers strike of 2007, and it has to end on a cliffhanger to set up year three.

a season that's not terrible by a long way, but it's just not as engrossing as the first one.

the eleven episodes are spread over three discs. the only languages and subtitles on these discs are in english.

extras wise this is a fairly decent package, and a little stronger than season one. every episode has a commentary from various different cast and crew members.

and disc four contains the following extras:

deleted scenes. seventeen of them each running no more than a couple of minutes. some are decent character moments that do add a little to what you saw in the episodes. one complete short subplot from one episode containing some major romantic developments that was clearly cut for timing reasons can be found in it's entirety here. And if you ever wondered what power hiro's father had, then watch this to find out.

season two a new beginning runs for roughly twelve minutes and has the actors and the shows creator look at the new season. quite a decent watch as it makes some good points about character motivations.

kensei documentary is a documentary about samurai kensei who plays a major part in the season. it runs for twenty three minutes and is presented like something you'd see on the discovery channel -complete with commercial breaks - thus experts discuss the legend and drawings of the events they're discussing. as a look at the legends surrounding the character [you see the truth about them in the season] it works very well and it's an entertaining watch.

the drucker files is another documentary, running roughly nine minutes, about a character born in world war II who grew up to develop the internet. He was presumably mentioned on the show but I can't say I recall him! although eagle eyed viewers need to take a look at the document showing his family tree which crops up early on to spot the name of a character seen briefly in season one on it. interesting enough, and short ehough to not outstay it's welcome.

there are three genetics of a scene features, all running roughly five minutes, which look at how three key scenes were made. as making of documentaries go these are very good and quite interesting, thanks to lively discussion from the production staff who present them.

alternate ending and alternate episode eleven is an intriguing look at how the eleventh episode would have gone had the writers strike not led to it being a season finale. a lot of elements are the same but there are some crucial differences, and they use existing footage and footage that was shot but never aired to show this alternate ending and what might have happened next. one scene has to use storyboards but all the rest is complete. a very interesting look at what might have been.

there's also a short peek at season three but this is just a self promoting video and it won't tell you anything much. and it does contain one potential spoiler so watch with caution.

and that's the package you get.

so will it pick up in season three? that's another review for another time

it gets better i promise
The first few episodes are a bit slow in this series, but after the reveal episode (about halfway) it does improve. Although I found this series a little frustrating, especially new characters like the twins and the lack of focus on much loved characters from season 1, there are some great aspects which give me hope for season 3. The mohinder/parkman/molly set up is interesting and Elle and Adam are fantastic, although loving the actors already from Veronica Mars and Alias does help.

What I can't believe about this is the price of the DVD, its only 11 episodes long, yet the price is more like a series 22 episodes long. The studios should take their punishment and charge us a fair price for this much shortened series!