The setup is simple, yet undeniably intriguing. It essentially tells the stories of a series of people who discover they have legitimate, differing superhero powers. On top of that, these people then gradually appreciate that these powers are needed for reasons that soon become apparent, and the story of Heroes builds up from there. Heavily influenced by comics both in its structure and story, Heroes sustains interest through a number of story arcs of different magnitudes, skilfully weaving them throughout the 23 episodes that make up the season. It’s contained enough to keep you interested, yet offers enough threads to make several more seasons a very appealing prospect. Heroes, though, really gels because the basics are right. It’s plotted intelligently, written and directed with real nerve and talent, and has a cast who you can’t help but get emotionally involved with. It’s also, for the overwhelming majority of its episodes, utterly compelling televisions. Ironically, its few miss-steps of any note come right at the back end, by which time you really would forgive it pretty much anything. Heroes is rightly being heralded as a sci-fi classic in the making. Yet even if subsequent seasons don’t fully do justice to those words--and at the time of writing, season two is still some way from debuting--this boxset will serve as a glowing testament to just how good television can be when it’s just done right. Quite brilliant. --Jon Foster
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
It’s hard to remember a science fiction series that has hit so big so quickly. Yet by the end of the first series of Heroes, it feels--for all the right reasons--that the show’s been around for longer than it has, such is the huge amount of success it’s enjoyed.
Editorial
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 Texas cheerleader who can't be killed. Matt (Greg Grunberg, Alias) is a cop in Los Angeles who can read minds. New Yorker Peter (Milo Ventimiglia, Gilmore Girls) 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. But heroes wouldn't be heroes if there weren't villains and a coming apocalypse to fight.
Part two of best show of recent years
Review date: 2008-02-19 Rating: 10 out of 10
Heroes has been the best series too be shown on TV in years and this second part of the first season contains the final twelve episodes. The first half of the season was extremely good and if anything the episodes presented here are even better. This does have something to do with the brilliant writing and the involving plot as well as the performances by most of the regular cast members.
Despite the more than adequate performances from the cast, this half of Heroes is comprehensively stolen by the various guest stars that crop up now and again. Of particular interest are George Takei, Christopher Eccleston and Malcolm McDowell all of whom are great actors and all of whom steal the show whenever they are on screen.
On the down side the show does still suffer from an overabundance of slow moments that could annoy some people, the CGI is slightly off in places and Peter Petrelli is still more of an annoyance than anything (although I did enjoy the scene where Eccleston was beating him with a stick). Despite this Heroes remains the best TV show to have been made in recent years and I would say that it is up there with the best TV shows ever produced.