Watching Heroes

On Disc 1 of the Season 2 DVD there is a deleted scene in which Kaito Nakamura’s power is revealed. 

The scene features Kaito and Ando sitting in Kirby Plaza.  Ando brings Kaito his newspaper and they have a conversation about Hiro.  Most of the scene was featured in Episode 1 but it was shortened to exclude the revelation of his power.

I’m sure this is old news to some of you because these have been floating around on YouTube for a couple of weeks.  I avoided them until I got my DVD because I wanted to have some reason to watch it.

Clip copyright NBC

Here are links to the reviews I have found of both the standard and Blu-ray editions:

/film – While not necessarily pleased with the season, the DVD gets into their “good” list.

dbTechno – They give it an 8.5 on a scale of 10 for quality and the nice extras…and they didn’t think Season 2 was necessarily as bad as some did. They also reviewed the Blu-ray version.

Real Movie News – 3.5 out of 5 stars for the Blu-ray release.

iF Magazine – They pick Heroes Seasons 1 and 2 on Blu-ray as one of their top DVDs to own this week.

Zap2It – Impressed with the alternate ending and unseen episode footage.  Not too keen on the commentary and included web content.

ComingSoon.net – Another not impressed with the season, but OK with the DVD.

I’m sure there are lots more out there.  Feel free to share links to others or give us your own review in the comments!

Heroes Season 2 DVD goes on sale this coming Tuesday, August 26 and some retailers are offering exclusive “free” gifts with purchase.

Best Buy has a replica Kensei mask in their Exclusive Gift Set which will be $34.99. Now you can purchase the DVD set without the mask for $29.99 (perhaps a different version of the DVD?) so I’m not sure how the mask is “free” but anyway…here’s a look at the set from their Sunday newspaper ad:

Circuit City is offering a free film cell with purchase of the DVD.  The price there is $24.99 for the standard DVD.  This ad quality is not as good as the others but you’ll get the idea:

And finally, Target has the set priced at $32.99 and their exclusive is a disc with 30 minutes of additional footage and a collectible sketchbook.  You can buy the DVD without the bonus for $24.99.  Here’s their Sunday ad:

I actually meant to pre-order my DVD and I haven’t done it yet. I think I’m leaning toward the Target set for the bonus footage.  If any of you know of other bonuses out there, please comment and let us know!

Geeks of Doom is giving away an autographed copy of Heroes Season 2 on DVD. The DVD is signed by Heroes creator Tim Kring, as well as stars Ali Larter, Hayden Panettiere, and Adrian Pasdar.

The 4-disc Heroes: Season 2 DVD, releases next Tuesday, August 26, 2008 and contains every episode from the season as well tons of bonus features.

For complete rules and to enter, simply click the above link. Contest ends Sunday, August 31 at 9pm EST.

You can also enter contests at Universal and at Zap2It for more chances to win the DVD set.

No, I’m not giving away Heroes on DVD right now, but Zap2It is. I will give you a heads up that coming up next month we will be having a few giveaways so make sure you check back during the week of September 15 to see what all you can win!

For now, head on over to Zap2It for your chance to win one of three Heroes Season 2 DVD sets. Entries will be accepted through September 8.

For a complete look at what’s on the DVD, see this post. The Season 2 set releases on August 26 and right now Amazon.com has it available for pre-order. The current sale price is $24.99 (reg. $39.98) and orders over $25 ship free when you choose super saver shipping (or get free 2 day shipping with a free trial of Amazon Prime).

The G4 cable network is showing a marathon of Season 2 episodes today. It started this morning at 11am (eastern) and runs through 9pm tonight. Sorry for the late notice, but I just found out myself.

G4 is a network for video gamers. They, and their HD counterpart, Mojo, acquired same-week repurposing rights to Heroes last October. As part of that deal, they received off-net strip rights beginning in 2010. The off-net run includes exclusive cable rights to stream Heroes episodes on G4’s website. G4 will also gain free video-on-demand rights to Heroes starting in 2010. They have also featured Heroes several times on their Attack of the Show.

G4 and Mojo are are owned by Comcast Networks. Comcast Networks also owns E! and Style. Check your local listings to see if G4 is available where you live.

The Season 2 set releases on August 26 and right now Amazon.com has it available for pre-order. The current sale price is $25.99 (reg. $39.98) and it ships free when you choose super saver shipping.

This is a great deal compared to other prices on the web including the NBC/Universal store where it is selling for $29.98.

Though the season was short due to the strike, the DVD has been packed full of extras to make it worth the money. Here’s what you’ll find:

• Alternate ending to “Generations”
• Inside the Alternate Ending
• Untold Stories
• Season 3 Sneak Peak
• Deleted Scenes
• “A New Beginning” (behind the scenes feature)
• Audio Commentary on several episodes
• Takezo Kensei: Sword Saint
• The Drucker Files
• Genetics of a Scene
• 3 NBC.com Featurettes
• Tim Sale Gallery of Screen Art

For a detailed look at the bonus features, see my DVD preview from last month.

If you missed any of the Heroes Season 2, now is the time to catch up on what you missed! NBC.com has made the entire second season available online for a limited time. Just go to NBC.com’s video section and click on the episodes you want to watch. For the first Season 2 episode, “Four Months Later,” scroll all the way to the right.

Also available are several full episodes with cast commentary. The available episodes are:

• Four Months Later - 2.01
• Lizards - 2.02
• Kindred - 2.03
• The Kindness of Strangers - 2.04
• Fight or Flight - 2.05
• The Line - 2.06

So watch the ones you missed, rewatch a few episodes, or watch with commentary and get prepared for the Season 3 premiere on September 22.

The NBC/Universal Store has some great deals on Heroes merchandise right now including advance sales of the Comic-Con merchandise I told you about earlier this week. Here are some of the specials:

• Buy All 5 Heroes Action Figures & Get a FREE Hiro Hat! Figures include Claire, Peter, Hiro, Sylar and Mohinder. The set sells for $100. Click here for more info.
• The Season 2 DVD Set is available for pre-order at a discounted price. Order the standard DVD set from NBC/U and get it for only $29.98 ($10 off the SRP) or opt for Blu-ray and get it for only $49.98 ($20 off SRP). Ship date is August 26.
• Limited quantities of the Comic-Con exclusive items are available to order at NBC/U right now. The Hiro bobblehead is selling for $30 and the Sylar collectible figure is $25. Hurry - they’ll go fast.

DC Comics’ Wildstorm website has an ad posted for the second edition of the graphic novel, simply listed as "Heroes Vol. 2."  It indicates that this is a sequel to last year’s top-selling hardcover graphic novel and includes an "on sale" date of November 19.

Details are a little sketchy, but it’s safe to assume that this novel will pick up where the other left off, and contain all of the Season 2 graphic novels (#’s 35-70) featured at NBC.com. No cover art is available on the site but it does list Gene Ha as the cover artist. A generic Heroes logo is shown at this time.

The ad lists the page count as 272 and the retail price as $29.99. To view the complete ad, visit Wildstorm’s website.

Volume One Graphic Novel Cover

The Season 2 DVD is set to hit stores on August 26. The set will contain all 11 episodes on 4 discs and will be available in both standard DVD and Blu-ray formats. The DVD set will retail for $39.98, and the Blu-ray set will cost $69.98. In addition to the “Generations” episodes, you will also find a generous helping of special features including:

• Alternate ending to “Generations”
• Inside the Alternate Ending
• Untold Stories
• Season 3 Sneak Peak
• Deleted Scenes
• Heroes Season 2 - “A New Beginning” (behind the scenes feature)
• Audio Commentary:
  • “Four Months Later” with Creator/Executive Producer Tim Kring, Co-Executive Producer Jeph Loeb and Series Star Jack Coleman.
  • “Lizards” with Executive Producer Allan Arkush, Series Star Greg Grunberg and Co- Executive Producer Michael Green.
  • “Kindred” with Episode Director Paul Edwards, Co-Executive Producer JJ Philbin and Series Star Zachary Quinto.
  • “The Kindness of Strangers” with Creator/Executive Producer Tim Kring and Series Stars Dana Davis & Adrian Pasdar.
  • “Fight or Flight” with Series Star Greg Grunberg and Executive Producer Greg Beeman.
  • “The Line” with Co-Executive Producers Adam Armus & Kay Foster and Series Star Jack Coleman.
  • “Out of Time” with Episode Director Daniel Attias and Series Star Masi Oka
  • “Four Months Ago…” with Series Star Milo Ventimiglia and Executive Producer Greg Beeman.
  • “Cautionary Tales” with Episode Director Greg Yaitanes and Series Stars Kristen Bell & Ashley Crow.
  • “Truth & Consequences” with Episode Director Adam Kane and Series Star Stephen Tobolowsky.
  • “Powerless” with Executive Producer Allan Arkush and Composers Lisa Coleman & Wendy Melvoin.
• Takezo Kensei: Sword Saint
• The Drucker Files
• Genetics of a Scene
  • Maya and Alejandro Run from the Police
  • Cherry Blossoms/Sword Fight Scenes
  • Exploding Man
  • The Loft
• NBC.com Featurettes
  • Hotel Corinthian Explosion
  • Maya Y Alejandro Viral Video
  • Nathan and Peter Brooklyn Cam
• Tim Sale Gallery of Screen Art

In addition, the Blu-ray edition will contain:

• U-CONTROL
  • Picture in Picture Cast & Crew Commentaries (on commentary episodes listed above)
• Hero Connections – Bios and Network.

The (oh-so-short) Season 2 DVD is coming soon. In a press release from Universal Studios, they announced the Blu-ray release (which, I would assume, should coincide with the standard DVD release) would hit stores on August 26, marking the studio’s first global release on Blu-ray. Season 1 will also release on Blu-ray on the same day. It was previously only available as a standard or HD-DVD. I don’t see the set listed on Amazon for pre-order yet, so I’m not sure what the price will be. Let’s hope the price will equate to the shortened season!

If you haven’t purchased your Season 1 DVD yet, it’s still available at Amazon.com and other retailers! It’s well worth the price just for the original, unaired pilot and 50 deleted scenes if you ask me. Plus, you can relive all the glory of Season 1 while you wait for Season 3 to come back in September. Win-win!

Is Heroes facing the dreaded “sophomore slump”? Many think so. Some shows, like LOST, managed to pull out of the slump and return to greatness. Others, like Twin Peaks, never regained the confidence of fans and were cancelled. Will Heroes be able to come back?

Today the web is buzzing with articles proclaiming Heroes to be in trouble. Some offer solutions to the problem, like an article in the Boston Herald, which suggests a Sylar killing spree would cure some of the woes facing the show. Others, like Buddy TV, say give the story a chance. They seem to think the story will move along and come to a fan-satisfying resolution.

I believe we haven’t seen the best of Heroes Season 2 yet. I haven’t given up hope and I think there are many other fans like me out there. Last week’s fight scene between Matt and Nathan was enough to keep me tuning in.

What’s your opinion? Are Heroes’ glory days over or is the best yet to come?

We’re less than 2 hours away from the Season 2 premiere. I have a few snippets of things to tell you about, but I’ll make it quick. I don’t want you to be reading this and miss the show.

*Did anyone catch Masi Oka on the intro for NBC’s Sunday Night Football last night? He did some kind of skit with Terrell Owens (T.O.) of the Dallas Cowboys but I didn’t find out he was going to be on until after the game had started so I missed it. I haven’t been able to find a video of it, so if you know where I can watch, let me know.

*If you haven’t read the description for tonight’s episode, click here to do so.

*My new TV Guide magazine arrived today (the one with Kristen Bell, Hayden Panettiere and Ali Larter on the cover). It has a big article on Heroes, but across the top it had a warning telling me to stop reading if I hadn’t watched the season 2 premiere, so I did. I’ll be reading it after the show tonight so I’ll fill you in on anything you need to know tomorrow.

*Don’t forget that Jack Coleman (H.R.G. aka Noah Bennett, aka Claire’s dad) and creator Tim Kring will be liveblogging at NBC.com right after the show.

*Director Greg Beeman has a new blog up, but it contains some spoilers so you might want to wait until after the show to read it.

I’ll be back in the morning (or maybe later tonight) with a recap and my thoughts on the show. Come back to check it out and discuss the show. Now go get ready for the premiere!

Watching Heroes, NBC Heroes, Masi Oka, Terrell Owens, Sunday Night Football, Dallas Cowboys, Jack Coleman, Tim Kring, Greg Beeman, Kristen Bell, Hayden Panettiere, Ali Larter, TV Guide Magazine