I need to ease up a bit on all my DVD purchases. The hard thing is that it’s difficult for me because I get the majority of my new DVDs at a discounted rate. Heroes Season 1 DVD is no exception. Snagged a copy today and the packaging of the DVD set is really cool… a nice glossy slipcase and the digipack looks like a comic book. The on-screen menus are also comic book-like and are really eye catching. I just finished watching the Never-Before-Aired 73 Minute Premiere Episode to start with.
It’s amazing how much work actually goes into created a new show and the amount of differences that can ensue once it officially hits the tube on a regular basis. I chose to watch the audio commentary version of the pilot by creator Tim Kring. Very interesting stuff. There’s a whole storyline involving terrorists that was nixed from the final aired pilot because of the sensitive nature and the tentative airtime (Heroes had a chance at airing in the 8pm time slot instead of 9). One of the characters of this terrorist storyline (who’s story was also connected to that of police officer Matt Parkman) had a “unique” ability to radiation intense amounts of radioactivity from his hands. Sound familiar? This is how they worked in the same superhuman power into Heroes later on in the season with the character of Ted Sprague.
The commentary by Kring is filled with numerous facts about the production: How much time and effort went into each scene, the casting and location changes, the post production editing and how they effectively made the city of Los Angeles look like the streets of New York and a town in India. You’ll be surprised at how many “normal” scenes were actually shot against a green screen, only to have the background digitally added in post-production. One of the more comedic facts of the commentary on the pilot episode is Kring’s disclosure that they used the YouTube-famed “Chinese Backstreet Boys” (video at the end of this post) in one of the scenes that starred Masi Oka (Hiro) and James Kyson Lee (Ando).
I didn’t get a chance yet to go through all the Bonus Features aside from the “Mind Reader Game” (which was slightly predictable–no pun intended), but I do look forward to watching the deleted scenes of season 1 and all the episodes again. Remember, season 2 premiers on September 24th.
Here’s a complete list of bonus features and extras on the Heroes Season 1 DVD set:
- Never-Before-Aired 73-Minute Premier Episode
- 50 Deleted Scenes–DVD Exclusive
- The Making of Heroes
- The Special Effects
- The Stunts
- Profile of Artist Tim Sale
- The Score
- Mind Reader Game
- Audio Commentaries with Cast, Crew and Show Creator Tim Kring
And here are the Chinese Backstreet Boys for your enjoyment:
