Heroes: Season One DVD and HD DVD Review

The battle between Blu-ray disc and HD DVD heats up this week with the HD DVD release of "Heroes: Season One," which is Universal's first high-definition title released with Web-connectivity features, all of which allow the series' fan to connect free via their HD DVD player's network connection and mine exclusive content online.

"Character Connections," for instance, allows the viewer to follow their favorite heroes, while "Picture-in-Picture" offers cast and crew commentaries from the set.

Set up is relatively simple and fast--even for those of us saddled with the clunky, first-generation Toshiba player.

While the standard DVD release doesn't offer many of the HD DVD features, it does follow suit in that it includes the never-aired, 73-minute premiere episode, the featurette "The Making of Heroes," 50 deleted scenes, and the major draw, which of course is the show itself. This series about a group of men and women who discover they have supernatural powers was one of last year's best.

Grade: A-