Superman
is probably the most popular and longest-lived comic book character to
ever enter popular culture. Over the years there have been numerous
television and film adaptations of the character. Personally I’ve loved
the Richard Donner Superman movies, as well as the television series
starring George Reeves. I’ve even been quite fond of LOIS &
CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, although primarily during its
first season. The latest small screen incarnation of The Man of Steel
actually finds the character before he was even a man- depicting the
teenaged years of Clark Kent when he lived in the Kansas town of
Smallville.
As
a television series, SMALLVILLE has managed to find an ideal mix of
teen angst, romance, adventure and the early mythology of the Superman
character. The show also has a slightly dark edge to it, which is what it
needs to make it appealing to both a teen and adult audience. Of course,
every single primary and secondary character on the show has an attractive
face attached to it, which certainly isn’t hurting the ratings of this
highly popular series. Now despite the pretty people that occupy SMALLVILLE,
the acting is solid and the show is decidedly well written, even when it
becomes a bit too reminiscent of a teen soap opera. The show even puts a
slightly new spin on the tried and true Superman mythology, thus keeping
the nearly seventy-year-old character fresh. Warner Home Video has issued SMALLVILLE:
THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON ($65) on DVD in a six disc set that features
all twenty-one episodes that comprise year one, along with supplemental
materials.
Disc
one contains the episodes Pilot, Metamorphosis,
Hothead and X-Ray. Pilot starts off
with a meteor shower that falls upon the town of Smallville, and then
segues twelve years ahead to introduce a teenage Clark Kent (Tom Welling),
who arrived on Earth in a spaceship during the afore mentioned meteor
shower. During the first hour we also meet the pretty cheerleader Lana
Lang (Kristin Kreuk), with whom Clark is infatuated, as well as Clark’s
adoptive parents Martha (Annette O'Toole) and Jonathan Kent (John
Schneider), plus best friends Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) and Pete Ross
(Sam Jones III). The pilot episode also lays out the series’ ground
rules, as well Clark’s burgeoning super powers, which enable him to save
the lives of both his new friend Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) and Lana’s
boyfriend Whitney (Eric Johnson). Metamorphosis is sometimes
aired as the second half of the SMALLVILLE pilot episode/TV movie
and continues the story by explaining all the weird things that have
happened in Smallville, as a result of the meteor fragments that showered
down on the town. This segues into the show’s initial
monster-of-the-week premise, beginning with the insect-like traits
exhibited by a teen repeatedly stung by a large number of meteor
irradiated bugs. Hothead is concerned with the
short-tempered high school football coach, who develops Pyrokinetic
abilities as a result of meteor fragments in his sauna. X-Ray
finds Clark developing a new ability, one that allows him to see the true
identity of a teenager who has the ability to change their appearance at
will.
Disc
two contains the episodes Cool, Hourglass,
Craving and Jitters. Cool follows a
high school jock that needs to absorb other people’s body heat after
falling through the ice of a frozen lake and being exposed to meteor
rocks. Hourglass tells the story of an elderly ex-convict
who seeks murderous revenge after meteor rocks restore his youth. Craving
finds a weight-obsessed teen needing to subsist on the body fat of others,
after a crash diet of meteor-irradiated vegetables. Jitters
features guest star Tony Todd as a man who begins shaking uncontrollably
after being exposed to a green mist in the Smallville fertilizer plant run
by Luthorcorp.
Disc
three contains the episodes Rogue, Shimmer,
Hug and Leech. In Rogue, Clark takes a
trip to Metropolis, where a shady cop spies Clark using his super powers
and begins blackmailing him. Shimmer finds Lex being
threatened by an unseen individual who has distilled the secret of
invisibility from meteor irradiated roses. Hug tells the
story of a salesman who gains a real power of persuasion after exposure to
meteor rocks, then convinces Jonathan to sell the family farm, just by
shaking hands with him. In Leech, Clark finds out what it is
like to be a normal human being for the first time, when a lightning
strike and a piece of meteor rock transfer his super powers to someone
else.
Disc
four contains the episodes Kinetic, Zero,
Nicodemus and Stray. Kinetic focuses
on a teen gang that turn to burglary after they develop the ability to
walk through walls, due to being tattooed with ink made from meteor
fragments. Zero finds Lex being haunted by the ghosts of a
deadly incident that happened three years prior. Nicodemus
is concerned with a strange meteor irradiated flower that begins infecting
the population of Smallville, all of whom start behaving erratically, then
becoming violent. Stray tells the story of a mind reading
youth that temporarily becomes part of the Kent family, after Martha hits
him with her car.
Disc
five contains the episodes Reaper, Drone,
Crush and Obscura. Reaper is concerned
with a young man, who is resurrected by a wristband made from meteor
fragments, which imbeds itself in his body and makes his touch deadly. In Drone,
Clark runs for class president, but the election is sidelined by a series
of attacks on the various candidates by a swarm of meteor-mutated bees. Crush
is concerned with a former Smallville High School cartoonist who looses
the use of his hands in a hit and run accident, but then develops the
uncanny ability to move things with his mind. In Obscura,
Lana finds herself having visions after being caught in an explosion and
showered with meteor rocks. Finally, Disc six offers the episode Tempest,
which is a whirlwind of a season finally, where several tornadoes bear
down on the town of Smallville.
Warner
Home Video has made all of the episodes from SMALLVILLE: THE COMPLETE
FIRST SEASON available on DVD in a 1.78:1 wide screen presentation
that features the anamorphic enhancement for 16:9 displays. SMALLVILLE
is one of the new breed of television shows designed for high definition
broadcast in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, but shown at 1.33:1 for standard
definition. The DVDs represent a fusion of standard and high definition,
with the episodes seeming a bit more cinematic in wide screen than they do
in their 4:3 broadcast form. For the most part the episodes look very
good; appearing sharp and rather well defined. Colors are vibrant and well
saturated, plus the flesh tones are quite appealing. Contrast is very good
for a broadcast television production. In addition, blacks are accurate
and the whites crisp. Digital compression artifacts are noticeable if one
goes looking for them, but they hardly call attention to themselves if one
is absorbed in the episodes.
All
the episodes that comprise SMALLVILLE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
come with Dolby Digital 2.0 channel soundtracks, which decode to standard
surround. First of all, let me say I think the episodes would have sounded
better if they were upgraded to 5.1, but otherwise, the sound is very good
for a recent broadcast television production. The origin of the sound mix
is clearly evident, especially in the pilot episode, which could have used
a punchier bass channel for the meteor impacts. Music reproduction is
where the track really shines, with the pop intensive track getting the
full matrixed surround treatment and sporting very good fidelity. Dialogue
is cleanly rendered and always completely understandable. A French
language track is also offered for the episodes, as are English, French,
Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as some supplemental features. Executive
producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are on hand to provide an audio
commentary for the pilot episode and (its continuation into) the second
episode, while director David Nutter is on hand to offer his comments for
the pilot. Disc six offers deleted scenes from the Pilot and
Metamorphosis episodes, with optional commentary. A Storyboard
To Screen comparison is also provided, as is an interactive tour
of Smallville, plus promos for SMALLVILLE, plus the coming TARZAN
series for the WB. Disc six is DVD-ROM enabled, with some other cool
little features.
As
a fan of SMALLVILLE, I am glad the show is making its debut on DVD.
Warner has done a good job with the DVD release, with the wide screen
versions of the episodes being far preferable to their 4:3 counterparts.
If you are a fan, then you will want to pick up you own copy of SMALLVILLE:
THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON on DVD.
Superman
is probably the most popular and longest-lived comic book character to
ever enter popular culture. Over the years there have been numerous
television and film adaptations of the character. Personally I’ve loved
the Richard Donner Superman movies, as well as the television series
starring George Reeves. I’ve even been quite fond of LOIS &
CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, although primarily during its
first season. The latest small screen incarnation of The Man of Steel
actually finds the character before he was even a man- depicting the
teenaged years of Clark Kent when he lived in the Kansas town of
Smallville.
As
a television series, SMALLVILLE has managed to find an ideal mix of
teen angst, romance, adventure and the early mythology of the Superman
character. The show also has a slightly dark edge to it, which is what it
needs to make it appealing to both a teen and adult audience. Of course,
every single primary and secondary character on the show has an attractive
face attached to it, which certainly isn’t hurting the ratings of this
highly popular series. Now despite the pretty people that occupy SMALLVILLE,
the acting is solid and the show is decidedly well written, even when it
becomes a bit too reminiscent of a teen soap opera. The show even puts a
slightly new spin on the tried and true Superman mythology, thus keeping
the nearly seventy-year-old character fresh. Warner Home Video has issued SMALLVILLE:
THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON ($65) on DVD in a six disc set that features
all twenty-one episodes that comprise year one, along with supplemental
materials.
Disc
one contains the episodes Pilot, Metamorphosis,
Hothead and X-Ray. Pilot starts off
with a meteor shower that falls upon the town of Smallville, and then
segues twelve years ahead to introduce a teenage Clark Kent (Tom Welling),
who arrived on Earth in a spaceship during the afore mentioned meteor
shower. During the first hour we also meet the pretty cheerleader Lana
Lang (Kristin Kreuk), with whom Clark is infatuated, as well as Clark’s
adoptive parents Martha (Annette O'Toole) and Jonathan Kent (John
Schneider), plus best friends Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) and Pete Ross
(Sam Jones III). The pilot episode also lays out the series’ ground
rules, as well Clark’s burgeoning super powers, which enable him to save
the lives of both his new friend Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) and Lana’s
boyfriend Whitney (Eric Johnson). Metamorphosis is sometimes
aired as the second half of the SMALLVILLE pilot episode/TV movie
and continues the story by explaining all the weird things that have
happened in Smallville, as a result of the meteor fragments that showered
down on the town. This segues into the show’s initial
monster-of-the-week premise, beginning with the insect-like traits
exhibited by a teen repeatedly stung by a large number of meteor
irradiated bugs. Hothead is concerned with the
short-tempered high school football coach, who develops Pyrokinetic
abilities as a result of meteor fragments in his sauna. X-Ray
finds Clark developing a new ability, one that allows him to see the true
identity of a teenager who has the ability to change their appearance at
will.
Disc
two contains the episodes Cool, Hourglass,
Craving and Jitters. Cool follows a
high school jock that needs to absorb other people’s body heat after
falling through the ice of a frozen lake and being exposed to meteor
rocks. Hourglass tells the story of an elderly ex-convict
who seeks murderous revenge after meteor rocks restore his youth. Craving
finds a weight-obsessed teen needing to subsist on the body fat of others,
after a crash diet of meteor-irradiated vegetables. Jitters
features guest star Tony Todd as a man who begins shaking uncontrollably
after being exposed to a green mist in the Smallville fertilizer plant run
by Luthorcorp.
Disc
three contains the episodes Rogue, Shimmer,
Hug and Leech. In Rogue, Clark takes a
trip to Metropolis, where a shady cop spies Clark using his super powers
and begins blackmailing him. Shimmer finds Lex being
threatened by an unseen individual who has distilled the secret of
invisibility from meteor irradiated roses. Hug tells the
story of a salesman who gains a real power of persuasion after exposure to
meteor rocks, then convinces Jonathan to sell the family farm, just by
shaking hands with him. In Leech, Clark finds out what it is
like to be a normal human being for the first time, when a lightning
strike and a piece of meteor rock transfer his super powers to someone
else.
Disc
four contains the episodes Kinetic, Zero,
Nicodemus and Stray. Kinetic focuses
on a teen gang that turn to burglary after they develop the ability to
walk through walls, due to being tattooed with ink made from meteor
fragments. Zero finds Lex being haunted by the ghosts of a
deadly incident that happened three years prior. Nicodemus
is concerned with a strange meteor irradiated flower that begins infecting
the population of Smallville, all of whom start behaving erratically, then
becoming violent. Stray tells the story of a mind reading
youth that temporarily becomes part of the Kent family, after Martha hits
him with her car.
Disc
five contains the episodes Reaper, Drone,
Crush and Obscura. Reaper is concerned
with a young man, who is resurrected by a wristband made from meteor
fragments, which imbeds itself in his body and makes his touch deadly. In Drone,
Clark runs for class president, but the election is sidelined by a series
of attacks on the various candidates by a swarm of meteor-mutated bees. Crush
is concerned with a former Smallville High School cartoonist who looses
the use of his hands in a hit and run accident, but then develops the
uncanny ability to move things with his mind. In Obscura,
Lana finds herself having visions after being caught in an explosion and
showered with meteor rocks. Finally, Disc six offers the episode Tempest,
which is a whirlwind of a season finally, where several tornadoes bear
down on the town of Smallville.
Warner
Home Video has made all of the episodes from SMALLVILLE: THE COMPLETE
FIRST SEASON available on DVD in a 1.78:1 wide screen presentation
that features the anamorphic enhancement for 16:9 displays. SMALLVILLE
is one of the new breed of television shows designed for high definition
broadcast in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, but shown at 1.33:1 for standard
definition. The DVDs represent a fusion of standard and high definition,
with the episodes seeming a bit more cinematic in wide screen than they do
in their 4:3 broadcast form. For the most part the episodes look very
good; appearing sharp and rather well defined. Colors are vibrant and well
saturated, plus the flesh tones are quite appealing. Contrast is very good
for a broadcast television production. In addition, blacks are accurate
and the whites crisp. Digital compression artifacts are noticeable if one
goes looking for them, but they hardly call attention to themselves if one
is absorbed in the episodes.
All
the episodes that comprise SMALLVILLE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
come with Dolby Digital 2.0 channel soundtracks, which decode to standard
surround. First of all, let me say I think the episodes would have sounded
better if they were upgraded to 5.1, but otherwise, the sound is very good
for a recent broadcast television production. The origin of the sound mix
is clearly evident, especially in the pilot episode, which could have used
a punchier bass channel for the meteor impacts. Music reproduction is
where the track really shines, with the pop intensive track getting the
full matrixed surround treatment and sporting very good fidelity. Dialogue
is cleanly rendered and always completely understandable. A French
language track is also offered for the episodes, as are English, French,
Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as some supplemental features. Executive
producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are on hand to provide an audio
commentary for the pilot episode and (its continuation into) the second
episode, while director David Nutter is on hand to offer his comments for
the pilot. Disc six offers deleted scenes from the Pilot and
Metamorphosis episodes, with optional commentary. A Storyboard
To Screen comparison is also provided, as is an interactive tour
of Smallville, plus promos for SMALLVILLE, plus the coming TARZAN
series for the WB. Disc six is DVD-ROM enabled, with some other cool
little features.
As
a fan of SMALLVILLE, I am glad the show is making its debut on DVD.
Warner has done a good job with the DVD release, with the wide screen
versions of the episodes being far preferable to their 4:3 counterparts.
If you are a fan, then you will want to pick up you own copy of SMALLVILLE:
THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON on DVD.
