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Episodes
Disc One: “Pilot”, “Metamorphosis”, “Hothead”, “X-Ray”
Episodes
Disc Two: “Cool”, “Hourglass”, “Craving”, “Jitters”
Episodes
Disc Three: “Rogue”, “Shimmer”, “Hub”, “Leech”
Episodes
Disc Four: “Kinetic”, “Zero”, “Nicodemus”, “Stray”
Episodes
Disc Five: “Reaper”, “Drone”, “Crush”, “Obscura”
Episode
Disc Six: “Tempest”
Stars:
Tom Welling, Kristen Kreuk, Michael Rosenbaum, Eric Johnson, Sam Jones III,
Alison Mack, Annette O’Toole, John Schneider, and Julian Glover
Writers:
Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Greg Walker, Mark Verheidan, Michael Green, Doris
Egan, Chris Bennet, Jeff Gottesfeld, Tim Schlattmann, Philip Levens, and Cameron
Litvack
Based
On “Superman” Created By: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Directors:
David Nutter, Michael Watkins, Philip Scricca, Greg Beeman, James Frawley, Jim
Contner, Chris Long, David Carson, D.J. Caruso, Robert Singer, Michael Katleman,
James Marshall, Paul Shapiro, Terrence O’Hara, and Greg Walker
Executive
Producers: David Nutter, Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins, and Joe Davola
Feature
length: 922 minutes
Extras:
Audio Commentary By Producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and Pilot Director
David Nutter, Interactive Map Of Smallville, Storyboard To Screen, Deleted
Scenes, TV Promo Spots, DVD Rom Link
Languages:
English and French Language Stereo Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French, Spanish, and Portuguese
Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Six-Disc Book Style Digipack Within A Slipcase
Chapter
Stops: 6 Per Episode
Sound:
Stereo Sound
Year
of Television Broadcast: 2001-2002/DVD Release: 2003
Home
Video Distributor: Warner Home Video
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
I
have never watched a single episode of “Smallville” during the entire first
and second seasons, but I can say that after watching this season one DVD set
release, I will try and tune in. The opening is fantastic as the series quickly
establishes the arrival of the last surviving being from Krypton along with
large chunks of kryptonite, which shower down upon the town of “Smallville”
and the outskirts. This opening is not only visually stunning, but it gets out a
large amount of information in a short time as we see visually the triangle that
will form between the series central characters of Clark Kent, Lex Luthor, and
Lana Lang. I was originally turned off to the idea of seeing a show about
Superman without the suit, but the producers and writers as well as the
directors have done an excellent job with creating a new mythology for young
Clark Kent and a young Lex Luthor, who is not a bad guy in the beginning. As the
series creators say in the commentary track, this is about how teenage Clark
Kent becomes the character we are familiar with and how Lex Luthor gradually
changes over the course of the series to the antihero we are familiar with. I am
very impressed by the way that have managed to pull it off and still make the
series accessible for a new generation as well as give fans of the films and
comic something to watch. Series star Annette O’Toole played “Lana Lang”
in “Superman III” while “Superman” himself, Christopher Reeve, appeared
on the series in season two and I have read that Terence Stamp, who played
“General Zod” in “Superman: The Movie” and “Superman II” will lend
his voice for Clark’s Kryptonian father “Jor-El.” I think this gives the
series a sort of unofficial seal of approval from the generation of the feature
films made in the late 1970s and 1980s to this present generation. John Glover
had a brief role as the man responsible for the creation of the villain
“Poison Ivy” in the 1997 feature film “Batman & Robin.” (Also known
as “Batman On Ice!”)
The
image is presented in a matted widescreen (1.78:1) aspect ratio enhanced for 16
by 9 TVs. While not crystal clear, the image is sharp enough I think to please
those who have been tuning into the series on The WB with standard analogue
broadcast or cable access. A full English Stereo Soundtrack is included along
with a French Language Stereo Soundtrack along with English Captions and Closed
Captions for the hearing impaired and French, Spanish, and Portuguese, Language
Subtitles encoded onto each DVD as options.
The
producers have no qualms on pointing out small continuity errors and laughing at
them on the commentary track too. Overall this is an entertaining and
informative commentary. There is a reel of several widescreen (1.78:1) deleted
scenes (6:58) with English Stereo Sound and an optional audio commentary track
from the series’ producers along with an interactive map of Smallville, which
is just a highlight and click map where we get images from the series with a
short explanation of the show’s producers on how the look of the place is
supposed to reflect character and whatnot. There are some scenes with the
storyboards superimposed for comparison and a (1.33:1) 31-second
“Smallville” TV Spot as well as a (1.33:1) 34-second TV spot for the new WB
series “Tarzan And Jane” and “Fearless.” InterActual enhanced features
like web links to sites that include the “Wall Of Weird” and the
“Luthorcorp Intranet.” Detailed instructions on how to access these special
features are included within the booklet that details episode scene selections
and whatnot inside the book style Digipack packaging.
Now
here are my caveats: practically all of the extra features are just ported over
from the previous Canadian import that contained the pilot and second episode
edited together into a movie and that release featured English Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround Sound. Why weren’t all of the episodes included within this set given
5.1 Surround Sound mixes instead of Stereo Sound? The captions for the
commentary that also appeared on the Canadian release are not included on this
disc. Now if you are a fan of the series, as a whole the box set is the way to
go, but odds are that fans of the series in Region One bought that import on DVD
over a year ago since many outlets on and offline in the States carried it back
when it first was released.
The
menus are wonderfully animated while the subsequent menus are standard
interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. Despite a few shortcomings,
I still think this new set is worth checking out and is the one to buy over the
Canadian import now that is finally available. “Smallville: The Complete First
Season On DVD” box set is available at retailers on and offline now from
Warner Home Video.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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