DVD : Smallville - The Complete First Season

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- Very Entertaining! Can't stop watching!
Very entertaining can't stop watching. Great acting. has a good story line and watching the first season will make you a smallville fan.

Rating:

- Smallville: A fun place to escape
Are you interested in a place where you can relax and enjoy seeing a budding superhero, an evil arch enemy in the making, various adventures each week, and an interesting cast of friends and family to provide an extra bit of drama? If so, Smallville is for you.

The basic premise is that we are watching Clark Kent (Superman) before he actually became Superman. In fact, he's just a freshman in high school (even though he and his friends look like they're in their 20s) and he doesn't even fully understand what his powers are and how he can utilize them. I should also mention that the series is set in the modern day (around 2001 or so), which keeps it current.

The creators of the series did a great job of creating this world, which has several key features. Here's the key features in order of importance to the show.

1) Clark's relationship with Lex Luthor. This is the most fascinating part of the show. Michael Rosenbaum does an incredible job as the future evil mastermind. He and the writers have created an incredibly complex individual who is very multifaceted. You can see him struggle with his identity and he tries to find his true self. Clark and Lex have a very unique relationship that must be viewed to be appreciated.

2) Clark's relationship with friends and family. Clark goes through many of the typical teenage issues, but also has to protect his "secret" (his powers). This affects his relationship with his parents and his friends. He also struggles to build and maintain relationships with Lana Lang (the girl he's in love with) and Chloe (the girl who loves him). While some of these story lines could have been lifted from 90210, the interesting characters and actors pull it all off.

3) Clark develops his powers. Since Clark doesn't already know of his Superman abilities, we get to see him develop many of them as the season progresses. The series has some pretty good special effects (for TV) and does a good job with things like his x-ray vision, for example. For fans of Superman, this is a fun part of the show.

4) "Freak of the Week" guests. Most episodes there are various "freaks", people who have been affected by the meteor rocks that came when Clark's ship arrived. Most have unusual powers, and it is often up to Clark to stop them without letting anyone see him do it (he has a secret to keep, after all). While this may seem to be the main event each week, I really consider this to be just filler. The meat of the show is the first 3 items I mentioned. Don't get me wrong, the various "freaks" have entertainment value, but they're just not the real focal point.

All in all, this is a very good series that will have you constantly looking forward to the next episode. I will tell you that season 2 gets even better, so you definitely have something else to look forward to.

Rating:

- Best show on TV !!
I didn't wanna like it. I refused to watch it. I'm in my 30's............
This is the best show on T.V.
Fans range from 6 to 60. Male and female.
I have now seen every episode available. (Bought all 4 seasons on Amazon and will buy 5 in September.)
Can't wait til' Season 6 begins.
WATCH THIS SHOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's the best show...EVER !!!!

Rating:

- Refreshing
This is such a refreshing change of pace from other shows that are on. I love this show, I don't think there has ever been anything like it.

Rating:

- Brave New Metropolis
Ok . . . Metropolis isn't in the cards for awhile yet for a young Clark Kent. With Smallville comparisons to Buffy seem almost inevitable to me. Both shows sport almost invulnerable main characters with a variety of super-human abilities. Both rely on a core cast of close friends. Both main characters have older-mentors they blow off half of the time and then regret not listening to in the first place. And finally, both have serious romantic issues-and this is where our heroes part ways. Buffy's issues get resolved with very dark consequences where everyone around her is affected in a permanent manner. With Clark Kent, however, there is this butterfly-like dance of relationships that he has with various friends over the course of each season that involves him avoiding any serious commitment, and in the end remaining in a kind of emotional limbo with his close friends and loved ones. More importantly, the friends, especially Chloe and Lana are like emotional yo-yos wildly flitting from jealousy to weepy love, to grim-faced resolve to be their own girl and blow Clark off once and for all. The big question is what, if anything does this do for the series? For the first season these issues can and should easily be forgiven as any series needs time to find its footing. All niggling aside, the good easily outweighs the bad in the first season. The acting from the leads is rock-solid. Tom Welling is charming as the young Clark Kent without being too cocky and arrogant. Kristin Kreuk and Alison Mack may take some getting used to as Clark's respective potential love interests, Lana Lane and Chloe, as they are not given much room by the writers to grow and develop very much this season. John Schneider (you know him as Bo Duke) and Annette O'Toole provide a convincing balance between moral sternness and flexibility that still gives Clark enough freedom to be the typical teen. My favorite is Michael Rosenbaum's portrayal of an almost tragic Lex Luthor who constantly tries to do the right thing, but is mired down by his evil corporate family reputation. The basic premise of the season is that Clark has to come to terms with the fact he is quite different from everyone around him while at the same time coming to the aid of everyone who got, and is still being affected and transformed by the meteor rock that smashed into Smallville on the day of Clark's arrival to earth. Although there is no story-arc or Big Bad that the viewer may have become accustomed to from the Buffy and X-Files shows, the episodes have an intriguing monster-of-the-week format; intriguing because the kids affected and transformed by the meteor rocks are not always clearly cut from the psychotic cloth (I think only one of the villains actually foams at the mouth at some point). Highlights include, "Pilot" where Clark becomes the Smallville scarecrow of ridicule for the football season; "Shimmer" where this meek girl who has a crush on Lex supposedly can turn herself invisible; and "Tempest" where Clark, Lana, and Chloe's emotional love triangle gets resolved, or at least allowed to go into extra innings. The DVD extras are featurettes that introduce Smallville the town. My favorite was the interactive map. There are deleted scenes which are pretty nice. All in all, a good potential for greatness.

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