Love anything to do with technology, IT Tech and cars. Always on the lookout for new opportunites an...
Love anything to do with technology, IT Tech and cars. Always on the lookout for new opportunites and experiences. Ideas or Suggestions? E-mail me...
Member since:17.03.2006
Reviews:47
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If you like Smallville, you will like this DVD set because it is rather entertaining (although Chloe is the only blonde I have ever liked).
This series was meant as a way to explore the "man behind the mask" - what makes Superman tick. After all, when Superman was introduced to the public, he was introduced as an adult, with all his powers and personality fully-developed. Considering that normal teenagers have a lot to deal with, it would be interesting to see how Clark Kent would have dealt with all these developing abilities.
In this set is obviously, the pilot episode - where we learn where Clark comes from and the circumstances surrounding his "adoption" by Jonathon and Martha Kent - this episode alone, is the reason I would recommend buying this DVD set. After all, no matter how many reruns they show, you don't ever get to see the pilot episode again.
In the pilot episode, we learn that Clark
came to Earth in a space craft, hidden from our radar system because it came along in a meteor shower, which was a very well-executed piece of screenplay. Also, Clark knew that he had all various types of "abilities", but he always believed that he was human, until his parents decided to show him the space craft they found along with him. The pilot also sets the stage - Clark has a crush on the most popular girl in high school, Lana Laing, while his best female friend, Chloe, has a crush on him (classic love-triangle) and his best friend Pete doesn't have a clue that Clark is any different from the rest of them.
The rest of the season is what builds the hype in Smallville. The meteor shower in which Clark came to Earth, brought with it a lot of space debris - ominously-glowing green rocks. As it turns out, extended meteor exposure has severe effects on the human body, which many of the affected people in Smallville exploit to their benefit. In fact, Chloe has already made the link between the meteors and their effect on people. She is very involved in the school's newspaper (where Clark gets his first taste of working in the media, leading to his employment in the Daily Planet) and has an entire notice board filled with newspaper clippings, in which are documented various stories which she thinks are meteor-related. She calls it the "wall of weird".
And it is fighting these "meteor freaks" that Clark starts to develop his crime-fighter, "must save" attitude.
The extra features (which I consider to be the only reason to buy a DVD in the first place) are somewhat extensive and they are cool to look at (for want of a better description). Here, we are introduced to the "Chloe Chronicles", which is Chloe's separate investigation into the meteor-related effects on people and their conspiracies to cover up the scientific investigations and experiments. Also included are commentaries on each episode. If you have seen each episode before, then you can watch them again, this time listening to the actors' and director's perspective on each - what it was like filming, what they went through to get certain shots and what they were really trying to acheive in certain shots - for those who have an interest in a film or TV career, this is something worth checking out.
No movie or TV show is good without music, whether it be background music or just something for the main theme, and Smallville surprised me, somewhat.
In most TV shows, the director simply tries to use current or popular music which is appropriate to the target audience - in this case, teenagers. However, I am 25 and while I still have common taste in music with most teens, I must admit that I find the music actually appropriate to what they were trying to convey in that scene, using current music.
The only thing they did not do was to give a listing of the artists and songs used in the series, in case you wanted to search online and purchase the songs. And there was no easy way to find those names except to go online on your own.
Also, keep in mind, this is the first season, which is usually the best in any TV series - and also the hardest to get.
Long story short - if you want the extras, buy the DVD. If you just like the show, buy it. If you are cheap, rent it.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Action/Adventure - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Jack Ging, Marla Heasley, Lance Legault, Melinda Culea, Mr T, Dwight Schultz, Dirk Benedict, George Peppard, Carl Franklin
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
I'm sorry but this doesn't tell me anyhting other than the special features are extensive. What exactly are these. Bearing in mind your review is of a six disc boxset it is nowhere near comprehensive enough.
sandemp 22.03.2006 22:01
I agree the only reasons I buy boxsets is because of the improvements in presentation (over what I could produce) and the special features. Perhaps you could elaborate on what special features are included in this set and what you actually thought about them. Were they all special, or were some of them a waste of space?
donf18 22.03.2006 21:12
What are the extensive features? A lot more info is needed to get a decent rating
Advantages: Great action pieces, special effects, great actors & perfomances Disadvantages: One-off villains, 'dawson creek' moments and weak link actors
Mar 22nd, 2006
(Jun 23rd, 2006)
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