Smallville-The Complete Second Season (2001) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Drama |
Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Filmmakers - Two Episodes Audio Commentary-Cast And Filmmakers - Two Episodes Deleted Scenes-6 Featurette-Christopher Reeve: The Man Of Steel Featurette-Faster Than A Speeding Bullet: The Visual FX Of Smallville Featurette-The Chloe Chronicles Outtakes DVD-ROM Extras |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
Running Time | 951:56 (Case: 1109) | ||
RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (6) |
Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 2,4,5 | Directed By |
Greg Beeman Kenneth Biller David Carson D.J. Caruso |
Studio
Distributor |
Warner Home Video |
Starring |
Tom Welling Kristin Kreuk Michael Rosenbaum Sam Jones III Allison Mack Eric Johnson Annette O'Toole John Schneider John Glover |
Case | ? | ||
RPI | $79.95 | Music |
Jim Adkins Kevin Bassinson Eva Cassidy |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles |
English French Italian Dutch Hungarian Turkish Greek Romanian Bulgarian Arabic English for the Hearing Impaired Italian for the Hearing Impaired |
Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
If you’ve ever been a fan of comics, as I was in my youth, you will no doubt have come across DC Comics most famous superhero – Superman. I must confess that, having actually read many a Superman comic myself and having finally made up my mind on the issue, I’m not all that much of a fan. In short, he irritates me. In either alias, Superman the man of steel himself or the mild-mannered and unassuming Clark Kent, this guy is a total goodie two shoes, with nary a flaw, and sporting US patriotism like a badge of honour. The finest Superman stories ever told were those where the Man of Steel faced off against Batman – the now classic Frank Miller story The Dark Knight Returns, and the series that relaunched the Batman comics from the doldrums, No Man’s Land.
The show Smallville is a retelling of the early years of Superman, upgraded to the twenty-first century, and is a marked difference on the comic books. The young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) has come to earth in a meteor shower that has created all untold hell for the inhabitants of Smallville, Kansas, including killing the parents of Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), and rendering the spoilt little rich boy Alexander ‘Lex’ Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) completely bald. In addition to these things, the meteor shower has gifted Martha and Jonathan Kent (Annette O’Toole and John Schneider) with a son they could never have, but also given rise to many a nasty character bent on wreaking havoc in small town America.
While trying to keep his emerging superpowers a secret from society and those closest to him, Clark enlists the help of his friends Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) and Pete Ross (Samuel L Jones) to destroy every nasty that rises up in town.
Picking up where the first season left off, the second season follows along these lines:
1. Vortex (2) (41:01)
After the twister has ripped through Smallville, will Clark find his Dad before it’s too late, or his secret is exposed?
2. Heat (41:38)
At the onset of puberty, Clark discovers his heat-ray vision.
3. Duplicity (40:26)
Poisoned by kryptonite, Dr. Hamilton begins a search for Clark’s lost spaceship which Pete finds in a field.
4. Red (42:09)
Why is Clark acting so strange? Where did his bad boy attitude come from?
5. Nocturne (40:22)
Who is the boy who is leaving poetry for Lana? And why is he locked in a basement?
6. Redux (39:18)
Why are so many Smallville High kids dying of old age?
7. Lineage (42:05)
What really happened on the day of the meteor shower? And why does Jonathan blame himself for some terrible secret?
8. Ryan (41:20)
Ryan, the little boy who can read minds (from the episode Stray in the first season) is in trouble, but can Clark save him?
9. Dichotic (40:42)
How is the same boy managing to date Chloe and Lana ... at exactly the same time?
10. Skinwalker (40:14)
Is Clark the man mentioned in an ancient Indian prophecy? And what is the wolf-like creature killing off Lexcorp employees?
11. Visage (41:50)
Whitney is back from the war ... or is he?
12. Insurgence (42:18)
When Lionel Luthor and Martha are taken hostage, it’s up to Clark to save the day without having his identity discovered.
13. Suspect (40:49)
When Lionel is shot at the Luthor manor, Clark’s dad is fingered as the number one suspect.
14. Rush (41:07)
Why are a group of students at Smallville High attempting such dangerous stunts? And will Clark fall under the same madness?
15. Prodigal (42:08)
Lex finds his long lost brother Lucas and attempts to use him to turn against their father.
16. Fever (41:53)
When Martha accidentally inhales kryptonite dust, she goes into a coma. Can Clark and Jonathon save her?
17. Rosetta (42:21)
Clark travels to New York to recover a message from his home planet from a scientist named Dr. Swann (Christopher Reeve).
18. Visitor (41:04)
Is there another Smallville High student from Krypton?
19. Precipice (42:06)
Has Clark gone too far in helping someone out? How will he get himself out of a lawsuit?
20. Witness (40:20)
Who are the super-strong robbers in town? And what is their connection to LexCorp?
21. Accelerate (42:23)
How are Lana’s visions of her dead friend connected to Lionel’s plans for the Indian caves?
22. Calling (1) (42:11)
When Dr. Walden emerges from a coma, he has one thought on his mind – kill Clark Kent.
23. Exodus (2) (42:11)
What will Clark choose – Smallville and his friends, or ruler of Earth?
While many people have made comparisons between this show and Buffy, I must say that I am yet to see the link. While Joss Whedon’s show succeeded by reversing stereotypes, interweaving real life themes with total fantasy, and creating oddly believable and definitely likeable characters who were all flawed in their own ways, Smallville exhibits few of these traits. I found the writing in Smallville to be entertaining but ultimately derivative, the characters largely two-dimensional and lacking in the types of flaws that make people relatable to, and the show devoid of the banter and rich dialogue that made Buffy one of the best shows on TV. The characters of Smallville speak in platitudes and clichés, much like the DC Comic, and are ultimately, in this reviewer’s opinion, somewhat predictable.
Do not get me wrong – this is not a bad show, not by any stretch of the imagination. It is, for the most part, fun and passable entertainment, and better than a lot of the other crap that is claiming space on the airways these days. It is just that it tries too hard all of the time to be bigger and better than it is, rather than having fun at its own expense, and it’s pretty-boy and -girl cast are just all too perfect. In the end, it just all feels a little too glossy and slick for me.
If you are a fan of the Superman comics, you will probably like Smallville. I have tried very hard to enjoy it, and for the most part got a kick out of the series. However, I probably would have liked it a lot better if I were a kid, but as that magic number thirty creeps ever closer I find that while this show is good, it’s just not for me. Although I can enjoy Buffy time and again, as it is clearly marketed at a wide audience (including those post the big three-oh), Smallville is definitely one for fans of the comic series, or adolescents.
Thankfully, the show has been transferred in its original ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced.
The transfer for this second season is good, but not flawless. It exhibits a touch of softness which smudges the background a little, and graininess in the foreground that, once you register it, can be a little irksome. No matter how much I played around with my system, I could not correct these faults to my satisfaction.
On the upside, the picture is very detailed, and shadow detail is above average. Colour, too, is very rich, with nice glossy primary colours shot through the show. It feels sometimes like being in a plastic children’s playground at McDonald’s, but there you have it.
There are no MPEG artefacts, and only the faintest of background moire. Unless you go hunting for these things, though, you are unlikely to discover them.
There is a little more dirt than I would have expected from a show of this era, but nothing terribly distracting.
All episodes have subtitles available in English, French, Italian, Dutch, Hungarian and Turkish. They are white with a black edge and are easy to read.
The dual-layer pauses are hidden between the second and third episodes on each disc.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
Sadly, audio is available only in English, French and Italian in 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo.
This is a decent track, with well reproduced dialogue and a good spatial feel to it. There were no sync faults that I saw, and the clarity was not bad.
There is a bit of left-right action going on to give it a stereo feel, and the music has a good range and feel to it. Given the number of popular songs used on the soundtrack here, that’s not such a bad thing, but the musical selections are definitely going to date this show very quickly.
The subwoofer didn’t get a peep.
The foreign language tracks appear to be fine, although there is a noticeable loss of ambience as a result of the overdub process.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
All menus are in 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced. There is a short intro with little snippets from the season that you should skip. The main menus have the theme song in 2.0 Dolby Stereo. The other menus are static and silent.
Presented in 2.0 Dolby Stereo, there are 4 audio commentaries for the following episodes:
There are 6 deleted scenes in this set for the following episodes:
They are presented in 1.33:1, Full Frame, 2.0 Dolby Stereo soundtrack.
All special features on Disc 6 are presented in 1.33:1, Full Frame, 2.0 Dolby Stereo, unless otherwise specified.
A look at the original Superman, Christopher Reeve, and how he was integrated into the show for a ‘passing of the torch’.
A look at the visual FX used in the show, including an interview with Visual Effects Producer Mat Beck.
These are a series of video diaries by Chloe documenting the history of Smallville and various odd occurrences related to the meteorites.
The usual on-set stuff ups.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Smallville: The Complete Second Series has been available in R1 for a while now. However, it looks as if it is largely identical to the R4 release, except for the NTSC/Region Formatting difference. Buy whichever you can find the cheapest.
Smallville: The Complete Second Season is good teenage fun, but unless you’re an avid fan of the comic, it’s unlikely to appeal once you cross the mid-20s barrier.
Video is good, although a touch soft and at times a little grainy.
The lack of any form of surround sound here was a big waste, and a 5.1 Dolby Digital mix would not have gone astray.
Plenty of extras here, though, to sift through after the episodes are over.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Panasonic DVD-RV31A-S, using S-Video output |
Display | Beko 28" (16x9). This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. |
Amplification | Marantz SR7000 |
Speakers | Energy - Front, Rear, Centre & Subwoofer |