SMALLVILLE: SEASON 1 (DVD)

Its unfortunate that there's no blu ray version of seasons 1-5 (season 6 to 10 have them thankfully) however, I'm still amazed by the quality most of the time, particularly on close ups, and have trouble believing that this season came out 20 years ago in 2001! I feel like the first dvd out of the 4 disc set has the least impressive quality as most of the artifacts and over-saturation is visibly present. I dont know whether this is the case but it seems as though there are minor improvements as you switch and watch through all of the dvds in this set as slowly the problems werent as apparent. When I compared the last episode, 21, to its first episode, there were clear improvements which were not major but still noticeable, particularly in how much better it looked. For reference, season 1 was filmed in 1.78:1 amamorphic wide-screen but can be converted to full screen with the proper TV/DVD player. Sound quality is decent as its a regular 2 channel stereo that can be transformed to a 5.1 if your receiver is capable however, even if its not then its at least still better than the original broadcast sound as most DVDs are.. As for the story.. I admit that its not perfect in this season as there are a lot of "freak of the week" episodes that don't contribute much towards Clark or his origins. I do give the show credit for having great and likeable characters with side plots that really make those filler type of episodes very enjoyable. I felt myself feeling very Sympathetic towards our main character Clark (played by the handsome Tom Welling) throughout the season and had high hopes for him as well as to see the downfall with him and Lex. He's not exactly the outsider or loner as the comics/other media portrays him but he has many problems that I think are relatable and makes the writing feel quite dynamic. After seeing the final season 1 year ago (late 2020) I think all 10 seasons are binge worthy and worth it in the long run. Season 1 is the introductory season so as such it starts off very tame and slow with as mentioned before many filler episodes.. it might be your thing or it might not be but looking back what I love the most about this season is just that, how simple and tame everything is... later seasons have so much going for them but its just amazing to see how it all started and how it ends up being so much more complex. As mentioned before, there are 21 episodes in this season that ends with such a great cliff hanger which only picks up as season 2 more than improves everything about the show and characters with a season long arc.

I was a really, really hard sell on this series, mainly because I didn't start at the beginning, which is critical. I'll spare you the dull details of how I came to purchase season 1. Suffice it to say that I now publicly retract every bad thing I ever said about Smallville.This is an excellent show that appeals to all ages, both genders, comics fans or not, Superman fans or not. The series builds on itself, and each subsequent season gets still better. The first season is mostly freak-of-the-week, as Clark discovers his super-abilities and tries to understand them.The Pilot is super and had me not only engaged, but loving the characters. I still find Lana a bit annoying at times, but have sort of grown used to her. My entire family, ages 8 to 53, half girls, half guys, love this show.The casting of Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Allison Mack, Annette O'Toole, John Schneider, and John Glover, was genius. They are all absolutely perfect in their roles. Season 1 doesn't showcase Tom's acting talent as well as future seasons when Clark's journey grows in complexity, but he is still exceptional, very likeable, believeable, and gorgeous, much like the young Christopher Reeve. He was a new actor when Smallville started, so it's neat to see him grow and improve over the years, the most notable leap made between the second and third seasons.Feature film quality special effects and stunts abound. The manipulation of time during action is truly fascinating, wherein time is slowed almost to a standstill so that we can actually see what Clark is doing (as he moves so fast!). I love watching Clark and bullets, either standing there taking them, catching them in his hand, or dodging them in slow motion.All in all, GREAT show. Some episodes are stronger than others, but that's typical. My favorites were the Pilot, Hourglass, Nicodemus, Stray, Tempest. Least favorites were Hothead, Cool, Craving, Shimmer, Crush. Even in the weaker episodes, though, the B-story makes it worth watching. The Luthors always keep you guessing!Special features in this set are okay. The tour of Smallville is too brief. The Storyboard was interesting, but by far the best of the extras are commentaries on the Pilot, Metamorphosis, etc. Those are truly fascinating, and everyone is so honest about what worked and what didn't, and the problems they ran into during shooting. Some of these are tricky to access, tho. You have to go down to the tiny arrow next to "main menu" and select it.I was going to give season 1 four stars, just to allow for an even better season 2 and 3, but it deserves five. Future seasons deserve ten!

Favorite tv show!