Product Description
-------------------
The groundbreaking 10-season hit that redefined the
origins of the world’s greatest hero is all here – from his
arrival on Earth through his tumultuous teen years to Clark
Kent’s final steps toward embracing his destiny as the Man of
Steel. Relive a decade’s worth of thrills across 218 Episodes in
a Spectacular 62-Disc Set that includes 2 Bonus Discs of Added
Special Features. Let your spirits be lifted up, up and away.
Season 1-Before the Legend, before the Icon, he was a teenager
growing up in Smallville. The Complete First Season of the hit
series begins the chronicle of the life of the boy who would be
Superman.
Season 2-Girls, homework, kryptonite. Don't miss a single second
- the entire second season! Clark Kent lives in Smallville, but
in many ways he's out of this world - and so is this spectacular
series that provides a fascinating spin on Superman lore. Among
the episode highlights: Clark grapples with his true calling. Is
he on Earth to serve humanity or perhaps destroy it? Lex gets
married - twice! Lana moves in with Chloe, adding a new dynamic
to their Clark dilemma. Martha and Jonathan receive miraculous
news. Lionel pulls devious strings. And Pete becomes a keeper of
the Clark secret. One thing we can't keep secret: the legend
grows stronger in Smallville.
Season 3-Clark Kent lives in Smallville, but in many ways he is
out of this world, and so is this spectacular series that
provides a fascinating spin on Superman lore. Season 3 is marked
by Clark's inability to overpower destiny and its pressing call
for his return home. Clark, who has left Smallville for
Metropolis, returns to Smallville to help his parents, who are
desperately trying to save their cash-strapped farm and is
happily surprised to find that Lex Luthor has survived a deadly
jet c. Lex and Clark's ill-ed camaraderie is strengthened
by this miracle but causes tension in the close-knit Kent family,
as Jonathan fears that Lex will emulate Lionel and his
unscrupulous ways, even while Lex has tried to establish his own
identity.
Season 4-Clark Kent will have plenty of reasons to remember his
senior year. The thrilling reinterpretation of the Superman
legend evolves in Season 4, whose episodes include the quest for
3 Kryptonian crystals and Clark's bold attempt to keep those
mysterious stones from destroying Earth. Clark also becomes a
highly recruited football star. Lana gets a boyfriend. Lois Lane
smart, opinionated and entirely annoying to Clark comes to
Smallville. Chloe learns the scoop of the century. Lionel becomes
a straight-up nice guy. Lex steps further from the light into
darkness. New characters (Krypto, Mr. Mxyzptlk) and a new power
emerge. The calling awaits Clark an awakening to a destiny that
only he can accept and fulfill.
Season 5-An astonishing season of destiny. Clark Kent now carries
a full load of classes at Central Kansas U., but that's not all
he carries. He carries the full weight of his and perhaps the
world's destiny. "We call this season Superman in Training,"
series co-creator Alfred Gough says. "Clark is going to accept
his destiny." During this exciting pivotal season: The Fortress
of Solitude rises. A spaceship mystery unfolds. A dark tragedy -
one even Clark's powers can't prevent - strikes. These and more
key elements of Superman lore fall into place.
Season 6-They tried to be friends but their chosen paths set them
on a collision course. The Clark Kent-Lex Luthor rivalry explodes
into the fierce good- versus-evil battle fans have long expected
in Season 6 of the spectacular series that reinterprets the
characters and events of Superman mythology from its roots.
Adding to the rivalry: Lana Lane becomes Mrs. Luthor.
Clark/Superman would be stunned to find out why she says yes. But
that’s not all that’s stunning. Green Arrow forms a Super Hero
league. Will Clark join? Phantom Zone escapees menace Earth. Can
Clark stop them? LuthorCorp expands its dark experiments. Will an
awesome kryptonite-powered army be the result?
Season 7-There are two Clark Kents. One is the young man whose
life in a tiny Kansas town sets him on destinys path. The other
is a Bizarro who shares Clarks but not his values. Only one
of them can survive. Superman mythology grows deeper and more
powerful in an event-packed season that includes the arrival of
Clarks cousin Kara/Supergirl. Keep a low profile and master your
powers, Clark says. Kara has other ideas. Plus: Lana Lang might
prefer Bizarro to the real deal. Lois Lane makes a career leap.
Chloe Sullivan finds that balancing a meteor power with a
personal life isnt easy. And Lex Luthors power-lust has a new
fixation Kara. New characters and complications. New secrets and
lore. New thrills and special effects.
Season 8-There's a new reporter at the Daily Planet: Clark Kent,
who shares a workspace with Lois Lane. There's a new hero in
Metropolis, too. No one knows who he is. But Jimmy Olsen was on
the scene of one of the do-gooder's exploits, and he snapped a
blurred photo of the hero in superspeed action – a hero everyone
now calls the Red-Blue Blur. Red-jacketed, blue-shirted Clark
Kent draws closer to his Superman destiny in the exciting Season
8 of Smallville. Another Kryptonian destiny also takes shape.
Davis Bloome begins to realize he is Doomsday. His mission on
Earth: kill Clark Kent. So many new events (will Jimmy and
Chloe's marriage last?), so many new faces (Tess Mercer, Saturn
Girl and Cosmic Boy among them!), so don’t miss a single
thrill-packed moment!
Season 9-Great planet, earth is. So great that other survivors of
Planet Krypton wouldn’t mind making it home and taking control.
But fellow Kryptonian Clark Kent has a warning for Zod and his
followers who cross the line, especially if they seek to enlist
Lois Lane in their schemes: I will destroy you all! Hearts grow
fonder (Clark & Lois) and dangers grow stronger (Clark vs.
warriors of Zod) in this 21-Episode Season 9 Collection. Plus,
unexpected characters from DC Comics lore add exciting new layers
to the adventures of the man who will become Superman. Among
them: the shape-shifting Wonder Twins, magical Zantanna, and
Justice Society of America’s Dr. e, Hawkman and Stargirl. May
justice prevail – and Earth survive!
Season 10-After a meteor shower bursts from the heavens, raining
destruction on the unsuspecting citizens of Smallville, years
pass, and the healing process leaves the town's inhabitants with
s and secrets. From the ashes of tragedy, a popular yet
awkward teen attempts to decipher the meaning of his life and his
clouded past. As he struggles with the transition from boyhood to
adulthood, Clark finds that his strength and strange abilities
set him uncomfortably apart from his peers.
Review
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Season 1-The venerable Superman mythos gets a
21st-century updating in this imaginative and engaging television
series from the WB Network. The premise of Smallville--Superman
as a teenager--takes up just a few pages in Superman's very first
comic book appearance (in Action Comics back in 1938), but series
producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar out that period by
portraying young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) not as the noble
Superman-in-waiting, but as an average teen with some
not-so-ordinary supernatural powers, including incredible
strength and heat vision (Clark hasn't lifted up, up, and away as
of yet). Clark's desire to fit in with his peers and make sense
of his extraordinary abilities ground him in very realistic and
identifiable terms for the series' primarily under-25 audience,
as does his appealing and tentative romance with Kristen Kreuk as
Clark's dreamgirl Lana Lang. But Smallville also strikes gold
when it takes a turn towards more comic book territory, as
evidenced by the parade of shape-shifting killers and other
outlandish antagonists (many generated, in one of the series'
most ingenious notions, by the same devastating meteor shower
that brought the infant Clark to Earth) that Clark must harness
his powers to face and defeat. Gough and Millar, along with their
capable cast (which includes Michael Rosenbaum as a young and
already bald-pated Lex Luthor, and Annette O'Toole and John
Schneider as the Kents) manage to pull off the precarious
high-wire act of combining science fiction with coming-of-age
drama to create this highly watchable program.--Paul Gaita
Season 2-For many fans, the Superman revisionist series
Smallville truly hit its stride in its second season, when it
shifted focus from traditional comic book conflicts to one of
self-discovery for its hero, a teenage Clark Kent (Tom Welling).
Fans and first-timers can judge for themselves with this six-disc
set, which compiles all 23 episodes and a decent selection of
supplemental features. Whereas season 1 focused on Clark using
his powers to combat a host of menaces à la the WB's other big
fantasy hit, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 2 delved into
Clark's past and the extent of his super powers, most notably in
the back-to-back "Heat," in which he discovers his heat vision,
and "Red," in which red kryptonite in the high school class rings
uncorks Clark's less-than-upstanding side. Other plot
developments from the season that pull the series in interesting
directions include the arrival of Dr. Helen Bryce (Emanuelle
Vaugier), who becomes involved with Lex Luthor (Michael
Rosenbaum), but the season's most significant moment comes during
episode 17, "Rosetta," in which Clark learns of his Kryptonian
origins courtesy of a scientist, who, in an effective bit of
casting, is played by Superman film star Christopher Reeve.
The complexity of the writing and issues dealt with in season 2
marked Smallville as a series with depth and drama worthy of its
considerable fan following as well as a second boxed set;
fittingly, the supplements in this set are more expansive than on
the first one. Producers Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Greg
Beeman and cast members Welling, Rosenbaum, and Kristen Kreuk
weigh in on commentary tracks for two episodes ("Red" and
"Rosetta"), while a trio of short featurettes explore Christopher
Reeves's appearance in "Rosetta," the show's visual effects, and
the amusing "Wall of Weird" web page maintained by Chloe (Allison
Mack). The extras are rounded out by a handful of deleted scenes
and a gag reel. --Paul Gaita
Season 3-Clark Kent lives in Smallville, but in many ways he is
out of this world, and so is this spectacular series that
provides a fascinating spin on Superman lore. Season 3 is marked
by Clark's inability to overpower destiny and its pressing call
for his return home. Clark, who has left Smallville for
Metropolis, returns to Smallville to help his parents, who are
desperately trying to save their cash-strapped farm and is
happily surprised to find that Lex Luthor has survived a deadly
jet c. Lex and Clark's ill-ed camaraderie is strengthened
by this miracle but causes tension in the close-knit Kent family,
as Jonathan fears that Lex will emulate Lionel and his
unscrupulous ways, even while Lex has tried to establish his own
identity.
Season 4-The arrival of another gorgeous young woman with the
initials of LL further complicates Clark Kent's (Tom Welling)
life in the fourth season of Smallville, the WB's hip and sexy
reinvention of the Superman legend. In this case, it's Lois Lane
(Erica Durance), a would-be college freshman who's come to the
Kansas heartland to investigate the disappearance of her cousin,
Chloe. What she discovers instead is a naked, amnesiac Clark Kent
in a cornfield, and things take off from there. Durance doesn't
appear in every episode--she was credited as a "special guest
star"--but her tough spirit and crackling wit provide a great,
non-romantic foil to Clark. That's just as well, because there's
plenty of romantic triangulation--or worse--going on. Clark's
former love interest--and his first LL--Lana Lang (Kristin
Kreuk), has returned from her summer in Paris sporting a new
boyfriend, Jason Teague (Jensen Ackles), as well as a mysterious
tattoo that seems to have something to do with a set of
Kryptonian crystals as well as Jason's sinister mom, Genevieve
(Jane Seymour). Keeping his relationship with Lana a secret,
Jason has signed on as Smallville High's new assistant football
coach. What's surprising is that the team's new quarterback is
none other than Clark, who's grown tired of hiding his
super-strength, super-speed, and invulnerability and wants to be
part of the team. But nothing's easy for Clark, and he goes
through the prom, a marriage, and herhood, not necessarily in
that order, as well as his secret being discovered, unknown to
him, by one of his closest friends. (On the plus side, he does
uncover a cool new power.)
But the key to the season is the Kryptonian crystals. They
further deteriorate the relationship between the incarcerated
Lionel Luthor (John Glover), and his son, Lex (Michael
Rosenbaum). Lex may be Clark's best friend, but he reveals more
of his dark side in a revelation about his sexual escapades and a
split-personality (literally) incident. Lana's frightening dreams
actually come to life in a silly Charmed-type episode. Then in
the explosive season finale, the main characters are scattered
and another meteor shower threatens to wipe out the town.
One of the fun things about Smallville is how producers Al Gough
and Miles Millar and their team of writers acknowledge their
place in a 70-year Superman mythos (even if Clark is never
referred to as Superman). His DC Comics origins receive a nod
with appearances by the Flash, Krypto the superdog, and the
magical Mxyztplk. And the cast includes not only regular Annette
O'Toole (Martha Clark), who had played Lana Lang in Superman III,
but guest s by Margot Kidder (Bridgette Porter) and Terence
Stamp (the voice of Jor-El), and the late Christopher Reeve gets
a brief but touching farewell in an announcement of the passing
of his character, Dr. Virgil Swann.
Extras include 15 minutes with the writing team, a spotlight on
Kidder, Durance, and others who have played Lois Lane, deleted
scenes, and three episodes with commentary from combinations of
Gough, Millar, Durance, Kreuk, Glover and others, but not
Welling. --David Horiuchi
Season 5-Consistently solid with some major developments, the
fifth season of Smallville kicks the characters off to college,
but not before finishing the cataclysmic disaster that ended the
fourth season. With Chloe transported to the Arctic Circle and
Kryptonian supervillains in town, Clark (Tom Welling) is in the
Fortress of Solitude meeting Jor-El (voiced by Terence Stamp). He
gives up his powers, but to get them back will cost him the life
of someone he loves.
The even bigger development is that Clark and Lana (Kristin
Kreuk) finally give up their dalliances with others and become an
official couple. That means the other girls in Clark's life
become fifth and sixth wheels, so Chloe (Allison Mack) reveals
the secret she's been keeping from Clark and becomes a best pal.
Super-gorgeous Lois's (Erica Durance, now part of the opening
credits) banter with Clark loses its bite without any sexual
tension so instead she meets Arthur "AC" Curry, a fantastic
swimmer who has an eye for Lois and an accusing one toward Lex
(Michael Rosenbaum) and LutherCorp. He's not the only one;
Clark's Central Kansas A&M professor, Milton Fine (James
Marsters) hires Clark to help him on his project, an expose of
LutherCorp. Lex is the pivotal character of the season. His
relationship with his best friend, Clark, now history, Lex has a
Christmas Carol-type dream in which he sees himself in a
law-abiding--and happy--life. (That episode, "Lexmas," also has
some amusing interplay involving Clark and Chloe.) Undeterred, he
decides on a life of power and dives into a state senate race
against Jonathan Kent with gusto, though a fanatical Lex
supporter turns the race into a literal one for life and death.
Lionel Luthor (John Glover) also makes a strong comeback in this
season, pulling unseen levers and making everyone wonder exactly
what he knows.
There's some fun. "Thirst" is a tribute to Buffy the Vampire
Slayer, and another DC Comics character, Cyborg (Teen Titans),
appears. Carrie Fisher plays Chloe's editor at The Daily Planet,
and "Exposed" reunites Schneider with former Dukes of Hazzard
costar Tom Wopat, and the two go peeling out in a vehicle. But
things come to a head in the series 100th episode, when Jor-El's
prediction comes to pass and splintered relationships end up
leading in unexpected directions. Then in the season finale's
cliffhanger Clark has to face three of his enemies. --David
Horiuchi
Season 6-Picking up where its fifth season left off, Smallville's
sixth season begins with Metropolis in ruins, Clark (Tom Welling)
trapped in the Phantom Zone, and General Zod inhabiting the body
of Lex (Michael Rosenbaum). Even when that situation, dubbed
"Black Thursday," is over, Clark still has to capture the
criminals who escaped from the Phantom Zone. Meanwhile, having
driven away Lana (Kristin Kreuk), she finds comfort in the home
and arms of Lex, driving further anxiety into that romantic
triangle that has expanded to include Chloe (Allison Mack, still
with a smile that lights up the orb on top of the Daily Planet)
and her new beau, photographer Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore). And
Lois (Erica Durance)? We see hints of her inevitable future in
her becoming a reporter for the tabloid rag The Inquisitor ("The
thrill of discovery, the clack of the keys, the scent of fresh
ink… I think I've finally found my calling!") and flashing some
sparks with Clark especially in a Valentine's Day episode called
"Crimson." She also finds a new boyfriend in Oliver Queen (Justin
Hartley), a tycoon who moves from Star City to Metropolis and
revives a boarding-school rivalry with Lex. But Queen is also a
superhero, the Green Arrow, and he's out to thwart Lex's project
called 33.1, which runs tests on meteor-powered humans. And in an
awesome episode called "Justice," the Green Arrow gathers his
team--Bart Allen (Kyle Gallner), a.k.a. Impulse (a change after
he was first called the Flash); Arthur "AC" Curry (Alan
Ritchson), a.k.a. Aquaman; and Victor Stone (Lee Thompson Young),
a.k.a. Cyborg (who had all appeared in the series before)--with
Clark to shut down Lex. Yet another hero from the comic books--an
interplanetary detective (Phil Morris)--helps Clark fight rogue
Kryptonians. It all ends in a slam-bang finale with a number of
surprises. Even though the Lana drama went on too long, Green
Arrow and some choice episodes stuff made this one of
Smallville's best seasons. Guest stars include Tori Spelling as a
nosy gossip reporter and Lynda "Wonder Woman" Carter as Chloe's
mom. --David Horiuchi
Season 7-Super-sexy and super-flirty, Clark's super-cousin Kara
(Laura Vandervoot) made the splashiest addition to the cast in
Smallville's season 7. Unfortunately for Clark (Tom Welling),
she's more advanced in her powers than he is (she can fly), and
she's not the kind to shy away from drawing attention to herself,
whether it's in a skimpy bikini or garnering notice from Lex
(Michael Rosenbaum) and Jimmy (Aaron Ashmore, joining the opening
credits). Chloe (Allison Mack, rightfully moving ahead of Erica
Durance in the credits) is trying to come to terms with her
"meteor freak" powers, and Lois (Durance) is dallying with the
new Daily Planet editor Grant Gabriel (Michael Cassidy), who has
a mysterious past. The dreary drama of Lex and Lana (Kristin
Kreuk) is over, and Martha Kent (Annette O'Toole) has permanently
departed for Congress, so Lana is now playing house with Clark at
the Kent farm. More elements of the DC Comics mythology enter,
such as superheroine Black Canary (Alana Huffman), as do guest
stars from the universe of Super-entertainment (Lois and Clark's
Dean Cain as a doctor who cls to be able to "cure" meteor
powers, and Helen "Supergirl" Slater as Clark's Kryptonian
mother). Braniac (James Marsters) is still a threat, and Lionel
(John Glover) reveals a shady past as part of an order called
Veritas, which is purportedly assigned with protecting "the
Traveler," an alien who has come to Earth as its salvation. Yet
even with the numerous cast comings and goings, the most
surprising change happened at the end of the season, when series
producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar announced their
departure. Whether that would be a good or bad thing (and whether
it would mean an end to their original Smallville edict, "No
flights, no tights") would have to be answered in season 8.
--David Horiuchi
Season 8-Who would have predicted that the departure of series
creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough would have given
Smallville a surge of super-strength in its eighth season? Give a
good part of the credit to saying out with the old--series
veterans Michael Rosenbaum (Lex) and Kristin Kreuk (Lana), whose
dreary romantic coupling dragged down previous seasons--and in
with the new. The new include entirely fresh faces Cassidy
Freeman as LutherCorp heir apparent Tess Mercer and Sam Witwer as
paramedic Davis Bloome, and experienced players getting increased
face time, such as Justin Hartley's Green Arrow joining the
opening credits and Erica Durance receiving much more exposure
than in season 7. In particular, with Lana having said goodbye,
Lois (Durance) and Clark (Tom Welling) are given ample time to
start building the relationship we know is inevitable, and their
clumsy fumblings are the highlight of the season (their fake
engagement is particularly funny). Chloe (Allison Mack) and Jimmy
(Aaron Ashmore) grow closer, but the brooding danger of Davis
reveals something much worse than a mere lovers' triangle. Clark
starts to embrace his destiny by protecting Metropolis at
invisible super-speed, earning him the groan-worthy nickname of
"The Red-Blue Blur," and comic-book characters making their
series debuts are the geek-favorite group the Legion of
Super-Heroes (Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad), Zatanna
(Serinda Swan), and Dr. Emil Hamilton (Alessandro Juliani of
Battlestar Galactica). The season sags when Durance is absent for
stretches, and the season finale isn't nearly what it could have
been, but it was still more than enough to rescue the series from
what seemed to be the brink of cancellation and head strong into
its ninth season. --David Horiuchi
Season 9-Smallville continued its post-Millar/Gough resurgence
with an excellent ninth season in which Clark (Tom Welling) dons
a new black costume but remains too fast for the public eye, now
dubbed "the Blur" (instead of "the Red-Blue Blur"). His new
nemesis is fellow Kryptonian Major Zod (Callum Blue), and the
persistent theme of the season is the vision of a nightmarish
post-apocalyptic world ruled by Zod and his army of soldiers.
Well, that and the theme of Lois (Erica Durance) and Clark, as
their romance continues to develop despite the threat of Zod, who
tries to capitalize on Lois's secret communications with the Blur
by pretending to be him. Durance and Welling share a great
chemistry, both sexy and funny. Meanwhile, Chloe (Alison Mack)
and Oliver (Justin Hartley) develop their own romance, and
Oliver's former squeeze, Tess (Cassidy Freeman), runs LutherCorp
and is also a member of the covert organization Checkmate, led by
Amanda Waller (Pam Grier). That development happens in a
double-length episode called "Absolute Justice," which features
the Justice Society of America, a precursor to the Justice League
that includes Hawkman (Michael Shanks), Dr. e (Brent Stait),
and Stargirl (Brittney Irvin). Other comic-book characters
introduced this season include Metallo (Brian Austin Green),
Daily Planet editor Perry White (Michael McKean, whose real-life
wife, Annette O'Toole, makes a brief return as Martha Kent,
Clark's mother and White's love interest), Roulette (Steph Song),
Green Arrow protégé Speedy (Elise Gatien), and even the
shape-shifting Wonder Twins (David Gallagher and Allison
Scagliotti)! Fans who stuck with the show as it moved to Friday
nights were rewarded with the news that Smallville would be
renewed for one final season. --David Horiuchi