Smallville – The Complete Sixth Season (HD-DVD + DVD-Video)
Picture:
B+/B- Sound: B/B- Extras: C+ Episodes: B
It’s a
bird! It’s a plane! Nah, it’s just a DVD review. Now available on DVD and HD-DVD (plus
Blu-ray, unreviewed) for all super fans to enjoy is Smallville: The Complete Sixth Season. The series that stars Tom Welling as a young
Clark Kent (future Superman) trying to learn his powers, hide is powers, and
just get through the day. The series
that was an explosive hit 7 seasons ago remains thrilling and engaging from
beginning to end. The detailed
storylines and drama that was all too common in the early seasons has been
heightened to a new level over the past several seasons by engraining action,
adventure, mystery, and a use of the already deep rooted superhero mythology
that is Superman. This particular season
a number of first occurs. Clark fights
past demons after the death of his father and a strong friendship with Lex
Luthor has now turned into an even deeper hatred. Clark’s ‘old flame’ Lana Lang is now Mrs. Lex
Luthor, which only adds fuel to the fire.
An ultimate Good vs. Evil rivalry is about to ensue, it just becomes a
matter of when?
The most
amazing and exciting part of this season is the use of classic Superman Elements
in this already innovative series. Sure,
elements of the vast Superman Universe have been used rightfully and
consistently throughout the series, but never like this season. You ain’t seen nothing yet! Clark enters a dark and unfriendly place known
as The Phantom Zone; to fans this is no little happening. Also audiences are given a taste of what the
future holds when the time comes for some super men to combine their efforts to
defeat ultimate evils. Green Arrow,
Martian Manhunter, The Flash, and Aquaman all join Clark in an effort to
overthrow evil.
The Green
Arrow proposes a League should be formed; could this be the destined Justice
League? With the Phantom Zone opened and
Lex Corp on the rise, can the world be saved?
Well if he can’t do it no one can [you know who he is too]… After viewing the previous season of this
series in HD-DVD going back to the standard release is a bit difficult.
The
picture quality in its 1.66 X 1 Widescreen format is once again colorful and
impressive, even on the standard DVD, which we cover for the first time in any
case in this series. The DVD just does
not compare to 1080p digital High Definition HD-DVD, however, as the standard
DVD has slight light/dark issues as well as the colors not being so perfect. The HD-DVD does not have these issues and is
as impressive as the previous set. The
sound is presented in a nice Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix on the HD-DVD and
standard Dolby 5.1 on the standard DVD.
In both cases, surrounds never fail to ‘POP’ during the epic sequences
and it once again shows how serious Warner is about the show and DC Comics
franchises in live action interpretations.
The
extras are always nice on the Smallville Sets offering such features as Green Arrow: The Legend of the Emerald
Archer, Smallville: BIG Fans -
Profiling Smallville Devotees, Unaired Scenes, The Making of Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles and Smallville Legends: Justice and Doom
Animated Storyline - related episode bookend segments produced by DC
Comics. Overall, the extras have really
been stepped up since last season and retain a great rewatchable quality. Most series begin to fizzle around Season 5, but Smallville seems to have just taken flight!
The
series is a personal favorite of this reviewer and you could not ask for more
in just a purely entertaining series.
The cast has great chemistry. The
story arches have great depth and imagination, while not taking too many
liberties this season. The show has
always shown great promise and Season
Six is a perfect example of why this is a super-series.
For more
about Superman and the series, try our review for the Fifth Season of the show, including other key Superman links:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4917/Smallville+–+The+Complete+Fifth
- Michael P Dougherty II
