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List Price: $179.98 | | Label: Warner Home Video
Salesrank: 24400
Released: November 16, 2004 |
| Our Price: $64.44 |
| Used Price: $56.24 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
The first three seasons of the hit series that chronicles the life of the boy who would be Superman in a multi-disc collector's set with super bonus features.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 012569591134
Description of Smallville - The Complete Seasons 1-3:
The venerable Superman mythos gets a 21st-century updating in this imaginative and engaging television series from the WB Network, and series fans can celebrate the ratings success of Smallville with a DVD set that offers a chance to revisit the origins of the characters and their numerous plotlines, as well as view deleted scenes and other bonus features. The premise of Smallville--Superman as a teenager--takes up just a few pages in Superman's very first comic book appearance, but series producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar flesh 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'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. Smallville: The Complete First Season offers a very complete and attractive DVD package that is rounded out by some highly desirable extras for longtime series fans.
For many fans, the series 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). Whereas season 1 focused on Clark using his powers to combat a host of menaces, 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.
Truth, identity, and responsibility are the cornerstones of the exceptional third season. Clark must return to Smallville to not only help his parents save their farm, but seek some resolution in his relationships with Lana and Lex, who's returned from his abandonment at the conclusion of the previous season. Lex himself must deal with some shocking revelations regarding his relationship with his sinister father Lionel (John Glover, magnetic as always), and Lana becomes involved with a new figure in town, the mysterious Adam Knight (Lost's Ian Somerholder), who may or may not be a certain caped crusader. And speaking of heroes in disguise, the season's finale introduces Kara, a young woman with powers similar to Clark's--could she in fact be his sister, known best to comic book fans as Supergirl? Season 3 is chock full of such intriguing moments, including an appearance by future Daily Planet editor Perry White (Michael McKean, the real-life husband of Annette O'Toole) in "Perry," helmed by Supergirl film director Jeannot Szwarc; the return of villains Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Shawn Ashmore, and Jesse Metcalfe from seasons 1 and 2 (in "Asylum"); the departure of series regular Samuel L. Jones; and a intrigue-fraught final turn by Christopher Reeve as Dr. Swann ("Legacy"). The boxed set matches the high quality of the season with some terrific extras, including commentary on three episodes. --Paul Gaita
Smallville - The Complete Seasons 1-3 Reviews:
Smallville Seasons 1 - 3 
2007-06-14 - The DVD set was shipped promptly with no issues crossing the border. There was no damage and everything was in perfect condition.
Smallville order review 
2006-03-25 - Hello. I am a soldier serving in Iraq. Believe it or not I cannot give a good review for your product because I never received it. I placed the order back in January of this year. I have had no problems with any other online purchase that I have made while in country. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sgt. Ken Whittington 4185
C co 1-172AR 2BCT 28ID
APO AE 09362-9997
This is NOT your daughter's " teeny bopper" TV show 
2005-08-26 - For the longest time, I was afraid to watch Smallville.
One day, my older brother (of all people), turned me on to Season 1.
It wasn't long before I had purchased all the seasons available and another on the way.
Obviously, you know the show's scenario. But to me, the most riveting part of the show - every show - is seeing how Clark and his family deal with keeping his identity a secret from those around him.
Clark's morality is that of honesty (you know, Truth, Justice and the American Way). Yet, in order to remain a viable member of the community, he must continually lie! And this moral yin-yang is what what drives the show, in this man's opinion.
Yes, there is almost always a "girlie love interest thang" going on. Sometimes, it's hard for a 42 year old man like myself to deal with it. My friends can't believe I watch Smallville...
But I cannot help myself! Smallville is an extremely exciting show that I would recommend to anyone who wants to see one of the finest shows ever on television. The acting is really superb. Michael Rosenbaum (who plays Lex Luthor) is great as a young adult who continuously struggles to find himself - and who seems to see himself - in Clark Kent (Tom Welling).
For the most part, it's an extremely family-oriented show. Every now and then you hear a curse word but nothing like most of the shows you see on TV these days.
A fun show no doubt, but more a trip about what happens to people's relationship's with others when they hide the truth - and VERY well done, to boot.
This is a MUST HAVE for any Superman fan!
2005-08-09 - I had never seen Smallville before I got this. I wasn't expecting much, but after a couple episodes I was hooked. I watched all 3 seasons in less than 2 weeks. I can't wait for the 4th season to come out on DVD as well as the 5th to start on TV. If you are a superman fan, this set is worth it.
Just keeps gettin' better!
2005-07-28 - Allright a little background on my introduction will explain the addictive power of this show... Never have been one to have a "show" that I have to watch every week, especially not something from the juvenile WB!! So when my roommate pulled this out and started watching the first disc of season 1 that he had borrowed from a friend, my basic reaction was something akin to, "You're not going to watch that teenie bopper, soap-opera stuff in here are you?" But having nothing else to do, and having no choice to watch since he was watching it on MY TV, I watched about 4 episodes with him. At that point my question became, "So when can you borrow the next disc?!" And I've been hooked ever since, having watched (and purchased) all 4 seasons now.
The great thing about this series is that you watch not only the progression of the characters throughout the series, but also the progression of the show's writers. Admittedly, Season 1 really doesn't have a contiuous fluid story line. Each episode tends to be simply about Clark saving one of his friends (some of whom get annoyingly whiny from time-to-time) while struggling with his "teenage-ishness." And while there are flashes and referneces to his personal progression, it just isn't consistant. Things take off quickly with Season 2, however, and don't look back. The characters only become more interesting as time progresses, and by Season 3, even Chloe (who you almost want Clark to just let die most of season 1) is wrapped intriguingly into the plotline. I would have to say that as enjoyable as most of the characters are, Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor is really the glue of this series. As you watch his continued struggle down into his dark-nature, you find yourself rooting for him to gain that core of decency he recognizes and desires in Clark's personality. Rosenbaum (along with John Glover as Lionel Luther) is truly the great acting talent of this series. I could go on in describing his character, but I will let you enjoy discovering it for yourselves.
The final thing I would like to say in praise of this series is that I very much enjoy the positive interplay between Welling's Clark and both of his parents. While I know people don't watch TV anymore to gleen moral tidbits, I find it refreshing that a popular TV show can portray a famliy's relationship as a healthy one. One in which the teen, in the midst of his obvious struggles to discover the truth about himself, is willing to seek his parents advice and counsel; and in which the parents are supportive of him stepping into his own maturity as a young adult. Do they have issues from time-to-time like a normal family? Of course, but the general impression created is that this is a family that loves and supports each other through the best and worst of times.
WATCH THIS SERIES!!! You will enjoy it.
