DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Smallville - The Complete Sixth Season

By Jeff Swindoll Oct 3, 2007, 13:53 GMT

A meteor shower bursts from the heavens, raining destruction on the unsuspecting citizens of Smallville. Twelve years later and the healing process has left the town\'s inhabitants with scars 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, his strength and strange abilities set him ...more

“Kneel before Zod.”

Superman’s teen adventures continue in the little burg of Smallville.  This season sees the introduction of an old enemy (to we film fans) and some new superhero friends. Fans also get to see Lex get a bit darker, and Clark get a bit “bizarre.”

Clark Kent (Tom Welling) is on his way to becoming Superman, but first he had to get through high school in Smallville, Kansas.  Now the series began to move into more adult matters as he, Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), and Lana Lang (Kristen Kreuk) continue their love triangle. 

This season starts off with a bang and resolves the cliffhanger from season five where Clark was transported to the Phantom Zone.  This season also introduced the Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Justin Hartley), John Jones/Martian Manhunter (Phil Morris) and Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore). 

This season has a spectral appearance by General Zod (who takes over Lex’s body and does some bad things) and some nasties are released from the Phantom Zone and Clark makes it responsibility to get them back into it.  The beginnings of what would form into the Justice League also come into play as well.

As with all episodic television there are some good episodes and some bad ones.  I liked the addition of Green Arrow and thought that it was a great thing to see this season.  It was good to “see” Zod again, but I still prefer Terence Stamp (who does alternate duty as the voice of Jor-El) in the role than Rosenbaum attempting to channel him.  I liked the stylized way that they dropped in an episode that took on a noir feel. 

The show continues to improve though and you’re left with another cliffhanger to get you going for the next season.  The 22 episodes are spread out over six discs. 

Smallville is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  Special features are spread out over the discs.  Disc one has deleted scenes from “Sneeze” and “Whither.” 

Disc two has deleted scenes from “Arrow” and “Fallout.”  Disc three has deleted scenes from “Hydro.”  Disc four has deleted scenes from “Labyrinth” and “Crimson.”  Disc five has deleted scenes from “Freak,” “Combat,” and “Progeny.” 

Disc six has deleted scenes from “Nemesis” and “Phantom.”  Disc one has the 25 minute featurette “Green Arrow: the Legend of the Emerald Archer” which covers the history of the character.  The 30 minute “Smallville: Big Fans” which covers the fans of the show and some very devoted ones they. 

Disc two has a 12 minute “Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles” is an animated “miniseries” about Oliver Queen as a child.  There’s also the 9-minute “making of” for the Queen Chronicles.  There’s also a 10 minute comic book called “Smallville Legends: Justice and Doom.” 

Smallville is a good show that only continues to grow better as the seasons go along.  Sure there’s some chaff with the wheat, but that’s just the nature of having to come up with 22 episodes a season. 

Some good special features round out the gravy (I always like those featurettes that examine the history of a character), but you may want more since other seasons have commentaries and this one doesn’t. 

Smallville - The Complete Sixth Season is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.