DVD Review: Smallville: The Complete Sixth Season
Reviewed by Craig Byrne
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Last week, Warner Home Video released Smallville: The Complete Sixth Season onto DVD. The six-disc set contains all 22 episodes from last season and a whole slew of extras. So, what's the verdict?

Packaging/Design: Like the other five sets (currently massively discounted on Amazon.com!), Smallville's Season Six set doesn't disappoint, at least on the inside. The interior booklet looks nice, and the disc art - while some photomanipulations are involved - still looks really good. I know some people didn't like that guest stars like Jimmy or Oliver landed on the DVD art; I actually kind of liked this. Although, it may have suited them better to actually have Justin Hartley on a disc that his character appears on.

As you fold open the package you see a spread of the Justice League with the exploded 33.1 facility behind them. It looks pretty sweet.

I'm not the biggest fan of the external box art, mostly because the "Clexana triangle" is not what the season was all about for me. If anything, in my opinion, that element of the show turned off a lot of people. To me, Season Six was more about the phantoms, the responsibility, and the new heroes in Clark's life. Not soap opera stuff. Still, I really appreciate that this box art is consistent with other season sets.

The Content: There's some good and some bad here. The good, which is really good, is that there are multiple extra featurettes that I really enjoyed. A documentary on the history of Green Arrow contains interviews with such luminaries as Denny O'Neil, the still-very-alive-no-matter-what-another-review-says Neal Adams, and Silent Bob himself, Kevin Smith, among others. The "Justice & Doom" content wraps are on the DVD, as is the animated "Oliver Queen Chronicles" series that was created for Sprint phones earlier this year.

I'm rather partial to the "Smallville: Big Fans" documentary, even though it means that anyone who sees the set will now know what I look like. The highlight on that, for me, is seeing the reactions of Al Gough and Miles Millar when they take a look at Brenda Kirk's Lanarama comic strip

There are some deleted scenes included, some of which are very good, including a scene from "Crimson" that shows Martha really isn't an uncaring twit. Most of them are fun to watch.

Now For The Bad News: Not only is this one again without a blooper reel, but this time, we don't have episode commentaries. I don't know if it just couldn't be scheduled or what, but I know from personal experience doing interviews for my books that there are dozens of very interesting people who work on the show. Are we really to believe that no one has the time or interest to sit and watch an episode and talk about it?

Past commentaries, such as the ones on the Season Two set, showed off the senses of humor that some of these actors, writers, and directors have, and really brought us into that world. I'm so bummed to not get to hear them on this set.

Also, let's be honest. A lot of people compare Smallville to Heroes, and might even do the whole "Heroes is better" routine. Well, when you look at the DVD sets, they kind of have a point, at least so far as DVD sets go. Heroes Season One had commentaries on over a dozen episodes. That set included 23 episodes, PLUS featurettes, AND the unaired Tim Kring pilot, and was sold for just about the same amount that Warner Home Video charges for Smallville. What is wrong with this picture? Could it be just easier to coordinate with everyone being in L.A. there? It's just really unfortunate. I'm very thankful for the featurettes we had, but really: Smallville is one of those high-selling series that put TV DVD's on the map, and it seems that if any set should be full of commentaries and other good stuff, Smallville should be it. Next year I really hope they re-think the commentary thing. Heck, get some of us fans to do it if no one else wants to!

The Episodes: I am happy to say that as far as the episodes go, this box set doesn't disappoint. I've said this before in past season DVD reviews; Smallville is almost a better show on its second viewing, because you know in advance if something's coming up that you may not like. If you don't want to get squicked by Lexana sex after the costume ball, you can fast forward it. If you hate Chloe's tear (I didn't mind it, fyi), you can just jump to the next scene.

But also - and I noticed this when reviewing the episodes for my Season 6 Official Companion book - Season Six is actually quite enjoyable once you know where to find the good stuff. There's the Oliver Queen/Justice League stuff. Chloe & Jimmy, which I find adorable though I know others aren't feeling it. Big superheroic brawls with bruisers like Aldar and Titan. Wes Keenan, the Prototype. And the season finale that ends with - well, if you've seen it you know how it ends. It'll get you all ready for the start of Season 7.

The Final Verdict: I liked this set although I was really disappointed by the whole no-commentary thing. The commentary is something we all look forward to every year, so it feels like a cheat not to have it. However, it was fun to be involved with one of the set's bonus features and see some of the show's other "Ultimate Fans," and like I said, I do think people will enjoy what they see here. Reaction was mixed when Season Six airs, but if you give it another chance, I think you'll find some really good shows. Despite the commentary thing, I'd still recommend buying this set.

Order Smallville Season 6 through Amazon.com and support this site!
Also available in High Definition: Smallville Season Six HD-DVD - Smallville Season Six Blu-Ray

For more on the sixth season, Smallville: The Official Companion Season 6 will be coming March 2008!

Also Now Available From Warner Home Video: WHV has also recently released their first volume of episodes of the new Legion of Super-Heroes animated series. It, like Smallville, features the adventures of a college-age Clark Kent.

Clark takes the name of Superman in this version instead of Superboy, thanks to the legalities involving the Superboy character which still make no sense to me. Clark's mother in this cartoon kind of sounds like Annette O'Toole so I kind of love that. However, the very extreme art styles and attempts to be "cool" (I mean, Lightning Lad with a scar? Really?) kind of negatively distracted me here.

For the kids, Legion Volume 1 might be some fun; but for a long-time fan of the comic books, I much preferred the versions of the characters seen in Superman: The Animated Series or Justice League Unlimited. I don't really understand why shows like this feel they need to "reinvent the wheel" when the Legion has been done right before. But then again, the multiple incarnations of the characters in the comics, complete with 18000 reboots, might be the reason why the Legion never achieved the success of, say, the X-Men. It's too bad, because I think a cartoon about the Legion could teach a lot. Hopefully it'll eventually find its footing, just like The Batman did as it went along.

Legion Vol. 1 contains only four episodes and is in fullscreen. Die-hards might want to wait for a full season set. Hopefully a full-season set will include the Legion featurette - a well-done piece that was unfortunately a bit too short. And hey - all of this "young Clark with the Legion" talk really makes me want to see the Legion on Smallville someday. Maybe they'll have a message from the future: "Kill the Squirrel, Save the World" perhaps?

Order Smallville Season 6 through Amazon.com and support this site!
Also available in High Definition: Smallville Season Six HD-DVD - Smallville Season Six Blu-Ray

 

Read some of our other DVD reviews! The Adventures of Superman: Season 2 The Adventures of Superman: Seasons 3 & 4 Birdman and the Galaxy Trio and Space Ghost The Dukes of Hazzard: Season 1 The Dukes of Hazzard: Season 2 Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law: Volume 1 Space Ghost: Coast To Coast: Volume 3 Smallville: Season 1 Smallville: Season 2 Smallville: Season 3Smallville: Season 4 Smallville: Season 5

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