Some things are worth travelling for. Take this first ‘Smallville’ DVD release, for instance, which is only technically available in Canada. It’s well worth finding a friendly importer to get your hands on one.
The ‘Smallville’ pilot was very expensive to make, so when the series went into production the network made the second episode as a continuation of the first, so that they could be edited together and sold as a movieinternationally to offset costs – and it’s that movie which makes up this release. While the join between the two plots is fairly easy to see, writer/creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar keep enough threads running through to make this ‘movie’ work as a convincing whole.
The first half sets up the basic premise and character dynamics of the series, and is as good a series pilot as you’re going to find. It’s a spectacular exercise by television standards, with the meteor strike in the 1989 sequence particularly noteworthy. While the threat in the pilot – a bullied kid given electricity related powers when caught in the meteor shower – is more of an introduction to the ‘meteor mutant’ concept than a notable threat, the second half is a better showcase for the kind of villains the series can do. This second episode, ‘Metamorphosis’, sees an insect obsessed nerd become a cut-price, villainous version of Spider-Man. It’s a cheeky premise considering the Stan Lee vibe of the ‘Smallville’ reinvention of Superman, and is carried off with flair. OK, so its not really a movie as such, but the spliced episodes on this disc are a great introduction to a great series.
The transfer quality is excellent, the whole production appearing here in glorious widescreen. Surprisingly for a single disc TV release, there are a lot of extras on the disc too. Of particular note are the deleted scenes, which feature early appearances by series stalwarts such as Principal Kwan and Chloe’s dad (here played by a different actor), as well as filling in more background on Pete’s family and their animosity to the Luthors. There’s also an interactive map of the town with some neat production observations on the sets and locations, as well as a commentary track from Pilot director David Nutter and producer/creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.
‘Smallville’ – I liked it so much I wrote the book on it.
