Product Description

There's a new reporter at the Daily Planet: Clark Kent, who shares a workspace with Lois Lane. There's a new hero in Metropolis, too. No one knows who he is. But Jimmy Olsen was on the scene of one of the do-gooder's exploits, and he snapped a blurred photo of the hero in superspeed action – a hero everyone now calls the Red-Blue Blur. Red-jacketed, blue-shirted Clark Kent draws closer to his Superman destiny in the exciting 22-episode, 6-disc Season 8 of Smallville. Another Kryptonian destiny also takes shape. Davis Bloome begins to realize he is Doomsday. His mission on Earth: kill Clark Kent. So many new events (will Jimmy and Chloe's marriage last?), so many new faces (Tess Mercer, Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy among them!), so many state-of-the-art effects – so don’t miss a single thrill-packed moment!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2009-08-25
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Thai
• Dubbed in: Portuguese
• Number of discs: 6
• Running time: 1012 minutes

Features

• There s a new reporter at the Daily Planet: Clark Kent, who shares a workspace with Lois Lane. There s a new hero in Metropolis, too. No one knows who he is. But Jimmy Olsen was on the scene of one of the do-gooder s exploits, and he snapped a blurred photo of the hero in superspeed action a hero everyone now calls the Red-Blue Blur. Red-jacketed, blue-shirted Clark Kent draws closer to his Superm

Customer Reviews

Probably the Best Season Yet.
I am one of the rare "Smallville" fans that greatly prefer the darker seasons of late to the light-hearted, freak-of-the-week seasons that the show started with. Season 8 introduced the marvelous Tess Mercer (as excellently portrayed by Cassidy Freeman) who filled the shoes of an MIA Lex Luthor with more charisma and grace than, dare I say it, the great Michael Rosenbaum in the past couple seasons. Also among the characters this year is Davis "Doomsday" Bloome, who is taken to the next level by Sam Witwer, who plays the role in such a way that the viewers can actually sympathize for the tortured, lonely murderer that Davis has unfortunately become.

There are only two problems that I have with season 8. The first is that around episodes 8.03-8.05, the show lagged. A lot. The episodes, I thought, were quite boring and just not the best work that the "Smallville" writers have put forth. Specifically 8.03 "Toxic," which could've been a fantastic exploration of Justin Hartley's Oliver "Green Arrow" Queen character but ended up being a bland, practical snorefest.

The second problem is the Lana-arc in episodes 8.10-8.14. While 8.10 "Bride," 8.11 "Legion," and 8.12 "Bulletproof" were all outstanding and Kristin Kreuk delivered on every front in her reprisal as Lana Lang, the storyline of giving Lana super powers was extremely unwelcome to most fans (myself included) and, if anything, ruined what could've been a perfect end to the lengthy Clark/Lana storyline that has haunted "Smallville" since the first episode. 8.14 "Requiem" is a good episode, mind you, but the poorly done super!Lana storyline brings it and 8.13 "Power" down as the worst episodes of the season.

Now, there are definitely some blockbuster episodes that were perfect, in my eyes. The entire slew of episodes from 8.15 to 8.21 were brilliant - specifically 8.15 "Infamous," 8.16 "Turbulence" (a brilliant and emotionally raw exploration of the characters - specifically Jimmy Olsen), 8.18 "Eternal," and 8.21 "Injustice." Watching this season, I was in awe at how much the actors and actresses - and their characters - have grown since they were first introduced to us and I have yet to be disappointed by the work turned in by the fantastic Tom Welling, the outstanding Allison Mack, and the stunning Erica Durance.

Overall, I highly recommend that new viewers catch this season when its on sale and all "Smallville" fans should purchase this boxset as soon as it's released. As we enter season 9, which may very well be our last "Smallville" season, I have high hopes that the show will kick it into high gear and go out with a bang.

Here's the real scoop of Smallville Season 8 CONTAINS SPOILERS*
I've been tuning into Smallville since Episode 1, and have been a fan of Superman since I was a little kid.
Smallville is one of the greatest interpretations of Superman ever created in any type of medium (comic book, TV, etc.) And I was disappointed to see that Smallville Season 8 only received an average rating of 3.5 stars.
Most of the lower rated reviews include complaints about how the show is starting to lose credibility with it's comic counterpart. In other words it doesn't tie into the comic book that well, the finale of Season 8 was anti climactic, how the writing is starting to dwindle, so on so forth.

Smallville is an INTERPRETATION of the comic book story. It is NOT the comic book itself. So to bash Season 8 because it doesn't tie in to the comic that well is pretty silly, cause there have been apparent changes from the comic book since Season 1. And if you are a long time fan of Smallville, why bash season 8 for something that's been going on since .. well .. forever?

Smallville has always stayed true to the basics of the Superman mythos. Clark and Lex are enemies. Lois and Clark will fall in love. Clark will become Superman, etc.
And I don't believe for a second that Lex is truly dead. And if he is then damn the writers to hell. Although it is highly unlikely that Rosenbaum will return to the cast of Smallville, I am for certain we have not heard the last from Lex. He cant be dead ... come on ... he's Lex Luthor.

The writers have done an amazing job picking up from Season 7. Despite the loss of Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor), they still do a great job of tying in Lex to the story without actually having him on screen.
Tess Mercer fills in for Lex as the new CEO for Luthercorp. Pretty much the new "bad guy" to give Clark and his friends a hard time. And although Lex is missed (A LOT!!!) She's good. Nuff said.

Also in this season we are treated with the ever growing romance between Lois and Clark. Love is in the air in season 8! (Is love ever NOT in the air?) But I have always admired Smallville for it's character development, especially with Clark's love interests (well mostly Lana). But Lois and Clark are as equally intoxicating to watch as Lana and Clark in previous seasons.
Erica Durance plays the best Lois Lane I have ever seen. She nails her personality flawlessly. Naive, cocky, rude, Clarks opposite ... his perfect match.

And what about the final battle between Doomsday in the Season Finale? What about it? Nothing short of ... awesome can you say? Many complained that the battle was too short and anti climactic. It depends on how you see it. In my opinion, the battle had started the day Clark met Davis Bloome (Doomsday). It wasn't the physical battle so much as it was the emotional battle that Clark went through, and the writers did a superb job presenting it.
Can Clark overcome the beast without killing him?
Time and time again through Season 8, Clark is tempted by his friends, and even his fellow heroes that sometimes the only way to save the day is to kill. That killing is a sacrifice a hero has to make once in a while to benefit the greater good of mankind.
But Clark shows why he isn't a hero. He shows why he is a superhero. He can make the decisions that no one else can make, not even heroes like Green Arrow. That there is always a way to save the world without crossing the line, and that a life is a life no matter who it may be.

Season 8 is awesome, and even after 8 years, Smallville has not lost its quality when compared with previous seasons. The drive of the show, the ambition of the show has remained the same.

If you are a fan of Smallville don't compare it to other mediums of Superman, but cherish as is.

If you do you wont be disappointed. 5 stars.

How the mighty have fallen...
Smallville used to be an entertaining show. Even in uneven and, frankly, bad seasons like six and seven, one could find something likable or something that resembled a coherent plot. It was not true in this season. Also, even if one didn't like the particular storyline, they could always enjoy the "pretty" - fun effects, nice camera work, well chosen soundtrack and music, amazing casting coups.

Well, gone are the days of guest stars like Carrie Fisher, Christopher Reeve, Mark McClure, Dean Cain, or Helen Slater. Gone are the days of decent special effects or any effect shots at all, frankly. By this point, it feels as if Clark's only superpower is superspeed because the "woosh" sound effect is cheap to do. The show is so strapped for cash that it no longer does location shoots and that it also is reduced to synthesized music and very sporadic, if at all, popular music licensing.

It's a shell of what it was.

Granted, a reduced budget isn't everything.

I loved the first season of shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and they clearly had very little to work with. The superficial shouldn't matter, but, on this show, it's all there is to recommend it and even that's gone.

As far as "plot lines" for this year?

Let's face it. The producers played chicken with Michael Rosenbaum last season and lost badly. As a result, all of season eight was a mad dash scramble to compensate for the gaping hole the loss of Lex Luthor (as well as Lionel and the Luthor dynamic) had on the show. Now, they did try and introduce Doomsday/Davis Bloome and they did bring in a Mercy-like character in Tess, but it failed miserably. Without a strong villain to work against, the show collapsed on itself and the "good guys" became so morally gray that in Justin Hartley's (Oliver Queen's) own words they became "purple". But none of this can give you a true idea of how terrible this season was.

So, I shall reveal the plotlines:

-Lana Lang returns for a five episode arc mocked by fans as Lana Begins in which she becomes permanently superstrong and only breaks up with Clark because Lex Luthor (played, I kid you not, by Rosenbaum's stunt double in heavy make up) irradiates her with Kryptonite, leaving her poisonous to Clark

-Tess starts out a loyal minion to Lex but, after Lana's intervention, engages in a long affair with Oliver Queen and turns againt Lex and LuthorCorp. Eventually she degrades into a religious nutjob thinking Clark's an "alien jesus" (actual line from a script).

-Chloe Sullivan ends up running a home for the meteor infected and in one hackneyed episode is made to live her cousin's life for a day in which she comes to the sudden conclusion that after wanting to be a reporter since she was eight, she's not so interested anymore.

-Jimmy gets married to Chloe, is trashed by Doomsday at his wedding, then becomes a junkie, dumps Chloe, and in an AMAZING! twist is revealed to be REALLY HENRY OLSEN, the older brother of the real Iconic/Comics Jimmy whom we meet at Henry's funeral in the season finale. So, that Jimmy from that last three years?

Not real, fake out!

-Oliver becomes an alcoholic playboy for half a season, then he turns "dark" by murdering Lex, blackmailing Chloe, and using the Justice League to literally shoot Clark in the back with Kryptonite.

-Clark does join the Daily Planet, that's true. In 22 episodes, the only article he publishes is about a kitten show. He gets no real development as a journalist and the Red-Blue Blur arc comprises about 5 episodes of the whole season and is mostly offscreen because they can't afford the effects to show him patrolling. The ep "Prey" is almost the extent of it.

-Lois continues to be a disappointment. Her character is gutted so that she can pine for Clark and degrade into passive-aggressive games. Gone is the fighter of seasons 4 and 5. Worse, her journalistic ethics sink to a new low in "Stiletto" where she invents a superhero so she can trick the Red-Blue Blur into and interview. The whole ep is played as a joke on the Lois character and is, frankly, best described as a foot fetishist's wet dream.

-Davis Bloome = an excellent arc, well-acted by the brilliant Juliard alum Sam Witwer until the final episode in which he is retconned into a pyschopath and kills Henry, sorry "Jimmy Olsen," and is subsequently stabbed to death by a dying Henry, sorry "Jimmy Olsen." The actual Doomsday fight lasts 45 seconds, has a monster out of Power Rangers, and does NOT end with Clark's death.

TOTAL LETDOWN.

I wish, in conclusion, that I could unsee this season and, no, I've not made a single plot detail up.