Product Description

Clark Kent will have plenty of reasons to remember his senior year! The thrilling reinterpretation of the Superman legend evolves in Season 4, whose 22 episodes include the quest for 3 Kryptonian crystals and Clark's bold attempt to keep those mysterious stones from destroying Earth. Clark also becomes a highly recruited football star. Lana gets a boyfriend. Lois Lane smart, opinionated and entirely annoying to Clark comes to Smallville. Chloe learns the scoop of the century. Lionel becomes a straight-up nice guy. Lex steps further from the light into darkness. New characters (Krypto, Mr. Mxyzptlk) and a new power emerge. The calling awaits Clark an awakening to a destiny that only he can accept and fulfill.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
DVD ROM Features
Documentaries

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #384 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2005-09-13
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 6
• Dimensions: 1.10 pounds
• Running time: 952 minutes

Features

• Clark Kent will have plenty of reasons to remember his senior year! The thrilling reinterpretation of the Superman legend evolves in Season 4, whose 22 episodes include the quest for 3 Kryptonian crystals and Clark's bold attempt to keep those mysterious stones from destroying Earth. Clark also becomes a highly recruited football star. Lana gets a boyfriend. Lois Lane smart, opinionated and entire

Amazon.com
The arrival of another gorgeous young woman with the initials of LL further complicates Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) life in the fourth season of Smallville, the WB's hip and sexy reinvention of the Superman legend. In this case, it's Lois Lane (Erica Durance), a would-be college freshman who's come to the Kansas heartland to investigate the disappearance of her cousin, Chloe. What she discovers instead is a naked, amnesiac Clark Kent in a cornfield, and things take off from there. Durance doesn't appear in every episode--she was credited as a "special guest star"--but her tough spirit and crackling wit provide a great, non-romantic foil to Clark.

That's just as well, because there's plenty of romantic triangulation--or worse--going on. Clark's former love interest--and his first LL--Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), has returned from her summer in Paris sporting a new boyfriend, Jason Teague (Jensen Ackles), as well as a mysterious tattoo that seems to have something to do with a set of Kryptonian crystals as well as Jason's sinister mom, Genevieve (Jane Seymour). Keeping his relationship with Lana a secret, Jason has signed on as Smallville High's new assistant football coach. What's surprising is that the team's new quarterback is none other than Clark, who's grown tired of hiding his super-strength, super-speed, and invulnerability and wants to be part of the team. But nothing's easy for Clark, and he goes through the prom, a marriage, and fatherhood, not necessarily in that order, as well as his secret being discovered, unknown to him, by one of his closest friends. (On the plus side, he does uncover a cool new power.)

But the key to the season is the Kryptonian crystals. They further deteriorate the relationship between the incarcerated Lionel Luthor (John Glover), and his son, Lex (Michael Rosenbaum). Lex may be Clark's best friend, but he reveals more of his dark side in a revelation about his sexual escapades and a split-personality (literally) incident. Lana's frightening dreams actually come to life in a silly Charmed-type episode. Then in the explosive season finale, the main characters are scattered and another meteor shower threatens to wipe out the town.

One of the fun things about Smallville is how producers Al Gough and Miles Millar and their team of writers acknowledge their place in a 70-year Superman mythos (even if Clark is never referred to as Superman). His DC Comics origins receive a nod with appearances by the Flash, Krypto the superdog, and the magical Mxyztplk. And the cast includes not only regular Annette O'Toole (Martha Clark), who had played Lana Lang in Superman III, but guest shots by Margot Kidder (Bridgette Porter) and Terence Stamp (the voice of Jor-El), and the late Christopher Reeve gets a brief but touching farewell in an announcement of the passing of his character, Dr. Virgil Swann.

Extras include 15 minutes with the writing team, a spotlight on Kidder, Durance, and others who have played Lois Lane, deleted scenes, and three episodes with commentary from combinations of Gough, Millar, Durance, Kreuk, Glover and others, but not Welling. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

The transition to the saga of the adult Clark Kent begins
Season Four of SMALLVILLE saw the major characters all beginning to make the transition from adolescence to adulthood, reflecting the beginnings of the show itself to begin the transition to the next level. The fundamental challenge for the show has been to reinvent the "Superboy" years by conceiving Clark Kent as a work in progress, a profoundly gifted young man gradually gaining use of and control over powers that makes him utterly unique but also alienates him from his friends by the need to keep his abilities secret. During each season he has discovered new abilities, first X-ray vision, then heat vision, then super hearing to go with the super strength, speed, and invulnerability that he has long possessed. Plus the hints of the impending ability to fly. The difference between SMALLVILLE and the Superboy comics I read growing up is that the latter were always utterly ahistorical, intentionally oblivious to everything that would take place for the adult Clark Kent. There was Lana Lang, but no reflection on how things would go with them, how they would fail to forge a permanent attachment, how Clark would later focus his attention on Lois Lane instead. To its credit, SMALLVILLE has always proceeded with one eye cocked towards the future. In this season, the show began what could be a metamorphosis into a more mature show. I would not at all be surprised if in the next year or so SMALLVILLE were cancelled and a new show, perhaps called METROPOLIS, would be taking its place, with a small number of characters making the transition to the new show: Clark, Lex, Lionel, Lois, and perhaps Chloe, with guest appearances by some Smallville regulars. I've thoroughly enjoyed the four seasons of SMALLVILLE, but my own belief is that they are coming close to exhausting the possibilities in the story of Clark Kent's youth in Smallville. Hopefully they will take the story to the next level. Bit by bit they have added elements of the future to the show, and this persisted into Season Four's finale, [...]. And [...] is it unreasonable to assume that he will add the ability to fly at will in Season Five [...]

Though this was another good season, it was perhaps less consistent than the two previous ones. The season was hurt by two things: 1) a number of weak episodes and 2) a dismal storyline in which Lana Lang somehow channeled the spirit of a dead 17th century French sorceress. It wasn't just that Lana's possession was a bad idea, it didn't lead to any great resolution. As much as I enjoy Kristin Kreuk aka "The Cutest Young Woman in the World" as Lana, she simply doesn't possess the acting chops to pull off multiple persona in convincing fashion. [...] Simultaneously, Erica Durance was introduced to the cast as Clark's inevitable love interest Lois Lane. These were just two of many slight changes that started scooting the series towards the future. Lex, for instance, started more and more showing his willingness to submerge his genuine affection for his friends for his own ambitious ends. In the season finale he even physically assaults Lana to forcibly take from her an object he imagines she possesses.

[...]

I look forward to Season Five. This is clearly a show that is on the verge of exhausting its concept, and I'm profoundly sceptical that they can continue it beyond the coming season. I hope that the show's producers and the WB can negotiate bringing this show to a graceful conclusion and then transitioning several key characters to a new show that continues the adventures of everyone's favorite Man of Steel in the big city of Metropolis.

Smallville Season 4 DVD set is coming out September 13, 2005
Smallville The Complete Fourth Season DVD set will finally be released on September 13, 2005. The set will include all 22 episodes from season 4. The Smallville set will be in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) video and include English Dolby Surround Stereo audio with selectable English, Spanish and French subtitles. Warner Bros has included some exciting bonus material. You get to see 25 minutes of deleted scenes (21 scenes total), episodes commentaries by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and others, "Inside the Writers Room" documentary, and "Being Lois Lane" featuring interviews with Noel Neill, Margot Kidder, Dana Delaney and Erica Durance. As part of Warner Television's 50th Anniversary you get a bonus DVD featuring an episode of The Flash.

Commentary tracks include:
"Crusade" - Al Gough(Executive Producer), Miles Millar (Executive Producer), Ken Horton (Executive Producer), Erica Durance ("Lois Lane") and Annette O'Toole ("Martha Clark Kent")
"Transference" - Al Gough, Miles Millar and John Glover ("Lionel Luther")
"Spell" - Jeannot Szwarc (Director), Kristin Kreuk ("Lana Lang"), Allison Mack ("Chloe Sullivan") and Erica Durance ("Lois Lane")

Here is a Complete Episode List of SMALLVILLE SEASON 4

1. Crusade
2. Gone
3. Facade
4. Devoted
5. Run
6. Transference
7. Jinx
8. Spell
9. Bound
10. Scare
11. Unsafe
12. Pariah
13. Recruit
14. Krypto
15. Sacred
16. Lucy
17. Onyx
18. Spirit
19. Blank
20. Ageless
21. Forever
22. Commencement

The Shark Circles...
As a huge Smallville fan, I'm very disappointed by season 4 thus far. Granted as I write this the finale has yet to air, but even if its a grand slam episode it can't shake off what has been multiple episodes of idiocy, absurdity, and contrivance.

I've been watching my season 1 and 2 sets lately, and am amazed at how much depth and character interaction were in those early episodes. The kryptonite monsters sucked, but those episodes were held together by strong relationships that made Smallville feel real. Most of this is lost by season 4. This year, we get a storyline about kryptonian artifacts that Clark must recover. Not a bad idea, but somehow Lana has a witch ancestor trapped in her body who is also seeking the magic rocks. What was intended as a storyline to bring her closer into the mythology only pushes her farther away. I like Kristen Kruek, but she spends most of the season distrustful of Clark, Lex, her new boyfriend Jason, and just about everyone else. The sweetness we fell in love with only returns at the tail end of the season. What happened to Lana?

In fact, what's happened to everyone else? The absurd storyline seems to give everyone nothing to do, which is odd considering the talented cast. An interesting twist with John Glover's Lionel Luthor is rendered moot by the season's end, and he and Michael Rosenbaum's Lex are wasted on the soap opera drama of the artifacts hunt. The Kent parents don't show up as much as they used to, and when they do they spout an endless string of cliched parental advice. Jensen Ackles is Jason Teague, the new disposable supporting character. I like him, and he's an asset to the show, but he's not given much to do. He would've fared a lot better as an actual boyfriend to Lana and not just another plot device in the artifacts storyline.

So what does Smallville do right this year? Two words: Erica. Durance. Seriously, the addition of Lois Lane is eyebrow raising, but like the introduction of young Lex it pays off in spades. Erica becomes Clark's window for growth and development this year, and the chemistry between her and Tom Welling rocks. Also, Allison Mack's Chloe learns a bit more about Clark (finally!) and fan favourite Alicia Baker (the beautiful Sarah Carter) returns for a tragic two-part story mid-season.

I could go on about the horrible dialogue, scripts with metor-sized plotholes and contrivances, or the butchering of Superman foe Mxyzptlk. However, in the end this is a show I've stayed with for four years, and it's been a constant and dependable diversion. I have all three of the previous sets, so it's hard to imagine not buying this one as well. I'm also going to stick with Smallville till the end, because we all want to see Clark finally accept his destiny. Chalk this season up as a misfire, and let's move on to better things.