Smallville: The Complete Seventh Season – Blu-ray Disc Review

September 12, 2008 – 4:18 AM --- by: Brendan Surpless

Tags: Aaron Ashmore, Allison Mack, James Marsters, Kristin Kreuk, Laura Vandervoort, Michael Rosenbaum, Tom Welling, Warner

has an average rating of 7.9 on IMDb
1080p in VC-1 on THREE 50gb discs
Dolby Digital 5.1 @640kbps
include character featurettes and deleted scenes
–
– 2007
– 482 minutes
– Warner
–

Overall Verdict – Worth A Purchase for Fans

Buy it for $55.95 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Brendan Surpless —

Trailer for Season 7:



The Show Itself is the seventh season of the series “Smallville“. This season finds Clark Kent (Tom Welling) discovering more about his homeworld of Krypton via his cousin Kara (Laura Vandervoort). She tries to blend into society learning about each person but initially distrusts Clark because he doesn’t see her father Zor-El in the same darkness Clark does. Lana (Kristin Kruek) faked her own death so Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) would leave her alone. Now she’s started to investigate and is slowly realizing everything Clark has said about Lex is true. Chloe (Allison Mack), on the other hand, has gained kryptonite powers at the end of season six and is trying to figure out how to keep them a secret from everyone. Lex’s brother Julian, who we thought was dead, has been named the head of the Daily Planet where he has hired Chloe’s cousin Lois. Clark must also deal with the returning Brainiac (James Marsters who he thought he finished off at the end of season six).

The full 20 (total) episodes for The Complete Seventh Season are included:

• Episode 1 : “Bizzaro“
Writer: Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson — Director: Mike Rohl
Original Air Date: 09/27/07— 9.5 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 2 : “Kara“
Writer: Darren Swimmer & Todd Slavkin — Director: James L. Conway
Original Air Date: 10/04/07 — 9.3 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 3 : “Fierce“
Writer: Holly Harold — Director: Whitney Ransick
Original Air Date: 10/11/07 — 9.0 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 4 : “Cure“
Writer: Turi Meyer & Al Septien — Director: Rick Rosenthal
Original Air Date: 10/18/07 — 9.3 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 5 : “Action“
Writer: Caroline Dries — Director: Mairzee Almas
Original Air Date: 10/25/07 — 8.8 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 6 : “Lara“
Writers: Holly Henderson & Don Whitehead — Director: James L. Conway
Original Air Date: 11/01/07 — 9.4 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 7 : “Wrath“
Writer: Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson — Director: Charles Beeson
Original Air Date: 11/08/07— 9.2 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 8 : “Blue“
Writer: Darren Swimmer & Todd Slavkin — Director: Glen Winter
Original Air Date: 11/15/07 — 9.3 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 9 : “Gemini“
Writer: Caroline Dries — Director: Whitney Ransick
Original Air Date: 12/13/07 — 9.5 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 10 : “Persona“
Writer: Don Whitehead & Holly Henderson — Director: Todd Slavkin
Original Air Date: 01/31/08 — 9.4 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 11 : “Siren“
Writer: Brian Peterson & Kelly Souders — Director: Kevin G. Fair
Original Air Date: 02/07/08— 9.3 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 12 : “Fracture“
Writer: Turi Meyer, Al Septien & Caroline Dries — Director: James Marshall (III)
Original Air Date: 02/14/08— 9.1 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 13 : “Hero“
Writer: Todd Helbing & Aaron Helbing — Director: Mike Rohl
Original Air Date: 03/13/08 — 8.7 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 14 : “Traveler“
Writer: Turi Meyer, Al Septien, Holly Henderson & Don Whitehead — Director: Glen Winter
Original Air Date: 03/20/08 — 9.5 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 15 : “Veritas“
Writer: Brian Peterson & Kelly Souders — Director: James Marshall (III)
Original Air Date: 03/27/08 — 9.1 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 16: “Descent“
Writer: Don Whitehead & Holly Henderson — Director: Ken Horton
Original Air Date: 04/17/08 — 9.6 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 17 : “Sleeper“
Writers: Caroline Dries — Director: Whitney Ransick
Original Air Date: 04/24/08 — 8.3 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 18 : “Apolcalypse“
Writer: Turi Meyer & Al Septien — Director: Tom Welling
Original Air Date: 05/01/08— 9.4 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 19 : “Quest“
Writer: Holly Harold — Director: Kenneth Biller
Original Air Date: 05/08/08 — 9.4 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 20: “Arctic“
Writer: Don Whitehead & Holly Henderson — Director: Todd Slavkin
Original Air Date: 05/15/08 — 8.8 rating over at TV.com

Overall this season works is enjoyable enough but it’s becoming clear that both Alfred Gough and Miles Millar must be running out of ideas as this season was a bit of a letdown. I will say that the introduction of Julian really added a nice sense of style as did Brainic (which doesn’t amaze me that much as Marsters is a fantastic actor).

Video Quality on this release is 1080p in VC-1 on THREE BD-50’s (50 gigabyte Blu-ray Discs). In comparison to the previous two seasons which were also released on Blu-ray, I found this latest season to be somewhat lacking in the video department. Perhaps the best aspect found here is that a majority of the close-ups on the various characters saw fine detail and accurate fleshtones. My complaint though is that most of the color palette seemed somewhat toned down. For instance a majority of the darker sequences resulted in many shots that were difficult to make out. Grain is obviously present here but is kept in check (ie in comparison to the HD broadcast all the grain is still here meaning that no DNR filters were used). “Smallville: The Complete Seventh Season” earns a “3.5 Star Rating” for overall video quality.

Audio Quality on this release is in Dolby Digital 5.1. The first item to note of disappointment is Warner Brothers continued decision to NOT include ANY type of lossless track on their TV releases. This is completely unacceptable especially when other studios (Universal with “Heroes” and ABC with “Grey’s Anatomy“) are supporting lossless tracks. A definite annoyance.

With that said the provided Dolby Digital 5.1 track is clearly an improvement over the TV broadcast just probably not the improvement fans were hoping for. I will say that dialogue is rendered fine with no instance of muddled dialogue. Dynamics were fairly absent, which surprised me as I remember season six having better dynamics. Perhaps due to the writers strike (even though we did get a full 20 episode season) budgets were cut. Anyhow the best I can rate this is “3 Stars“.

Bonus Materials are all presented in Standard Definition minus the Visions Digital Comic Book, which is presented in HD. Sound is Dolby Digital 2.0.

Disc 1:

• Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Krypton: This feature shows when the introduction of the character Kara came about.
• Deleted Scenes: On this disc we get deleted scenes for the following episodes: “Kara“, “Fierce“, “Cure“, “Action” and “Wrath“.

Disc 2:

• Jimmy on Jimmy: Now this was a cool little feature that had four different actors who’ve played the character of Jimmy speaking on what it was like to actually play the character.
• Deleted Scenes: On this disc we get deleted scenes for the following episodes: “Gemini“, “Persona“, “Siren“, “Fracture“, “Hero” and “Traveler“.

Disc 3:

• Smallville: Visions Digital Comic Book (HD): This was a short digital book that spoke on the characters via a story.
• Smallville Legends: Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton Mobisodes: Another shorter feature this time focusing on Kara and her homeworld.
• Deleted Scenes: On this disc we get deleted scenes for the following episodes: “Veritas“, “Descent“, “Sleeper” and “Arctic“.

Overall the bonus materials are short but the little featurettes are entertaining.



Blu-ray Disc packaging:




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