Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Billy Dee Williams, Ian McDiarmid, Alec Guinness, Ewan McGreggor, Jake Lloyd, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Peter Mayhew, Frank Oz, Liam Neeson, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Terence Stamp, Warwick Davis, Sebastian Shaw
Synopsis: This is a review of the Blu-Ray release of the most popular epic saga in cinematic history. Star Wars routinely tops lists of the best film ever made in many polls. For this release, fans get what they desire by seeing this pair of trilogies upgraded to high-definition, as well as having a raft of extra features, delving into the archives of LucasArts.
Cast: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Terence Stamp, John Slattery, Anthony Mackie, Jon Stewart, Michael Kelly
Synopsis: David Norris is a young political contender with a bright future. He has a chance meeting with ballet dancer Elise, a woman whom he becomes infatuated with and thinks he will never meet again until another chance encounter on a bus. At this point however, the Adjustment Bureau, otherwise akin to agents of fate step in. This romance is not according to “the plan”, and if they end up together, both their futures may not be quite as bright. Based on a novel by Philip K. Dick.
Cast: Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk, Allison Mack, Sam Jones III, John Glover, Annette O’Toole, John Schneider, Camille Mitchell, Terence Stamp, Rutger Hauer
Synopsis: Clark starts the season in hiding and high on red Kryptonite trying to escape the pain he feels over the events that ended season 2. He is dragged back to Smallville and atonement however, and to his not-to-be romance with Lana. Meanwhile, the conflict between Lionel and Lex gets more intense, with more seeds being sewn of greater tension between Lex and Clark, spurned by the secrets they both keep from each other.
Initially with this season, I will admit I was quite frustrated and had to push through the first few episodes. I have understood the need in drama for characters to go through periods of darkness, but Clark’s foray down this path I found uncomfortable to watch. It is how I feel every time an otherwise good character becomes a real dick (thoughts of Iron Man 2 spring to mind). Not saying there were not some great moments. Jonathon makes a deal with Jor-El, leading to him having powers like Clark such that he can bring him home. This deal has repercussions throughout the season, and this story arc in itself becomes quite exciting, in fact it is the lynch pin for the season finale.
There are other fantastic elements to the season. The best example is the further exploration of Lex’s relationship with his father. This season gets to the crux of the shared animosity they have for each other, as well as making their run-ins increasingly severe. The audience throughout remains firmly on Lex’s side, however Clark accurately comments on more than one occasion that Lex is becoming more like his father as time progresses. This storyline is responsible for some of the biggest jaw dropping elements of the season. Basically, those elements that have the most significance to the origin of the Superman story we know is to develop are where the series really hits its stride.
Not every element here is gold though. Once again, I am having trouble being drawn into the Lana/Clark storyline. For me it is too repetitive, and personally I cannot wait to get to the introduction of Erica Durance’s Lois Lane, as from that point we will have a relationship to observe that actually has a future, as opposed to the current angst-ridden storylines. Attempts are made to give Lana her own story arc this season, with her recovering from spinal injuries and meeting a new love interest. These never really fly though (pun not intended), and her character only gets a good showing again at the time that Clark decides he will tell her his secret. This is thwarted though when he learns how much Pete is struggling with his knowledge.
Speaking of Pete, once again he is under-utilised in this story. He has one episode that centres around his character where he goes off the rails. He is then kind of forgotten until the season’s end, which is also I believe his final appearance in the series. He puts in a powerful performance at this time, which shows there was a good actor wasted, and one can’t help but feel he was written out because the writers just did not know what to do with him. The other external characters do much better. Chloe remains a strong side-kick, and her own battle with the Luthors is a strong side story. Her performance also remains strong, and it is easy to see how she lasted with the series until its end. Clark’s parents may not get a lot of screen time, but as Clark’s moral compass, their role in the series remains influential as well as inspirational. This season also features some great cameos, including Rutger Hauer, and Christopher Reeve makes his second appearance as Virgil Swan. There is also a great episode featuring one Perry White as an out of luck reporter who manages to get a second chance, and hints at a bigger future in journalism. A drop of the name Lois Lane in this season is also tantalising.
Season three has its flaws, as has the previous season, but by the final episode some really strong stories have been pulled together. The obligatory cliffhanger showing multiple threads of story with characters all in dire situations is quite compelling, even if it does channel The Godfather given that it seems many of the strings have been pulled by Lionel Luthor himself leading us to these conclusions.
Cast: Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk, Allison Mack, Sam Jones III, John Glover, Annette O’Toole, John Schneider, Camille Mitchell, Emmanuelle Vaugier
Synopsis: The reimagining of the Superman mythology continues. We see the ups and downs of Clark’s relationships as he struggles to keep his secret. meanwhile, with the discovery of cave paintings that bear similar language to that on the spaceship, more secrets of Clark’s origins are going to become apparent.
A review by Film Nerd.
This is a season of television that delivered on the promise of the debut season. It starts to step away from the “freak of the week” episodic nature, though that is still there to a degree, but it leaves way for many more character driven episodes. It gets in-depth into the difficulty Clark has keeping his secret from his nearest and dearest friends. So much so, that the series also addresses one of my major irritations of the first season… Best friend Pete is given a much bigger role, being the first friend to actually know the secret. His reactions are also portrayed authentically, with him showing resentment at being kept in the dark, acceptance, then fear at the responsibility he now has to keep the secret. As he now knows, he joins both Clark and his parents much more on his various endeavours.
Unfortunately, in the interest of romantic tension, one of my other irritations became more prominent. The writers were consistently inventing excuses to keep Clark and Lana apart, despite many incidences that would draw them much closely together. As such, the same repetition I hated with the freak of the week element was introduced in the Clark/Lana back and forth. This did however give the Chloe character a lot of room to shine. She gave some of the clearly most amazing performances of the season, especially when giving full vent to her feelings for Clark.
Once again, the complaints I have made are small. This overall was a very entertaining twenty-three episodes. As the season draws to a close, many secrets of Clark’s past, though perhaps intimately familiar to the target audience, become apparent to Clark. Respect is given to the Superman films of the past in this process. Christopher Reeve, perhaps responsible for the most iconic Superman portrayal to date, guest stars in one episode, and is the first one so far to utter the names “Krypton” and “Kal-el”. Then Terence Stamp provides his voice for Jor-El, having himself been General Zod in Superman and Superman II.
Despite the season ending on a depressingly dark note, I will certainly keep tuning in for Season 3. I am well behind in my viewing though, the tenth and final season’s finale airs in a weeks time!!
