Smallville Destiny

This was a series I loved right away and was excited when I heard it was going to be made, but I will admit that the "freak of the week" formula did become, well, formulaic pretty quickly. Since I can still watch the episodes as-is, of course, this is a very welcome alternate version of the first season, and would definitely be my preferred viewing option overall. Technically, everything is top notch, and all the story decisions made were sound. Even if something seemed odd at first, it was soon explained, so no problems there. Leaving a couple of the "freaks" in made sense from a character development standpoint as well.

Thanks for a really fun edit, LS! :)

P.S. I wholeheartedly agree with this comment by Omaru: "As for other seasons? ... The main arc about Jason and Genevive Teague, I’d probably abandon that in it’s entirety." Yeah, that was horrible! :/

Review by steelio2006 — June 21, 2011 @ 3:28 pm

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

Review by jelio — June 14, 2011 @ 3:08 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

Review by DwightFry78 — May 30, 2011 @ 5:08 am

Unlike many people around here, I never really followed Smallville loyally, and the first season has a lot to do with it. Frankly, my opinion of it is that it, with its dreadfully lame and repetitive “freak-of-the-week” structure, was so bad overall that it’s a wonder it even got renewed for a second one. Okay, I may be being too harsh, but I got the feeling that every single episode was the same.

However, beneath that surface there happened to be a surprisingly engaging dose of human drama, and it took Last Survivor to reveal it in his firstling by removing all the rubble and putting together a story about people, which is what all great stories are about. It does not turn it into The Godfather, it’s still a whinefest and the dialogue is more akin to what a teenager would write than to what they would say, but the relations between the characters are highly enjoyable and you get to like them all (yes, Whitney too!) It’s true that it could have been trimmed a little further, and it’s true that the limitations of the material sometimes prevent some points to be well-rounded (I’m referring specifically to Clark’s quite out-of-character avoidance of Chloe when their quasi-affair starts developing, caused by the removal of that episode’s freak), but for what LS had to work with, the result is more than solid. Do not expect an action movie, though, there’s precious little of that, this is Smallville as pure drama. The action/adventure excitement, however, does kick in for the last hour of the ride, which might be the best of it.

Technically this is pretty much flawless, with no hard cuts whatsoever, and audio and video quality being consistently fine. I had the chance to see an earlier workprint by LS that showed great promise, which the final version more than fulfilled. This was a very good firstling that has me joining the popular acclaim for similar LS edits of further seasons of the show. 9/10 overall.

Review by Omaru1982 — May 2, 2011 @ 9:22 pm

Watched this yesterday and today (1 part per day)

Absolutely fantastic, even though I have season 1-7 on dvd I hadn’t watched them in quite a while.
Removing most of the meteor freaks was a great choice, if I recall the fortune teller was just one episode, however splitting up her encounters across different events made it seem like clark’s time with her was enjoyable enough to re-vist her. I know bob mentioned cutting the adaption storyline, but as Clark’s only discovered power (other than speed and strength) it gave us a chance to see him using his power before the finding his dad storyline (nice call omitting clark perving on the cheer squad by the way)

I really have nothing bad to say about this, it plays to everyones strengths, Whitney comes across less dickish, especially early on. The only thing I found close to a continuties were the reporter and kryptonite, what exactly did he see Clark do previously, but I was happy to overlook this very minor detail. Regarding with Kryptonite, we can assume that Smallville is littered with Rock fragments and in his youth he probably encountered some and fell sick, hence Jonathan’s knowledge of them.

As for other seasons? I’d love that, although maybe span a few plots from the various seasons to cut across them quicker? The main arc about Jason and Genevive Teague, I’d probably abandon that in it’s entirety.

Tech: 10/10 (I recall one little scene near the start where the image has been cropped to hide the credits)
Story: 9/10, a perfect digest of the important plot strands of season 1 (and the tying up loose ends from season 2) with maybe a little filler thrown in for good measure.