"Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - The First Season"
DVD Review
by Chris Alexis
| MOVIE: ****1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ****1/2 (out of 5 stars) STARRING Dean Cain as CLARK KENT/SUPERMAN Teri Hatcher as LOIS LANE Lane Smith as PERRY WHITE John Shea as LEX LUTHOR Michael Landes as JIMMY OLSEN K Callan as Martha Kent Eddie Jones as JONATHAN KENT Not Rated Studio: Warner Bros. Developed for Television by: Deborah Joy Levine Back to DVD Review Home |  |
Superman is back. He’s got a new movie hitting theaters next summer in “Superman Returns” and “Lois & Clark” has finally hit DVD shelves almost ten years after leaving the airwaves.
The title of this series correctly describes the content and direction of the show: Lois and Clark. The word “Superman” only appears in the subtitle, “The New Adventures of Superman.” In fact, Superman in costume is only in about fifteen to twenty percent of the show -- tops. The MAN comes before the SUPER.
This series sets up the developing relationship and sexual tension between Clark Kent and Lois Lane. It’s full of adult humor and some mature topics while still featuring a superhero in blue tights flying around, saving the day.
The chemistry between Cain and Hatcher is really what makes the show work so well. The tension created between the two characters keeps the relationship believable and allows people to relate to the characters. It’s a Superman show that parents can watch with their kids and be entertained on their own level.
John Shea makes an excellent Lex Luthor. He’s handsome, charming, very smooth. In fact, he comes across very much like the devil – just what Luthor is in many ways. This is the only time that Luthor has been portrayed with a full head of hair (not counting the wigs worn by Gene Hackman in the movie series) – but it makes sense. If a man were so rich, such a part of high society, and had access to such incredible technologies – wouldn’t he have found a way to have a full head of hair? Makes sense to me.
The late, great Lane Smith makes a wonderful Perry White – updated for modern times. Instead of proclaiming “Great Caesar’s ghost!”, he now proclaims “Great shades of Elvis!” His fatherly relationship to Jimmy Olsen plays well into the fold of the show as well.
The special effects are a bit cheesy – obvious blue screen and some screen ratio changes make the show a bit laughable as far as the effects go. The pilot episode especially has these issues. It might be just the DVD release, as I don’t remember this twelve years ago, but for every shot that contained F/X, the picture becomes somewhat blurry and grainy.
There are still come cheesy comic book plots, (Superman gets hypnotized, Superman is cloned, champion boxers become cyborgs, terrorists take over the Daily Planet -- to name a few) but again it’s the delivery and chemistry that the performers all have that make it all come together. What works especially is the love triangle between Clark, Lois and Lex. The show doesn’t just use kryptonite to show Superman’s vulnerabilities.
The DVD has some nice features. The pilot episode comes with an optional commentary track with Deborah Joy Levine, (who developed the show for ABC), Dean Cain, and one of the directors of the show, Robert Butler. Missing is Teri Hatcher, she’s too busy with “Desperate Housewives” most likely. The commentary is pretty standard – a lot of “remember this day of shooting?” and Cain complaining about how uncomfortable the costume was when shooting flying scenes.
Also interesting is the footage shown to the San Diego Comic-Con before the show premiered in the fall back in 1993. Certainly something to get Superman fans excited.
Other than that, there are two featurettes. One is simply a retrospective with Cain, Hatcher and John Shea, as well as some of the producers. They discuss how great shooting the show was and it’s problems of course, especially the ever changing cape Superman wore. The other is about the special effects on the show, and mostly discusses shooting Superman flying using green screen. Both featurettes are fairly short and don’t exceed much longer than fifteen minutes.
Overall, this was a great show, especially in it’s first season -- and for any Superman fan, it’s a must-own. Even if you’re not a comic book fan, you’re sure to get something out of this wonderful series.
Specifications: Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Full frame (1.33:1). English language subtitles for the hearing impaired as well as French and Spanish.
