Lois & Clark DVD Review
21 June 2005
Series Overview: With this being the Lois and Clark box set, and with Lois and Clark being based on the popular DC comic books of Superman, it would be wrong for me to jump straight in without giving a brief history of the man of steels role in TV and Movies, so fasten your seat belts and enjoy.
One comic book character which has been a staple in Television and Movies for many years is the story of Superman, in terms of television and movies you can trace the roots of Superman as far back as the 1940's when animator Max Fleischer brought Superman to the masses in his first animated presentation which cost $50,000, an amount which was unheard of back then. Fleischer produced 17 episodes of his Cartoon series which was very much a template for everything that followed in the live action and animated realms.
During the 1950's when Television was new Superman hit the news with his first live action series which starred the late George Reeves (No relation to the late Christopher Reeves), the series which ran for a few years was a modest success, and it had the feel of the classic 1930's movie serials, only with a very 1950's moral compass.
Several attempts were made to bring a live action Superman series to the screens during the 70's and 80's but it seemed that the franchise was destined to remain in the form of several animated incarnations. However this changed with the popular movie series which starred the late Christopher Reeves and actress Margot Kidder as Lois Lane , but as time past the movie series was edging dangerously close to self parody, and kind of died the death with the 4 th movie of the series (Quest for Peace).
In terms of Television a series featuring a young Clark Kent was commissioned for the USA Network back in 1988, the series was called ‘The New Adventures Of Superboy' and only lasted for 2 years due to cast changes and declining ratings, and like many other shows based on Comic book characters, it just didn't fly right.
Back in the late 80's and early 90's super heroes and genre television had become somewhat of a dirty word when used in terms of trying to pitch a show to the varied TV Network Executives, many TV shows based on super heroes from either DC or Marvel comics had been met with mixed reviews from audiences and didn't really last to long, an example being the television show based on the adventures of ‘The Flash' which failed to impress, so its fair to say that Lois and Clark had its work cut out for it and over a 4 year period the show would deliver and then some.
What Lois and Clark did different was to tell the story of Superman as a romantic comedy with some soap opera elements added to the mix, which was something that many fans of the Superman Comic Books didn't like. However it was this adding the humanity to Lois and Clark which gave the show great cross over appeal with the average Television viewer.
The characters had a somewhat different twist than that of the comic books as well, for example Clark Kent as played by Dean Cain was no longer a bumbling farm boy, he was a man who had traveled and seen a fair few different cultures, he was also slightly more at ease with being different, but still uncomfortable enough to discuss his feelings about it with his parents.
Another aspect which was different was that Clark actually went to his parents for advice when he needed too, and for the first time his parents were fleshed out as real characters in a TV series based on the adult life of Superman. This element gave us a window into exactly how Clark felt when trying to fit in with everyday folk.
As to Lois Lane (played by Teri Hatcher), she was updated to represent the powerful uncompromising woman of the 90's, this is something that is established very early on in the series and part of what drives the sexual tension and comedy elements as well as the will they or won't they aspect of the series. When really it is one huge joke, Lois lane being above Clark Kent when it comes to the day to day goings on at the Daily Planet, only what she doesn't know is Kent is really Superman.
Another aspect of the Lois and Clark series which brought some great humour and humanity to it was the late Lane Smith's portrayal of news editor and chief Perry White, Lois and Clark was the first show that I'd seen give Perry White an identity beyond being the boss, and the dynamic of him being like a father figure to his reporters, especially the young Jimmy Olsen worked really well. The fact is Lane Smith made a huge impression and many still regard his portrayal as the best.
Another change was the role of Lex Luther, who in the comic book series is bald, but for Lois and Clark Lex resembled more the Romantic lead, but with a very evil streak and a very twisted sense of humour.
This DVD Set contains all 21 episodes of the first season, which many regard as the series' strongest outing.
The Packaging: Looks very bright and has a nice publicity still of Lois and Clark on the front. The DVD's themselves each have an image of the two lead actors on. All looks very posh.
Audio and Visual: Lois and Clark transfers over onto DVD pretty well for a 12 year old show. The episodes have not been re-mastered or tinkered with, but they seem to have retained their broadcast quality, so all in all pretty good. Lois and Clark was shot with the use of 35 Millimetre film which was the common medium for the times, thus certain images and scenes will appear to have a softer focus to them, and you can expect a certain amount of noise grain especially during some of the action set pieces and visual effects scenes but for the most part it is fairly good quality.
The audio is clear and in stereo so it maybe worth blasting it out through your surround sound speakers just to see what it's like.
Extras: The extras include a copy of the demo reel which executive produce Deborah Joy LeVine showed the network in order to give them a clue as to how she would approach adapting Superman to a TV series, this has a brief introduction by the producer who talks about her initial worries about fans not accepting her ideas prior to her showing them the aforementioned demo reel.
You also get a fun commentary on the pilot episode which has some amusing anecdotes by producer Deborah Joy LeVine, Actor Dean Cain and Director Robert Butler. There is much to this commentary for example you will learn that Dean Cain was initially thought of as too young to play the role, and were it not for a fan base who saw him in a guest role on ‘Beverly Hills 90210' he may never have got a call back. We also learn during this commentary that Dean Cain actually beat out Kevin Sorbo for the role. Am sure many people are enormously relieved that Dean Cain got the role.
Also included is a short 25 minute documentary which is aptly titled ‘From Rivals To Romance: The Making Of Lois & Clark', this includes interviews with many of the actors including Dean Cain, Teri Hatcher and John Shae who portrayed Lex Luther.
And finally there is a fun documentary included which is about 6 minutes long and depicts how much of the special affects work was done. Most fans of newer shows will note that much of the visual effects in Lois and Clark were done with Blue Screens, wire work and all manner of devices which have been made somewhat obsolete today in television given that computer and digital effects have become a bit cheaper and more economical to pull off. When Lois and Clark was made those digital effects shots were just too expensive for television and were more a thing for the big blockbuster movies, so much of FX work in Lois and Clark is somewhat primitive when compared to what can be done now.
The above statements however do not really matter, due to the fact that Lois and Clark was more character driven and was about the relationships between the characters.
Navigation: Wow is all I can say really. The navigation is real simple, and you have some really nice animated menus to work through which depict headlines from the fictional ‘Daily Planet' newspaper which spin around leading you right into the menus. In fact the menus themselves make you want to watch the show.
Overall: Overall am really impressed with the presentation of this box set. It has brought back my enjoyment of the show, the effects look dated but so what. It's the comical interplay between Lois, Clark, Jimmie Olsen and Perry White which I truly enjoyed about this show, and having chance to revisit it on DVD has been a truly fun ride. Elements of the show were a bit soapy which is perhaps something that fans of the comic books will not like, but on the whole I would recommend this show to anyone who is seeking some good quality family entertainment.
Score: Am giving this set solid 8 out of 10 and hope that subsequent seasons released on DVD retain this sort of quality.
Please note that all images used in this review are licensed to Warner Home Video, for more information on Warner Home Video click here, for information on their release of Lois and Clark click here.
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