|
Smallville, the hit series which follows the adventures
of a teenaged Clark Kent and his friends - including Lana
Lang, Lex Luthor and Lois Lane - is one of the hottest shows
on TV. This volume of the authorised companion series explores
the making of Season Five, and is full of cast and
crew interviews, unseen pictures, behind-the-scenes stories
and a comprehensive episode guide. Also included are excerpts
from the Smallville Ledger and the Daily Planet,
as well as the Central Kansas University paper The Tomahawk!
Plus a special in-depth look at the making of the show's
critically acclaimed hundredth episode Reckoning and
a 16-page colour photo gallery...
Craig
Byrne delivers his second Smallville Official Companion,
following the guidelines carefully set down by Paul Simpson
for the first three volumes. If you've purchased any of the
previous collections then you'll know that, content wise,
these are essential purchases for serious Smallville
fans - even if the poor paperstock makes the majority of the
carefully chosen black and white photos appear blurred or
badly reproduced.
There
are no real surprises here, just (thankfully) more of the
same. Each episode for the show's Fifth Season has
a brief synopsis followed by background information on that
episode: the original vision; behind the scenes information;
how the episode would shape the future of the series; information
on the guest stars; etc... you know the sort of thing. Basically,
lots of interesting snippets of information that acts as a
complimentary companion to each episode.
In
addition, once again, in amongst the pages are little boxes
of trivia information; notes on the music tracks used in the
episodes; cuttings from various sources (the Smallville
Ledger, Daily Planet, The Tomahawk! and Project
Mercury) that help to flesh out each episode. Although,
I have to admit to not finding the inclusions of the newspaper
cuttings as useful. Some of them feel a little too much like
space fillers.
More
than half of this book is also taken up with pages that look
at the cast and crew as well as the Smallville phenomena.
Again, these sections will be welcomed by fans of the series.
There
are the usual slight complaints. As usual these have nothing
to do with the author's hard work in compiling the content.
As I've already mentioned, the paper stock is not really the
best for showcasing the numerous black and white photos. And,
because of this, most of the images look way too dark and
some look out of focus. Then there's the 16-pages of colour
photographs, While these are a much welcome inclusion, yet
again it's just a dry collection of publicity shots with individual
actors - although, once again there is a page devoted to a
series of stills from a scene in Season Five.
Those
slight grumbles aside, this is still one of the better Official
Companions on the market and will certainly take pride of
place in any Smallville fan's collection.
Steve
Mikando
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal! Click on the logo of the desired store
below to purchase this item.
|
|
|
£8.57
(Amazon.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£9.74
(Waterstones.com) |
| |
|
|
|
$10.17
(Amazon.com) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
