Buffy The Vampire Slayer - The Complete First Season (1997) Review

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(More customer reviews)For a first time screenwriter, Joss Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was a good effort for a feature film. I thought for sure the series was going to tank. When I started watching halfway through the first season, I quickly found that I was wrong. "Buffy" simply blossoms on television. I've been hooked ever since.
For the first time, Whedon has provided us with all the terrors of high school (remember those?) in a horror genre setting. Not only that, but he provides a confident, cool FEMALE character to trounce the bad guys. Whether you're a fan of the genre or a teenage feminist, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) provides a niche for the unpopular misfits in high school, but looks upon them as heroes. Were you as uncomfortable as Xander (Nicholas Brendon)? As geeky as Willow (Alyson Hannigan)? As quick with an aphorism as Oz (Seth Green)? The series proves that high school is indeed survivable no matter who you are, even if you're cliquish Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter). And in the end, the more unpopular you were - possibly the more important you were to your teenage community.
Mix in your favorite teacher (or librarian) played by Anthony Stewart Head (who should play "Doctor Who" after he's done with "Buffy") to be the requisite horror genre British pseudo-scientist, and Buffy's single mom (Kristine Sutherland) and you're all set to go with the most intelligent sci-fi TV series possibly written for this age group. (The next closest thing being the intelligent, yet non-sf "Freaks & Geeks".)
I'm not kidding. It's amazing how quickly these characters grow in the first season and their responses remain true to life despite the extraordinary situations they're thrown into. Creator Joss Whedon has become one of the most talented writer/directors working in the industry today, despite the fact that "Buffy" is most of what he's been doing for the last five years.
As far as what you get in this box set, you're in for a treat. This is the full first season, not just the half previously released on VHS; including the season finale "Prophecy Girl" - where we see just how heroic Buffy really is, despite her adolescence and fear of death. Also present throughout the series are teenage issues of emotional/sexual conflict ("Teacher's Pet") and problems with acceptance ("The Pack"). Specific highlights also include Whedon's commentary for the two part premiere as well as the first appearances of Angel (David Boreanaz) and Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte).
Remember, Buffy's not JUST about vampires. In fact I think it's safe to say that vampires are secondary to the emotional undercurrent of the show, if not a particular episode's plot. Forget "Felicity" and shove off of "Dawson's Creek", this is the one for the adults.

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INTO EACH GENERATION A SLAYER IS BORN. Now you can own the entire first season of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. All 12 classic episodes are available for the first time in this exclusive 3-disc collector’s edition.From "Welcome to the Hellmouth," "The Harvest" and "Angel" to "Nightmares," "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" and "Prophecy Girl," these Season One episodes are a must for every true Buffy fan.

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Second Season (1997) Review

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(More customer reviews)The second season continued one what was successfully started in the first season. The second season is a lot more ambitious (remember, the first season only had twelve episodes, unlike the rest which had 22).
The story arcs in the second season are brilliant. The romance between Angel and Buffy reached gothic heights with Surprise/Innocence (Surprise is astonishing). When Angel turns bad, David Boreanaz manages to do a sensational job of acting the transition (the episodes "Passion" and "I Only Have Eyes For You" are incredible in detailing this, and Buffy's reaction). Willow's romance with Oz is wonderful, and Giles attachment to Jenny Calendar a welcome addition.
This show still manages to be surprisingly funny (as seen in Halloween, and Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered) and packs a wallop (the two part season ender, Becoming I & II, are essential viewing for any Buffy fans. They are incredibly moving). Yes, there are some clunkers (Killed by Death, Bad Eggs), but they are more than redeemed.
My favourites are: Becoming I & II, Surprise/Innocence, I Only Have Eyes for You, Passion, School Hard, When She Was Bad, and Lie To Me
For a show set in high school, the writers have neatly side-stepped making a caricature of Anthony Stewart Head's librarian/Watcher Giles. His befuddled sexiness is immensely appealing. Alyson Hannigan's performance as wallflower Willow blooming into a witch (her growing powers are smartly charted by writers all the way through season six) is strong, and having the animosity between Xander and Cordelia boil over into lust was a masterstroke. Finally, we have to give the star her due. Sarah Michelle Gellar proved with this season that she's actually a capable actress, both with comic timing (Halloween) and pathos (Surprise/Innocence).
The second season was an immense improvement over the first season (a solid debut) and the quality continues. In my mind, the second and third season need to be bought together (or at least both bought). Story arcs introduced in the second season are wrapped up in the third season. Buy this set, you won't be disappointed.

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THE CHOSEN ONE HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN... Now you can own the entire second season of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. All 22 classic episodes are available for the first time in this exclusive 6-disc collectorÂ's edition.From Â"When She Was Bad,Â" Â"SurpriseÂ" and Â"Innocence,Â" to Â"PassionÂ" and Â"Becoming, Part OneÂ" and Â"Becoming, Part Two,Â" these Season Two episodes are a must for every true Buffy fan.

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) Review

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(More customer reviews)Joss Whedon was so upset with the way things were going on the set of the movie, for which he wrote the screenplay but over which he exercised no artistic control, that he walked off the set. Indeed, this is a very hard movie to watch today after the TV series. I did, in fact, moderately enjoy the movie when it first came out. I actually appreciated and enjoyed the absurd tension contained in the title, an airhead bimbo cheerleader called upon to be her generation's vampire slayer. But viewed today, the movie isn't terribly successful, and is in fact made much worse by the genius of the television series. It isn't just a question of Sarah Michelle Gellar being more appealing in the title role than Kristy Swanson (though SMG's much smaller stature increases the paradox of a tiny girl beating up large, supernaturally strong vampires) or the movie missing all the familiar characters of the show; the movie is almost completely devoid of its own style, look, and feel. Although the TV series started off on a tiny budget, it instantly had a compelling look and visual style that the movie completely lacks. Furthermore, on TV they managed a coolness and hipness that the movie never comes close to. Unfortunately, the series has pretty much reduced the movie to a curio.
Many talk of the movie falling short of Joss Whedon's vision in writing the original script. Actually, overall the plot isn't too terribly different. Buffy doesn't burn down the gym at the end in the movie as Whedon wrote, but while there are many stylistic differences, many of the main plot elements were retained. I find the main difference between the movie and the series to be in the "how" they tell the story rather than the "what" in the story. Cleverness and intelligence permeates the TV show; the movie is nearly entirely devoid of those qualities. Take the death of vampires. In the movie, they get staked and simply fall down. In the TV series, they explode, which is not merely a spectacular special effect used to great purpose, but, as Joss Whedon mentions on the DVD commentary, leaves less clean up as there are not bodies. Also, in the movie, there isn't anywhere near the emotional depth that one finds in the series.
Another part of the problem with the movie is the casting. Kristy Swanson isn't bad except when compared to Gellar, but Donald Sutherland is just dreadful. He plays his part as if he were a cartoon character, with a degree of camp that subtracts considerably from his humanity. In fact, the performances are almost uniformly awful. Not just Sutherland, but Rutger Hauer (someone I have loved in many other movies, especially in his Dutch films) and Paul Reubens create one almost unwatchable scene after another. David Arquette is at his worst here as well. In fact, the vampires are both poorly conceived and horribly executed, in contrast to the TV series. Many have noted the number of performers in supporting roles who later became well known, such as Ben Affleck, Natasha Gregson Wagner, and Hillary Swank (not to mention Stephen Root, who memorably played Milton the stapler guy in OFFICE SPACE)
On top of all this, the thing that set the TV show apart from most other forms of popular entertainment was the degree to which it allowed for deep interaction among the various character, something made virtually impossible by the short format of a film (and something that in the long run should prove to be television's innate superiority over film, if it can ever overcome the resistance of television network execs to produce art rather than vehicles for selling airtime for commercials--my fear is that BUFFY could be an exception rather than a harbinger of things to come).
In short, while not an awful movie, the movie version of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER is not the masterpiece the television series is.

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Blonde, bouncy Buffy (Kristy Swanson) is your typical high school cheerleader-- her goal is to "marry Christian Slater and die" and nothing gets in her way when it's time to shop.But all that changes when a strange man (Donald Sutherland) informs her she's been chosen by fate to kill vampires.With the help of a romantic rebel (Luke Perry), Buffy is soon spending school nights protecting L.A. from Lothos, the Vampire King (Rutger Hauer), his sidekick. Lefty (Paul Ruebens) and their determined gang of bloodsuckers.It's everything you'd expect from a teen queen in the Valley.

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