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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1 (New Edition)

RRP: £34.99
Our Price: £11.99 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) looks like your typical perky high-schooler, and like most, she has her secret fears and anxieties. However, while most teens are worrying about their next date, their next zit, or their next term paper, Buffy's angsting over the next vampire she has to slay. See, Buffy, a young woman with superhuman strength, is the "chosen one," and she must help rid the world of evil, namely by staking demons. The exceptional first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer introduces us to the treacherous world of Sunnydale High School (where Buffy moved after torching her previous high school's gym). The characters there include "watcher" Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) and the original "Scooby Gang" members--friendly geek Xander (Nicholas Brendon), computer whiz Willow (Alyson Hannigan), and snobbish popular girl Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter)--who aid Buffy in her quest. Those used to the darker tone that Buffy took in its later seasons will be surprised by the lighter feeling these first 12 episodes have--it's kind of like Buffy 90210 as the cast grapples with regular teen problems in addition to saving the world from demonic darkness. Fans of the show will enjoy the crisp writing, the phenomenal chemistry of the cast (already well-established within the first few episodes), and the introduction to characters that would stay for many seasons, including moody vampire Angel (David Boreanaz). Through it all, Gellar carries the series with amazing confidence, whether conveying the despair of high school or dispatching various demons--she's one of TV's most distinctive and strongest heroines. --Mark Englehart

Good, but weak in places.
Review date: 2008-02-13 Rating: 6 out of 10

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of my favourite shows. I gave the first series 3 stars, and the reason for this is that I feel there are several weak episodes, and some that are pretty much not worth watching. Actingwise it's fine, but it gets better along the course of the show, when the actors have learned more about their characters and become more comfortable. So even though this first series is perhaps a bit weak, I definitely reccommend it - it gets *a lot* better in the future series.

Reviews

A decent start
Review date: 2008-01-13 Rating: 6 out of 10

I imagine that this series seemed a lot better to me when I first saw it, not because it's bad now or anything, but because it was so completely eclipsed by some of the seasons that followed it (especially the third season).

For a start, at only 12 episodes (the show was originally a mid-season replacement), it just doesn't feel like a proper season of Buffy, without enough room for the engaging arcs of seasons 2, 3, etc - the season's Big Bad basically shows up in the first and last episodes, and doesn't really do much in between.

On top of that, the stand-alone, "monster of the week" episodes in this series aren't much to shout about either - it's nice to have seen them so as to get all the references and stuff later on (Amy's origins are useful to know, and they make loads of references to Xander's encounter with a giant preying mantis in later seasons when discussing his questionable choice in women), but they do look incredibly dated now (also, I got quite a shock the first time Angel showed up, he looks so freakishly young), and there's nothing to rival legendary stand-alones like Hush or Once More With Feeling etc.

That said, if you're going to watch Buffy at all it's very useful to have seen it from the beginning, as minor plot points and characters do become more important later on in Buffy (and Angel), and the trademark sharp writing is very much in evidence, so I certainly wouldn't advise against this, I would merely offer a word of warning: if you're getting into the show on reputation alone, maybe having been too young to see the early years first time around, then don't judge the show solely on these episodes, good as some of them are - use this as an introduction to the characters and themes, and hold out for the far superior 2nd and 3rd seasons.

such a bad copy
Review date: 2007-10-25 Rating: 6 out of 10

I have been a big Buffy fan since it was shown on TV.
I live in Norway and decided to buy them from amazon, as custom taxes are huge here I decided to buy them seperatly and these cheap seasons were so appealing.
I bought them all seperatly and I can say the same thing for each: they are of such poor quality. They look like a bad copies from an other DVD. Nothing is cristal clear. The image even sometimes looks like it is in slow motion... I tried them on my 2 dvd players and they are the same (if not worst on my older dvd player).
I guess this is the price to pay if we want to buy them cheaper?
I think it is a shame.

Good. But Not Great.
Review date: 2007-09-18 Rating: 6 out of 10

The first season of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer". Its a good introduction to all of the core characters(Buffy, Xander, Willow and Giles), but unfortuanetly a lot of the episodes are quite weak in comparision to the episodes in the later seasons.

The best episode of this season would be episode 12: Phrophecy Girl. Its the best because its a good conclusion to the seasons story arc. But to be honest, there isn't much competition for the "best episode of season 1 award".

This season is better when you RE-watch it because its good to see all of the characters in there early days, before all the bad dark stuff happens. But buy this because its still entertaining TV!!

A Great Start To A Great Series!
Review date: 2007-08-07 Rating: 10 out of 10

The first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer consisted of only twelve episodes. The series opening was to establish the main character Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her relationship with her watcher Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) and her two friends Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) and Xander (Nicholas Brendan). Buffy's mother Joyce Summers is played by Kristine Sutherland who is totally ignorent of the fact that her daughter is a slayer. The first series also establishes the character of Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter) a rather ambitious and a little snooty student who eventually becomes an important character in her own right.

There are some good episodes in this first season, with its usual mix of horror, hilarity, (yes, some of the scenes are really very funny) and human elements as the friends try to establish close relationships despite being surrounded by vampires and demons emerging from below ground since Sunnydale where the stories are set is built on a Hellmouth. Some of the best episodes are:

Welcome To The Hellmouth/The Harvest
Teachers Pet
The Pack
Angel
The Puppet Show
Nightmares (this is my own favourite from this first season)
Prophecy Girl (this is a corker!)

There is also a brief introduction to the mysterious Angel (David Boreanaz) who eventually becomes an important part of Buffy's life as she battles to save the souls of those who live around her.

There are some fabulous one liners which refer to other movies "Dont go all Wild Bunch on me!) (The Harvest) which is a reference to the final scene in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch; and "We're talking full-on Exorcist twist" (Teachers Pet) a reference to perhaps the most famous Horror Movie of all time The Exorcist. There are many others of course, and you should listen out for them.

My favourite episode is Nightmares which is quite hilarious in parts, the scene in which Willow finds herself on stage suffering from stage fright during a scene from Madam Butterfly is one of the highlights of the season. I am sure Buffy fans will have their own favourites though.

A great start to a great series which is still very popular today. My own criticism of the DVDs in the box set however, is that some of the episodes are rather grainy and lack detail in some of the dark scenes. Although Season Two is much better. And the sound isnt 5:1 Audio Surround Sound, although it is adequate in Dolby Pro-Logic if your system does provide it. A very good buy though, and much cheaper too.

Product Details/Specifications

Actor(s):
Alyson Hannigan
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Nicholas Brendon
Anthony Stewart Head
Charisma Carpenter

Director(s):

Recording label: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
EAN: 5039036018579
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 3
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2005-10-03
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 528 minutes
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Brand: Generic

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1 (New Edition)

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