Rating: 
Summary: Buffy arrives & it's better than the movie
Review: This show is a pinnacle of quality in both writing and production. To see the difference between where the show is now versus where it was then, the box set does wonders.Joss Whedon(Toy Story, Speed, Alien Ressurrection) has reclaimed his movie story for Buffy and revitalized it as a series of relevance and entertainment. This boxed set & the price are nice.
Rating:
Summary: The beginning of one of the best shows on TV...
Review: Buffy has to be one of the best written show on television...and to be able to watch the whole first season on dvd is tremendous! Unfortunately, suffering from it's own name, people tend not to give it the chance that it deserves. Trust me...this is definitely one to check out! It's rare to see such a talented cast of actors together in an intelligently scripted storyline. Kudos to the creator, Joss Whedon for taking his Hollywood-botched movie, and transforming it into the serious drama/horror/action/comedy that he intended it to be. This is where it all starts. I can't say that the first season is the best of the Buffy series, but it's definitely better than most shows out there. From the first episode, BTVS has shown a steady rise in plot and drama, while always keeping a lighthearted twist. You can see the cast gel together...and when the first season is finished, you'll find yourself wanting more. The moral of the story: Give the show a chance! After watching a few episodes of the first season, most people find themselves pleasantly surprised. Not hooked...but pleasantly surpised. You'll have to wait until season two for that...
Rating: 
Summary: Low budget, high thrills
Review: I've been known to knock Buffy over the past few years, but here's a dirty little secret: I regularly followed the series throughout its first four seasons. I was one of the maybe 10 people nationwide who actually watched the premiere episode on its March 1997 airdate, and while I wasn't knocked out, I was entertained enough that I continued watching the show for the next four years. It was only later that I got sick of the show (a story for another day), but I guess you could say that, despite its weaknesses, Season 1 of Buffy was strong enough to make me a fan of the series.
So why do I knock Buffy these days? Mostly because of the impact it had on other TV programs, particularly "Alias." Buffy takes place in a fantasy world, with vampires and monsters and "chosen ones," and that's fine, because these things are accepted in this fantasy world. However, when a series like "Alias," which is supposed to be more realistic, starts having its main character fend off multiple attackers with stunt-doubled high-kicks and also discovers she herself is a "chosen one," I begin to have problems. There are other reasons I've made fun of Buffy over the past few years, but, having just re-watched the first season, I've realized they're all moot. Buffy is a fun show, one that never takes itself too seriously (unlike "Alias"), and entertainment is its prime directive.
Everyone will tell you the same thing: Season 1 is good, but Buffy gets much better later on. That's true, but there's no need to dampen Season 1's entertainment value. Each first season episode pretty much operates like a "monster of the week" special, and there are no season-long arcs, like we'd get in later seasons. Instead, this season focuses on setting up the characters, the stories, and the strange hellmouth that Sunnydale rests on. Comedy is more important than most anything else, and even the martial arts sequences, which the show soon became known for, are a bit underdeveloped. In a way, each of these Season 1 episodes are like an amateur director's first film: a bit awkward at times, a little rough around the edges, but always full of energy.
The two-part pilot is probably the best of the bunch, and if I remember it right, it was actually a two-hour premiere back in the day, but here on disc it's presented as two separate episodes. Written by series creator Joss Whedon (who didn't start to direct until later in the season), you can tell the producers had some time to film this episode, as it features more set-ups, pans, fades, and other assorted directorial "tricks" than later Season 1 episodes. Proving again how quickly this season moves, our entire cast of characters is introduced within a handful of minutes; these are the people who will carry the show for seven seasons, and in no time at all we've met them and know how they work. An impressive bit of storytelling that just about any screenwriter could learn from. Beyond that, this episode works like a film in itself, introducing the Master, Season 1's main villain.
The other episodes this season are a bit scattered, some strong ("Angel"), some weak ("I Robot, You Jane"). Since Buffy was a mid-season replacement, there are only 12 episodes, and The Master doesn't feature into the season's grander scheme as later main villains would. Instead, he mostly sulks in his lair, awaiting the season finale; not your most compelling villain. There are episodes that spotlight Buffy's circle of friends, like "The Pack," which features Xander descending into hyena territory (a good episode, other than those VERY annoying hyena-cries Xander and pals keep making), and "Out of Sight, Out of Mind," which adds more depth to snooty Cordelia (and also has a nice Beatles reference in the final shot).
The cast is strong, stronger than any low-budget supernatural/comedy thriller should be entitled to. Whedon and his co-producers were either lucky or blessed when they pieced this cast together. If you only judge Sarah Michelle Gellar from feature film debacles like "Practical Magic" or "Scooby-Doo," then you don't know what this talented actress is capable of. Like most others, during Season 1's initial airing it was Willow who appealed to me, but watching these episodes again, I found Buffy much more appealing, which was no doubt due to Gellar's portrayal and talents. And that's not even getting into the physical aspect! Seriously though, in later seasons Buffy was a bit more fierce and grim (sort of like a young Linda Hamilton), but in these first season episodes she's the definition of nubile. She's also a bit more high-spirited, something that was lost later on. I can safely say that most guys watching this season will find themselves falling hard for Ms. Summers/Gellar.
The rest of the cast is just as great: there's Alyson Hannigan as Willow, every fanboy's dream girl. A living Japanimation character, the fan community accepted her with open arms. This season doesn't give her the chance to show off her acting chops like later seasons would, but she's impressive and likeable regardless. Nicholas Brendon is Xander Harris, my favorite character on the show (until Spike arrives, that is), but on my recent rewatching of the season, I didn't like him as much as before. Maybe that's because I realized Xander (and, to an extent, just about every other character on the show) talks and acts just like Chandler from "Friends." Do a side-by-side comparison, and you'll see what I mean. Joss Whedon is worshiped by some for his gift for dialog and storytelling, but in many ways, he apparently lifted a LOT from the character of Chandler.
Next we have Anthony Stewart Head as the stuffy Watcher Giles, and he's great here, but again gets more opportunity in later seasons. Then there's Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia; funny character, good acting, but a mere shadow of what the character would later become. And on top of that, Carpenter looks nothing like a teenager, I don't know who the producers thought they were fooling. Finally we have David Boreanaz as Angel. The funny thing here is how much more interesting and impressive this actor/character became over the following years, because honestly Boreanaz isn't that strong of an actor this first time out, and his character as well soon was given a lot more depth.
Visually, the show looks pretty good. Even though it was shot on 16mm film, the lighting and cinematography are so professional and well-done that you'd never notice. The sets are a bit cheap at times, as are the special effects and monster makeup, but not so bad as to ruin your enjoyment of the show. The soundtrack is low-budget as well; most of it sounds like it was recorded on a demo keyboard at the local RadioShack.
The DVD release is fullscreen, but as Whedon has constantly pointed out, Buffy was framed for fullscreen presentation throughout its seven-season run. So in other words, Buffy in fullscreen is the way the show was intended to be seen. There's some grain on the print, and some of the night scenes are murky, but this is the fault of the 16mm source print, rather than a DVD flaw. The extras are passable, if a bit bareboned. Whedon provides commentary for the first two episodes, relating all sorts of information about the series. However, it sort of sounds like he's trying to suppress a belch throughout, which is disturbing. There are also some interviews with Whedon and Boreanaz, as well as a few features with Whedon talking about the individual episodes. No deleted scenes or making-of documentaries; that doesn't come until later season boxsets.
Like I said above, despite the low-budget limitations in its first season, Buffy is still a legitimately entertaining and high-spirited series, and I can't think of any other show, other than the Simpsons, that tried so hard to maintain and reward its fan base over the course of its run. Give Buffy a try. Regardless of your reservations, you'll more than likely find yourself hooked on it, and you can rest assured that the series just gets better and better. And this is coming from a guy who generally can't stand monster/vampire flicks.
Rating:
Summary: A Slayer is born
Review: With the creation and elaboration of the "Buffyverse," Joss Whedon proved himself to be one of the most talented auteurs working in television today. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the subsequent and equally entertaining spin-off "Angel" postulates a world that is pervaded by the supernatural. Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), an otherwise normal high school girl, is the current incarnation of the Slayer, a superpowerful force for good that always takes the form of a young woman. Along with her friends Xander (Nicholas Brendon) and Willow (Allyson Hannigan), her mentor Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), her mysterious boyfriend Angel (David Boreanaz), and the venomous Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), she struggles with the forces of darkness and adolescence in equal measure.
No program has ever done a better job of mixing thrills, comedy and genuine drama. I remove a star from the first season simply to give myself somewhere to go later, when Whedon had finished assembling a core of writers who thoroughly understood his concept, and the show reached its creative heights. Standout episodes include "Welcome to the Hellmouth" (the series premiere that introduces Buffy to her new school), "Angel" (which reveals a devastating secret about her mysterious paramour), "Puppet Show" (a hilarious and creepy episode about a living ventriloquist's dummy and some mysterious murders), and "Prophecy Girl" (the season finale that resolves the Master story arc).
Rating:
Summary: The foundamental stuff of a slayer
Review: Very well written eposides, smooth and conviencing character developement, consistent and interesting story-telling.
At the first few eposides, it is only a funny horror comedy, and then it grows. In the last eposide, we can really see how the charcater had grow, and reveal the true insight of someone who is totally lonely and bear such burden (ie, the slayer). It can apply to any one who is under the same situation; a company's CEO, or a teenager, for instance.
This is a foundation and beginning of a great show. A must see.
The only pitfall is the color of the DVD menu is over exposed, too red and difficult to the eyes.
Rating: 
Summary: Stupid girly show
Review: This show offers nothing for the casual male viewer other than watching a semi-attractive talentless bimbo attempt to "fight" against mythical demons/vampires. The storylines are stupid, full of plotholes, make no sense, and are designed to appeal to the immature female crowd. The mere fact that one of the main characters becomes a lesbian is enough for any guy to realise that this show is designed for females who are anti-male.
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst shows ever!!!!
Review: Looking in hindsight, it's a miracle that this show was not cancelled after the atrociously bad first season. What do we have here, after all? A show led by an annoying soap opera diva "star" who is not half as talented as she believes herself to be; a show full of negative energy, bad influences, plot holes larger than evertyhting you've ever imagined (for instance, once Buffy used a ROCKET LAUNCHER INSIDE A MALL - and this was not even big news!!), a perfectly normal, young and brilliant character (Willow), who the writers turned GAY for the sake of nothing! (nothing against gays, it was simply not necessary). And the reason she became gay is because she lost the love of a guy who could not even bother to speak! (the werewolf Seth Green).
But the plot holes are the real annoying thing. Suspension of desbelief won't make you forget them, because they are the essence of the show itself! It seem Joss Whedon made fun of all of the fans since the beginning. How, I repeat, HOW could Sunnydale High reamins open with people being killed by THE DOZENS inside it? There was no amount of police or Mayor's influence that could keep this secret. From teachers, to students, to coaches, to cleaning guys, a LOT of people died inside that school, all of them in a very violent mammer (in one episode, a guy kills his school budy because he's under influence of a demon who is inside the Internet... and he does it in a way to look like suicide - evil, evil, evil...) And, come next day, no one cares about nothing. Parents don't argue the authorities about what's happening (in "GO FISH", four students become monstruous fihes and disappears forever, wehen they go happily swimming into the ocean - what happened to their partens, their loved ones, the ones who cared about them?!!)
Also we have a guy called Xander capable of leaving his future wife at the altar, only beacue he has "doubts". We also have sadistic writers who are capable of making the aforementioned main character (Xander) loses one eye for the sake of absolutely nothing at the final season.
We have Cordelia Chase, who, even after being saved dozens of times by the heroe of the show, still treats her with contempt, as if she was a freak. By the way, look how Buffy dresses in high school. She lives with a divorced mother (and the show makes it clear that his father is very absent), and she dresses like a queen, everyday with clothes more expensive than the other. How silly and vain is that?!! Even Cordelia doesn't dress this way!
Also, where are the parents? It seems every adult in this show is bad, useless and mean. Be it The Watcher Counsil. the school principal, whatever.
All in all, this show is stupid, mean and ultra violent show that has only bad intentions. I cannot believe that the same Whedon that woked in TOY STORY created this horrible show.
Rating:
Summary: "We saved the world. I say we party." - Buffy Summers
Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer the TV series began as a mid-season replacement (there are only 12 episodes in the first season) which means you're fighting for your life right off the bat. Since the creative team, primarily Joss Whedon, had to hit the ground running, for episode ideas they ruthlessly plundered every pre-existing horror concept they could lay hands on. In this first season, the episodes are much more stand alone, monster-of-the-week fests than the complex, long-term story arcs that would characterize later seasons. You either rise to such a challenge or you falter. Whedon & Co. went the former route, and in doing so, the frantic efforts of everyone involved lend this season a manic inventiveness, mixed with a certain schlockiness, that's immensely appealing.
In Season One, everyone involved with the project was willing to ruthlessly exploit any advantage they had to ensure the series survived. This included dressing Sarah Michelle Gellar in every lowcut, tight outfit complete with push-up bra they could find (which led Gellar to joke in an interview they were trying to morph her into Pamela Sue Anderson). Even Willow, who in later episodes would be presented as kind of dowdy until she blossomed into beauty years later, wears quite a bit of makeup in the pilot. Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia of course always looked phenomenal. And if having three great looking girls in the pilot episode was what it took to draw in male viewers, the Buffy crew was okay with that.
Episode One of Buffy the Vampire Slayer could be used as a textbook example of how to do a television pilot. Within minutes, without feeling forced or artificial, all the main characters are introduced, their personalities and the dynamics of the relationships that will carry them for years to come firmly established. Buffy Summers is an intelligent smartass desperate to leave behind her life as the "Chosen One". Alexander "Xander" Harris has the self-image of a geek (in many ways he IS a geek) but underneath that beats the heart of a noble knight and an utter willingness to be completely devoted to Buffy. Willow Rosenberg is a computer whiz with a sweet disposition, repressed sexuality, and an IQ that looks like a zip code. Joyce Summers is a stressed-out, hard working divorced mom who truly loves her daughter but only knows how to show it by being overbearing and critical to the point of cruelty. Angel is a brooding, mysterious, angst-ridden hunk with a dark past and immense - and reciprocated - attraction toward Buffy. Rupert Giles, the school librarian and Buffy's Watcher, is a veddy proper Englishman, a softspoken but demanding mentor, and supplies the father figure that Buffy, the product of a broken home, so desperately needs. Ultra-popular, ultra-beautiful, ultra-self-centered Cordelia Chase is the girl every guy wanted, and every girl hated, in high school. She serves the important function of being the one person in the entire show so insensitive, so blunt, she'll simply tell the truth as she sees it (which is spot-on an amazing amount of the time) no matter how unpleasant that truth may be. After Charisma departed Buffy for Angel, that function was served by the character of Anya, less successfully in my opinion. Anya's lack of tact was due to inexperience and ignorance of human social rules. Cordelia Chase by contrast knew she was being rude. She just didn't care. Thus her character had more edge.
There's been much written about how BtVS takes real human problems, expanding them through the device of the supernatural without ever losing the core emotional truth that people, especially adolescents, recognize and respond to. Thus in Season One we have a story about Xander being stalked by a praying mantis woman intent on mating with then dismembering him - but it's really a story about the terror of losing your virginity. We have a story about a pyromaniac witch killing cheerleaders - but it's really a story about parents trying to push their children to be just like them. We have a werewolf story (actually in this case werehyenas) - but it's really about being victimized by school bullies and finding the courage to fight back. We have a demon luring kids to their deaths Internet stalker-style - but it's really a story about wanting love so much you look for it in the wrong places. And so on.
To start with, Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a small (but fiercely loyal) band of viewers. I was one of them. These episodes will show you why we knew, from the very beginning, something great was in the process of happening - something that with Season Two would become a cultural phenomenon.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended
Review: I hear lots of complaints about the picture quality, these are good quality dvd's, yes it could be better, but given it was shot on 16mm, its a very good value.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Show of All Time, pt. 1
Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the greatest show in television history. Buffy's First Season will not prove this conclusively to you, but it is required viewing before you get to the episodes and seasons which *will*.
You're probably saying to yourself "Yeah--right. A show about vampires, called 'Buffy' for crissakes. I'm sure that'll be *really* great... if you're a twelve year old." I mean, that's exactly what I said before I sat down to watch. But let me tell you that Buffy displays a level of intelligence and continuity that almost no other show does. The writing is in a league of its own, hitting home-runs in comedy, tragedy and suspense. The characters, despite their being fantastic (like witches and demons, etc.) are emotionally realistic and sympathetic. The acting is commendable. The direction, often top-notch. The special effects and scoring are somewhat weak in the first season, but they improve as the series progresses and eventually are quite compelling. And, above all, the storytelling is magnificent beyond compare. No other show can boast episodes like Becoming, The Body, Once More With Feeling, Who Are You, Innocent and Prophecy Girl, among others. No other show even attempts the daring of Buffy--the musical, the silence of Hush, the darkness of the sixth season or the zaniness of The Zeppo.
It's hard to back up all of these claims in a short review like this--after all, the show runs seven seasons--and it's impossible to do without spoiling things that should be surprises. But let me tell you that Buffy manages to create loveable characters that will live well beyond the series, gut-wrenching moments that will move cynics to tears, laugh-out-loud lines that your friends will quote without end, and moral dilemmas that will get you to think, and re-think, and argue and debate and discuss.
In the end, you should go out of your way to watch this series. But don't rush because you have time; Buffy will be with us for a while. The quality of the series is such that it has already inspired spin-offs, novels, conventions and academic conferences(!). So enter, and with an open mind--the show will do the rest.
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