Rating: 
Summary: The kind of TV that is actually art...
Review: Season Five of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is one of the show's most consistently excellent. Here are few of my thoughts on this amazing show/season:1) This season is one of the most artful that Joss Whedon ever wrote. Sure, it begins with one of the show's most lackluster season premieres ("Buffy vs. Dracula") but it really picks up as soon as Dawn is introduced. Almost ever episode in this season is excellent. The mood is perfect and the actors get even better than we all thought was possible (especially the fantastic James Marsters).
2) Season Five contains some of the most excellent individual episodes in the show's entire run. "The Body" is one of the most moving hours of television ever created. There is absolutely no music in the episode- so it plays out like real life. Oh the grief. It makes me sob every time I see it.
Other excellent episodes include "The Replacement" (one of the show's funniest episodes), "Fool for Love" (an enjoyable Spike-focused episode) and "The Weight of the World" (an interesting episode- I especially like the Willow-in-Buffy's-mind scenes). 3)Glory is the show's best big bad-hands down. Clare Kramer is brilliant. After the unimpressive "Adam" of Season Four, Glory is a breath of fresh air. You really hate her. And her minions are fun to watch (I love the scene in "Tough Love" in which they are blindfolded as she takes a bubble bath). 4) "The Gift" is the most amazing season finale in television history. From the get go it is right in your face and gut wrenching. That final scene- so powerful. Joss Whedon is such a genious. Try and catch this one on actual television so you can see the brilliant "Previously on Buffy" segment. And now for my few complaints about this DVD/ season:
1) The "Previously on Buffy" segment mentioned above should be included.
2) The character of Angel is underused in the episode "Forever".
3) Riley is one of my least favorite characters on Buffy and I was glad to see him leave in "Into the Woods". He was weak and boring.
4) The characters of Tara, Anya and (the incredible) Xander were underused throughout the entire season. Nicholas Brendon (Xander) is so funny and warm. I missed his one liners and comfort.
5) As mentioned above, there are a few clunker episodes. "Buffy vs. Dracula" is simply not strong enough to be a season premiere. "Shadow" runs slow and "Family" only picks up at the very end. Buy this DVD! If you aren't a fan of Buffy, you don't know what you're missing. It is one of the best shows ever created.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Season of the Series
Review: Season 5 by far surpasses any season of Buffy. The most dramatic and heartbreaking of them all. Season 5 even beats Season 2's Angel/Buffy storyline. Containing some of the most powerful episodes on television such as No Place Like Home, The Body, Forever, Tough Love, and The Gift. All heartwrenching episodes that proves that ensemble is one of the best. All the acting is superb, especially Sarah Michelle Gellar. Her performance in The Body should have won her an Emmy, or at least got her nominated. My friend who hates Sarah saw this episode and it changed her entire opinion on her, she was in tears. I'm not going to get into the details of the season, you'll have to see for yourself, but believe me when I say, you'll be stunned. A remarkable, unbelievable season.
Rating: 
Summary: Jump the Guppy
Review: I think that Season Five of "Buffy" betrayed the first signs that the series was getting old. Not in a bad way -- there was never a bona fide jump the shark moment -- but the sum of its parts was slightly less than the whole. Many great episodes, both comic and tragic, but the glue holding it all together was a little weak. The early changes in "Buffy"'s format were terrific. The young Michelle Trachtenberg, Buffy's sister Dawn, did a great job creating the kind of character that's usually the bane of an aging show: the newly-introduced family member. At age 15, Trachtenberg introduced a very natural acting style far more palatable than even Sarah Michelle Gellar's work at a similar age. The explanation behind Dawn's sudden appearance -- that reality was molded around Buffy's life to account for the insert of a teenage sister -- is carried off with great humor. "Real Me", an episode that could have alienated the entire audience, turned out to be one of the show's enduring classics, and did a great job of reinventing the show yet again. Joyce Summers (Kristine Sutherland) departed the series late in the season, after surviving a battle with brain cancer. Not much more can be said about how superb "The Body" is. One of Joss Whedon's finest scripts (and directing jobs) handled the sudden death of a major character with a combination of grace and raw shock. Not only was there no incidental music, but the camera was off-centered and Buffy's POV shots were kept out of focus. The episode ended with a morgue fight sequence, as Buffy battled the ugliest vampire we've seen yet: a scarred, bruised, pale creature, not wearing any clothes. Spike's first full season as a regular established him as the dark comic/light tragic sidekick that buoyed him right on over to "Angel" once "Buffy" finally went off the air. "Fool For Love" took us from a surprise twist on the origin of the name "William the Bloody"), through Spike's elationship with Drusilla, and his killing of two slayers (the latter death would become even more significant in Season 7). Around this time we learned that Spike developed a crush on Buffy, a scenario played at first for laughs, until it reached a climax in the dark, dark Valentine's Day comedy ("Crush"). The weak spot of the season, if there was one, came from the year's Big Bad, Glory (Clare Kramer), an evil god from another dimension, locked into our own world. Glory engaged in season-length pursuit of "The Key", a mystical force bound into human form and hidden in this dimension by Eastern European monks. Clare Kramer's acting style is energetic, manic and gleeful, but Glory failed to ever have a meaningful connection with Buffy, unlike previous season villains (Spike, Angel, Faith, the Mayor, the Initiative). Glory and Buffy just fight several times, until Buffy bonks Glory over the head with a troll hammer. Joel Gray was introduced as a recurring character late in the season -- in the midst of a string of chase/capture/pursuit episodes that lacked much individual flavor or movement -- but was never really given much to do. He left the show just in time to miss Season 6's musical episode. There's also no real "twist" in the season, no betrayal by Angel or Faith, no sudden revelation of a new, more dangerous villain than we'd previously suspected. "The Gift" remains one of "Buffy"'s better season finales. When Glory is finally dispatched, the deed is done using elements from several previous episodes (including the hilarious "Triangle", an episode featuring the return of Anya's ex-husband, an ale-guzzling troll), and the mystical connection between Dawn and Buffy is finally exploited. And then it all ended in a slow-motion dive from the top of the tower, and the season's final shot, a tombstone, informed us that "She saved the world. A lot.", and, for the second time, a "Buffy" season ended with Buffy's life in total disarray, but this time, we'd have to wait through four months -- and a change in networks -- to find out if we were ever getting her back.
Rating:
Summary: LIFE CHANGES
Review: I HAVE WATCHED BUFFY SINCE THE FIRST EPISODE AND BY THE FIFTH SEASON WAS HAVING BUFFY SEASON PREMIER AND FINALE PARTYS AT MY HOUSE. THIS PAST YEAR WHILE TAKING CARE OF MY TERMINALLY ILL MOTHER I WATCHED AS BUFFY FACED MANY MORE CHALLENGES AND WON THEM ALL.MOM PASSED AWAY BEFORE THE LAST BUFFY AND IT HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS LOSS FOR ME. SARAH GAVE ME THE STRENGTH TO GET THROUGH A TOUGH TIME AND I THANK HER FOR 7 INCREDIBLE YEARS. I KNOW THERE WONT BE ANYMORE BUT ONE CAN ALWAYS HOPE.
THANKS JOSS AND ALL THE CAST FOR A SERIES THAT WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED...
Rating:
Summary: Special Features Review
Review: This is a review of the special features for the Buffy Season Five DVD. If you have queries how I've seen it, I have it on Region 4 and its definitely worth buying on Region 1 if you're a big Buffy fan. **SPECIAL FEATURES** DISC 1 -- Commentary by David Fury & David Grossman for "Real Me" - I didn't find this all that interesting because I didn't exactly love the episode, but David Fury has some interesting things to say about introducing Dawn. DISC 2 -- Commentary by Douglas Petrie and script for "Fool For Love" - Douglas Petrie's commentary is not as great as I expected, he should've gone into more detail about the behind-the-scenes stuff in "FFL" instead of focusing on all the plot points. However we get some information on the building of the sets and his motivation to do the episode. DISC 3 -- Trailers - We get trailers for Buffy Season 2, Buffy Season 3, Buffy Season 4, Buffy the Movie, Angel Season 1 and Angel Season 2. Script for "Into the Woods" - What can I say? Good script. Featurettes - Buffy Abroad, Demonology: A Slayers Guide, Casting Buffy, Action Heroes - The Stunts of Buffy
**I haven't watched Buffy Abroad yet, but if it is anything as good as the hilarious Danny Strong hosted Demonology, or as insightful as Casting Buffy, or as stunt-packed as Action Heroes, it should be a good watch. DISC 4 -- Script for "Checkpoint" - Nice script. I wish they were easier to read though. Commentary by Jane Espenson for "I Was Made to Love You" - One of the more honest commentaries I've heard. Jane goes into detail about the things she liked and didn't like about the episode, and also why she wrote it. DISC 5 -- Commentary by Joss Whedon for "The Body" - This is one excellent commentary. Joss talks about making the episode, why he chose to shoot the way he did, the pacing of the episode, the actors, and how hard it was to make it in such a depressing mood. Anybody who loved the episode (its my second favourite) will LOVE the commentary. DISC 6 -- Featurettes - The Story of Season 5, Natural Causes, Spotlight on Dawn
**The Story of Season 5 is fun to watch because you get interviews with the cast, crew and writers and why they did the episodes they did (especially liked the talk about "Buffy vs. Dracula"). I really wish Sarah would allow herself to be interviewed, she never really talks about Buffy on the DVDs. Also, they never talked much about "The Gift" as an episode, but talked a lot about the minor episodes like "The Replacement." I'd love to hear what she has to say. Natural Causes is an excellent look at the making of "The Body" and why the writers chose to have Joyce die a natural death. Spotlight on Dawn talks about the importance of family and Dawn symbolising that. Excellent featurettes, better than the Disc 3 ones. Still Gallery - Nice promo pics for the season. I wish there were more of "The Gift" and less of "Buffy vs. Dracula" just like I did with the Story of Season 5 featurette.
_________________________________________________________ TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY? I say buy. There is a good load of special features here, all enjoyable to watch or listen to. The only complaint I have is that there is no commentary for "The Gift" and the writers don't really talk that much about it when they are interviewed. Did something bad happen on the making of that episode? Oh well, apart from that small flaw, this DVD is probably the best Buffy DVD package to date, but I haven't bought Season 6 yet, but I'll be getting it soon, and will review when a page comes up for it.
Rating:
Summary: Buffy Season Five
Review: I never watched Buffy in Syndication. As a matter of fact I don't watch T.V. very often. I happened to catch a episode of Buffy over at a friends house and have been hooked ever since. I don't have a favorite season. I have favorite episodes but the show has been consistantly well written since the first season. I just wish that such a well written show wasn't gone. The whole show was a impressive display of our culture, relationships and the heartaches we all suffer. Bravo to the Joss Whedon and his team of writers. P.S. I heard that Sarah Michelle Geller had signed a contract to appear in a couple of episodes of Angel during the upcomming season. If only we could get the whole cast to come back for a few more seasons. I miss them already. (B00 HOO)
Rating:
Summary: Oh The Drama
Review: The 5th season of Buffy was top-notch. Everyone involved in the show did an unbelievable job building up everything to the incredible finale ("The Gift"). You can literally feel the tension and desperation as the series closes in on its finale. Now I like my Buffy dramatic and, if you do too, you will LOVE this season. One highlight of the seasoon is a very capable witchy Willow. She really takes the lead here with her love for Tara, her confidence in her own abilities, and some wicked attacks on Glory (who didn't love Willow floating in and saying "I owe you pain"...good times). The extras on this DVD look like a huge improvement compared to the prior seasons. Outakes and casting featurettes sound interesting and I am really looking forward to all of the commentaries (especially Joss Whedon's on "The Body"). Of course I would say that all seasons of Buffy are worth the buy but I emphasize that point on Season Five due to its incredible storyline and arcs (if you're a big fan of the Season 2 arcs, you will find that Season 5 holds close to that more dramatic formula with many heart-wrenching, incredibe moments...which makes for some great Buffy).
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Season...one thing missing
Review: Season Five is in my opinion up there with Season Three in terms of story development. I really liked how the characters grew and the biliiant introduction of Dawn into the story line. Since so much has been written about the season's stories I will use my review to ask the producers of the DVD for a few small chances. Season Five brings about the first outtake clip of the series YEAH!. However one thing that is missing and would have been a real treat is if there was a way to access the brilliantly done Previously montage to The Gift. The Gift is the 100th episode in the series and in the course of two minutes the creators manage to capture five years of story line. It was very well done and would have been nice to see as part of this DVD collection.
Rating:
Summary: Best show ever made
Review: ... i think it's the best show ever made some people make the 7 season i think it was one of the best seasons...
Rating:
Summary: My favorite season of Buffy.
Review: Buffy had a mostly great run until then.Season one was a good beginning.Season two gave us some of the best drama ever.Season three was an extremely consistent and amazing tale.Season four proved the show could still be great even with all the changes.What about season five?Season five is up there with season three.And actually I do prefer by a little bit season five.This season gave us Dawn and she was great in this season.It gave us the best big bad too Glory.Glory is amazing.Even the Mayor or Angelus are below her.The story-arc of season five is quite simply outstanding.It's great from beginning to end and also very dramatic and sad.The show hadn't been this dramatic since season two.The departure of Riley,Joyce's death,Buffy's death.Truly an epic year.Action packed too.Especially in the second half.Season five is very refreshing after season four because while I loved season four,its story arc wasn't exactly as great as it could have been.Everything works great though in season five.Only complaint is how much the comedy is toned down but that's perfectly understandable,considering how much drama happens here.I'm happy this gem isn't as bashed as season four because I still can't understand why some fans think only seasons two and three are truly wow.They're all wow except for season one.Season five rules and I'm so counting the days for its release on dvd.Best episodes are probably Fool For Love,The Body and The Gift.
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