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Television
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete First Season

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete First Season

List Price: $39.98
Your Price: $27.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Loved it
Review: Buffy the vampire Slayer is a cleverly written television series. There are so few these days and I am glad to have been a part of it through the seasons.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: wonderful walk down memory lane!
Review: I was hesitant in buying the first season. Most times, the first season of a show makes you wince and cringe when you re-watch them. Shows usually take a season or two to come into their own. There's usually a lot of hit-and-miss that goes on in first seasons of TV shows. It had been a while since I had seen the first season of Buffy, so my fear was that I'd waste money watching a season I'd rather forget. Not so!

In fact, I was surprised at how flawless the first season was delivered! This intial season definitely stands on its own. The quality of everything from acting to presentation never comes across as a fumbled attempt to make a series. The writing is strong as ever, the jokes are funny, the actors are spot on, and the presentation and dress are hip, even now, years later.

The story, as all Buffy fans know, starts here with Buffy coming to Sunnydale, California to begin a new life with her mother. Little known to her is that Sunnydale is actually "the hellmouth." She's going to have her work cut out for her, but with the help of new friends, Willow and Xander, and her watcher (supervisor, guide, and trainer) Rupert Giles, she starts letting the demonic Sunnydale residents know that the slayer's in town, and she's making it her own.

I was actually talking about Buffy the other day with my husband. He didn't pay much heed to Buffy before we bought this DVD set, but he couldn't get enough of Buffy after the first episode! Now, he watches the latest season with me every week. We spoke about how Buffy the Vampire Slayer holds the very rare distinction of being the only series we've seen that had a strong start to begin with. Regardless of being new to TV, this first season didn't skip a beat. It was as if the writers, producers, and actors had been doing Buffy for years and years before. What a way to start off the show!

I think that this season, now looking in retrospect, is truly my favorite. The entire season was strong, and there's really a beautiful nostalgia to it. It's the most innocent of all the seasons, and Buffy's troubles were simple. The drama with Faith, Angel, Spike, and Dawn didn't begin yet. The biggest evil in Buffy's life at this point is high school, and there's something really enjoyable in that simplicity.

Simply put, I can't believe I had actually waited the amount of time I did to buy this set. I bought it two months after it was released, but I'm glad I did. I've since then bought seasons two and three, and they are the perfect solution to a rainy day.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Buffy Season 1
Review: This is a must have if you love Buffy. This picks up where the movie left off. It also introduces everyone so you get to see how everyone came to know that Buffy was the Slayer. The only down point was that the budget was kinda low so there are some really cheesy moments. But other than that it's great.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Don't judge a book by its cover.
Review: The old cliche holds true once again. Let me be frank, I tend to regard 99% of television shows as contrite, banal, and/or down right insultingly stupid. The writing is generally awful and as for the characters, they tend to be shallow, painfully uninteresting and naturally, I could not care less about what happens to them. Therefore, I never even gave a single thought to watching a show which,concerned itself with an attractive teenage valley girl who kills vampires. How could that possibly be good? Then one fateful night, when I could not sleep due to suffering from a severe head cold that left me feeling particularly self-abusive, I set upon a course of action which, seemed to promise the intensification of my current discontent. I turned on the TV. Flipping through the channels, I soon came across an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is good, I thought. Soon the pain will become so intense that I will pass out and finally get some rest. Instead, I became a fan!

In point of fact, I found the show quite intriguing. The episode responsible for my conversion was the one in which Oz returns to Sunnydale and Willow has to deal with confusing feelings for both her former boyfriend, Oz, and current girlfriend, Tara. (Note to reader: this was not a season one episode.) Soon I realized that if I was truely going to discover what was actually going on, I would have to start at the beginning. So I bought this DVD set. Why this sudden turn about? Simply put, I not only care about the main characters, I love them. The reason I love them? Joss Whedon's brilliant, witty, and insiteful writting combines with a refreshingly talented cast to give each character the authentic and dynamic depth of a real person. All this is achieved despite the over all fantasy aspect of the program which, in itself is really amazingly good fun.

The first season naturally introduces the main characters. Buffy Summers (Sara Michelle Gellar), is the beautiful yet, often maddeningly immature girl struggling to have a normal teenage existance, dispite her "chosen" status as the slayer. Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), is Sunnydale High School's resident loser with the heart of gold and who's single best trait is his unswerving loyalty to his friends. Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan, famous as the "flute girl in American Pie), is the loveably sensitive, highly intelligent and emotionally vulnerable girl who rounds out the trio. As season one progresses and the monsters fall prey to the slayer one by one, the three misfits begin to learn about life, love, and death, while forming the bonds of a triangular friendship that ultimately gives the show its most valuable and enduring feature. So give Buffy the Vampire Slayer a chance and you might just find yourself joining Buffy, Xander, Willow (My personal favorite, I simply adore redheads.) and the rest of the "Scooby Gang" as they begin to grow up by battling vampires, and more importantly, by confronting and eventually slaying the personal demons residing within each of them.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Talk about starting off on the right foot.
Review: The first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was only 12 episodes long, but it is packed from end to end with some of the most worthwhile material to ever be broadcast on television. From the gripping initial two-parter to the amazing season finale, even when the show has to slow down and do an "average" episode, it is still moving characters and overarching plot forward in almost every scene.

The two-parter -- "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "The Harvest" seems to overcome the problems of a new series effortlessly, integrating everyone into the plot and kicking things off spectacularly. And Buffy set high expectations for itself every time. The third episode, "Witch," was captivating from end to end and got the normal episodes moving on a good pace. "Teacher's Pet" is the first of the "average" bunch, but it is still a well told story.

We begin to see the development of a trend in Buffy's social life in "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date," which sets her up as not being able to have a normal relationship - ever. (The twist it takes on the boy's reaction is fascinating as well.) "The Pack" is actually rather frightening, all told, mostly because of how it has Xander in the group that is overcome with a curse and thereby tempers how it will be handled. "Angel" contains one of the greatest revelations of the series, and it sets up the romance that would define so much of the first three seasons of Buffy. "I Robot...You Jane" does a great job of introducing a fan favorite character, Jenny Calendar, in a rather amusing twist on a demon unleashed plot.

"The Puppet Show" likewise pulls a great twist in its individual plot, and introduces Armin Shimerman as the most memorable of the unlucky principals of Sunnydale High. "Nightmares" is a fascinating tale of reality being merged with the characters' darkest dreams; a LOT of character comes out of it as well. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" does a good job with suspense and an invisible girl. And it is wrapped up with a resounding bang in "Prophecy Girl."

Buffy, from its very beginning, loved to push the envelope of its horror stereotypes in just the right ways, while keeping enough in tact that it would be quite comfortable for the viewer. The vampires are great, especially Mark Metcalf as the Master, and Angel is the exception that proves the rule: vampires are bad, 'kay? Having vampires be the bad guys in a world of Anne Rice novels and Vampire: the Masquerade was a daring move, and I think Buffy pulled it off with style. It also gave a nicely rotating list of monsters with enough in the way of inventive twists that it avoided becoming a predictable monster-of-the-week show. And through it all, the season-length plot was advanced at a solid pace. Even more amazingly, the writing was generally in the top notch for TV screenwriting. Yeah, it was demonstrably written for television, but the overall impact is still a lot better than most TV shows get.

Then there's the acting. Quite frankly, I think the main cast of Buffy for the first few seasons was one of the finer assemblages of actors on a TV cast. Sarah Michelle Gellar is definitive in her portrayal of the heroine who would love to be normal. Anthony Stewart Head, as her Watcher, pulls off something amazing with his academic-but-deep character. Nicholas Brendon's Xander is generally the show whipping boy, but he retains a spark throughout. Alyson Hannigan's Willow opens up the geekish girl type a lot. Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia gets more interesting than a simple beauty queen. And of course David Boreanaz gets to be brooding and romance buffy as Angel. The bunch are probably one of the better ensembles you'll get a chance to see, and every episode of Buffy seems to feature them at their best. The villains are good, too, especially watching Mark Metcalf chew scenery as the vampiric Master (a very prototypical villain, less interesting as a concept but a good introduction).

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, despite the short run of its first season as a replacement show, was the entire package right from the start. Give it a whirl.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The fist seaon of the fantastic tv show of Buffy
Review: The first season contains some of the best episode of buffy the vampire slayer. It contains Welcome to the hellmouth and the harvest(the 2 first episodes of Buffy where it introduces all the character Buffy(Sarah Michelle Gellar), Willow(Alyson Hannigan), Xander(Nicholas Brendon), Cordelia(Charisma Carpenter), Giles(Anthony stewart head) and Angel(David Boreanaz)), Witch(Amy the witch is introduce), Angel(the mysterious past of Angel is revealed plus a really great appearence by Julie Benz playing Darla), I robot you Jane(introduction of Robia Lamorte as Jenny Calendar and Willow gets a computer boyfriend...), The puppet show(A killing puppet is in the school), Nightmares(all nightmares gets REAL!!!) and season's finale Prophecy girl. This season contains just 12 episodes but it's still really great and it's a DVD for every true Buffy fan.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Some of Buffys finest hours!
Review: Though there may be only 12 episodes, this set is one that must be owned to complete your buffy collection!

This box set contains classic episodes like "Angel"-Where we meet the nice Vamp. We also discover and meet the characters.

Plus. Buffy dies (the first time) and we find out exactly who revives her (it's not Willow).
This is a great season!

Special Features include:

-Interviews
-Bio's
-Scripts
-Photo Gallerys
-Trailers
...and a preview of something you will only find here!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If you've NOT YET ever seen this show, consider this...
Review: I had never seen a single episode before gambling on the box set purchase.
I have to tell ya, I was pleasantly blown away from the first episode, and frankly amazed by the season finale.
This show should appeal to a wide variety of people. Those who appreciate intelligent sci-fi-ish stuff (think X-Files or latter-day Star Trek), as well as those who love high school drama (think 90210 or Dawson's). Action drama fans, who like NYPD Blue or CSI, will also find a lot to love, plus there's Buffy kick-boxing or whatever you call the stuff she does, which is like nothing else on TV.
It reaches for epic heights, told in loving details. It's style is "modern Dickensian", if that makes any sense at all.
You will laugh out loud at least thrice per episode, and be startled more than once.
Get past the title, and you're are in for landmark television. The only thing to worry about, is that they don't release ALL the seasons eventually.
I've got to see how this all ends.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great show, great package.
Review: Despite what many say about the quality in the picture, i had no problems and thoroughly enjoyed all 11 episodes of the first season. They are witty, hilarious, and sometimes tear jerking. The filming is inpecable, and despite the modest budget nothing, is done cheaply. The characters are all interesting, and you grow attached to them, like a chia pet. There are also a few features, audio commentary and interviews for selected episodes. As well as, photo galleries. Anyone who likes comdies, mild horror, and obviously girls who kick ... should watch.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: And it begins
Review: As a Buffy fan, and I'm sure fellow Buffy fans can relate. It's refreshing to return to the beginning of the cult hit; Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is where it all begins, this is the root of what is now something that isn't just a TV show, it isn't just actors. It's something that we've grown to love. Something that is now a part of us. I know that may sound cheesy, but I know I'm not the only one who feels that way.

Season 1, what can I say? It where the legand begins. We first meet Buffy Summers in Welcome to the Hellmouth and the Harvest where she faces the Big Bad of season 1; the Master. At first glance, Buffy comes off as being snobby, Miss-I'm-So-Popular, but when you get to know her, she's anything but. She is that girl, who is overlooked. She posesses strength (and not only physical!) and kindness. She is your best friend and you can't help but love the girl. We watch as she struggles to fit into her new school, Sunnydale High. A lifelong friendship is built between Buffy, Willow and Xander (and the bookworm; Giles.. and even the self-centered Cordy).

This is also the season when Buffy meets the mysterious man (or vampire) that we all know as Angel. We see the developing attraction between both of them, we also see the conflicts that they both face, but overall, we see their love blossom.

This season is just... the BEGINNING.

The DVD set includes 3 discs with ALL 12 first season episodes which are:

Welcome to the Hellmouth
The Harvest
The Witch
Teacher's Pet
Never Kill a Boy on the First Date
The Pack
Angel
I, Robot - You Jane
The Puppet Show
Nightmares
Out of Mind, Out of Sight
Prophecy Girl


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