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Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Third Season

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Third Season

List Price: $59.98
Your Price: $44.99
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Better and better
Review: The thrid season hasn't been released in the states yet on DVD, but it's available over here in wee tiny Britain and there aren't enough positive words on the planet to describe how good this season and the DVD is. Season three eases up on the darker and morbid tone that season two had, though only a little. The season begins with a still AWOL Buffy, a still dead Angel and a very different hair style for Willow. Season three has to be the only season so far not to contain one dud episode (season one we won't count in this because it's only half a season). Season two had Go Fish, season four had Beer Bad and Doomed (to name a couple), season five had I Was Made to Love You and just pick any random episode from season six. But there isn't one episode in season three that I would class as bad or below par.
The writers and actors certainly know their characters inside out by this point.
There's too many story arcs, plot twists and new characters to go through them all, but season three introduces the Mayor, who we had heard about but never seen, we get to see the new slayer Faith, who seems to be dancing on the edge of sanity, we see the vampire versions of Xander and Willow, the brief return of Spike, more chaos from Ethan Raine, Angel's resurrection, more magical antics from Amy, the introduciton of a not so human Anya, Willow's growing Wicca powers, sixteen year old versions of Giles and Joyce (though they still look their actual age) and all your usual emotional turmoil that our favourite characters are thrown into.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You should release Buffy the Series as soon as possible!!!
Review: I think you should release all 6 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and QUICKER! It's one of my favorite shows but I sometime don't feel like watching only the first season and once a week the new one. I would like to view this fantastic show at my convenience. And why are you deliberating. People are willing to buy it so just make it already. I want to own the 4th 5th and 6th season the most anyway so you're making me rather upset do-da-ing as to whether or not you're going to transfer those episodes that you already have on tape on to Dvd for resale.. I mean come on! Do it for us fans already!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply the best!!
Review: The third season of Buffy was one of the best seasons of the 6 out there today. The extras are much better on this disc set that the season 2 set. I urge you to order this dvd as soon as possible and bring the wonderful world of buffy home! ( i know cheesy but, so what?)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BuffyAngel
Review: I have seen pretty much all of the complete seasons of the shows as far as I know all the way up to Glory. I don't know the titles of the shows so if there are any that I haven't seen I wouldn't be able to tell you.
I love all the story lines with the Love Story's between Buffy and Angel. I feel they were good together and should have stayed together longer than they actually did.
They should have had more of Buffy and Angel crossovers on each others shows with their feelings involved.
Then Riley came along and I don't think they really gave him a chance to really get to know Buffy and spend time with her and court her before boom things happened between them and then he was gone. They didn't spend as much time on that relationship as they should have. It is like once Angel left even though they found someone else they didn't want to do much with the character because he main Love was Angel.
The Spike relationship was not what I expected. It wasn't something you would have ever occured. That may be what they were trying to put across to the audience but it wasn't the best they could have done.
She is an excellent actress and I think that her and the Scooby Gang and Giles all work together very well. They are very funny, great to watch, things are always interesting with each and everyone of the characters. The actors and actresses that play them should be commended for the parts they played. There were so many actors that never really got a chance to have more time on the show, like Forrest, Graham.
I know it was Buffy's show(Sarahs) but you do need to involve the other actors in more dialogue with the show. I Love this show so much I tape almost every episode I can every day each time it is on so I have probably all the seasons on VHS. I watch them continually. I can't wait till all the seasons are out on DVD. I Loved the Prom, and it would have been nice to not have it end just at the dance. I am not a writer but there are areas like the snowy show when Angel finds out why he came back that they could have expanded on what happens when they walk down the street. There are a few shows that would have been ended just a little more and still ended at a point that let the audience hanging. The writers have done an excellent job on almost all of the shows. Even though they are considered Horror shows there are times because of the dialogue that I am laughing because of what the characters end up saying. To me it is one of the best shows on TV. It shows that we are getting rid of the evil in the world.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Buffy At Her Best
Review: The third season of Buffy was the pinnacle of the show's achievement.

Buffy has to regain her sense of mission and her shattered psyche, after being forced to dispatch the one great love of her life to hell - and then to reintegrate him into her and her friends' lives, upon his eventual return. In the wake of previous events, another Slayer has been activated and come to Sunnydale: Faith, who is altogether mad, bad, and dangerous to know. In due course, Faith grows from Buffy's adversarial colleague to her friend, and finally to jealous betrayer, selling Buffy and everyone she knows out to their worst enemy, Richard Wilkins III, demon Mayor of Sunnydale.

Though everything about this season is superior, its true highlight is the best pair of villains the series ever produced: Faith and the Mayor, played beautifully - and with an oddly touching personal chemistry - by Eliza Dushku and Harry Groener. The Mayor is a middle-aged murderer nerd, gleefully ordering his hench-vampires to kill civilians, while in the same breath reminding them, "And boys? No swearing." And Faith is a genuinely sad and tragic figure, though none the less evil for all that. The diabolical duo are not unlike a lethal Lolita and her horrific Humbert Humbert, a sort of surrogate father-daughter psychotic folie-a-deux.

All the episodes of this season are very good, and the all-time best episode of the series - and its sequel - are among them: "The Wish," in which debuting Anya the Vengeance Demon grants Cordelia Chase a Sunnydale into which Buffy Summers never arrived, demonstrating exactly how much one person really can make a difference, and "Doppelgangland," in which a diabolical double of Willow - a really wicked, and morbidly humorous, vampire - is brought from Cordelia/Anya's wish-world into real-life Sunnydale, to wreak havoc.

This entire season is, beyond question, Buffy at her best.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A medicore story arc and jarring visual style
Review: I think Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one fo the greatest dramas ever. From all the seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer I've seen however (I haven't seen seven) this has to be my least favorite. Primarly for reasons not even related to the show's story quality. My major gripe with this season was that it was visually bland and dark with colors so annoyling drab I could barely watch some episodes (luckily ever other season has fantastic colors and visual style). The seasons colors seem to be just made out of over-dark greens and grays. I am perfectly fine with visual darkness (when used effectively and in the right spots and isn't overused on a grand scale) but I also need visual variety and to some degree brigtness. The literal darkness of the season turned me off visually for many episodes. I have this same gripe with the show Angel which in my opinion is stuck in overdarkness for seasons 2-4. This isn't just because of the DVDs either (considering the visual flaws, the technical apects of this dvd are relatively good) because seaosn 3 looks even worse on tv. Even relatively bright episodes like Earshot have an annoying greenish and grayishness to them. I don't know if this is just me but season 3, visually, is a disaster.

Now to my storywise gripes with this season. The Buffy/Angel relationship felt doomed and dragging, the overall arc wasn't interesting and lost momentum, and the bad girl Faith lost appeal because of the "let's save her" attitude taken on by her friends and the visual style which seemed to somehow upstage Eliza Dusku's fantastic acting. It would have been best to not make any effort to humanize Faith and have the other characters treat her like a straight sociopath. Also the high-school setting was getting old. Also some very interesting villians (a la Mr. Trick) were underutilized. And some not so great villians (a la the mayor) were overutilized. Also the finale episode's big battle didn't make sense and had horrible effects (but was fun).

Now to what was good with the season. There are a number of standout episodes espicially the parallel universe ones and Earshot. Also the season opener is fantastic and Lover's Walk (Spike's brilliant season 3 cameo) ranks among one of the greatest episodes of Buffy. The character of Wesley was a great addition to the show (but lost all his charm on Angel when he went from a "caricature" to a dark, brood, and "complex" "character" an unwise decion). Principal Snyder remains in my opinion one of the greatest and funniest Buffy characters ever (and since he's not shown too much in the dark the visual flaws don't affect as much. Also his resembelence to a ferrangi (well he plays Quark on Star Trek Ds9, who I believe shares a loveable ruthlessness with Snyder) just made him more funny. Ever time I saw him I started expecting him to spurt out quotes from the rules of aquisition or give a lecture on profit. The main character's development is okay. I lost all my real caring for the Buffy/Angel realtionship, Faith was a lost cause from the begininning, and Xander and Willow were meant for eachother, but I loved what they did with Giles's character.

The extras are great, but some of the commentaries are hard to watch due to the fact that some apply to some of the visually blander episodes.

Do I recomend it, yes.

Do I guarantee you'll enjoy it visually, no.

But it's still Buffy, it's still quality and you still have to see it.

Maybe these visual flaws are only noticed by me or don't apply to anyone else, who knows.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Amazing show, amazing season. Of course it has flaws, but...
Review: Amazing show, amazing season. Of course it has flaws, but...

In third season, it's clear for everyone that the actors are totally comfortable playing their characters, everyone knows what to do, when to do it and how to do it. The level of confidence is rising and rising.

Of course it has flaws. You just can't produce 22 perfect episodes that will please everybody. The producers, writers and cast do the best they can in the short time and relatively small budget they have at their disposal.

One question, however, does not leave my mind: how can an actress (I'm talking about Sarah Mihcelle Gellar here) give such stupendous, gorgeous, solid, breathtaking, emotional performances episode after episode, season after season, no matter if the material that they give her is good or bad? She bears more than half of the credit for Buffy being the hit it was. She TOTALLY controls the show when she's on camera. I sincerely hope she has a marvellous and well suceeded movie career (away from Scooby-Doo movies, I mean...)

As for third season properly speaking, it has ups and lows. I particularly enjoy almost everything the show ever produced, but sometimes I did not. Faith, for example. She just not fit. Shés annoying. Of course it was a character created for us to hate, but not to ANNOY the viewer. Everytime she's on screen with her wooden dialogue, I simply wanted to go fast forward (but I didn't, of course!). I also agree with with a reviewer tha said that it would have been better if the Scooby-gang treated her like a basket case beyond help, instead of trying to save her. Anyway, Joss Whedon always suprise the audience doing the exact OPPOSITE of what we would expect (Example 1: Xander and Willow - their potential beautiful romance didn't last nothing, and it was never "officalized" - Example 2: Wesley and Cordelia flirting - the flirting lasts a lot of episodes and, when they finally kiss, there is no chemistry between them and the romance is over even before it starts.)

Also, we have someplot holes and weakness we must forget in order to remember that it's, after all, just a television show for entertainment. Even if the Ascension worked for the Mayor, what were his intentions? Sure, he would eat the entire school populace, but after that? The Army, police, Air Force, all of them would transform that giant worm in small pieces very briefly. No big threat indeed!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolute unbelievable - entirely flawless
Review: After season two, no one could guess where the show would go next. They needn't have worried, because for the third season of "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER", Buffy and the gang are back and better than ever.

The season begins with "Anne", which finds Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) in L.A. working as a waitress, heaving run away from home at the end of season two. While the gang continues battling demons at home, Buffy grieves over the death of her beloved Angel (David Boreanaz), who unbeknownst to her was actually cured when she killed him. In "Dead Man's Party" Buffy returns home to find that the closeness between her and her friends has dissipated over Buffy's leave. The first very important episode in the season is "Faith, Hope & Trick", in which Eliza Dushku's character of Faith is introduced. Faith is a hip vampire slayer who seems to enjoy her slaying a little too much - but everyone likes her. Everyone except for Buffy, that is.

Throughout the rest of the season, Faith slowly moves to the dark side while Buffy tries to sort things out with her friends and Angel, who has been resurrected from hell for some unknown purpose. The character of Mayor Wilkins is introduced, and he plays an important part in the season. Fan favorite Spike (James Marsters) returns for a very enjoyable appearance in "Lovers Walk".

Season three of "Buffy" is very likely the best of the series. It sports outstanding performances and intelligent storylines, making one great episode after another. "Buffy" Season Three is absolutely unbelievable and entirely flawless. If you have any doubts that "Buffy" is one of the best shows of all time, season three'll dust 'em.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The end of an era in BTVS scripting
Review: The third season of BTVS saw our protagonist survive her senior year, the introduction of a renegade slayer, and literal head-to-head combat with the Mayor in the fictional city of Sunnydale. This season (1998-1999) provided 22 episodes of mandatory viewing.

After Kendra's untimely death, a troubled replacement named Faith (Eliza Dushku) arrives in Sunnydale. Faith had not previously received the appropriate guidance which would be needed to carry out her own calling. Therefore, she quickly becomes enamored with her power...and makes a sneaky alliance with the Mayor.

Series creator Joss Whedon was still heavily involved in the writing and production of BTVS during this season, and the high quality clearly shows through on the scripts. Action/politics/pop are mixed in a highly successful prime-time combination.

Notably, "Gingerbread" is a thinly veiled attack of the American religious right, who ALSO couch their pleas for community mobilization against the unknown as being `child protection'. Under the guise of safeguarding innocents, the First Amendment and other constitutional protections become trampled---all by essentially good people who have been so brainwashed that they honestly are unable to recognize the grotesque monster which was prodding them to see `evil' everywhere else but directly in front of them.

Given Whedon's own previously-stated liberal and feminist leanings in interviews and publicity pieces, the message in this episode is deliberate and intentional.

Also worth mentioning is the season opener "Anne" which finds Buffy seeking refuge in a working class LA neighborhood after condemning Angel to hell. In a far cry from the sugar which was displayed in much later seasons when Buffy HAD to get money after her mom died, Buffy is working a very grueling job and getting an intensive education in the proverbial school of hard knocks. Even as a child of a divorced mother, she still led a fairly materialistic life in Sunnydale and perhaps did not realize how hard it was to make ends meet.

The episode `Earshot' had some controversy when it originally aired because of similarities to the Columbine High School shooting. This episode had a postponed airdate because it would have otherwise aired on the one-week anniversary of the shooting.

Character wise, the Buffy/Angel saga continues, although after the previous season's drama, feels more subdued and even morose (if possible). What passion does exist between the two is tempered with the continued assumption that Angel will inevitably have to distance himself from his slayer lest a repeat appearance of Angelus reoccur. Still, it's enjoyable because David Boreanaz has not yet abandoned the brooding 'secret informant' attitude which had ultimately made his "Angel" character popular enough for an equally successful spin-off.

"Graduation" has the Scooby Gang and Sunnydale High student body go head to head with the mayor and all forces of evil in a climactic battle. Buffy saves the world, but she dies...or so we think. This episode was also postponed in some markets because of school violence sensitivity issues.

This season is also memorable because Ema Caufield (who would later become a regular) makes her first appearance as vengeance demon Anyanka in "The Wish". Cordelia impusively wishes that Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale and Anyanka grants her wish. We then learn that Buffy's presence only is what keeps the demons from overrunning the town.

This season truly marks the end of an era--in consistently great BTVS script writing. In future seasons (with Whedon off on other projects) the script quality for this series will become a hit-or-miss venture.

Whether you are an old/new fan, somebody who is interested in studying witty pop culture, or some combination of the above, this BTVS season is required viewing. For die hard fans of the old BTVS and it's unique style of scripting, it is also sadly the last purchase-worthy season of BTVS DVD's on the market.



Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The worst season in the Whedon history!!
Review: Season 3 was awful!! Not only cause I hate the relationship between Buffy & Angel, but because it was poor. There was nothing good but Spike & Faith. The entry of Angel was a disaster. Alot of stupid "eternal thoughts" with worse than season 2's idiotic stupid thirst for love. I mean how stupid could a show get? How stupid could a storyline get? What a poor production. I mean didn't you see that obsession Angel had over Buffy? That was really bizzarre. You really wanna sleep together, then sleep together! Don't eat our brains. I recommend season 7 or 6 for buying. And I'm warning you don't buy this season!


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