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Summary: Josh Sabbagh
Review: Season 1 is a great season! it is amazing considering it had a small budget and little time! It is small and only has 12 episodes but is one of my favorite seasons! It shows buffy trying to go to a new school and forget her duties as a slayer but that changes when she finds out she lives under a hellmouth. Buffy and her friends have many adventure fighting witches, demons, vampires, and one of the best and strongest villains the master a very strong and old vampire who sends his warriors throughout the season to kill buffy untl he is freed out of a lair he cannot leave. it shows the masters warrior darla who made angel and angel must choose between his old love and new love buffy. And in the end she must face the master in and ending that is surprising!
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Summary: Welcome To Sunnydale
Review: Sunnydale, California; the home of vampires, witches, and demons. This town is built upon the Hellmouth; a creature/portal that demonic forces tend to gravitate towards. The citizens are at the mercy of the dark forces... until the Slayer arrives. Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a vampire slayer- a single girl who has the strength and agility of vampires. She kills them and other unholy creatures of the night while trying to have a normal life by day. After being kicked out of her school in L.A., she and her single mom move here where Buffy meets Giles (Anthony Stuart Head), her watcher, and her two new friends, Xander (Nicholas Brendan) and Willow (Alyson Hannigan). She also meets Angel (David Borneaz) a vampire with a soul. Xander and Willow soon learn of her powers and decide to help her with her slaying. Througout their sophomore year at Sunnydale High, the group fights vampires, a witch, a demon on the internet, their own nightmares, and the Master, the vampire king who is trapped underground. Creator Joss Whedon did an excellent job bringing these characters to life. They are fun to watch and relate to (except for the slaying part). Buffy's problems include not only slaying but also the trials of growing up. This classic show will have you hooked.
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Summary: Buffy is the greatest!!!
Review: I have been the biggest Buffy fan since I first saw the show one day when I was flipping through the tv. It is great that I can watch the first season as much as I want and get to see extras like interviews, original scripts,and commentary. The only thing better than Buffy season 1 is Buffy season 2. And it only gets better from there.
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Summary: An absolutely essential set for any Buffy fan
Review: Despite a legion of fans who recognize the series BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER as one of the highpoints of filmed entertainment-whether film or TV-it is amazing how many people still either haven't seen this show, or still misconceive it as a piece of fluff for teenagers. In fact, it is one of the most amazingly intelligent cultural artifacts of the past decade, a show that has as many adult and academic fans as teens. For those who have never experienced all that is the Buffyverse, this DVD set is an essential beginning point. It not only contains all twelve episodes comprising the first season, the set contains numerous interviews, commentaries, and short features that should bring any neophyte up to speed on the beginning of this landmark series.We first met Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the 1992 film of the same name. The TV series supposedly begins a few weeks after the end of the movie, with Buffy and her mother moving to the town of Sunnydale in order to start afresh after she burned down her former high school gym, which was filled with vampires. From nearly the first episode, the incredible chemistry among the original Scooby Gang members is established as we are introduced to Buffy's new watcher Giles, and her two new Sunnydale friends Willow and Xander. We also meet the leading snob in the school, the appalling Cordelia Chase, and, of course, the dark and mysterious Angel. Although this first season lacks the amazing story arcs that made BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER one of the great achievements in the history of broadcast television, the show was nonetheless remarkable from the very beginning for the enormously witty and intelligent scripts, a willingness to rethink every aspect of what is possible in a television show, and the unexpected approaches to character development, From the very beginning, the characters in Buffy have stunningly familiar problems, problems that feel more realistically treated than in all other supposedly realistic TV drams. And the degree of development and change for any character was from the beginning amazingly original. Consider Cordelia's first words upon seeing Angel for the first time in The Bronze in "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"-" Ooo! Hello, salty goodness!--are especially fascinating:" If one juxtaposes those words with all the changes Cordelia undergoes over the years both in her relationship to Angel and in her own maturity, one is tempted to state that she perhaps has undergone more change than any character in television history. In most shows, you learn most of what there is to know about a character almost instantly, but it is the genius of Joss Whedon and the others driving the Buffyverse that Cordelia, who seemingly is the most transparent of characters, could develop the way that she later did. The central conflict in The Hellmouth Chronicles was from the first season to the seventh the internal conflicts that Buffy experiences in regard to her own slayerhood. On the one hand, she is the Slayer, on the other, she wants a normal life filled with dates and love and friends and birthday parties and a (nonslaying) vocation and an education. It will take seven seasons for that story to be resolved. The great news is that anyone experiencing Buffy for the first time in these DVDs and liking them, will not believe how great the show would get in the next season. Merely a hint at the greatness to come.
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Summary: A MUST BUY - even for the soon-to-be Buffy fan
Review: I was only slightly interested in the Buffy series when I asked for this one for Christmas. I saw the first episode and was hooked! The writing, the stories and the acting combined make this the best series. I am now a huge fan of the show and even though it is over, I still await the new seasons on dvd with great anticipation. Once you view the entire 1st season and witness the ingenious combo of suspense, horror, comedy and drama, you will want to continue your collection. Trust me I did!
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Summary: Late blooming buffy fan
Review: I just discovered how great the Buffy series is this past year. Having seen, and hated, the original movie, I decided the television series must be just another teen soap. That was until my husband came down with the flu, and we watched it in reruns while he recuperated. What a great series! The dvd has all kinds of interviews and extras, and it's kind of fun to hear insights into the characters, but the episodes are why we buy. The dialogue is incredible and the action is "Butt-kicking" (my son's phrase). There is a bit of teen soap, especially when dealing with Angel and Buffy's relationship, but it is well balanced with the monsters, action and comedy. I think the first season is the best, but the rest of the seasons are also great.
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Summary: Better Buffys were waiting
Review: This isn't a bad purchase at all. And, if you're like me and got acquainted with Buffy through another friend's DVDs (a few days after the show ended), you quickly get a sense of why the show was so compelling. The central characters are already well-developed, and the Master, the show's first "Big Bad," is both scary and strangely endearing. There are also some very funny moments (especially in "The Puppet Show") and Buffy's resistance to her calling feels right. But the Amazon reviewer wasn't kidding when he called this "Buffy 90210." You could also dub the season "Buffy's Creek," or even "Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Cosby Kids:" there are a lot of "educational" themes in this season, whether it's the pressure kids can face from their parents, the pain of social invisibility, or the casual cruelty high schoolers can inflict on one another. Granted, it's all presented in a fantasy framework, but the consciousness-raising crashes through the show's growing mythology in a ham-fisted way. You half expect to see Giles sitting on a stool and holding up a brochure at the end of a few episodes: "If you'd like to talk to your teen about praying mantis intimacy, write to Keep Your Head On, P.O. Box 6339, Boulder, CO." The writers of the show later learned showing the pain of high school could be best accomplished by fleshing the characters out and watching them interact. They sometimes reach that level in this season, especially with the depiction of the Buffy-Xander-Willow love triangle. For the most part, though, the staff trusts the issues more than the characters, and it leaves the whole high school element of the show a bit hollow. But there are a handful of great moments. The aforementioned "Puppet Show" has an amusing twist on the haunted dummy theme, and ends with Buffy, Xander and Willow hilariously stumbling through a scene from the tragedy of Oedipus. "Nightmares" marks the series' first use of dreams as a way of revealing its characters' inner psyches, with the perfect blend of humor and poignancy "Buffy" would make routine in following seasons. And "Prophecy Girl," where Buffy confronts the Master, is a masterpiece, a terrifically told story that neatly sums up the previous season and sets the stage for the next one. But few episodes show the workmanship of those episodes, either taking a silly idea and running it into the ground ("The Pack," where Xander turns into a hyena) or ruining a decent episode with an unbelievable ending ("Out of Sight, Out of Mind"). In this season, "Buffy" is very much a work in progress. That doesn't mean it's bad; the show was just on the cusp of getting much better. Newcomers should try Season 2, which becomes transcendant television almost from the get-go. The central cast really comes to life in that season, and you won't miss anything if you skip this one. Consider this a prequel, a set-up to the greatness that would follow.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent show; merely adequate DVD transfer
Review: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is a TV series take on the 1992 movie that Joss Whedon wrote. Whedon didn't direct the movie, though, and he thought he could better communicate his ideas if he had control of a new "Buffy" show. (The movie's director, Fran Rubel Kuzui, is one of the executive producers on the TV show.) This first season was a late-winter entry in the new WB network's first (1996-1997) year in business, and contains only 12 episodes. In the TV series Buffy is newly transplanted to fictitious Sunnydale, California, after having burned down the gymnasium (while fighting vampires, of course) in her old L.A. high school at the end of the movie. Kristy Swanson, who played Buffy in the movie, is replaced by Sarah Michelle Gellar, already a TV veteran when she started the show at age 20 playing the 16-year-old sophomore. No other characters from the movie appear in the TV series. With a different location and characters Joss Whedon had a great deal of freedom to expand his vision, which started with the simple idea of a small, blonde teenage girl walking alone down a sinister dark alley -- until she's attacked by a monster. This horror cliche becomes interesting when it turns out that the attacking vampire has met his doom because the blonde girl is The Slayer, the one girl in all the world chosen to stand against the vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness. Much more information about the "Buffy" universe (or "Buffyverse") is available elsewhere, so I won't go into great detail here. There are some significant differences between the movie and TV series visions of the vampires and demons existing on the periphery of our normal world. In particular the TV series has slain vampires turning to dust, which helps maintain their status as fantasies to the uninformed majority of the human population. And the TV series has Buffy amassing a close circle of high school friends who are privy to her secret, whereas the movie had a popular girl becoming alienated from her friends as a result of being Chosen. The TV show has ample opportunity to demonstrate the everyday horrors of being in high school in addition to Sunnydale's supernatural terrors; the movie was a comic horror tale that didn't succeed as well in its message despite having a much higher budget. As a mid-season replacement show on a new TV network, the budget for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was low by U.S. standards. This first (short) season is distinguished by often-inadequate lighting, a theme song that was re-recorded in a later (4th?) season for better quality, and limited sets and special effects. Yet it became a hit because of the writing and acting, featuring an innovative take on teenage creative speech which became known as "Buffyspeak". Acknowledging the flaws, I still recommend this first season highly. Each show in Season 1 of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is almost exactly 45 minutes. Later seasons bring this average down; with more allowance for commercials and promotional spots the time for actual program content in the hour show drops to about 42 minutes by the middle of the 7-year run. So there's more entertainment content possible in the first 2 seasons' episodes than in later years. The DVD transfer of Season 1 is disappointing. Each show appears pretty much as it was originally broadcast. No apparent attempt was made to adjust for poor lighting or sound. There are chapter stops, but many of them are misplaced -- some by up to a minute. For instance, it's necessary to use the DVD fast forward or reverse to skip through the opening credits at the end of chapter 1 of each episode because the chapter 2 stops aren't placed properly. In the DVD transfers of Seasons 3-4 the chapter stops are done correctly and the opening credits end just as chapter 2 begins. The supplementary material is interesting for behind-the-scenes production information. Writers and directors are the talents for the audio commentary tracks. You have to wait until Season 4 to get any insights from a cast member. I wouldn't rate the supplementary material as a compelling reason to buy any of the "Buffy" or "Angel" DVD sets as of mid-2003; you'll buy Season 1 and the later DVD collections because you'll want to revisit the Buffyverse, just as I do. Summary: a 5-star show for its innovative ideas, writing, acting, and direction. 4 stars for the production values, with limited budget resulting in occasional sub-par lighting and sound. Only 3 stars for the Season 1 DVD transfer. Total score: 4 stars for this DVD collection.
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Summary: BUFFY-SO NOT THE PART
Review: As annoying as I find Sarah Michelle Gellar (like she could really fight vampires with her cheap kicks, that's why she died so fast in Scream 2) I believe this is a good show. Season 1,3 and 4 were all great, but I'm just not a hyper fanatic of the series like some fans, I do like it alot, however. The show has fights, drama, cat fights, jokes (tacky ones) and great season finales. Season 1 is definately worth the price tag-12 great episodes! It was a mid-season replacement which is why there aren't 22 episodes like most others.
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Summary: Not since Van Helsing has vampire slaying been this hip
Review: I am a relatively new Buffy fan starting at the beginning, with no real sense of the direction future seasons may have taken. The first twelve episodes of Season One certainly provide a wonderful introduction to the subject at hand, succeeding fabulously even when storylines wander into really weird places. Few television shows could grow and prosper with such plot points as a substitute teacher who is actually a giant praying mantis, a girl who takes the concept of being invisible to everyone around her much too far, and an ancient demon who comes backs to life via the Internet. In Sunnydale, a town residing directly over the Hellmouth, anything can happen and be accepted for what it is by both the characters as well as the audience. There are many strengths to this show: Joss Whedon's vision, commitment, and talent; sharp writing by all concerned with different writers all moving seamlessly in a fictional world larger than themselves; excellent special effects; a genuinely unsettling atmosphere wrapped around a seemingly bright and sunny one; etc. The greatest strength of the show has to be the actors, though. Sarah Michelle Gellar is gorgeous as well as exceedingly believable in her role as the Slayer; Alyson Hannigan is captivating as the quiet, demure Willow Rosenberg; Nicholas Brendon brings an incredible amount of humor and teen-based reality to everything that happens as the Chandler Bing-ish Xander Harris; Charisma Carpenter is the quintessentially vain prom queen whose character Cordelia Chase really only begins to belie her stereotypical image toward the end of the season. Topping them all, though, is Anthony Head in the role of Rupert Giles, the Watcher whose job it is to train and prepare Buffy in her role as the ordained Slayer. His aura of professionalism, commitment, intelligence, and kindly authority injects a necessary dose of believability into an unbelievable world. I'm rather ambivalent toward Angel (David Boreanaz), as I tend to share Xander's feelings of dislike for this mysterious man in Buffy's life. One feels as if one knows these characters from the very beginning, identifying a great deal with some if not all of them. Buffy just wants to be a normal sixteen-year-old girl, sometimes resisting her destiny as the one and only Slayer standing between the world and the apocalypse. Xander is simply brilliant and hilarious to me as the normal guy trying to deal with impossible things as well as his undisguised and unrequited love for Buffy. Willow is the smart and geekily unpopular kid who possesses a greater strength that she realizes, pining silently over Xander in the final ring of a weird little love triangle. Eggheads like me, of course, celebrate the efforts of the scholarly Giles and identify with many of his old-school feelings and arguments. It is not often that we are blessed with a librarian hero. Season One has two dimensions to it. First, it lays out the vague history of Sunnydale's newest student Buffy Summers, introduces the responsibilities and functions of the foreordained Slayer, and exposes us to a wide cross-section of the dangerous monsters that one would expect to converge on a place referred to as the Hellmouth. Second, it assembles Buffy and her gang of friends into the first dream team of vampire slaying and other miscellaneous demonic extermination. Buffy does most of the work, of course, but everyone plays a part in thwarting the incredibly threatening things that seem to rise up continuously in a town somehow still referred to as dull and boring. At this time in Buffy's slaying career, her enemy is the ancient vampire named the Master; his attempts to free himself from his underground tomb and return to the surface serve as the backdrop of most of the major action of the season, leading up to a direct confrontation between him and Buffy in the final episode. Perhaps no other show on television has given us so many great zingers and one-line catch phrases, digging deeply into the world of popular culture. It also provides an impressively realistic look at youth and some of the issues young people confront in the normal, non-vampire world. Buffy is about much more than slaying vampires, vanquishing demons, and the like. Buffy, Xander, and Willow in particular deal with problems each of us have faced before alongside the type of evil threats that can be found only in Sunnydale, and it is this aspect of the show that truly connects with many of its fans.
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