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Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete First Season Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 70 Reviews)

Hellmouth High
This is where it all starts, Gang: five years after the dubious big screen stumble, Buffy dusts herself off and forges boldly ahead. As the brief voice-over sequence preceding each episode reminds us, Buffy is The Slayer, chosen to stand alone against vampires, demons and the forces of darkness. Yet Buffy is a social creature, so her move to Sunnydale involves not just saving the larger community from the Hellmouth it is unwittingly situated upon, but also getting to know her Watcher, her two best friends and a brooding loner who can't seem to stop following her around in the dark.

As many reviews have noted in detail, the truncated debut season of Buffy primarily serves to introduce the regular characters. It also, however, suggests some of the long-range ambitions of the series. For example, Season One establishes the unique tone that would come to distinguish the show--one built upon elements that might first strike us as incompatible polar opposites: hip, ironic verbal expression at one end, at the other heartfelt sentiment. Part of what makes Buffy satisfying viewing is the way the writers use the fantastic, often hyperbolic dramatic situations to explore so much compelling emotional ground between these poles.

Joss Whedon has been very candid regarding the thematic and metaphorical territory he wanted to explore in these early Buffy shows: namely, the notion that high school is hell. This is an interesting enough concept on its own terms, perhaps, but the show's creators do more with it than one might expect, exploring the more poignant nuances at its borders. Understandably enough, in spite of the many horrors at every level of Sunnydale High, Buffy simply yearns to be a normal, everyday teenage girl. She never asked, after all, for her slayer destiny, for the burden of being routinely called upon to save the world.

Some reviews appear to suggest an uncommon reliance upon the "monster of the week" format. Proportionally speaking, however, this season of Buffy is probably not so different from later ones. What accounts for the misperception, perhaps, is the traditional nature of these monsters: apart from vampires, we get witches, wild animals, supernaturally animated dummies and dolls. The show is clearly still taking its first baby steps, and seldom ventures out of familiar generic terrain. In the years to come, the creative team will conceive of far more original villains, relieving the overly familiar and somewhat ubiquitous impression left by the monsters in this season.

There is, let's not forget, a narrative arc to the season--a modest one, granted, measured against the show's later standards--involving The Master, who has long been contained in another reality but is busy making plans for an invasion of Sunnydale. A fairly sophisticated subplot also develops over the course of the initial twelve episodes, gradually shedding light on the character of Angel and his intentions toward our eponymous hero. Bearing this in mind, let's not forget the ongoing dynamics of the whole Willow has a crush on Xander who worships Buffy who obsesses over Angel configuration--rich narrative material that will carry into the following two seasons at full steam.

The shows do have a murky visual look, I must agree, but only due to the almost non-existent budget, as demonstrated by what this production crew achieved in subsequent, more sufficiently financed seasons.

The characters--including Buffy--are not quite as complex as they will become in seasons to follow, but the acting is superb throughout the cast. In "Prophecy Girl" we get our first glimpse of Sarah Michelle Gellar's ability to find supreme moments of pathos in the drama. In the deleriously wacky cheerleading episode, Elizabeth Anne Allen shines in a guest spot that won her a well-deserved recurring role as Amy Madison, and of course series regulars Nicholas Brendon, David Boreanaz, Charisma Carpenter, Anthony Stewart Head and Alyson Hannigan all turn in awesome performances throughout. As with any installment of Buffy, the acting alone merits high recommendation for viewing.

Substandard & unacceptable dvd quality - cheesy & inferior episodes
What a disappointing purchase this was! I have never purchased a dvd set that was this bad in quality without it being pirated. Actually, I've seen vhs copies with better audio/video quality. If I had not purchased the set from Amazon itself I would have thought, I did get a cheap bootleg. The sound is a bit flat, which I could deal get over, but the picture quality is just horrendous! All of the episodes are grainy, pixilated, and some even blur a bit. There are whole episodes where the show is so dark you can hardly tell what is going on. It's a waste of money to buy dvd's like this. Shame on Fox for releasing them this bad!

As for the show itself, well, it would be kind to say it was okay. In truth, it is not that great. I wonder how the show made it to season two at all. The acting was bad, the dialog was atrocious, the stories were subpar; I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Usually, a shows first season is the best or at the least good enough to make you want to see the next run, but not this one.

In short, DO NOT buy this set even if you are a fan. You can tape reruns on the FX channel in better quality!


not a review by a buffy disciple
buffy the vampire slayer is sacred territory for a lot of people, and consequently a lot of reviews on amazon.com are pretty biased and myopic. i'm not a buffy disciple, nor purist, nor anything of the sort. i'd never seen a single episode of buffy the vampire the slayer until about two weeks ago. so my review doesn't suffer from 10 years of buffy-worshipping. i'm just a regular guy who started watching buffy without any preconceived notions or ideas.

what 'buffy' does so well, and what makes it so successful in my opinion, is that establishes a buffy mythology. a lot of the most successful series in recent years (x-files, veronica mars, lost, 24, among others) do a great job at establishing a particular mythology. it's not enough to simply create interesting characters anymore. joss whedon and crew succeed in creating an entirely new world. despite it's sort of absurd premise, this is what makes buffy successful.

the series does seem to struggle in finding its footing in the beginning. the dialogue, acting, and direction are sometimes clumsy, but that's to be expected given that it was the first season. during the first few episodes sarah michelle gellar seems to have a bit of struggle adjusting to her character, but come the last two episodes she managed to turn buffy into a fully-realized character. the last episode, 'prophecy girl,' is especially poignant and heart-felt and gellar really shines in showing both the vulnerable buffy and the courageous buffy. it's the kind of perfomance that makes buffy wholly believable. and it's a good thing given that the success of the show rested squarely on her shoulders.

the supporting cast provides some nice moments as well. willow and xander are great sidekicks as the geeky brain and sex-crazed adolescent male, respectively. giles, buffy's english 'watcher' gives the trio much needed guidance and provides occassional levity. cordelia is at times a bit over the top most of the time, but thankfully we get to see a little bit more of her vulnerable side as the series progresses. the hunky angel, though someone underused in my opinion, provides some nice dramatic tension. and i get the feeling that joss whedon had some serious crushes on his high school teachers as most of the teachers in buffy are ridiculously hot.

surprisingly enough, i think buffy is most enjoyable when we see little or none of the vampires. when the episodes explore teenage angst, isolation, jealousy, love, rejection, and triumph is when 'buffy the vampire slayer' really succeeds and is the most enjoyable. this is a credit to whedon's keen eye and observational skills.

sure, sometimes you'll *really* have to suspend disbelief and sit through some silly plots, but you'd be hard pressed to find a more geniunely enjoyable television show. i'm looking to spending some more time in sunnyvale, ca with buffy and her crew. and did i mention sarah michelle gellar is extremely attractive?

p.s. the dvd 'extras' are marginal, at best. it's too bad. i would have liked a lot more interviews and behind-the-scenes stuff. hopefully the rest of the seasons will have more extras.

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