Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Series

(Note: I do not, in any way, endorse the problematic creator of this show or his abusive behavior. But I have always been of the opinion that film and TV is a collaborative medium, and that it's not fair to throw the hard work of dozens-- even hundreds-- of people just because of one bad egg. So I will continue to appreciate this show. But this is a subjective matter and I can understand others who cannot.) I was a bit late to the game with the shows "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and its spin-off "Angel." I saw a few random episodes in the 90s and early 2000s when it originally aired (courtesy my uncle who was obsessed with it), but I was a little too young to keep up with it. I didn't get around to watching them in their entirety until I was in my 30s, and furloughed from work in 2020 like so many others. And upon completing them, I was seriously kicking myself for not having watched them sooner. Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as Buffy Summers, who is seemingly just your ordinary teenage girl, worried about things like boys and homework. Except she's not just your ordinary girl - she is "the Slayer," a chosen one gifted with superhuman strength and agility, who is destined to do battle with vampires, demons and the forces of darkness! And together with her best friends Xander (Nicholas Brendon) and Willow (Alyson Hannigan), along with her "Watcher" Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), she must face non-stop adventure as her little town of Sunnydale is invaded by creatures and monsters over and over again. Unfortunately, one of the weird eccentricities of the series is the fact that finding the original, unaltered version in its entirety can be tricky. And so far as I can tell, DVDs are the only true way to guarantee you're seeing the entire show as intended. While it was indeed shot on 16:9 film stock, it was filmed with the intention of being cropped down to 4:3 fullscreen, since widescreen TVs didn't become the norm until the mid/late 2000s. And the image was composed with that in mind. But many streaming services seem to use weird uncropped 16:9 versions for later seasons (leading to many errors where you see things you aren't meant to), or even the show's dreaded disastrous HD remaster. (Which was completely botched by Fox and is borderline unwatchable due to excessive cropping and filtering.) So I was very happy to find out that the show is still readily available on DVD, especially with this set. And this set is GORGEOUS! From what I've gathered, it's essentially just a 20th Anniversary repackaging of the previously-released DVDs, with an additional single issue of the comic book and an adult coloring page, but I'm 100% fine with that. This set seems to retail right around $100-$120 depending on the seller, and that makes it slightly cheaper than buying each season separately, since they tend to retail around $18-$22 apiece on DVD/streaming. So if you want to own "Buffy" on physical media in R1 coding, this is the set to pick up! The packaging is just flat-out beautiful as well. The box has a nice, glossy sheen to it and feels very sturdy, and is large, but not in an obnoxious way. I have it proudly displayed on one of my movie shelves alongside "Angel." My only minor complaint is that, like a lot of modern sets, the synopsis and technical specs on the back were just a sheet that comes off once you remove the plastic. I'm not a fan of that. I'd rather have that information on the box than a stock-photo of the actors, but that's a massive nitpick on my part. I'm hoping that sometime in the future, the series will get the respect it deserves and get a true, proper HD upgrade that maintains the original 4:3 aspect ratio and isn't filtered into oblivion. But until that time, we at least have this set to appreciate the original, unaltered version of this iconic series. This is an easy 5 out of 5 for me. One of the best shows of the past thirty years. Solid value for the price. And beautifully packaged.

When they can offer up "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Series," it is time for the fans of Joss Whedon's classic cult television series to admit once and for all that the party is over. Whedon wanted to create a cultural phenomenon and a pop culture icon and since Buffy was named the 13th greatest television character of all time by BRAVO, he has clearly succeeded. He took the standard horror film cliché of the blonde in the alleyway being attacked by a monster and turned it upside down by having her slay the monster and for seven seasons "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" kept on with her mission. Watching these episodes again is a great walk down memory lane: Season 1 (4.6 stakes) is only a dozen episodes but it sets the Buffy verse back on track as we get to forget the campiness of the theatrical film and face the fact that High School is Hell. Buffy Summers arrives in Sunnydale and has to contend with the Master and his minions, and then learn that Angel is a vampire. Meanwhile, Xander and Willow have their own dating problems, with giant insects and robots respectively. In "Prophecy Girl," when the Master kills Buffy, the Slayer returns the favor and then it is time to party. Season 2 (4.8 stakes) contains what I consider to be the dramatic highpoint of the entire series, when Buffy tells Angel that she loves him, kisses him, and then kills him in "Becoming, Part II." It also has the episode that Whedon considers the show's mission statement in "Innocence," when Buffy learns that Angel has become Angelus after their night together and has to face down the Judge with a decidedly unforged weapon. But there are also the memorable moments when Buffy dances with Zander at the Bronze, Spike and Drusilla first arrive in Sunnydale, our first "Halloween" episode, Kendra the Vampire Slayer shows up, Joyce dates Ted, and Angelus arranges a grissly tableau of Jenny's corpse that sends Giles into a murderous rage. I can ever argue this season has the last truly bad "BtVS" episode with "Go Fish." Season 3 (5 stakes) on balance is the best season of the show, with the first half story arc focusing on Faith the new Slayer in town combining with that of the Mayor in the second half to set up a most eventful "Graduation Day." Along the way we have SlayerFest '98, "Band Candy," "The Wish," a snow day in Sunnydale, the idiot ritual of the Cruciamentum, "The Zeppo," "Dopplegangland," Buffy's mind reading ability, and Angel showing up to dance with Buffy at "The Prom." At the end of the season Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley wander off to their own television series (see: "Angel: The Complete Series (Seasons 1-5)". Season 4 (4.6 stakes) takes Buffy to college, which does not take. After dealing with demons, such as her roommate and Gachnar, Buffy has to deal with the secret military organization the Initiative, which is responsible for putting a bloody chip in Spike's head so he doesn't chase the other puppies anymore. The two memorable episodes come back to back, with Willow's will making some changes in "Something Blue" and the Emmy nominated "Hush." Buffy gets a new boyfriend in Riley Finn, Xander dates Anya, and Willow falls for Tara. The new Big Bad is Adam, and there are return visits from Faith and Angel to go with a first meeting with the First Slayer. Season 5 (4.7 stakes) starts with Buffy meeting Dracula and ends with her sacrificing her life in "The Gift." Suddenly Buffy has a sister named Dawn, who turns out to be the Key sought by Glory, who is not a demon but a god. Buffy gives up on college, Riley gives up on Buffy, Spike orders up a Buffybot, Giles reopens the Magic Box and rebecomes Buffy's Watcher, and Joyce suddenly drops dead, a true portend of the WB finale. Season 6 (4.5 stakes) begins with Willow calling Buffy back from her grave and ends with Darth Rosenberg trying to put the Slayer back in it. Buffy comes back somewhat different, as does Amy, Dawn becomes a kleptomaniac, and everybody ends up bursting into song. Buffy and Spike end up together, Willow and Tara end up apart, and Xander leaves Anya at the altar. That Dark Willow turns out to be the Big Bad instead of the Trio is one of the biggest surprises in the entire series as comic relief turns to real tragedy. Season 7 (4.4 stakes) has the final Big Bad, the First, after Buffy from the very beginning. With potential Slayers all around the world being killed, Giles brings all the ones he can find to Sunnydale so that they can be trained for the Apocalypse to end the television series. Also added to the Scoobies are Principal Wood from the rebuilt Sunnydale High, and Andrew, the reformed and only remaining member of the Trio. Buffy and her friends have to get through the Ubervamp and Caleb to get to the first, and Faith and Angel return for the final battle, although the latter is just an errand boy. Having watched the complete series from start to finish again this month only reconfirms how great this television series was, even if it did not end on the highest note possible. Whedon's vision remains intact along the way and concludes with a literal manifestation of female empowerment (it is too bad he could not do more commentary tracks, because his are far and away the best to be found on these DVDs). The cast proved to have a remarkable range of acting ability that allowed them to do everything from farce to high drama, often in the same episode. Sarah Michelle Gellar is one of the great criers of all time, there has never been a better best gal pal than Alyson Hannigan's Willow Rosenberg. The way that time and time again guest actors could turn minor roles into major parts, epitomized by James Marsters' Spike, is another key to the show's success. Add to this how all of the characters evolved over the years, although the process was usually something akin to a rollercoaster ride. Finally, the use of music throughout the series was exceeded only by its onslaught of pop culture references. Most amazing to me is that after this operatic series reached its greatest aria with the powerful climax of "Becoming, Part 2" that it continued to be such a solid show. Even if the top was never again as high, the bottom certainly got raised up considerably after that point. This is a cult series for a whole lot of reasons and the only reason I do not touch on more of them is that I know these words are only being read by the faithful because the only people who are probably going to buy "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Series" are going to be those who already have all seven season and are buying them for friends or family (so they will stop borrowing your copies).

The original idea for BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER came to creator Joss Whedon when he was thinking about classic horror films. He noticed that films constantly included clueless blonde victims who wandered into an alley at night and were swiftly killed by whatever evil nasty was lurking there. If the blonde wasn't killed, she always needed a well-muscled male hero to save her. Whedon thought it would be far more interesting if the blonde went into the alley, but wasn't killed. Instead, she would soundly kick the evil nasty's [...]. Whedon wrote a film based around this concept. The clueless girl became a blonde, Southern Californian high schooler who also happened to be the one girl in all the world with the strength and skill to hunt and kill vampires. The idea was quirky enough to get picked up and a film was made. However, much meddling on the part of the director and the studio turned the film into a hoaky cheesefest that was nothing like Whedon's original vision. The film flopped at the box office and Whedon thought that was the end of the road for his quirky little idea. However, there was something about the movie that caught the attention of the president of the tiny WB network. The network had so far only found success with the overly-sentimental family drama 7th HEAVEN and was more willing to take a chance on something unusual than the four major networks were. Gail Berman called Whedon and asked that he revitalize and rework the idea for television. After seeing the unaired pilot he had made to shop around the idea to networks, she agreed to a 12 episode order. And with that, one of the greatest television shows ever created was born. The TV version of BUFFY is very different from the film version. He kept some of the basic plot elements of the film around as canon for the show (chief among, the fact that Buffy burned down the gym of her high school in Los Angeles) but has always stated that, for the sake of the show, the film does not exist. Instead, we pick up in the two-part pilot episode with Buffy Summers, played by the fantastic Sarah Michelle Gellar, moving to Sunnydale, California with her mother. Her parents have divorced and Buffy has been kicked out of her high school because of the aforementioned fire. It is the middle of her sophomore year of high school and Buffy has already been called as the next Vampire Slayer in an ancient line of female warriors blessed and cursed with all the skills required for hunting and killing vampires, and other demons. However, Buffy is so upset about the negative effect slaying has had on her life, that she decides to give it up. It is only when she is confronted with the truths about her new town that Buffy gets back into the game as a Slayer. Sunnydale rests on a "Hellmouth"- a literal gateway to other, nastier dimenstions, and for this reason it is a center of mystical energy which draws all sorts of evil beings to it. For this reason, there is a seemingly endless supply of demons and ghouls for Buffy to fight. However, she won't be doing it along, because she quickly makes friends with a couple of outsiders (brainy Willow and snarky Xander) and meets her new Watcher, Rupert Giles, who has the task of training and leading her in her duties as the Slayer. Also in the mix right at the beginning are the acid-tongued and popular Cordelia and the mysterious Angel. That's just the basic opening premise for BUFFY. It is a show that, on the surface, is about a rag-tag group of outsiders who must band together to fight forces of evil we can't even imagine. However, the things that made BUFFY a true delight are its sense of humor and its heart. The show has its own sound, based around the way that Joss Whedon writes, and "Buffyspeak" became instantly recognizable as a blend of snarky sarcasm, witty pop culture references and unexpected turns of phrase. The show is smart and fast, which allows the campier elements to be fun and not hoky and the darker elements to feel unique. Along with comedy, this horror show also mixes in romance and drama leading to some truly poignant and heartbreaking moments between the richly drawn cast of characters. The series darkened as it progressed, with bigger evils to face and less and less hope for a "normal life" for our heroine Buffy, but it always remained a story about friendship and family. All seven seasons of this show are phenomenal. Each episode crackles with energy, smart writing and cast chemistry and the mythology of the show deepens and matures as BUFFY ages. Villains are allowed to be multi-faceted and three-dimensional (witness the sunshiny exterior of the brilliant evil Mayor of season three and the twisted romance between season two vampires Spike and Drusilla). The main cast expands to include a wonderful array of characters that include a laconic werewolf guitarist (played perfectly by Seth Green) and a straight-forward and hilarious ex-Vengeance Demon. However, the core four Scooby Gang members of Buffy, WIllow, Xander and Giles always remain the focus as they move through the perils of Sunnydale and real life together. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER is hilarious, eye-opening, genre-bending, heart-breaking, intelligent, romantic, amazing television and if you've never seen it before you are in for a glorious treat. Whatever you've heard about this show, in actuality it is worse and its better and it is truly one of the most amazing things to ever grace the television screen

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER has to go down in the books as one of the most underrated tv shows ever. It always had its core cult following but it never became huge. Part of this was that it was on the WB and at the time it aired many didn't look at the shows on that network as the same quality as that on the main networks. The same can be said for GILMORE GIRLS. But what we have here is one of the best series ever. The way it manages to mix excellent acting, believable characters and have them live in a city and world where vampires and demons rule and their high school is directly above the hellmouth, a direct line to hell is amazing. I am a fan of TRUE BLOOD which is on HBO now and must say that I find the story lines and characterizations on BUFFY much more heart felt, engrossing and believable. Believe it or not I did not watch BUFFY on tv when it actually aired. I decided to give it a shot years ago and rented all 7 seasons from Netflix. Theree months ago I needed a BUFFY fix real bad and purchased the box set from Amazon. This box set is not childs play. It is the highest quality box set of any series I have ever seen. The packaging is so imaginative, sturdy and fits the theme of the show perfectly. It stands 8 inches high and is 5 1/2 inches wide. The top lifts up, part of the cardboard box falls down to reveal all the seasons in individual cardboard cases which when grouped together display an awesome pic of Buffy and the Scooby gang. The discs are securely placed and you also get a great booklet with a synopsis of each episode and a letter from creator Joss Whedon. There is also a disc of exclusive, never before seen extras. Each of the series comes with the same extras as the seasons sold individually so what you get with the box set if you already own all 7 seasons is the exquisite packaging, the booklet and the extras disc. For someone like me who has never purchased the seasons separately it is BUFFY heaven. I understand that when the show aired it was almost cancelled twice. Watching it in order for the second time (I am now near the end of Season 5) I am stunned and very impressed how the storyline seamlessly flows from season 1 till the end. Plot lines and characters that become prominent in the shows later times are introduced and hinted at slyly throughout. I look at the age of the series and am amazed at how it is in no way dated. Granted, many of the demons can be laughable but the intensity of the acting just makes them a fun novelty. And the choreographed slaying will always have you in awe. Some seasons worked better than others and all BUFFY fans have their favorites. Bottom line they all far surpass the quality of most series on television. This show is the perfect combination of a superb creator with a vision and a cast led by Sarah Michelle Gellar who have the skill to carry out that vision. Anyone thinking of investing in this series again believe me it is worth it. The emotional impact that this show delivers and the thrills and chills you get along the way never get old. This boxed set is a superb investment and this is a series I know I will watch over and over.

Relax. If you already own the individual seasons of BtVS, there is no compelling reason to unload them in favor of this package. Why? a nifty little episode guide and bonus disk aside, it contains nothing that its predecessors don't. The bonus disk is a sit-down get-together of, among others, Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter and Emma Caulfield. They are a lively, humorous bunch, and anyone bothering to watch them reminisce will, by virtue of fanship alone, catch all of the references and enjoy a vicarious camaraderie. While everybody seems to be enjoying the occasion, it is rather like being at a small drinks party. Few topics that get broached have much chance of being explored or even seen through to anecdotal conclusion before another is launched. More frustratingly for fans, much of what is chatted about simply reiterates things already mentioned or described (sometimes at length) elsewhere in the set. Given this, the effort made to reunite and review might have been better put toward embellishment of the series itself. Additional episode commentaries would have been appreciated. Some of them are more self-congratulatory and/or indulgent than informative; some that merit commentating don't receive any. But that's a subjective quibble. What does genuinely disappoint are the myriad references in those commentaries to scenes that got deleted for the sake of running times. Surely those exist in a Whedon storeroom somewhere, and would have been simple to reinsert or tack on at the end of their respective episodes. Inclusion of some screen tests would have been fun, especially given that more than a few references are made along the way to who tried out for one role but wound up cast in another (eg, Sarah Michelle Gellar auditioning for the part eventually played by Charisma Carpenter, and vice versa). A clip or two of the actress originally cast as Willow wouldn't have gone amiss. More out-takes would have been entertaining, too. Perhaps the oddest omission is that of Sarah Michelle Gellar. While everyone else turns up at least once in the course of interviews and anecdotal clips, the actress at the center of the action does not. Aside from the inclusion of a career & mid-series overview that originally aired on A&E, Gellar is curiously absent from the proceedings. It feels a little like a variant on the Elephant in the Corner game: here, the Elephant fails to turn up at all. This must have been by choice, but as it isn't mentioned even by Whedon himself, strikes a distracting note. BtVS was a highpoint of television. Nobody who is contemplating acquisition of the DVDs, either individually or in the conveniently single-package boxed set would argue that. Imaginative, intelligent, witty and complex, it explored both self-actualization and the role of camaraderie so vital to the process. The show speaks for itself. A lot of the extras that come with the DVDs are fun, informative and entertaining. But some are perfunctory, frustratingly brief or annoyingly discursive. It would have been nice if, for the repackaging deal, those moments had been discarded in favor of more thoughtful voice-overs or an additional episode commentary (or two or three). Emendation,however, is expensive and time-consuming -- But surely the reinstatement of deleted scenes, some additional out-takes and screen-tests would have not have been. Aah well, maybe next time ... because, as any fan knows, in the Buffy universe, anything is possible.

Buffy was one of the greatest shows ever to grace the airwaves. It's the perfect blend of horror, action, drama, and comedy, and I've seen the entire series more times than I care to count. I bought the DVDs because, quite frankly, it was finally time to give one of my favorite shows a permanent home in my media collection. I assume most of the people interested in this set are already familiar with the show, so I won't waste a lot of time in my review trying to convince you of the show's merits. If you haven't seen it (perhaps, as I was before I saw it, you're a bit reluctant because the title sounds silly), I'll just point out that I'm not the easiest man to please, and even I consider it a nearly flawless classic of television, which manages to go through seven full seasons without ever feeling stale (and also boasts two episodes in particular that are both in my top five hours of television for all time). With regards to the collection itself, it's pretty much exactly what you'd expect. There aren't really any surprises, either positive or negative. The included comic book is a nice touch and might serve as a gateway for some viewers to step into the continuation of the series in written form. The special features on the DVDs (such as commentaries on select episodes) are definitely worthwhile, but will probably only really appeal to the biggest fans of the show. I do want to mention one issue I had, which I suspect was an anomaly so it didn't affect my rating. One of the discs from season 4 was actually misprinted. The label said season 4, but the data on the disc was actually a duplicate of a disc from season 3. I was able to obtain a replacement, and I haven't seen other reviewers complaining about similar issues, so I assume that was just a one-off manufacturing error. I mention it only as a minor word of caution that you might want to check all of the discs as soon as you receive your copy in case there are any such issues on more than just the one copy.

I love BTVS not only as a fan, but as an academic: in my Intro to Gender Studies class, I use Lorna Jowett's "Sex and the Slayer" to supplement my core textbook so that the students can see the theories talked about in the textbook applied to a contemporary television show. We also watch quite a few of the episodes that are talked about in the book so that the students can see what the author is talking about and engage with her theories. BTVS is a great show for this because there are interesting portrayals of gender and sexuality that can be argued and discussed in many different ways. Plus the students find it much more engaging than just reading their text! I recently picked up this collection as a Gold Box deal, and I love it! It takes up much less room (I finally donated my individual seasons to my program office so I can still use them for class but keep my own copies at home) and I'm so glad that the DVDs are housed in plastic cases - so many of these complete series collections that have come out in the last few years have used cardboard sleeves that easily damage the discs. This set is well protected in plastic cases with trays. My one minor complaint is that each season has the episode list printed on the inside of the case liner. Even though the cases are clear, it would be much better if there were a small insert with the episode list in each season to make finding the exact episode you're looking much easier. This is a pretty minor design complaint, however, and for those who aren't jumping around from season to season and episode to episode as I am in my class may find this even less bothersome than I do. If you are a fan of BTVS, this is a great collection at an already great price, and if you can get it on sale as I did it's a steal! This is a quality show that has a lot of entertainment value as well as a lot of serious "stuff" to talk about, and this collection brings it all together for you in one place!

This isn’t my favorite series but this set came nicely packaged and is worth the price for collector’s. It came with a little bonus poster that was a bit crumpled inside. The acting, makeup and action in this show is amazing. I envy Buffy’s fitness and seriously look to her for fitness goals! I didn’t pay enough attention to this on my first watch years ago.

日本版のは地上波で放送された方のバージョンで、エンディングにJ-POPが入ってて、気に入らなかった。 自分は、FOXテレビで先に観てたので(吹き替えは同じでしたが)、エンディングはやはり、オープニングテーマ曲 を使ったオリジナルの方が断然、気に入ってたのですが、全シーズン観れる、オリジナル仕様のBOXセットはないのかと Amazonで探したらあったので、買いました。 届いたら、BOXの状態も綺麗で、画像もいいし、大変満足しています。 久しぶりに観たので「こんな話しもあったんだ～なんとなく覚えてるけどんな話しだったっけ?」 状態だったので、新鮮に観ることが出来ました。 ちなみにシーズン2では、各エピソードを観るたびに、ホラーアドベンチャーゲームみたいな CG画像が出て、墓場の中を通って、不気味な扉の前に行き、扉が開いて中に自動的に入り それから、本編が始まるのが、「凝ってて面白いな～」と思いました。 多分、各シーズンごとに趣向を凝らしていると思われます。 まだシーズン2までを観ている途中なので(^◇^;)

Ce coffret contient l'intégralité des 7 saisons de Buffy contre les vampires en DVD. Il s'agit de deux boitiers incorporés dans un étui protecteur en carton. La qualité des boitiers est top et l'esthétisme du coffret est carrément génial. Cependant, faites attention seules les deux premiers saisons du coffret sont en langues françaises, le reste n'est qu'en V.O. Donc pour moi qui connait la série et ses dialogues par cœur cela ne me pose aucun soucis au contraire je préfère de loin la V.O mais pour ce ceux à qui la VF est essentielle à leurs yeux évitez l'achat.

La edición de esta colección es muy sencilla pero el contenido de los DVD's es muy bueno, los menús interactivos son de lo mejor y también los contenidos extra, el precio no considero que sea tan accesible a diferencia de otras ediciones más recientes y más completas, sin embargo la serie vale la pena y llego rápido y en buen estado.

I absolutely enjoyed watching this tv series it was amazing and awesome. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves Vampires, Werewolves And Witches.

Se lo recomiendo a todo el mundo, es excelente. Ya conocereis esta serie y está muy bien poder conseguirlas. Gracias