Buffy Seasons 1-7: The Complete Series

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).

(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.

I have always been a FAN! I saw EVERY episode when it was on TV. Now I can watch it whenever I want. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER had an influence on so many shows that followed, like SUPERNATURAL, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, AND GRIMM, etc. You can see similar story lines that BUFFY started. No matter how many years pass, the BUFFY stories are still relevant. I highly recommend this BUFFY Box Set to anyone who wants to be entertained!