Buy Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Collector's Set (40 discs)

Bonus Disc: **Introduction by Joss Whedon **Back to the Hellmouth: A Conversation with Creators and Cast **Breaking Barriers: It's Not a Chick Fight Thing **Love Bites: Relationships in the Buffyverse **Evil Fiends **Buffy: An Unlikely Role Model **Buffy Cast and Crew: Favorite Episodes

Amazon.com: From its charming and angst-ridden first season to the darker, apocalyptic final one, Buffy the Vampire Slayer succeeds on many levels, and in a fresher and more authentic way than the shows that came before or after it. How lucky, then, that with the release of its boxed set of seasons 1-7, you can have the estimable pleasure of watching a near-decade of Buffy in any order you choose. (And we have some ideas about how that should be done.)

First: rest assured that there's no shame in coming to Buffy late, even if you initially turned your nose up at the winsome Sarah Michelle Gellar kicking the hell out of vampires (in Buffy-lingo, vamps), demons, and other evil-doers. Perhaps you did so because, well, it looked sort of science-fiction-like with all that monster latex. Start with season 3 and see that Buffy offers something for everyone, and the sooner you succumb to it, the quicker you'll appreciate how textured and riveting a drama it is.

Why season 3? Because it offers you a winning cast of characters who have fallen from innocence: their hearts have been broken, their egos trampled in typically vicious high-school style, and as a result, they've begun to realize how fallible they are. As much as they try, there are always more monsters, or a bigger evil. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the core crew remains something of a unit--there's the smart girl, Willow (Alyson Hannigan) who dreams of saving the day by downloading the plans to City Hall's sewer tunnels and mapping a route to safety. There are the ne'r do wells--the vampire Spike (James Marsters), who both clashes with and aspires to love Buffy; the tortured and torturing Angel (David Boreanz); the pretty, popular girl with an empty heart (Charisma Carpenter); and the teenage everyman, Xander (Nicholas Brendon).

Then there's Buffy herself, who in the course of seven seasons morphs from a sarcastic teenager in a minidress to a heroine whose tragic flaw is an abiding desire to be a "normal" girl. On a lesser note, with the boxed set you can watch the fashion transformation of Buffy from mall rat to Prada-wearing, kickboxing diva with enviable highlights. (There was the unfortunate bob of season 2, but it's a forgivable lapse.) At least the storyline merits the transformations: every time Buffy has to end a relationship she cuts her hair, shedding both the pain and her vulnerability.

In addition to the well-wrought teenage emotional landscape, Buffy deftly takes on more universal themes--power, politics, death, morality--as the series matures in seasons 4-6. And apart from a few missteps that haven't aged particularly well ("I Robot" in season 1 comes to mind), most episodes feel as harrowing and as richly drawn as they did at first viewing. That's about as much as you can ask for any form of entertainment: that it offer an escape from the viewer's workaday world and entry into one in which the heroine (ideally one with leather pants) overcomes demons far more troubling than one's own. --Megan Halverson

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic collection (1 of 12 Found this Helpful) December 2, 2008
I was lucky enough to snag this set on a Gold Box deal for $69.99, but I would have happily paid twice as much for the hours of fantastic viewership this set has provided. My much beloved Seasons 1 and 2 were just as great as I remembered, and I got to catch a lot of later season episodes that I missed the first (or second) time around. Witty, entertaining, angsty good television - say what you will, I'm thrilled with my purchase.

Best Show Ever (3 of 15 Found this Helpful) November 24, 2008
This is the best show ever no other TV show is as good it has vampires and werewolves super great oh boy!!!!!

Joss Whedon's Brilliance = An Uber-Awesome Show! (4 of 27 Found this Helpful) November 24, 2008
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my comfort food. When everything was going wrong I simply turned to the world of Buffy. On bad days, good days, even boring days, I can find myself selecting an episode that I could relate to at the moment and just dive in. The show never ceases to put a smile on my face and brighten my day. Buffy is at the heart of any teenager or even grown up who can look back on their life and say "hey I remember how that felt". While it won't be an instant winner for every person like it was for me, the show still has life lessons for everyone while throwing in a witty pun.

So do I recommend this for other people? Yes. Of course, I don't want people to simply take my opinion and spend big bucks on a complete collection of a show they are skeptical of. Instead I hope for those of you who don't know much about the show that you find a place that will let you rent the first two seasons (or borrow from a friend you know that has it). You can usually decide whether you like it or not by the end of season two (NOTE: season one is not that developed and only lasts 12 episodes, while season two has 22 episodes in which the character development is much more in depth) . While it is nice to view the entire series before buying this collection, which may take some time (due to that fact that there are seven season and a whopping 144 total episodes) but if you find yourself hooked from the start it might not be a bad idea. The chosen collection comes with all 144 episodes (each looking like the original disc found the complete season boxed sets) and it comes with a bonus special feature disc. This collection is very compact so it takes up less space than if you were to buy the original complete season boxed sets (not the slim set versions)

Now for those of you who are already Buffy fans:

1. This is the perfect set, all in one Buffy DVD buy. If you don't own the other releases already I totally recommend this. If you already own the complete season sets this is not a necessary buy. The huge difference is the design and bonus disc.
2. However if you are like me and you find that your DVD collection is a little worn out (In my case I own the complete season boxed sets 1-7 and The Chosen Collection only because my older sets -for example most my season three discs - were scratched and some wouldn't play. So I purchased this item when it was at a gold box deal which was well worth it to watch those episodes again. For the ones not in need of a replacement it was nice knowing I have a back up)
3. If you are crazy and must own everything...you might have some obsession problems. Just kidding. It's your decision to buy all DVD's Buffy related. But seriously that could get pretty pricey...

Overall I find this to be the best show I have ever seen. And while I WISH everyone in the world would just appreciate Joss's brilliant creation, I can't (where's Anya when you need her. Lol) I hope those of you first timers will give it a chance because it really is a well deserving show. For many, you either Love it or Hate it. I hope this helps make your decision easier.

Happy Shopping

A truly great series! November 24, 2008
I love the Buffy series. It is comical, has drama, and is overall a great story. I agree with the reviewer who said you buy the collector's set so that you can let your kids use the regular sets and keep them out of your collector's set!

If You're a fan of Buffy, it's a must buy! (1 of 34 Found this Helpful) November 7, 2008
ok, this is by far one of the best tv show series sets out there.
i bought this only after watching the first season online and this show is outstanding! def. buy from amazon; they did a great job of getting it here to me fast. so, yea, def. order it!

Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Collector's Set (40 discs)

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