Disc Details
Special Features:	All 12 First Season Episodes (1997 Air-dates). Full frame format. Chapter selections. Commentary track by creator Josh Whedon on first episode. Interview with Joss Whedon and David Boreanaz. Pilot script. Photo gallery. Josh Whedon discusses four episodes in interview format. Bios of characters and the actors who play them. TV trailer. DVD-ROM links to Buffy Web sites.
Video Format:	Full Frame (1.33:1) [SS-DL]
Languages:	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Subtitles:	English, French, Dutch.
Closed Caption:	Yes
Sides:	3-Disc Keep Case

The TV show takes up where the feature film left off. Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Geller) is kicked out of school for burning down her school gym at the end of the movie. Buffy and her mom, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland) move to Sunnydale. Buffy is eager to put her slaying ways behind her and have a normal teenage life. She should have moved to another town. It seems that Sunnydale is situated over the mouth of Hell. Over the first season Buffy not only slays vampires, but also battles demons, witches and a sexy biology teacher who is really a giant praying mantis!

All of the original cast are introduced. Certain ones become aware of Buffy's alter ego and become her "slayerettes." Buffy's first hint that she can't escape her role as a slayer comes when she meets school librarian, Rupert Giles (Anthony Head). The very English Rupert is Buffy's watcher.

For the uninitiated Buffy is a "Slayer." A Slayer is one born into every generation who has the strength of many. The slayer's life is dedicated to the death and destruction of the dark ones, be they vampire, demon or witch. A "Watcher" is one who trains and aids the "Slayer." The watcher has the wisdom and ability to sense the dark ones, they just lack the strength to kick the evil one's butts.

During the first episode, Buffy saves Willow (Alyson Hannigon) from a male vampire who was dressed in out of date clothes. Buffy is a slave to fashion. Apparently the vampire stopped keeping up with fashion trends after he became on of the undead. Willow is a nerdy computer geek with no self confidence when it comes to boys. She has a crush on Xander Harris (Nicolas Brendon). Xander accidentally overhears Buffy talking about slaying to Rupert in the school library, thus he becomes one of the inner circle. Xander falls hard for Buffy. Buffy doesn't feel the same way. She has the hots for the dark, strong and very mysterious Angel (David Boreanaz) who shows up now and then to warn Buffy of some impending threat.

Each of the 12 episodes deal with some form of undead threatening the rule of humans on earth. For the most part the stories are well written, funny and scary. A couple of episodes were ridiculous ("I Robot...You Jane" and "Teacher's Pet") but most were excellent.

Good picture, great sound, good extras.

Picture Quality: 7/10
No artifacts. My reasoning for this rating has more to do with the "TV" look of the picture. Well Duh! This is a TV series! I know, I know, but I just couldn't give the picture a higher rating. Hate me if you want to. Fans will rate it higher.

Sound Quality: 10/10
Great rock soundtracks on each episode. As with most great horror films, sound (or lack there of) plays an important part in getting the scares. The makers of "Buffy" are well aware of this and do a great job utilizing sound for effect.

Menu: 8/10
Nice design. A little difficult to navigate on the photo gallery and script portion of the special features.

Extra Features: 7/10
The short interviews are good. I would have liked an in-depth interview with "Buffy" herself. I really liked the "character" bios along with the actor bios. I thought it was a nice twist which will be appreciated by the legion of "Buffy" fans.

The Final Word:
Fans will flock to the video store for this one. They won't be disappointed. Non-fans might want to rent first, buy later.

Rusty White