Description

The complete first season of Rod Serling's classic, groundbreaking series exploring the fantastic and the frightening. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer followed the logic of plot and character development into some gloomy places. The year begins with Buffy being raised from the dead by the friends who miss her, but who fail to understand that a sacrifice taken back is a sacrifice negated. Dragged out of what she believes to have been heavenly bliss, she finds herself "going through the motions" and entering into a relationship with the evil, besotted vampire Spike just to force her emotions.Willow becomes ever more caught up in the temptations of magic; Xander and Anya move towards marriage without ever discussing their reservations; Giles feels he is standing in the way of Buffy's adult independence; Dawn feels neglected. What none of them need is a menace that is, at this point, simply annoying--three high school contemporaries who have turned their hand to magical and high-tech villainy. Added to this is a hungry ghost, an invisibility ray, an amnesia spell and a song-and-dance demon (who acts as rationale for the incomparable musical episode "Once More, with Feeling").

This is a year in which chickens come home to roost: everything from the villainy of the three geeks to Xander's doubts about marriage come to a head, often--as in the case of the impressive wedding episode--through wildly dark humor. The estrangement of the characters from each other--a well-observed portrait of what happens to college pals in their early 20s--comes to a shocking head with the death of a major character and that death's apocalyptic consequences. The series ends on a consoling note which it has, by that point and in spite of imperfections, entirely earned. --Roz Kaveney ... Read more

Reviews (301)

A Mixed Bag (but still wonderful in my eyes)
Buffy Summers died saving the world at the end of the fifth season of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, so the sixth season had a lot on its hands when it started up the next fall.

Season 6 spends much of its time delving into the darker sides of the characters. Buffy has to deal with being alive and suddenly having the responsibilities of family caretaker. Willow finds out just how addiction can ruin a life. Xander and Anya realize that they're not as ready to be grown up as they thought they were. Spike lets his worser half get the better of his love for Buffy. Dawn explores her bad girl side by shoplifting and sneaking out ever more.

In some ways, this darkness gets a little too big for the show. It's the dark sides of the characters themselves that turn out to be the Season 6 "Big Bad", not the Geek Trio of Andrew, Warren and Jonathan. (The geeks are amusing if you enjoy seeing geeks extensivey mocked, however, they do start to grate as the season progresses.) The season follows the depression of the characters. At the beginning, before things start to fall apart, it's interesting to watch. Almost every one of the first 8 or 9 episodes of the season are at least good, peaking with the amazingly underappreciated (at least by the Emmy powers that be) musical episode, "Once More, With Feeling". The problem is that after that, the season plunges into the steaming pile of dung that makes up the middle of Season 6. (This contains two of my least favorite episodes EVER, "Doublemeat Palace" and "Normal Again". "Hell's Bells", however, is a worthy exception to the rest of the mid-season rubbish.) Things pick back up with "Entropy", and the season manages to redeem itself through an amazing, if heartbreaking, turn of events in the end (which I'm trying hard not to spoil with this review).

However difficult the middle of the season is to watch, this DVD set will be worth it for "Once More, With Feeling" alone. It's Joss Whedon's (BUFFY creator and ruling lord) masterpiece. With little to no music writing experience, he manages to write a 50 minute musical that plays to the strengths of his non-musical cast. The cast, ever the troopers, sing and dance their way through with enthusiasm and finesse. It's often clear that they are not singers or dancers by trade, but they are all so charming (especially Emma Caulfield as Anya) that it's easy to forgive them their occasional off-key notes and missteps. And then there's Hinton Battle, the demon villain of the episode. He dances. He sings. He's probably the most charismatic thing to hit Sunnydale since Spike crashed into town in Season 2. It's a shame that he only got to have the one episode, but what an episode to have!

There are other gems in the season. Check out "Tabula Rasa" and "Life Serial" for some of BUFFY's funnier moments. It's a shame that the middle of the season is so hard to stomach, but I think that it all pays off in the end.

A Masterpiece
Season Six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is, simply put, a masterpiece. Season Six is different; it is dark, edgy, scary, a far cry from the earlier, but equally impressive, previous seasons. I applaud Joss Whedon and Co. for taking this incredible series to different places, exploring new story arcs and aspects of the multi dimensional characters. The writing, directing, and acting are up to par with the best shows and movies out there, in many instances surpassing them. Sarah Michelle Gellar provides an incredible performance as Buffy dealing with her resurection, being pulled out of heaven by her friends, and having to deal with what she feels is a hell on Earth. The scenes where she expresses her distress over dealing with the emptiness inside her are truly moving. Alyson Hannigan also gives an incredible performance as Willow, dealing with her "addiction" to magics, and the consequences her problem causes with herself and her friends. James Marsters also gives a great performance as Spike, a souless vampire trying to understand love and human emotions eventhough he is spiritually unequiped to. Sure this season contains its duds (Doublemeat Palace for example), but the great episodes of this season far out shine the bad: Bargaining Parts One and Two, Tabula Rasa, Life Serial, Seeing Red, Two to Go, Grave, and ESPECIALLY the musical, Once More, With Feeling. The genius of Once More, With Feeling is reason enough to buy this set. I will say this again, Buffy Season Six is different, it is very dark, almost disturbing in some cases, it is scary, and very emotional, but this change is welcome and wonderful. It works, and season six is incredible

what is everyone talking about?
ok i just bought season six(but ive already seen all the eps)
and everyone has their own opinion but this season kinda sucks. But i am basing this on one thing: spike and buffy relatioship! the two characters i once loved i cant stand! they are so bitter! anyways a good season for all the other characters especially willow. besides for spike and buffy its watchable.

Cinderella, one past midnight
With this season, the magical carraige that was "Buffy" turned back into a pumpkin. It's no surprise, really: five years is generally the point at which a show starts to show signs of exhaustion, and while season five was a definite thumbs-up, there were a a number of sure signs of trouble to come:

1) Dawn. Adding a "baby" to a family is an old sitcom device to shake things up. It worked because of the clever writing and, obviously, Michelle Trachtenberg.
2) Glory. Upping the ante in the villain department every season is a good idea, but how do you top a God?
3) Spike. Changing a character's basic nature from evil to good (or good to evil) is an old soap-opera trick ("What, he's good now?")
4) Buffy. She died. Again. Since death is the ultimate sanction, undoing it takes the finality of death away, and stops us from caring if future characters are killed, because they can always be brought back.

Season Six dealt with the problem of topping Glory by going the opposite route, and creating the Triad, three hapless nerds who in no way were worthy successors to the Master, Angelus, bad Spike & Dru, evil Faith, etc. It was often hilarious, but not really strong enough of an idea to sustain over a whole season. The Triad would have made a very funny three story arc, but beyond that, their limitations were obvious.

It also made the fundamental mistake of pushing suspension of disbelief right over a cliff (that shark-headed gangster demon boss was just the worst idea in history....what were they thinking?). Also of betraying some signs of insecurity about the things they had done in season five and in six as well, and then trying to cover it up with clever humor, such as when the shrink tells Buffy that the retro-active addition of a sister (Dawn) into her alredy established family is a "ridiculous plot device" or that the Triad were "pathetic" villains. Tongue-in-cheek is one thing, farce is another. The episode where they allude that Buffy is in fact in a mental institution and everything you have seen in the previous 100 episodes is nothing more than the fever dreams of a schizo nut case is the classic "Bobby Ewing" mistake...."That last season? It was only a dream!" This was just insulting to the audience.

I also felt the middle episodes suffered badly from the absence of Giles and from an overdose of Spike. Sometimes the best thing you can do with a great actor/character is hold him back a little bit, so as to leave the audience hungry. Spike is a great character and James Marsters a great actor, but sometimes less is more.

This is not to say there were not some truly good moments in the season, such as Riley showing back up (didn't realize I liked this character until he left) the crotchey old Doublemeat Palace demon ("You may want to flail your limbs while you still have time"), the musical episode, the capricious and brutally violent way that Tara is killed off, or the fact that ordinary Xander finally got to save the world when all the super-powered people failed. But overall, season six left me feeling a bit like Buffy after her ressurection: down, disappointed, and ungrateful. Five out of six ain't bad.

Not the Buffy We Fell in Love With, but Still Damn Good TV
Season 6 is kind of the dark horse among Buffy fans, and having watched the show during its initial UPN run I can understand why. Heck, even I was turned off by the dark, relentlessly depressing nature of the season, the lack of a traditional big bad, and the network's sporadic airing of new episodes. Thank God for DVD, because thanks to this set I have a whole new appreciation for Joss Whedon, his writers, and the highly talented actors.

Without the weeks or sometimes months between new episodes (God bless UPN for keeping Buffy alive, but couldn't you have shown new episodes closer together?), the narrative structure of the season works so much better. It is much easier to watch and appreciate the growth and change experienced by the main cast, all of who slowly grow up throughout the season until they are nothing like the group of high schoolers we first met. The writers did a wonderful job of providing a distinct arc for each character, and the actors did a brilliant job portraying the evolution of the characters.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is once again stellar as Buffy Summers, whose emotional problems this season make all the angst up until now seem like kiddy stuff. I'm so glad Joss and company made the effort to earn Buffy's resurrection instead of simply reviving her and then letting everything immediately go back to normal. They took the much more difficult and ultimately more rewarding path of having Buffy slowly readjusting to her life, not fully reintegrating herself into Sunnydale until the end of the season.

All the other actors actors are equally fine, but Emma Caulfield deserves special recognition for her charming and underappreciated Anya. Consistantly hilarious, Caulfield takes a character who was clearly added to the show's roster as comic relief and makes her multi-dimensional and surprisingly human. By the end of the heart-wrenching "Hell's Bells," Anya shows an emotional depth that makes her possibly the most tragic character of the season, and Miss Caulfield handles the part beautifully.

And of course, season six of Buffy gave us the much lauded musical episode "Once More, With Feeling." I'm not ashamed to admit that it is my FAVORITE episode of the entire seven season run, encapsulating just about everything that makes Buffy special. It's smart, well written, irreverant, and packed with a surprising amount of emotional resonance. No, most of the cast won't be going to Broadway anytime soon, but bravo to the entire cast for handling their own singing, which actually only serves to make the episode more charming.

Season six of Buffy brought the characters to new low points in their lives, the show to new heights as far as writing and storytelling go, and produced some of the most entertaining adversaries the show's every seen (maybe I'm a nerd, but I find the Trio to be absolutely hysterical). If you've been watching the show since day one, now certainly isn't the time to stop, and if you've never seen the show, you're missing out on one of the most consistantly excellent programs of the last decade. ... Read more

Reviews (176)

One, Two, this DVD's for you!
This set provides the essentials, the movies one through seven. However the Encyclopedia disc is simply PACKED with extras. I think there is nearly 2 or 3 hours of extras. With that, any Nightmare lover can see the entity of this movie in so much depth and detail. You'll also find, if you haven't already, that Robert Englund and Wes Craven are "Bloody" genius'. There is a reason why A Nightmare on Elm Street is simply the BEST horror movie franchise in existence, and this collectors box set gives you 8 reasons why. Unlike it's rivals, the Nightmare series travels, it covers so many aspects of the evil inside (without embarassing itself by traveling to space!).
If there is one thing I truly respect about this series is the sequels. Although parts 2-6 were not really scary, they did deliver what would become the quintessence of Freddy. The sarcastic, sometimes hilarious demon anti-hero who you can't help but cheer for. Also, it does something that no other horror movie franchise has. It's final part leaves the viewer just like the first one: terrified. I really feel that New Nightmare was so overrated yet so very well done.

If you love these movies, BUY THIS SET! Well worth the money!

Campy horror at it's best! A terrific DVD set.
The "Nightmare on Elm Street" series was, in my opinion, the only one that justified the number of sequels it had. It is also the most entertaining, original, and frightening of all the 80's "slasher" films. They may be a campy as a row of tents, but they are still among my favorite guilty pleasures.

The first three movies are without a doubt the best, with part 4 being okay, and part 5 being awful. "Freddy's Dead" capped off the series nicely, while "New Nightmare" found a brilliant way of making another movie as a self-parody, rather than a cookie-cutting of the older movies. Many don't consider it to be part of the series, but it defintely is in my opinion. I will always pick Freddy over Jason or Michael Myers for his devious sense of humor. Who can forget the classic line "You've got the body, and I've got the brains". Great line.

Collectors can enjoy a whopping 8 DVDs of Nightmare material, including all 7 films and a bonus DVD filled with behind-the-scenes extras, interviews, and other goodies. I enjoyed the book, but the extra DVD is a real bonus. It made the DVD set more enticing, considering the price tag.

Unlike the Friday the 13th or Halloween movies, which specialized in cookie-cutter sequels and little to no variation, the Nightmare series is the one that is worth owning on DVD. The originality, the chills, and the fun make the series stand out from all the other campy 80's horror series. I can join the rest of the horror movie fans in saying "They don't make em like this anymore".

Great Packaging of the Series
Each DVD in this set has special features and the like. All movies have similair menu formats meaning that they were designed for the set, which makes it consistant and enjoyable. There is even an extra DVD full of special features inclucing, interviews with freddy, music videos, cast and crew, and even Clive Barker himself. There is this cool way to find all sorts of hidden facts and videos in an interactive way. You control you way through a dark maze and solve riddles and unlock doors. Really great set!

Pretty fun fare, these "Nightmares"...
Since I've pretty much covered my thoughts on every 'Nightmare' flick in separate reviews-- and because I'm a lazy reviewer-- I'm just gonna talk about the bonus 'Nightmare Series Encyclopedia' disc that's included with the box set. If ya wanna know what I think about the movies, check out my reviews of 'em on their respective product pages-- they're posted in series order, from June 23 to June 30, 2004.

Anyhoo, here goes:

The Encyclopedia includes 'Prime Time', an hour-long documentary on the making of the first 'Nightmare', featuring musings from director Wes Craven, stars Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund, and other people involved with the project. A few behind-the-scenes & technical things are shown as well. While I found some of the subjects' thoughts about the movie's significance and influence rather droning and pretentious, much of the stuff shown here was reasonably interesting.

Then there's the encyclopedia proper, an archive of interviews and behind-the-scenes featurettes on every 'Nightmare' flick from the first on through to 'New Nightmare'. Much like the 'Prime Time' doc, the seemingly endless array of stuff has its more interesting parts and its drier and downright boring parts. While most of the interviewees (i.e. the films' directors, actors, writers, & producers) seemed a bit too full of themselves at times and made the 'Nightmare' franchise out to be more important and significant than it really was, these interviews paled in comparison to those of Clive Barker, writer-director of the 'Hellraiser' flicks. I tell ya, this guy's pretentious pontificating and going on and on AND ON about the horror genre could put the worst insomniac to sleep in mere moments! If ever there was a truly scary nightmare, it's tryin' to sit through an interview with this guy! Which now that I think about it would probably make for a pretty good story idea for a possible "Freddy vs." sequel! I can just see it now: "Both combatants possess some truly scary capabilities and skills! Freddy has the power to invade your dreams and kill you in your sleep! Clive Barker has the power to bore you into a coma in mere minutes with his endless babbling! Who will win this titanic tussle of truly horrific proportions? Find out when you go to see: 'Freddy vs. Barker'! Coming soon to a theater near you!" I'd be rootin' for Freddy, myself, even though Barker definitely has the edge in the scariness department...

Also included is a trio of music videos, including Dokken's "Dream Warriors", as well as one by the Fat Boys and another by some other rap group whose name I can't recall. Of the three only the Dokken video is really worth checking out. BTW I'm surprised they didn't include Will "Fresh Prince" Smith's "Nightmare on My Street" video, which I kinda liked when I saw it on MTv many years back. Also included are theatrical trailers to every 'Nightmare' mo-pic.

Finally, there's the Labyrinth game where you walk through the halls of Springwood H.S. to grab a few things and solve puzzles to help you unlock a few of the game's features. These features include a bunch of really corny MTv promo spots hosted by Freddy himself, a couple behind-the-scenes moments and interviews that weren't included in the encyclopedia section. Also thrown into this labyrinth were a few things that were carried over from the encyclopedia section, including several cast and crew interviews, the theatrical trailers, and the trio of music videos. I was kinda disappointed by the latter array of features, since I was able to access them in a different part of the bonus DVD, and didn't have to click through a maze of hallways to watch 'em. The way I see it, they shoulda' made the Labyrinth game completely of stuff I couldn't access anywhere else. Otherwise, I found the adventure engaging and surprisingly quick to get through-- it only took me about 90 minutes. I probably woulda' taken twice as long had I not fast-forwarded through the stuff I'd already seen before...

Overall, I found the movies decent viewing even though none of 'em were all that scary to me. Funny for sure, but scary? Nope. Well, except perhaps for 'New Nightmare', a little bit. And the bonus platter had a nice array of good stuff, as well as some dull stuff. Fortunately, the dull stuff can easily be fast-forwarded through. Bottom line: this baby's worth at least one rental, just so you can finally say you saw all of the 'Nightmare' movies.

'Late

Greatest horror series!
This is one of the greats of horror movies there have ever been. With one of the most infamous killers ever. Freddy Kruegar. These films represent his story...

Nightmare on elm street - This is by far the best on the series. Freddy looks very dark in this one, and this is probably the one were he is the most violent. Robert England plays him so well. It can be shocking at times, but not scary. Lots of disturbing and strange scenes too.

Nightmare on elm street 2: Freddy's revenge - A lot of people really hated this film because it messed with the original story. Robert Englund reprises his role as Freddy. It is set in the same area, but this isn't a film with nightmares. It starts off as a nightmare film, but at the end this is a normal slasher. That's why people didn't like it. Still, I still like it, and it contains so much more gore.

Nightmare on elm street 3: Dream warriors - This is the one that made the second look like it didn't exsist. This one follows from the first, not the second. Many people enjoyed this one, as I did. Robert Englund is back, and so is Heather Lagnekamp (played the main character from the first film). The story concentrates on a group of teenagers this time, and their nightmares, and Freddy is back again, invading their nightmares. This one is probably the most fun, since Freddy gives us better and more creative death scenes, like the puppet scene (SICK!). This one isn't set on Elm street though, it's a hospital, but it has good atmosphere. An enjoyable entry.

Nightmare on elm street 4: Dream master - This was a dissapointing sequel, which I also didn't like. Freddy loses his touch in this film. It can also be very stupid at times, and the deaths are -- creative -- but very OTT. The gore is the same (OTT). It does continue from the third, but the leads who survived in the third don't survive for long in this one, and it changes to another story. This is quite a bad entry to the series I think.

Nightmare on elm street 5: Dream child - This is very much the same to the fourth, but this is the worst in the series. The film doesn't concentrate enough on Freddy, but instead it's his mom. Freddy's one-liners are very cheesey and crap, and there aren'r enough deaths in this one. This one concentrates more on Freddy's past. Shame, 'cause the opening of this is quite scary.

Freddy's dead: The final nightmare - People also don't like this one, the consider it to be more funny than scary - which it is, but it's a really good film. It opens up quite satisfyingly, and the film also gives us information on Freddy, before he became a killer. This is the only elm street film where he doesn't use his claw to kill someone, but he kills people in a cool, fun way. I like this entry, certainly an improvement to the lat tow films.

Wes Craven's new nightmare - I actually like this film. It's all about Freddy in the "real" world. Many roles from the original movie star in this and play themselves, as this film is like a docusoup. Once you get to the last thirty minutes of this film you'll love it. But, Freddy isn't in much of the start of this film, and it has a story that can be quite hard to follow. Other than that, this is an excellent film, and it's a great and different way to end the series.

A classic horror series that must be bought. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Having battled a hellish vampire master, an evil boyfriend, a rogue slayer, a giant man-eating demon-snake thing, and a particularly nasty high school principal, Buffy Summers embarked on one of her biggest challenges in the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: college. With boyfriend Angel out of the picture (and on his own show) and Sunnydale High destroyed, new horizons were to be tackled for Buffy and the rest of the Scooby gang. There were cute guys (Buffy's new boyfriend Riley), cute girls (Willow's new girlfriend Tara--yes, Willow's gay!), frat parties, irritating roommates, harsh professors, and, oh yes, a secret military initiative that was experimenting on the demon population (Riley's part of it).

Buffy truly hit its golden years in the fourth season--just when you thought this show couldn't get any better, Joss Whedon and his creative team pulled out all the stops and took Buffy and co. into rich new territory. By far, the highlight of the season (and the entire series) was the Emmy-nominated "Hush," a nearly dialogue-free episode in which the creepy "Gentlemen" rob Sunnydale of its collective voice, and Buffy and Riley finally come face to face with each other's hidden identities. While Frankenstein-esque monster Adam wasn't the show's best villain (you'll have to wait until next season's Glory for that), he was a worthy adversary for the biotech age, and the military milieu was a nice contrast to Buffy's previous gothic outings. Season 4 also marked the return of blond vampire Spike (who developed a crush on Buffy), the ascension of vengeance demon Anya to full-time cast status, and the brief return of bad slayer Faith (in a fab two-part body-switching episode). Throughout, the entire cast, headed by the unparalleled Sarah Michelle Gellar, worked television magic of the kind rarely seen on the small screen. This is Buffy at its best. --Mark Englehart ... Read more

Reviews (246)

Buffy goes to college in solid season 4
The 4th season of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER proved to be a matter of transition for both cast and crew. For one thing, the show had removed itself from the high school setting when Buffy and her gang blew up the school fighting the demonized Mayor in season 3. Also, David Boreanez's moody vampire-with-a-soul Angel had moved on to his own series, taking with him a major plot point that helped drive the series. For the most part, BUFFY rebounded quite well with some of the best single episodes on the show to date. Of particular mention is the classic "Hush," where Sunnydale is under a spell of silence. Its inventive use of the lack of dialogue just reaffirmed the show's growing reputation as one of the best TV had to offer. However, there were uneven moments as well. The "Big Bad" of the government-run Initiative was too much of an X-FILES rip-off. The cyborg-demon Adam lacked the flair of the Mayor or the Master, and commando Riley, despite an ernest portrayal by Marc Blucas, seemed a poor substitute for Angel as Buffy's beau. Also, beloved characters like Giles and Xander were pretty much adrift that season as the college setting put more emphasis on Buffy and Willow. Overall, though, the season still had its share of entertaining and funny moments, while introducing former villian Spike (the always-solid James Marsters) as an uneasy ally/comic relief. The DVD features, while still on the skimpy side, are upgraded in quality with solid audio commentaries on key episodes including creator Joss Whedon's take on "Hush," with actor Seth Green (the werewolf Oz) joining him in "Wild at Heart." As always, BUFFY still manages to entertain, thrill and provoke its audience, which is a mark of great TV....making this DVD set definitely one worth recommending.

a breathtaking series with an unforgettable cast
by far the best show in the world to me, its hip, sexy, funny, scary, addicting and dramatic. This season takes place in college and Buffy(Sarah Michelle Gellar), Willow(Alyson hannigan, and OZ(Seth Green) attend. Xander(Nicholas Brendon) is not in college and Giles(Anthony Stewart Head) conducts buisness from his pad. Seth Green who plays the kick ass werewolf Oz, leaves 6 episodes into the fourth season and comes back at the end for 2 episodes. We get to know Spike(James Marsters) more in this season and see how he was kidnapped by The mysterious Initiative, led by Professor Walsh(Lindsay Crouse), and that Buffy's new hubbie Riley Finn(Marc Bluca) is a soldier in that organization. Hush would have to be the best ep in that season and it did win an Emmy. We see the return of Faith(Eliza Dushku) and Jonathan(Danny Strong). Walsh(Crouse) makes an ultimate killing machine, half demon, half human, half of everything named Adam(George Hertzberg)... also theres 2 episodes Angel(David Boreanaz) return to and that episode where Angel kicks the crap outta Riley was cool. Xander gets a new girlfriend, Anya(Emma Caulfield), Willow turns lesbian and has Tara(Amber Benson) and choices her over Oz(Green) but she still thinks about him in her dreams and we see that from the end episode Restless. I've seen every episode more than 5 times and its good because i'm an addictive fan of the show and when it ended in May I was like damnit, hey but theres still Angel and Spike is going and thats the best part, so this is a masterpiece of a show and it'll live in my life forever.

Great Episodes, Bad Villan
Now, when I first bought this DVD set I got it only to further the completion of my Buffy collection. I thought that the 4th season wasn't any good...but was I wrong! Even though Adam was not a very good villian, the overall arch was very good. I love how Willow and Tara get together, and I also love Riley. Xander and Anya are histarical, as is Giles and his girlfriend, Olivia. Season 4 has some of the best episodes...EVER!! My 3 favorites are "Pangs" (Angel's in it!!), "Hush" (Silently creepy!), "Girl of the Year" (Faith is back and is FUNNY AS HELL!!!), and "Who Are You" (Part 2 of the Faith comeback). The DVD cover discribes this season. With the dark background and Sarah's lost-in-space Barbie look can be related to almost all of the episodes.

(...)

Buffy hits its stride on a new campus
With Sunnydale High in ruins and the Scoobies freshly graduated, the gang embarks on the new adventure of college (well...except Xander...but he ends up populating the campus as opposed to the non-campus). After her initial misgivings about college, Buffy adjusts to her new life and fits in her Slayer duties...and notices a covert, underground military demon-hunting operation based beneath the university.

The Initiative, of which Buffy's new boyfriend, Riley, turns out to be part of, is a government-sanctioned demon-hunting organization that captures and experiments on the demon population. As she allies herself with the Initiative, Buffy discovers the threat of the mysterious 314 and a villain who unites all the demons of Sunnydale and divides the Scoobies against themselves.

Season 4 marks the return of beloved characters from seasons past, most notably Spike, the snide, leatherclad, chain smoking vampire, who is promptly neutered by the Initiative and forced to depend on the Scoobies for help. Ethan Rayne also returns to turn Giles into a Fyarl demon. And the rogue slayer Faith returns in a brilliantly executed two-part body-switching episode.

While often maligned (including on this website), Adam is, in my opinion, the show's best villain. A charismatic demonoid cyborg, he unites all races of demons and vampires in a quest to create others like him and overrun the earth. A modern update of Frankenstein's monster, he is chilling in his assertion that he is "aware". He uses Spike as a pawn to divide and conquer the Scoobies, who he sees as the only true threat to his plan. He knows that without each other, they cannot stop him.

The result is a very interesting spell and an very well-done climactic battle, as well as the prophetic and surreal season finale Restless. It is a fitting end to an awesome season.

Season 4 was an interesting change of pace, and marked the transition out of the familiar setting of Sunnydale High. A very well-done season, definetly among the upper eschelon of the show's achievement.

The Scooby-Gang's Surreal Season
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" had certainly hit its stride, long before seasn 4, so this season was more about experimentation. We see Buffy and friends dealing with college while still fighting evil. "Buffy" is unlike any other show of its kind, because unlike other scifi shows, "Buffy" revolves around its characters, not their experiences. Season 4 proves this when Buffy meets Riley. You hurt with her when she can not reveal her true identity to him. And you laugh with her when she does. You also feel the romance and shock between Willow's coming out. You love Tara, but still feel bad for Oz. Season 4 is alot more about the characters' personal problems: Willow being gay, Xander feeling useless, the Buffy/Riley love, Spike's chip, and Giles' reilization that he has no life. "Buffy" does an incredibly job at displaying the difficult transistions from high school to college while deepening its characters' own personal problems, but fails when compared to its other six seasons. But, however, we are taliking about the greatest show in the history of television, so you can still expect alot from this season. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Despite an abundance of gaping plot holes, White Noise serves up enough spooky atmosphere to make it worth a look-see for fans of supernatural thrillers. Even when hampered with a shoddy, clumsily written screenplay, Michael Keaton brings professional conviction to his role as a grieving widower who is introduced to the mysterious (and according to paranormal researchers, highly documented) existence of EVP, or Electronic Voice Phenomenon, which allows the dead to communicate (one-way only, it seems) from the great beyond, through images and voices recordable on a variety of electronic media such as VCRs, computers, etc. Seeking contact with his recently deceased wife, Keaton finds dire warnings of evil in the afterlife, with connections (all too convenient) to killings and disappearances in his Vancouver, British Columbia vicinity. British TV director Geoffrey Sax brings slick style to this hokum, and a few moments of genuine eeriness, but you may find yourself giggling too much to appreciate the highlights. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (87)

Great Film: A few drops in the DVD qualitry
I enjoyed the film in the Theatre immensely. The DVD version is great, especially the clarity, and the BAM factor in the audio. I saw comments that noted so-called plot holes before seeing the movie, and I still do not see any of the so called plot holes mentioned in the editorial.
This film is well instructed, and done with an exactness and economy that is impressive.After listening to the commentary, its because the director is a BBCalumni. The commentary is not advertised on the box at all, nor on any extras details that I am aware of. I would have given the film 5 stars if it were not for the fact that because of a DVDproduction mess up, Keaton had to leave 15 minutes before the film's end for him to go on a holiday. Whilst the commentary is not the greatest, it does make the key point that this film was forced into a PG-13 rating by the makers of the film cutting some of the key scenes. The studios are getting way too much influence from the right wing Neo-Cons.
Anyways, the extras are great. The key thing about this film, is you will enjoy it, as Kaeton notes, if you buy into the idea of EVP, well, if you have, then these extras will totally chill you !!! They are fun, and totally awesome. The audio on this film is well done, and in 5.1 all I can say is WOW... what a great watch, and a chilling listen ( good audio mix too).

The best of it's kind since "THE RING"!more static please!
Whether you believe in EVP or not, I'd like to think of it from an agnostic standpoint:It can neither be proved, nor disproved.

White Noise has some of the same cliché's as other supernatural based movies (deceased spouse trying to reach husband, think Firefly or What lies beneath, Frequency) but what makes WN a movie apart from the rest in many ways, is that these are not people coming back to haunt or scare.They are ordinary people who's lives were cut short, and with no closure, are trying to reach back to various people so they can send that one last message to a loved one before moving on...

...What moves this movie from different to bizarre is the fact that Michael Keatons character, "Jonathan Rivers", is starting to receive messages in the form of EVP (think of the most annoying thing in the world, Radio Static and Snow TV...now think of once in a while, a message of some sort coming across, like the very energy of their departed soul is still lingering just enough to transmit through electronic means) that are showing him that it's not all about events or people or signs that are within one's past...

...and another thing that is interesting, is the preview of the notion that yes, for every good person out there trying to reach back, there's a bad one as well!Their messages are a mixture of love, hate, direction, and question.

I'd like to think when someone passes away, that their compassion, energy, and capability of love and hate, are strong enough that they do not just burn out like a light-bulb as their physical form does.I find EVP to be a fascinating phenomena.

This movie has many scary moments that will make you jump out of your chair, but more often than not, it's not about SCARING, it's about trying to understand communication from someone who is no longer among the living.

The overall cinematic appeal is excellent, the simple yet driven home glimpses of cassette recorders all the way to high tech digital equalizer equipment sets the mood for a strange and unexplained science that is feared or scoffed by some, reveled and marveled by others.

Michael Keaton is great in his role as an architect who's becomes fascinated with the phenomena of EVP and digs deeper and deeper into it, trying to communicate with a certain someone who's sending him a message.

PROS:Keaton and the surrounding cast are great
EVP is a phenomena that is not proved nor disproved....but voices and images in general recorded static tends to make you shiver....
Cintematically great, it' views of the recorder machines help take us into the sanctum of recording messages from "another side".

CONS:Could have been a little more intense in terms of the surrounding characters and plot.We get tons of Michael Keaton and static and all, but we needed a little more intrigue and mystery on the surface with some of the things (the missing woman) that is going on.
Why is It nearly every drama, crime movie, or intense horror thriller, the husband is an architect?Can we not come up with any other high-profile job?And yes Doctors, Lawyers, and Writers have already been covered!
Why is it every drama dealing with a city has to have something happen in an abandoned Warehouse or Industrial Complex?Are you really meaning to tell me there are not any homeless people hanging out here? Or drug dealers?Or perhaps there's a security guard or cop in the area?

EVP was fun because it delved into a subject that has not really been covered before.Overall I enjoyed the movie and have no major criticisms.Considering all the crap that we are saturated in when it comes to these kinds of films (where 99% are haunted house hashes of some sort) this one is actually overwhelmingly intellactually refreshing!

This film did what it was SUPPOSED to do...
This film did what it was SUPPOSED to do...

Regardless of what you thought of this film, or will think of this film, it does what it is ultimately supposed to do - make you aware of, and perhaps pique your curiosity about Electronic Voice Phenomenon.

I've read what seems like hundreds of reviews here on Amazon.com and haven't seen a single comment on what was REALLY going on with the antogonist(s) here. Read other reviews for the plot and for story spoilers, then read the following and insert it into your thinking. The movie will NOT explain the following, but it helps if you know it.

The film features, more and more as it wends it's way towards drama, an image of menace in the form of a trio of dark spirits. This trio of low spirits FEEDS on the pain and suffering and negative drama of our mortal existences. They go a step beyond feeding and begin CAUSING these empowering negative emotions by affecting the living (EVP researchers) and coercing them to do their sadistic bidding or else killing them as they did Raymond Price if their demands are refused. The more a person is tortured, afraid and just stressed out, the more negative energy they produce for these spirit low-lifes to consume.This is a common basic premise for some cult activities - human sacrifices are pretty bland unless the sacrificee has been tortured and is in a state of utter panic, fear, dread and morbid disarray.The more horrified and suffering the more tasty and nourishing the spiritual energy.

This film could have been a complete freak out psychological horror fest had it focused on the trio and their successive attempts to affect more and more EVP enthusiasts into doing their evil bidding. A chilling scene would have been of our protagonist (Keaton) dying (at the hands of a 'darkly brainwashed' EVP enthusiast) as we managed to feel compassion for his plight, only to feed their evil hunger, and then either show directly, or allude to many, many more 'crazed, serial killers' seeking only the praise and increasing demands of the trio who are growing in power from their work.Believing that there are legions of serial killers out there serving dark demons via White Noise manipulation, you'd hold your loved ones close at all times and check over your shoulder often if it was pulled off convincingly enough.

But that's not what this movie was about. The movie was about EVP and yet Hollywood felt that we wouldn't swallow any bait (by spending our hard earned money) that was not glittery and dripping with dark drama and spell-it-out-for-you violence so we got what we got.However, the film did do something it set out to do - it introduced the whole concept of EVP to untold numbers of people worldwide and in so doing has done it's true purpose. Like the movie or not, believe it or not, make sense of it or not, you are now acutely aware of Electronic Voice Phenomenon.Consider it a nearly two hour infomercial on something you were not likely familiar with before.

Everyone has different perceptions on everything. Some see being alone as a tragic loneliness, others see it as a wonderful time for meditation, self reflection and introspection. Some like rain, some hate it, etc.

Watch the extra EVP materials on the White Noise DVD and whether you want to buy into it or not, just sit alone in a dark room by yourself, perhaps with the TV on to static and allow yourself to drift into a deep state of "What if..."If you manage to go there, decide THEN if the movie was a waste of your time or not. It opened my mind to consider these possibilities regardless of what I thought about the plot, story or actors.

I say perceive the movie for yourself and make up your own mind.

Try something else...... Not scary!
What do you get if you add one part Poltergeist, with one part The Sixth Sense?Answer:White Noise.Michael Keaton stars in this less than stellar performance of a not so original story.

In the film Keaton plays Jonathan Rivers, a highly successful architect, married to Anna Rivers, a highly successful writer.Jonathon plans to put his job on hiatus and join his wife on her new book tour for her soon-to-be release book.However, upon the notice that his wife might be expecting, Anna fails returns home. After the abduction of his wife and her subsequent death, Jonathan becomes sullen and uncaring, distant and unaware of his surroundings until he becomes acquainted with Raymond Price (played by Ian McNeice).Price has also lost someone very close to him, his son, almost 12 years prior.However, Price receives messages, transmissions, and images from entities from the "other" side in the form of E.V.P.s (Electronic Voice Phenomena) or White Noise.The problem is that not all the transmissions are from "good" spirits.

Jonathan gets totally absorbed into this medium, and starts receiving regular messages from his wife.He quickly figures out that the transmissions that he's receiving are actually hints/clues to help him prevent impending death and disaster.The problem is that the "bad" entities are using the same technique to produce death and disaster.

In film has a great premise, and a good beginning; however, it quickly spirals into the absurd, with a trio of evil spirits out to kill mankind.I really believe the film could have been much better with a whole lots less going on.The writers could not decide what story they wanted to tell, and therefore was unable to tell any story effectively.The pinnacle of absurdity begins with Jonathan's wife making visual contact with him in a deserted warehouse, and culminates into what I can only describe as the hell demon sequence in Ghost.I could not figure out what message the film was trying to get across to the audience.What started out as a film about "righting the wrong" or telling love ones that you were okay, and start living your life again; turn into a film of "talk to the dead, and die" with both human and spiritual henchmen.

My advice would be to try another selection; there are much better films out there that are more scary or physiologically thrilling.This film is neither.

(...)

White Noise (DVD) reveiw...
Tagline: The dead are trying to get a hold of you.

Plot Outline: An architect's desire to speak with his wife from beyond the grave, becomes an obsession with supernatural repercussions.

Starring: Michael Keaton

Jonathon Rivers (Michael Keaton) is an architect who loses his wife one night. After trying to get on with his life he comes in contact with a man that may be able to assist him in finding out what happened to his wife the night he lost her. This man Raymond Price (Ian McNeice) tells Jonathon his wife is dead but he can communicate with her through something called EVP. EVP: Electronic Voice Phenomenon. Followers of EVP believe that the dead send messages through the static and White Noise of electronic devices. EVP is an area of paranormal study that has legions of followers worldwide; legendary inventor Thomas Edison was reportedly a believer in EVP. This film was very well done and deserved alot more credit then it received. If you enjoyed THE FORGOTTEN as I did you will indeed enjoy this film as well. Very creepy and it has some jumpy spots as well. Definetly pick this one up!
... Read more

Reviews (8)

A Collection Worth Ice Skating Uphill For!Blade Delivers!
The Blade Collection is finally here!For moviegoers, it all began back in the summer of 1998:


BLADE (1998) 1 Disc Rated R (2.35:1) - Talk about a movie experience! From the opening shots, you are literally sucked in (no pun intended) to the world of the vampires. Wesley Snipes completely embraces the role of the title character and plays him to the hilt, with just a bit of dry cocky humor that is very refreshing.As we first meet Blade at a Vampire techno club (which uses a great remix of a song called "Confusion" by New Order) we just know he's a force to be reckoned with as he slices, dices, burns & just plains blows up every vampire he gets a hold of (including Traci Lords, in a very memorable cameo). Kris Kristofferson plays Whistler, Blade's mentor and creator of the various weapons at his disposal, including guns & knives, bombs, & more. ("We have a good arrangement. He makes the weapons, I use 'em"). But it's Stephen Dorff as the bloodthirsty Deacon Frost that helps catapult the film from average action fair to the stuff of comic book legend. With most actors, this would be a one or two dimensional performance, but in the hands of Stephen Dorff, he turns the character of Deacon Frost into something much more multilayared. The interaction he has with Blade as well as his other fellow vampires give off this feel of someone we should not underestimate. Because a truly great villain is a huge key to a movie's success.The whole mythos of vampires in this film moves the genre in a very interesting direction. According to Blade, pure silver, garlic & sunlight are the main tools to combat vampires. ("Crosses don't do d***, so forget about what you've seen in the movies") But the fact that the pure blood vampires are personified as old & disposable, while the nonpure vampires are young and virile, looking to take over and run things, can really be looked at as a depiction of our society, with the old guard being kicked out by the new one, lest anarchy ensue.A Classic.Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. 120 MIN.


BLADE II (2002) 2 Disc Rated R (1.85:1) - Part 2 begins in Prague, with Blade searching for the location of Whistler, who has been turned into a Vampire and subsuquently tortured. The action sequences are even more elaborate than the first, with the camera actually following jumps and flips in a spiral fashion. By now most of you know the story, which involves a new breed of vampire called Reapors, that are trying to take over their predecessors and eventually enslave the world. The vampires turn to Blade for assistance in helping them wipe out these vicious beasts. In a sort of "Dirty Dozen" meets "Aliens" tradition, Blade teams up with an elite group of vampires, who, turns out, were originally put together to hunt him down. They instead work together to seek out the Reapors to destroy them, but find that killing them is not as easy as they'd hoped.The film gives Wesley Snipes more range to show some drama this time, with a subplot involving a female vampire named Nyssa, who's a pure blood, working for her father. Twists and turns abound in this comic book action thriller that gives off a nice feel of energy while at the same time making sense. There's plenty martial arts action to make anybody happy, as well as some much needed dry humor from Snipes and company. All in all a satisfying experience that will leave most moviegoers in an upbeat fashion.Dolby Digital 5.1 & DTS 6.1 Surround Sound. 117 MIN.


BLADE: TRINITY (2004) 2 Disc Unrated & R rated versions(2.35:1) - In the final installment, Blade teams up with the Nightstalkers, a ragtag group of vampire hunters lead by the sexy Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel) & the quickwitted Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds) who are out to track down and kill the vampire of all vampires: Dracula (played by the musclebound Dominic Purcell).Watch out for Parker Posey, as the scene stealing Danica Talos, the equivalent of a vampire constantly tripping on acid.Snipes has less to do this time out as Blade, with the newer characters taking up much of his screen time.But when he's onscreen, he still shines and plays the character perfectly.A shame that there was turmoil between him and director/screenwriter David S. Goyer (notice, for example, Snipes's unwillingness to contribute to the audio commentaries for the movie even though he had done so for the first two films).And seeing Dominic Purcell's performance as Drake makes one wish that the Stephen Dorff character of Deacon Frost could somehow be resurrected in order to show these guys how playing a first-rate villian is really done.Still, with all it's flaws, the film still works, just not as well as most fans would've liked.The new footage in the unrated version is interesting, as well as the slightly different ending, that many fans may find much more preferable to that of the theatrical version.Worth having.Dolby Digital 5.1 & DTS 6.1 Surround Sound. 113 MIN & 122 MIN.


Besides the gripes about the 3rd film, the real disappointment with this wonderful collection is that the original Blade movie is not presented as a 2 disc Platinum Edition with DTS 6.1 Surround Sound the way its sequels are.It truly deserves the much needed upgrade.The Box itself is very nice to look at, with a very nicely done 3-D front cover.For the most part, this is what every Blade fan has been waiting for since that summer of 1998 when one of the best comic book franchises began its journey.This is definately a collection worth ice skating uphill for!


Blade Trilogy: The Ultimate Collection - Bloodsuckingly Brilliant!


"Blade.Ready to die?" - Dominic Purcell as Drake

"Since the day I was born." - Wesley Snipes as Blade

Great Buy!!
I brought all these movies seperatly when they came out but if you missed out on them this is a great buy and it has the all the bonus discs. All the movies are great, 2 & 3 even have 6.1 DTS, Blade is a great franchise! Thank you Wesley Snipes, Marvel and everyone else, spectacular work!

Good, but flawed
Would be perfect if it wasn't for the ignorant 3rd (and last) blade movie which was the worst blade movie ever made. They should give you a discount on the price just for that alone

Buy This If You're A Blade Fanatic!
I own this collection also and just want to give my opinion of why you should and shouldn't buy this.
I do think this collection is a little over priced.If people have patience, it'll go on sale by ten dollars at certain stores.I know because this is how I buy a lot of my dvd's.Waiting until they go down to ten bucks each.
You would think it's better to buy the duo pack of the two Blade movies, for the price of $21.50.Then buying the third Blade movie for $20 getting everything together for only $40.Personally I didn't think Blade Trinity was all it could've been.
It's sad that the Blade duo pack was ruined.Since Blade 2 wasn't in its original aspect ratio... losing a lot of the picture of what you really get to see.I recommend that you don't buy the double pack, at all.
If you've never seen these, and not once in your life purchased them... it doesn't mean this set will be for you.I know a lot of people who don't like the Blade movies, and who loved it's original comic Blade character more.You have to be a die hard fan of Blade in order to buy the great trilogy.The two extra discs and comic book are great for any collector to cherish.This 5 disc box set is the best thing to go out and buy for any real Blade fan.

From a reviewer who actually owns the set.
You may now ignore the other reviews, which were written before the set came out, and which were based on Amazon's description and some supposition.The first thing you should know is that Amazon got the number of discs wrong.This is a 5 DVD set, not a 3 DVD set.The first disc is the Platinum Edition of the original Blade.The next two discs are the Platinum Edition of Blade 2.The final two discs are the unrated Platinum Edition of Blade 3.In addition to the movies, the set includes a limited edition Marvel comic book. ... Read more

Amazon.com

While the first season of The X-Files introduced us to Scully and Mulder, the second season finds the show confidently hitting its stride. Building on its earlier success, the show evolves, and in these 25 episodes, a glimpse is shown of a longer-running story line (which will continue through subsequent seasons) that is woven into the usual stand-alone episodes of the paranormal. These so-called mythology episodes hint at a global conspiracy involving sinister government agents, UFOs, alien abductions, genetic engineering, the ever-lurking Cigarette Smoking Man, and Fox Mulder's father. Season 2 fleshes out Mulder's family history, including the childhood abduction of his sister Samantha, an event that would shape him for life. Actress Gillian Anderson (Scully) became unexpectedly pregnant during season 2, but series creator Chris Carter managed to dance nimbly around her absence and even integrate it into the show. As in season 1, Mulder and Scully are surrounded by a strong supporting cast, which adds a suspicious new agent named Alex Krycek, an informant named X, and a seemingly indestructible alien bounty hunter.

The seven-disc boxed set includes some interesting background material, but again, the heart of the set is the episodes themselves. Among them are standouts such as "The Host," "Duane Barry/Ascension," "Humbug," "Dod Kalm," "Colony/End Game," and "Anasazi." These episodes are a powerful reminder that The X-Files, like no other show on television, can span horror, suspense, mystery, romance, drama, and comedy, sometimes all in the same episode, and always with the production values of a major feature film. --Eugene Wei ... Read more

Reviews (84)

Great episodes - disappointing extra features
Unfortunately, Fox hasnt understood it yet that DVDs are here to offer some real extra features. What we do get on this otherwise fantastisc DVD collection is a mere disappointment:

1) Fox TV episode trailers: they are so short it takes you more time to click through the menue to get to the trailer than to watch it. Whats good about that? Why would i care to watch the trailer anyway, if I have the whole episode on DVD?

2) Deleted Scenes: There arent many of them and they are terribly short. Some are simply pointless and thats exactly the reason why there were deleted. Only interesting were to discover that X was in the first reason a woman and an additional funny scene from "Humbug".

3) Special effects: Ouch! 3 of them and one shorter than the next. If I remember well, Carter has exactly the time for one sentence until the the special effects clip is over. A disappointment. X-Files would have so much to offeron that ground.

4) Behind the Scenes elements: Yeah, well, the one with Gillian Anderson chewing an insect was funny, the rest useless.

5) 15-minutes documentary: quite ok, but nothing really new.

6) Behind the Truth elements: well, copied from the TV, not really spectacular

7) Comments by Chris Carter: they were already on the Video collections by Fox available in Europe.

I give it a four star because after all, the main elements are the episodes themselves which of course are great and worth the price! There is absolutely nothing to complain about those.

Maybe in the 3rd season collection we will finally find some really decent special features!

Can't wait for season 3
Fox is doing an excellent job bringing us the X-Files on DVD. I like having a complete season in one box and not to buy every other episode separately (which is the case with Star Trek...).

Anyway, in the 2nd season, the X-Files really got going with the big arc story of the big conspiracy hiding the truth about aliens (which is also used in order to handle Gillian Andersons pregnancy at the start of the season, she gets abducted... nevertheless Gillian looks quite different before and after giving birth). This makes for the really good two-parters of the season "Duane Barry/ Ascension", "Colony / End Game" and the cliff-hangar "Anasazi" (can't wait for Season 3!).

The extras on disc 7 are nice in itself, especially the commentaries by Chris Carter. Would have been nice if these were a little bit longer.

A must buy for every fan of the X-Files, go and buy it!

Holy Crap
Did the X files ever get a budget boost in this season. The show looks great all of a sudden. this series really starts to lay the ground work for later seasons, more so than the first. They develope the characters and story arcs much fuller in this series. Great series, but still better seasons to come. Buy this.

The season that really started it...
As great as season one was and as much as I love it, season 2 is the one that really jump starts this show. Season 2 is where an actuall mythology really gets developed and used throughout the entire season that helps link episodes together and get an ultimate story underway. This season also starts the use of comedy in the series (ex. 'Humbug') and contains, my favorite episode of the x-files 'Duane Berry'.
The DVD set packs quite a few extras and is better quality then youll get on TNT or SCI-FI, and you can watch all your episodes in order. If you were only going to buy one season of the x-files I'd recommend season 3, but if you were going to buy two seasons, I'd recommend seasons 2 and 3.

The first of a string of exceptional seasons
With the second season "The X-Files" raised the bar and managed to maintain a series of excellent seasons through the sixth. After that, the distraction from the production of the movie and Carter's other lesser series ("Millenium" which borrowed the look and texture of "Seven")began to take its toll. Nevertheless, even season seven was far above average.

The story arc involving the alien conspiracy kicks into high gear and all the major players are in place by the time of the second season. Season two starts off with "The X-Files" closed down. Mulder and Scully have been reassigned nevertheless, "X" is Mulder's friend inside the FBI. Eventually, the X-Files are reopened and Mulder & Scully discover far deeper mysteries than they ever imagined during season one. The highlight of season two, for me, is "Duane Barry" and "Ascension". Production values are up as well during this season which means that the effects and sets improved. It's clear that Fox released they had a hit on their hands.

We get all the original broadcast episodes with the addition of Chris Carter's commentary on nearly half of the season. There's also international clips (which are always good for a chuckle)and also a number of great extras. What matters is whether or not the set is worth it based on A) The quality of the episodes and B) The quality of the transfers.

A) The writing establihed a benchmark that all other series (from "CSI" to "Buffy")benefited from. While Carter may have been inspired by "The Night Stalker" television series, he way beyond that series with drama that could hold its own with the best of mainstream television.
B)The transfer by Universal Studios is quite good. The compression technlogy used to create the DVDs does suffer a bit from all the dark sequences. The picture isn't always as clear as it could be but, again, we've got nearly 4 hours of complex images on one dual layer disc.

The set comes with a twelve page booklet that details every episode and gives the general production info. It also includes a picture from these which, if you're like me, helps because I can never remember the title of many of my favorite episodes.
While I didn't like the accordian style presentation of the DVDs at first, they're pretty well put together and, when compared to those for other sets, are well designed with a great deal of care put into the art direction. Overall, it's a classy package and the price has never been better. ... Read more

Reviews (291)

'The Rocky Horror Show' Movie
There is one reason why everyone should see "The Rocky Horror Picture Show": it is the best cult film ever made. There are also three reasons why everyone should want to watch it: 1) It is one of the only 'R' rated musicals in existence. 2) It has strong science-fiction overtones. 3) It is very funny. The movie starts Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon (before they were stars) as the recently engaged Brad and Janet. However, they are upstaged in nearly every scene by Tim Curry who plays Frank N. Furter, the mad doctor. The cast delightfully performs many memorable songs including "Over at the Frankenstein Place" and, of course, the "Time Warp". To fully enjoy RHPS, one must not be closed minded or the picture could prove to be quite offensive. Don't think it's gratuitously violent- it isn't. Merely, the situations the characters find themselves in could shock or appall overly sensitive viewers. If you think you won't enjoy RHPS, going to a midnight screening might be your best bet. The live audience participation will guarantee you a good time, despite your opinion of the actual film. So overall, RHPS is quite a good adaptation of Richard O'Brien's original concept, which always honors its roots on the stage.

DVD = Perfect format to truly experience "Rocky" at home
I loved going to "Rocky Horror" when I was in college, but watching on home video just wasn't the same. I'm probably committing heresy but there's a reason why this sci-fi, horror, B-movie satire, rock musical didn't really make it big until theaters started showing it as a midnight movie and fans started attending in costume and talking back to the screen. The 25th anniversary DVD, with several audience participation options, really is the next best thing to being there.

For the uninitiated, "Rocky Horror" tells the story of two clean-cut American youths, uptight Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick of "Spin City") and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon of "Dead Man Walking") whose car breaks down on a dark, deserted road in the middle of a storm--the classic beginning to many horror movies--and who seek help at a nearby castle. Castles, as Rocky fans know, don't have phones! What this castle has instead is a cross-dressing mad scientist Frank-N-Furter Tim Curry, in perhaps his finest performance), two very creepy servants, Riff-Raff (Richard O'Brien, who wrote the musical) and Magenta (Patricia Quinn), and various other hangers-on, including lovers Columbia (Little Nell) and biker Eddie (Meat Loaf). Brad and Janet walk in on a party celebrating the creation of Frank-N-Furter's muscle-bound boy-toy "Rocky." Bed-hopping chaos soon ensues, until the servants reveal their true identities and take control.

Punctuating this wacky plot are some of the wildest rock-musical songs ever written. In addition to the classic "Time Warp," there's O'Brien's salute to cult-classic B-movies, "Science Fiction Double Feature," Meat Loaf's "Hot Patootie," and Sarandon ode to sexual self-discovery, "Toucha Toucha Touch Me!"

So much for the "Rocky virgin" portion of the review... What makes the DVD so exceptional is the chance to experience "Rocky Horror" at home nearly like you would in the theater. The DVD has the option of turning on the audience screen comments as well as another option for viewing members of the Rocky Horror Fan Club performing select scenes before returning to the main movie. For those less familiar with audience participation, the DVD can prompt when to throw toast, toilet paper, rice, etc., light a match, put your newspaper on your head, etc.

The second disc contains fascinating interviews with cast members, where fans can find out about their reaction to starring in this cult classic. Meat Loaf's description of not realizing what "Rocky Horror" was going to be about and running out of the theater when Tim Curry entered wearing fishnet stockings, spiked heels, a merry widow, and a leather jacket and singing "Sweet Transvestite" is hysterical. Patricia Quinn talks about how her fondness for the opening song, "Science Fiction Double Feature" made her want to take the role even though she hadn't read the rest of the script. What? Don't remember Quinn singing that number? In the stage versions she did, but the song got reassigned in the film version--and Quinn makes her feelings about that QUITE clear. Sarandon makes the interesting observation that "Rocky Horror" probably kept a lot of art house theaters in business over the years, since they could count on good revenue from the midnight movie, even if the latest regular-hours offering flopped. In Bostwick's interview, however, the actor sounds a bit like William Shatner giving his anti-Trekkie diatribe on "Saturday Night Live."

The only disappointments on the DVD are that the outtakes really aren't that interesting and actor bios aren't provided. I would have liked to see what else the "minor" cast members did after Rocky, but that information is limited to a few lines in the companion booklet. Also, some of the audience-participation comments are nearly impossible to understand because fans are talking over each other. But then that's part of the modern-day theater experience. Even Sarandon noted in her interview that talking back to the screen has gone from the more unison catechism approach to a loud free-for-all.

What seemed so risqué and shocking a few decades ago seems much more innocent today, but it was great when it all began and it's still great! If you've never ventured into the theater to experience "Rocky Horror," this is the best way to experience it at home.

Mesmerizing film.
This is a very outrageous movie. The rock is the background to tell us a horror movie but also spiced with sex , ransvestism and above all a splendid tribute to the movies specially King Kong .
One couple strands in an old house full of weirdos . This movie (here between you and me)could have inspired for Tim Burton in Beetle juice .
In this decade there were great visuals films too . Sherman built a magnificent story absolutely free , intelligent and sarcastic, irreverent and bitter . You might state that Fellini's influence (dressed of english manners and clothes) is present all along the film .
Inmediatly after its release this one acquired the status of cult movie.

The original is still the best!
Don't bother with the play, or the music from the play. The original is still the best. Nobody can fill the shoes of Sarandon, Curry, etc. They originated the roles and have been associated with them for far too long for anyone else to come in try to change them so many years later and attempt to redo them. Stay with the best.

Those Gold Shorts!
Ahhhhh...Rocky had such a lovely outline showing in his gold lame shorts. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The fifth season of Joss Whedon's hit series started out in excellent form as slayer extraordinaire Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) did battle with the most famous of vampires (that Dracula guy) and then went on to spar with another nemesis, little sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg). Wait--Buffy has a teenage sister? Where has she been the past four years? And why is everyone acting like she's always been around? Turns out that young Dawn is actually "The Key," a form of pure energy that, true to its name, helps open the gates between different dimensions. To protect said key from falling into the wrong hands, a group of monks gave it human form and sent it to the fiercely protective Buffy for safekeeping, creating new memories of Dawn for everyone as if she'd existed... well, always. Why all the super secrecy? There's this very, very, very bad girl named Glory (Clare Kramer) who wants the key very badly, and will do anything to get it. Oh, and by the way, Glory isn't just a run-of-the-mill demon... she's way worse.

Some fans will tell you that Buffy "jumped the shark" with the introduction of Dawn, when in actuality this season was the pinnacle of the show's achievement, as there was superb comedy to be had ("Buffy Vs. Dracula," the double-Xander episode "The Replacement," the introduction of the "Buffybot" in "Intervention") as well as some of television's best drama. The Whedon-scripted and -directed "The Body" remains one of Buffy's best episodes, when the young woman who faces down supernatural death on a daily basis finds herself powerless in the wake of her mother's sudden passing. The first third or so of the season was a bit choppy, but once the evil Glory came into her own, Buffy was a television force to be reckoned with. Kramer was the show's best villain (after the evil Angel, natch), and the supporting cast was never better. But as always, it was the superb Gellar who was the powerful center of the show, sparking opposite lovelorn vampire Spike (James Marsters) and wrestling with moral dilemmas rarely seen on television. With this season, Buffy Summers became, like Tony Soprano, one of television's true greats. --Mark Englehart ... Read more

Reviews (281)

A New Direction for Sunnydale
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" enters its Fifth Season with lots of surprises for the Scooby Gang and their Slayer. This special year was a gigantic season of wonderful stories-with the introduction of Dawn Summers,(a mystical key/Buffy's sister), Ben, and their big baddie,(and first female villain), Glory, (a Hell god)!

What can I say about Season 5, that most don't already know about already? Nothing! So let me express this review, in my view, how I felt about this famous year!

Many fans,(old or new), have different opinions about their favorite season, but my favorite will always be Season 5! Why is that? You may ask, and I'll tell you that this year was great because we finally saw Buffy grow into a young adult, actually, we saw the rest of the Scoobies grow deeper into their character too, which is so much, that they seem as if they were really real best friends of mine growing up. There's an excellent season premier with Dracula visiting the Slayer, and the episode, "Blood Ties", that really shows the meaning of sisterhood and family,through Dawn finding out who she really is, and there's many more that I can't name in just one review....Well, I could, but it would be a really long review,lol!

This year, Buffy faced her first female villain, Glory, who was stronger than Buffy would ever be. Dawn Summers, Buffy's sister,(played by Michelle Tractenberg-"Harriet the Spy"), has a brillaint storyline in the season which really shows the meaning of true love and family. Riley breaks down, loses faith in Buffy, cheats on her with a vampire, and leaves Sunnydale to join the Initiative in South America in a dramatic episode leaving Buffy broken hearted. Xander confesses his love for Anya and in the finale, proposes for her hand in marriage, while Willow and Tara prove their love is stronger than anything around, as Giles buys the Magic Box to occupy his time as unemployed Watcher, as Spike comes to terms with his feelings for Buffy, that grows into something special throughout, and near the end of Season 7.
In this season, we see signs of Joyce's fate as she slowly dies of a brain tumor in a emotional episode for the Scoobies that has no background scores or wacky tunes in the background, only real life. "The Body" also shows the brilliance of Sarah Michelle Geller as an actress as she copes with finding her mother, Joyce, dead on their couch, and the brilliance of Emma Caulfield, (Anya), with her speech about "what is death?".
Don't worry, this season has ALOT of action in it, but the drama in this season is just so overwhelming that I keep those momments of Season 5 to heart more than the action sequences!
As I said, there is alot of action, and it centers mostly around the Key storyline, with Buffy keeping the truth from Glory, for Glory wants to use it to go home, not caring that it'll end the world if she does. We have the Ben storyline, that is finally connected to Glory near the end of the season, and we have Buffy's. In the season finale, "The Gift", Glory finally gets Dawn, and uses her to open all the dimensions of the world which leads to a battle of bloodshed, heartache, and suprising twists of Giles true nature. In the last moments of the finale, Buffy dies to save all of humanity, but most of all, for her sister. You see, the episode title is called "The Gift", and the gift was life for Dawn, because it was either Dawn, or Buffy, that could stop the world from ending, and Buffy steps up and sacrifices herself for her sister, because of love. The season started great, and ended in a mind numbing, heart pounding, crying your eyes out great that will always be remembered as a brilliant episode in my, and every fans book!

Now, I have my title, "A New Direction for Sunnydale", because thats what it was. Seasons 1-4, they seem so different than Season 5, and the final two, and thats because the Scoobies grew up so fast, and they began to mature into wonderful young adults. My last statements is that, I love the last years more than the first few years, I love the way they ended the series! I loved Season 6,(it was so much mature, and they went throught what many real people will in life), and I especially love Season 7, (Because its connected to Season 5 on so many levels, and has a brilliant storyline so wonderful for the Slayer, that many so-called fans hate, and love).

I'm so glad Season 5 comes out on DVD, and encourage fans, and fans who are starting to witness to greatness of this series, I encourage all to buy this season, you won't be let down! And I also want to thank Joss Whedon too, for not stoping the series in the 5th Season, because he, and they gave us two more wonderful, (but misunderstood by many), seasons for all to charish forever! Enjoy! You won't regret it!

BtVS turned 5 and with it became spectacular!
I would say, in my opinion, this season ranks up there with seasons 2 and 3. The Arrival of Dawn, The Magic Box, The Death of Joyce, The Breakup of Riley and Buffy, and Tara's Family mark some of the key moments that made this season momentous on all levels. NOT to mention the "key" most important and heartbreaking moment in all Buffy history. Her death. From the "Previously on Buffy..." to "She saved the world alot," "The Gift" was a spectacular episode.
On the DVD, which I would say was pretty good, The Gift was not shown in it's full entirety. I wonder. WHERE WAS THE DAMN AWESOME PREVIOUSLY ON BUFFY!?!?!?!
I don't know why but they decided to leave that out cause that was an awesome way to begin what many of us thought was the final ep.
Anyway, I give this DVD ****. Not 5 because of that key not putting in the Previously on Buffy. Watch everything on this DVD including Commentaries, featurettes, outtakes(which are actually on there! :> ), and my fave ep, The Replacement with Nicholas Brendan's twin!!! Other awesome eps: The Body ( I cried), I Was Made For You (With slimey Warren), and Buffy vs. Dracula ( hilarious!!!!)

deceptions
The fifth season of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER feels casual, exuding, particularly in its first few episodes, an almost thrown-together quality. Coming off of season four, which contains some of the show's best episodes but probably has its weakest "arc" up to that point, Season Five seems to be following a similar line. It is funny, well-staged, and full of fascinating new characters and developments, but it is difficult, at first, to get a bead on where the season is going.

A friend of mine says most dramatic shows have five or six good years in them, before decline sets in or they are cancelled, and I think she's right. NYPD BLUE worked for six years before it collapsed under the weight of too many teen-idol replacements for Smits and Caruso; THE WEST WING's fifth season was a travesty without Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme around to guide things; and even a sitcom like FRIENDS, whose character arcs resemble those of dramatic programs, had a hard time keeping things interesting after year five. There's no set formula, of course, but it's fair to say that a program's cast and crew might get a little bored after awhile, might have trouble finding new shadings for their characters or new spins on their environments, and might begin to take it easy and coast. Seen in this light, the initial slacker quality of BUFFY year five becomes both more comprehensible and also a little ominous-- when a program's first episode is given the distinctly Marvel Comics-esque title "Buffy v. Dracula," its not hard to imagine the blood in the water and the sharks circling.

Such fears were, for many fans, confirmed by the appearance of Dawn, Buffy's heretofore unseen, uncommented-upon little sister. Some fans and critics immediately dubbed her "Oliver," a reference to the mysterious "cousin" that appeared in later seasons of THE BRADY BUNCH, and whose name has become shorthand for a show's desperate attempts to add characters and keep things alive near the end. Who was this strange, annoying little girl? Why had we never seen her? And why was every character on the show already acting as if we had?

As if the "new relative" gambit wasn't enough, BUFFY' s writers also tossed in the Mysterious Illness ploy for Buffy's mom, and the Hot New Relationship plot for Buffy and Spike, in what initially seems like a wan attempt to recreate the old magic of Buffy and Angel. By the time, in episode six, Tara's family arrives to inform the Scooby Gang (and viewers) that this quiet girl has a Dark Secret, fans can be forgiven for thinking that the WB had secretly switched our usual BUFFY blend with episodes of GUIDING LIGHT.

Silly us-- with ep seven, "Fool For Love," everything cli