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DVDs of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer were produced by 20th Century Fox and released beginning in 2000. As well as containing the episodes, the DVD sets have extra features such as: audio commentaries by the show's producers, documentary features, blooper reels, and shooting scripts.
DVD | Release date | ||
---|---|---|---|
Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |
The Complete First Season | January 15, 2002 | November 27, 2000 | November 20, 2000 |
The Complete Second Season | June 11, 2002 | May 21, 2001 | June 15, 2001 |
The Complete Third Season | January 7, 2003 | October 29, 2001 | November 22, 2001 |
The Complete Fourth Season | June 10, 2003 | May 13, 2002 | May 20, 2002 |
The Complete Fifth Season | December 9, 2003 | October 28, 2002 | November 29, 2002 |
The Complete Sixth Season | May 25, 2004 | May 12, 2003 | April 20, 2003 |
The Complete Seventh Season | November 16, 2004 | April 5, 2004 | May 15, 2004 |
The Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVD sets were released in at least three encoding formats:
Aside from the region encoding (and the packaging), the Region 2 and Region 4 DVDs are identical. However, there are several content differences between the Region 1 DVDs and the Region 2 and 4 DVDs.
The Region 2 and 4 DVDs include the scenes from previous episodes ("Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer") at the beginning of each episode (except season 2); the Region 1 DVDs do not.
This even applies to the final episode of season five, "The Gift", in which the "previously" scenes are a montage leading into the episode itself. This montage was deleted from "The Gift" on the Region 1 DVDs. This montage was later included as an easter egg on the Season 7 DVD set, even in Region 2 and 4.
The series aired in a 4:3 aspect ratio for all seven seasons in the United States, with the exception of "Once More, with Feeling" which was aired in widescreen. While the first three seasons were shot exclusively in 4:3, beginning with the fourth season the series was shot with a 16:9 safe area, though according to Joss Whedon the series was intended to be shown in a 4:3 ratio, stating "Adding space to the sides simply for the sake of trying to look more cinematic would betray the very exact mise-en-scene I was trying to create. I am a purist, and this is the purest way to watch Buffy. I have resisted the effort to letterbox Buffy from the start and always will, because that is not the show we shot." [1] The extra material in the widescreen versions is never important for the plot, although it gives additional views of the sets and backgrounds.
Beginning in season four, the Region 2 and 4 DVDs include an open matte 16:9 version of the television show. The Region 1 DVDs include the standard format (4:3) version.
The reason for this difference is that the Region 2 and 4 DVDs were released before the Region 1 DVDs, with less involvement from Mutant Enemy Productions. When the Region 1 DVDs were released, Joss Whedon decided that they should not have the widescreen version.
In 2011 Netflix began streaming seasons 4–7 in the 16:9 ratio, but would ultimately revert to the 4:3 ratio. In Nordic Region 2 countries Netflix streams those seasons in 4:3 ratio, despite the local DVDs being in widescreen.
As of August 4, 2016, Netflix began streaming all seven seasons in an updated HD version, replacing the original broadcast version. This version of the series is a remaster of the series in HD produced by the studio 20th Century Fox against the wishes of original production team. [2] Many of the original production team, including Whedon himself, and fans have criticized the HD remaster for poor transferring of standard definition to high definition, the poor transition from 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9 aspect ratio, improper lighting, lack of lens filtering and poorly redone special effects that were either upscaled or redone in HD not true to the original. [3] For season 1, each episode up to episode 8 had to be cropped[ citation needed ], leaving everything in frame looking zoomed[ citation needed ]. Season 1, episode 7 has a few scenes fixed so they are using more of the frame. [4] In other instances the 16:9 aspect ratio shows goofs in frame like crew members or filming equipment on screen. [5] 20th Century Fox originally released the HD remaster as a syndicated broadcast on the network Pivot. [6] Currently the HD remaster is not available for purchase on home media.
The Region 2 and 4 DVDs play the episodes at 4% faster than the Region 1 DVDs. This reduces the running time of each episode by about two minutes (not counting the "scenes from previous episodes"). It also causes the sound to be raised by two-thirds of a semitone. For example, a C note is raised to a note two-thirds of the way from C to C♯.
The speeds of the different region DVDs match the speeds used during the original television broadcasts in the respective countries. Thus the Region 1 DVD plays the video at the same speed as the American broadcasts (which is the speed at which the show was filmed), while the Region 2 and 4 DVDs plays the video at the slightly faster speed that was used during the original British broadcasts. This effect is not particular to the Buffy DVDs but affects all television shows, because film that uses 23.976 frames per second is sped up for PAL that uses 25 (in the 30fps NTSC standard it is subject to 3:2 pulldown and there is no speed variation). But since the signal from a DVD player is ultimately analog, the Region 2 and 4 DVDs will still play at the faster speed when played on an American television with a multi-region DVD.
In Brazil the standard color system is not PAL, but PAL-M which is also 24 frames per second. In addition to that, all DVD releases, despite being Region 4 are in NTSC, so the frame rate is also 24 frames per second.
In the Region 2 and 4 releases, episodes with commentaries include two English subtitles: the show itself, and the commentary. The Region 1 releases do not offer subtitles for the commentaries.
The Region 1 DVDs also offer a smaller choice of non-English languages subtitles than the Region 2 and 4 DVDs.
DVD | Release Date | ||
---|---|---|---|
Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |
The Chosen Collection (Seasons 1–7) | November 15, 2005 | ||
The Complete DVD Collection (Seasons 1–7) | October 31, 2005 | November 23, 2005 |
The Region 1 Buffy 40-disc boxed set includes a note from Joss Whedon as well as an extra disc (the 40th) with exclusive special features:
A repackaged 39-disc version was released on October 12, 2010, excluding the extra disc of bonus features.
The entire series was re-released on DVD in 2006, in a "slimmer" package with the same bonus materials that were featured in the original fold out versions. Even "slimmer" versions were issued in 2008.
Two special Region 1 DVD releases contain assorted episodes from various seasons:
In Region 2, there have been several single-disc releases named after individual characters from the show, under the overarching title of "The Slayer Collection". Each contains four episodes and a character profile. The Spike-centric DVD contains the same episodes as the Region 1 "Love is Hell" collection. Other discs focus on Willow, Xander, Giles, Cordelia, Dawn, Angel, and Faith.
Two other single-disc Region 2 DVDs have been released. The first is titled "The Very Best of...". It contains these four episodes: "Becoming, Part One", "Graduation Day, Part Two", "Hush", and "The Gift". The second contains the episode "Once More, with Feeling" and a number of special features including a featurette on season 1 of Angel and a featurette titled "Buffy, Inside the Music".
In October 2008, a limited edition bonus DVD was made available exclusively to the retail chain Best Buy. The Region 1 85-minute DVD documents the 2008 Buffy Reunion at the Paley Festival, filmed on March 20, 2008. The DVD features interviews with Amber Benson, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter, Emma Caulfield, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seth Green, David Greenwalt, James Marsters, Michelle Trachtenberg & Joss Whedon. The DVD is available on Amazon and manufactured on-demand using DVD-R media.
Cordelia Chase is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer; she also appeared on Buffy's spin-off series, Angel. Portrayed by Charisma Carpenter, the character appears as a series regular in the first three seasons of Buffy, before leaving the show and becoming a series regular during the first four seasons of Angel. The character made her last television appearance in 2004, appearing as a special guest star in Angel's 100th episode. Cordelia also appears in both canonical and apocryphal Buffy and Angel material such as comic books and novels.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the 1992 film, also written by Whedon, although they are separate and unrelated productions. Whedon served as executive producer and showrunner of the series under his production tag Mutant Enemy Productions. It premiered on March 10, 1997, on The WB and concluded on May 20, 2003, on UPN.
William "Spike" Pratt, played by James Marsters, is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Spike is a vampire and played various roles on the shows, including villain, anti-hero, trickster and romantic interest. For Marsters, the role as Spike began a career in science fiction television, becoming "the obvious go-to guy for US cult [television]." For creator Whedon, Spike is the "most fully developed" of his characters. The character was intended to be a brief villain, with Whedon originally adamant to not have another major "romantic vampire" character like Angel. Marsters says "Spike was supposed to be dirty and evil, punk rock, and then dead." However, the character ended up staying through the second season, and then returning in the fourth to replace Cordelia as "the character who told Buffy she was stupid and about to die."
Daniel "Oz" Osbourne is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character is portrayed by Seth Green. Green also portrays the character in one episode of the spin-off series Angel.
Faith Lehane is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Played by actress Eliza Dushku, Faith was introduced in the third season of Buffy and was a focus of that season's overarching plot. She returned for shorter story arcs on Buffy and its spin-off, Angel. The character's story is continued in the comic book series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, and she also appears in apocryphal material such as other comic books and novels. Faith was set to receive her own spin-off television series after the final season of Buffy, but Eliza Dushku declined the offer, and the series was never made. The character later co-stars in the 25-issue comic book Angel & Faith beginning in August 2011 under the banner of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine, the story taking place mostly in London and the surrounding area. Seven years after the character's creation, Whedon granted her the surname Lehane for a role-playing game and subsequent material. The last issue of Season Eight was the first source officially confirmed to be canon that referred to Faith by her full name.
Richard Wilkins III is a fictional character in the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). Portrayed by Harry Groener, he is the mayor of Sunnydale, a fictional town rife with vampires and demons in which the main character, Buffy Summers lives. The premise of the series is that Buffy is a Slayer, a young girl endowed with superhuman powers to fight evil, which she accomplishes with the help of a small group of friends and family, called the Scooby Gang. During the show's second season, it becomes apparent that local authorities are aware of the endemic evil in the town, and either ignore it or are complicit in making it worse. The third season reveals that the Mayor is behind this conspiracy to hide and worsen Sunnydale's supernatural phenomena, as part of his century-long plot to take over the world, making him the season's primary villain, or Big Bad. His genial demeanor, promotion of family values, casual phobia of germs, and dislike of swearing belie his evil nature. The series regularly employs monsters and elements of horror to symbolize real problems, and the abuse of power in relation to the forces of darkness is a repeated theme throughout the series, as well as in its spin-off Angel.
"Conversations with Dead People" is the seventh episode of the seventh and final season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode aired on November 12, 2002 on UPN. It is the only episode other than "Once More, with Feeling" where the title appears on screen.
"Welcome to the Hellmouth" is the series premiere of the American supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It originally aired on The WB on March 10, 1997 in a two-hour premiere along with the following episode, "The Harvest". The episode was written by the series creator and executive producer Joss Whedon and directed by Charles Martin Smith. "Welcome to the Hellmouth" received a Nielsen rating of 3.4 upon its original airing and received largely positive reviews from critics.
"The Harvest" is the second episode of the first season of the American supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was written by series creator executive producer Joss Whedon and directed by John T. Kretchmer. The episode originally aired on The WB on March 10, 1997, forming a two-hour premiere with the previous episode, "Welcome to the Hellmouth", and attracted 3.4 million viewers.
The first season of the American supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer originally aired between March 10 and June 2, 1997, on The WB. Conceived as a mid-season replacement, the season consists of twelve episodes, each running approximately 45 minutes in length, and originally aired on Mondays at 9:00 pm ET.
The second season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on September 15, 1997, on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 19, 1998. The first 13 episodes aired on Mondays at 9:00 pm ET, beginning with episode 14 the series moved to Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET, a timeslot the series would occupy for the rest of its run.
The third season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on September 29, 1998 on The WB and episode 22, the second of the two part season finale, aired on July 13, 1999. However, episode 18 "Earshot" did not air until September 21, 1999, shortly before the season 4 premiere. The show maintained its previous time slot, airing Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET. "Earshot" and "Graduation Day, Part Two", were delayed in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre because of their content.
The fourth season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on October 5, 1999, on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 23, 2000. It maintained its previous timeslot, airing Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET. Beginning with this season, the character of Angel was given his own series, which aired on The WB following Buffy. Various Buffy characters made appearances in Angel, including Buffy herself; Cordelia Chase, formerly a regular in Buffy, and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, who appeared in Buffy season three.
The fifth season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on September 26, 2000, on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 22, 2001. It maintained its previous timeslot, airing Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET. This was the final season to air on The WB before it moved to UPN; The WB billed the season five finale as "The WB series finale".
The sixth season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on October 2, 2001, with a two-hour premiere on UPN and concluded its 22-episode season with a two-hour finale on May 21, 2002. It maintained its previous timeslot, airing Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET. This season marked the series' network change from The WB to UPN.
The seventh and final season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on September 24, 2002 on UPN and concluded its 22-episode run on May 20, 2003. It maintained its previous timeslot, airing Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET.
The first season of the television series Angel, the spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, premiered on October 5, 1999, on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 23, 2000. The season aired on Tuesdays at 9:00 pm ET, following Buffy.
The second season of the television series Angel, the spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, premiered on September 26, 2000, on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 22, 2001. It maintained its previous timeslot, airing Tuesdays at 9:00 pm ET, following Buffy.
The third season of the television series Angel, the spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, premiered on September 24, 2001, on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 20, 2002. The season aired in a new timeslot, Mondays at 9:00 pm ET. This was the first season where Angel and Buffy did not air on the same network, as Buffy had moved to the UPN network beginning with its sixth season.
The fifth and final season of the television series Angel, the spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, premiered on October 1, 2003 on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season and its television run on May 19, 2004. The season aired on Wednesdays at 9:00 pm ET. This is the only season of Angel to air following the finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.