Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Tagline - In every generation, there is a chosen one. She alone shall stand against the vampires, demons, and forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.

In this final season, the saga of Buffy The Vampire Slayer finally comes to an end as Miss Summers and the Scooby gang have to deal with the biggest threat ever to come to Sunnydale.

When it begins, Sunnydale High School is being rebuilt on its original site, right over the Hellmouth. The Hellmouth has been sealed but down in the school basement all is not well and the dead are stirring and it’s not long before the lessons are interrupted by a new evil come to town - The First.

The First is exactly that, the very first form of evil. It has no physical form but can take the shape of the dead and it begins by sending its minions into the world to kill all the potential Slayers. But it’s also brewing something much more devastating beneath Sunnydale with which it intends to bring about The End of Days and with that the destruction of all mankind.

So it’s Buffy and the gang to the rescue as usual as the story wends its way through all 22 episodes and finishes with a cataclysmic battle beneath the earth that brings everything to a final conclusion...

Review

This is the last of Buffy and the writers have done a good job with this season, bringing the series to a close in great style and with a good storyline full of the trademark horror mixed with some excellent comic lines. The sub plots with the romances between Buffy and Spike and Anya and Xander and Willow’s recovery are developed nicely and help pad out the story well. Inevitably there are a few episodes that don’t relate to the main theme but thankfully there are only a few.

The First isn’t entirely a new character as it first appeared in the episode Amends in Season 3 but it’s back with a vengeance here and intent on bringing civilization to an end so it’s a good way to finish off the series.

The cast are, as ever, excellent. Sarah Michelle Geller (Buffy), Alyson Hannigan (Willow), Anthony Head (Giles), James Marsters (Spike), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn), Emma Caulfield (Anya) and Nicholas Brendon (Xander) make up the main force for good and they are joined by DB Woodside (Principal Wood), Eliza Dushku (Faith), David Boreanaz (Angel) and Tom Lenk (Andrew) for extra measure. The main bad guys are well played by Nathan Fillion (Caleb), who is The First’s leading man and Andy Umberger (D’Hoffryn), master of the vengeance demons.

Video is presented in 1.78:1 (16:9) widescreen and, given the large number of dark scenes, is pretty good all round. Colours and blacks are solid although there is a little grain in the darker scenes but no obvious edge artefacts. Visual and CGI effects are very well done throughout and reflect the series decent budget. The sound is plain old Dolby Surround, which is nothing spectacular but basically okay for a show originally shot for television. Pity though as its got a stonking score and a 5.1 mix could have done great things with such spooky and atmospheric material.

Buffy The vampire Slayer was a show that hit every button at some stage - it could make you laugh, it could make you cry, it could scare the bejeezus out of you and it was so sexy it was downright erotic in places.

However much you didn’t want Buffy to ever end, the writers, producers and cast have done the series justice over the years and this season brings it all to a conclusion with a blast and a sense of closure. From someone who has watched the series from the beginning, it’s been a really enjoyable experience over the last seven years and it will be sadly missed.

That said, there is a rumour that, while Sarah Michelle Geller’s contract is up and she has made it known that she may not return, most of the rest of the cast is under contract for an eighth season, so anything is possible.

Extras

Commentaries - are provided for selected episodes on the discs by means of subtitles. Namely...

Lessons - by Joss Whedon and David Solomon.

Selfless - by Drew Goddard and David Solomon.

Conversations With Dead People - by Nick Marck, Jane Espenson, Drew Goddard, Danny Strong and Tom Lenk.

The Killer In Me - by David Solomon and Drew Z. Greenberg.

Lies My Parents Told Me - by David Fury, Drew Goddard, James Marsters and D. B. Woodside.

Dirty Girls - by Drew Goddard and Nicholas Brendon.

Chosen - by Joss Whedon.

I’m not sure that I liked the idea of doing these by subtitles as they jump around the screen a bit and take up valuable screen real estate. Still they do the job and are pretty informative.

DVD-ROM Willow’s Demon Guide - A searchable database of all the supernatural creatures encountered throughout seasons one to seven. It can also be filtered by season, vampire, demon or miscellaneous creature groupings. It’s even Mac OS 9 and OS X compatible so well done Fox for not ignoring us Mac users. I wouldn’t say it’s heavy on the details but it’s informative enough for most average Buffy fans.

Buffy: It’s Always Been About The Fans - A four and a half minute look at the Buffy fan base and how they celebrate their love of the series. Includes a look at the 2003 Posting Board Party and The Succubus Club, an Internet radio station.

Season 7 Overview - Buffy: Full Circle - Joss Whedon and some of the production team and cast talk about Season 7, the storylines and the major characters. Lasts 36 minutes.

Buffy 101: Studying The Slayer - A couple of TV critics and the Associate Dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television give their views on the diversity of the story-lines and themes therein and comment on the range of topics and social issues covered over its seven year run. It’s pretty positive and interesting if you need an explanation of why the show was so enjoyable. Lasts 14 minutes.

Generation S - This is all about the potential Slayers - the next generation of vampire killers. Includes interview footage with some of the young actresses that played them, Joss Whedon and a few of the producers. Lasts just over eight minutes.

The Last Sundown - This is series creator Joss Whedon’s look back at his ten favourite episodes and his thoughts on bringing the series to life and to an end. Lasts just under nine minutes.

Outtakes - Just over three minutes of pretty run of the mill outtakes from season 7. Amusing but nothing exceptional.

Buffy Wraps - A five-minute glimpse at the after series wrap party with short interviews with the writers and cast.

Overall

Not a lot more to say here - for Buffy fans, this is a "must have" box set. If you’ve already got the previous six sets, then you won’t be disappointed with this one as, with over 14 hours worth of episodes plus a reasonable package of extras, it’ll keep your teenagers or even the young at heart like me occupied for quite some time.