Paul Reubens' death scene actually had me confused as to whether he was actually dying or if for some reason the stake didn't affect him similarly to how the fire didn't affect Lothos and he was just taunting Buffy and was gonna get right back up and attack her or something.
Also, Buffy being superior to other slayers because she's different kind of falls apart when the only difference (her keen fashion sense) doesn't even help her much. Like Lothos just shakes off the flames and continues his rampage and that's it. Still, I found the movie to be kind of enjoyable despite how cheesy and campy it was.
Every time I see Donald Sutherland in an interview for the _Hunger Games_ describing how much he can relate to his character, Coriolanus Snow, I’m reminded of what it must have been like for Joss to work with him as I laugh, half nodding, half shaking my head, in agreement with the statements he makes emphasizing his emotional compatibility with a ruthless, greedy, and villainous dictator 🧐
The irony when it was revealed the roles were actually reversed, and Joss Whedon has been outed as an enormous monster who bullied and harassed his staff, delighted in making them cry, physically assaulting them or trying to milestone them when they were still minors.
I like the ridiculous death scene of Paul Reuben! It's an utterly inane and incongruous element. Like a brilliant peacock feather duck taped onto an armadillo.
Interesting to note little things that made it in to the first 2 seasons from this movie. Lothos' 'Close you Eyes', and the white prom dress with her boyfriend's jacket went into Prophecy Girl
Okay, I saw this movie in a theater when I was in college because I loved the West Coast, "Valley Girl" culture, as well as hyperviolent, preternatural stuff, so I figured this movie was right up my alley: "Buffy," obviously a Malibu Beach-crawling mallrat slaying bloodsucking vampires? I was in. Keep in mind, at this point, we'd had a couple of pretentious Anne Rice vamp flicks - not to mention the mystical anchor that was 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' - and way too many teen sex romps. This seemed like a delightful send-off of the two genres, plus a non-Peewee Herman Paul Reubens - interesting! I went to this movie expecting a clever pop-culture parody, and what I got was a somewhat compelling story that couldn't seem to figure out if it was serious, ironic, or outright parodic. The California Girl stuff - which I'd emulated, though I'm not from Cali - was over-the-top campy, yet her relationship to her Watcher seemed to be reaching for some deep emotions without connecting (your revelations of Donald Sutherland's attitude during filming sheds much light on this), namely, the moment when he tells Buffy that she is not like previous Slayers, but is "extraordinary," has stuck with me years later for both its emotional weight and creepiness. I agree with your assessment of Rutger Hauer's performance, completely - it seemed like it had been edited in from a different movie. Overall, however, my number-one take-away from the movie was how I liked it during the prom scene when Buffy put on running shoes and a leather jacket with her fluffy, frilly prom dress, because in that moment, she reminded me of one of my very first action heroes, Princess Leia from Star Wars, who wore the lovely dress with kick-ass boots and could fire a blaster rifle as well as any boy or man around her. I think that was why the movie, with all of its flaws, wasn't able to turn me away from the TV series: the 6-year-old girl in me finally found another Princess Leia.
Oh, and when I referred to 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' as an anchor, above, I didn't mean in a good way, I meant that it was a terrible weight that dragged the genre into stupid darkness and we're still trying to dig our way out of it. 'Twilight' is another one. "He's a bloodthirsty killing machine, but he won't hurt me because my love will save him." REALLY?! Is that all that vampires can be? Magical domestic abusers?
The idea that Buffy's strength is her ties to the world resonates better with family and friends rather than fashion. A hero with a meaningful life is better than the solitary hero. I think Star Wars was (at some point) trying to make the same point, that the Jedi were wrong for their monk-like lifestyle. My understanding of "bringing balance to the Force" is reflected in Luke having friends, a community, something to fight for.
The " right" vs " good" dichotomy you touched on here is really getting close to the heart of the show, which is that Buffy is an altruist. Whether it's defending Dawn in season5 or defending Spike in season7 she absolutely refuses to compromise about being good. And a show about the power of altruism will be forever relevant.
All these Buffy scenes made me tear up... especially the ones from "The Gift"... God, i really should rewatch this show. Even though i finished rewatching it a week ago.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I watched it all the time. I remember in 6th grade my friend coming up to me and going "Are you going to watch the BtVS tv show? I know how much you love that movie!" And of course I watched the show from the beginning and loved it. I see the two as two separate entities and I love them both for different reasons.
I never thought Spike's lines in "Fool for love" could have any sexual connotation, but it makes all the sense when one of the first things he said after actually having sex with Buffy was "I knew it, I knew the only thing better than killing a slayer would be (f*cking one)". Great review, Ian!
It also adds up because she is suicidal is season 6 and then spike learns that he can physically harm her. The response is sex and violence being merged together.
I saw it right off, but I think by the time I watched it I had spoiled myself about the fact that they have a thing later, so it may have been because of that. His lines in School Hard where really sexual though, not to mention the way he moved when fighting the second slayer. It wasn't a hard leap to make for me.
I saw this movie when I was in Kindergarten, so you can imagine the affect it had on me. Needless to say it was my favorite movie until the show came around. So seeing it first might have been an advantage. I had no bias. Still one of my favorite movies of all time. BTW. I'm glad to hear you might be coming back. Been a fan since the beginning. I won't be going anywhere.
Ditto. I was movie buffy for Halloween as a kid, I had the worst crush on luke Perry. I was thrilled when I heard the show was coming out, it was instantly my favourite show. But I love camp. I love the lame movie jokes, "kill him...kill him a lot." I love the never-ending death scene. The only thing I didn't like was the super creepy watcher, I was convinced he was a bad guy. Donald was awful.
Movie first for me as well. Looks like for most who did are much more forgiving of the movie. I honestly didn’t think it was bad at all. Kristy Swanson and Paul Reubens made the movie.
Yep, that was my experience too. Combined with the fact that for some reason both the film and later the early seasons of the series (which started airing in my country around 1999, when I was 13-14) would always be on late at night on the randomest, often regional, TV channels, my perception of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was that of an elusive and almost magnetically charming story, with a most badass heroine who I'd like to identify with, that I always only caught glimpses of. It took almost 10 years and the advent of fast internet for me to discover the TV series fully and completely fall in love with it.
I saw the film when it was released, and because of it, I didn't give the series a chance until season six. I then went back and watched the entire series. I just couldn't believe (and still can't) that such an awesome show came from such schlocky beginnings.
Ahhh!!! OMG!!! I just screamed out loud when you said u were back doing Buffy videos in a few weeks! I'm soooooooo excited!! Thank you!!! So glad you are back!
I 100% agree with you on the part about Kristy Swanson by far is the best part of the movie. I haven't seen it since it first came out on VHS but I do remember really liking Kristy Swanson and the character of Buffy. And when I finally got around to watching the TV series ( I didn't start the show till it was long off the air ) I remember thinking as I watched the first episode that Sarah was doing a good imitation of the Swanson's character. Of course, Sarah took the character and made it her own very quickly and the character of Buffy herself changed as the events of the show dictated, but I will always be fond of Swanson's version too.
Thrilled to watch this review, but mostly loved your digression into the show and a little mini-review of Fool for Love. We haven't had much Spike in your reviews and I love his arc! Looking forward to Something Blue.
Well there was an itch that has just been scratched. Over the last month I have been rewatching your previous reviews. I have always loved watching a Buffy episode just after its review and seeing if it has changed because of your review. Oh how I have missed them. So glad they are coming back, can not wait.
"Something Blue" and "Hero" Wait, WHAT??!!? f They've not killed your channel yet?!? Good on ya! I'm quite pleased about it and look forward tae seeing more from one of my favourite reviewers.
Looking forward to him continuing his reviews. I guess he won against the copyrighting claims, or whatever he was having trouble with. Fair Use and all that...
Gosh, that analysis of `The Gift` left me traumatized... All in all, great review, as usual! I love how you picked the movie apart and recognized it's flaws in an almost unbiased way. It's refreshing to start a morning with a new piece of your reviews!
I think it was a great idea at the time, specially considering that anything related to women's menstruation always had and still has stigmas and bad connotations. In the very last episode of the show, Buffy, Faith and all the potentials open the seal bleeding together over it. Joss said he was representing their menstruation
Thank you for helping me realize that even a couple of notes from 'Sacrifice' can make me cry. I haven't bothered to watch the movie for the same reasons. I wouldn't be able to stop thinking of the wasted potential.
I'm looking forward to your take on "Something Blue." It has always struck me as a crucial episode, reversing Marx's observation that history repeats itself "first as tragedy, then as farce," because here is the farce that foreshadows the tragedy at the end of Season 6. I have never been able to watch the last four continuous episodes of Season 6 without thinking of "Something Blue," and saying to myself "We should have seen it coming."
Yes!! Cannot wait for your reviews to start again. My nostalgia is completely severed from my recognition of this film's flaws, so your (spot-on) review did not damage it at all. I do however think there is something to be said for the now-eroded charms that resonated within the film's particular moment that, though past, has stayed with me. I was ten or younger when I saw this movie on TV and, for a young girl, there was nothing like it going on at the time. The two things that made it stand out, namely the female superhero and the comedy horror take on it, felt linked to me (though of course these two elements have appeared unattached to each other in other films). I felt strongly that Buffy's stock 90s femininity, as you call it, was being used as a platform to critique horror and the comic-book superhero genre, not to tear it down necessarily, but to open up a new view on it. Some of the significations are problematic, and it quickly deflates into campy humour, but at the time it felt like there was something there, a new vantage point that was deeply exciting. I did wish, even then, that it had taken itself more seriously and was better developed, and to my lasting delight, I got my wish a few years later in the form of the series. I also think it would be interesting to look at how both the film and the series suffer and succeed in relation to the generation transition that was going on at the time (teenage Xers giving way to the first wave of teen Millennials). I would like your reading of the idea, that the image of Buffy pulling on the leather jacket over her white prom dress was copied exactly in the tv series season 1 finale (it's how I read it). It's not the jacket that Angel gave her in a previous episode, but the parallels between Angel and Pike and the link between this prop and the memorable scene where Angel gives her the jacket seem too obvious to me to not suggest an adaptation of some of the meanings at work in the Kristy Swanson scene, which, by the way, was a scene I loved as a kid. Finally: "You're floating! C'mon get away from here!" How do you not find that hilarious? :-)
Having seen the making of live stream of this video I appreciate this even more than I would anyway. Awesome you're back! Can't wait for mooore Guide! :D Thanks!
I really missed your reviews. It's been awhile since I've seen this movie, so I forgot a lot about it, but the OG Buffy seems really good actually! I'm a bit surprised about that.
i had checked out of this channel for a while, since it was having so many issues with videos getting flagged. I'm just delighted that you are back in business. I've missed you!!!
This movie is what you have called, "a candy episode" for me. I know it has it's flaws and the show is superior, but I love it. The soundtrack to this movie is one of my favorite movie soundtracks.
Great review. I'm impressed, and the thoughts you expressed seemed to mirror my own feelings that I didn't know how to go about expressing about this movie. I too watched it years after I established myself as a huuuge buffy fan, fan of the series that is. Thanks for another great video !
With the revelations about how truly horrid Joss Whedon is, it delights me immensely to hear that Donald Sutherland was a constant source of Joss’s unhappiness.
So glad I watched the movie. When I bought the BoxSet for Season 1, Joss mentioned in his Audio Commentary for Welcome To The Hellmouth that the TV show did, to some extent, follow on from the film. So I stopped watching the DVDs until I watched the movie, then I restarted by rewatching WTTH again. So glad I did, as this made Normal Again the most psychologically scary thing I've ever seen. Please review the 20 minutes Presentation. :)
Thank you for your commentary on this movie! I watched the movie before I watched the show (because I had heard the Buffy pilot loosely references the movie). It's fascinating how the ideas in the movie became the amazing Buffy TV show. It just goes to show that it takes a team--the right team--to make something great.
Me too, but I know for sure that Sarah Michelle Gellar (TV Buffy) was 20-ish in 1997 so she would've been actually 15 in the movie, and probably not only wouldn't have looked like the Buffy we know but also, the scenes with Angel would've been even worse with Sarah Michelle Gellar actually being 15... Yeah, no. Besides, the Show references the movie all the time from what I recall
I never watched this movie, but it’s hilarious to watch your analysis. It really feels like Season 1. But hey, I love camp. Btw, you might see me on a ship next time I comment on this channel.
the comic book version of this story in Buffy Omnibus vol. 1 is incredible. I love that we got to see what Buffy did before coming to Sunnydale in those comics. Absolutely glorious.
13:30 now i think about it he didnt personally meet Kendra...but he met Faith sorta in season 4 of the show and actually met her in season 7 and he didnt personally meet those two slayers he killed so hes met 5 slayers then in season 7....im just gonna say 5 for now and wait for you to explain
As someone who originally watched the Buffy movie way before the original airdate of the Buffy show... the movie has a special place in my heart for the fact it was all we had at the time... it’s either 90s Buffy or no Buffy at all - plus by the way the Paul rubens vampire from this version has been now canon within ‘what we do in the shadows’ universe lol
I'd say the main reason why the movie is struggling is that it's in the middle of the shift between the traditinal 80's storytelling and the emerging countermovement to it. In a sense the Angel episode "Lonely Heart" refers quite a lot to the Buffy movie. Having a very conventional enemy in a very conventional setting (even referred to as terminally in the 80's), the episode even introduces Kate as the traditional police connection to the detective and their strained relationship... The saving grace for the movie IMO is Kristy Swanson who performs quite well despite all the Karate Kid stuff, also "Party With The Animals" is one of my favourite Ozzy songs so the movie holds a special place for me.
When I knew you were doing this I thought "okay, it's time to see the movie" to see your review afterwards and, god, it was terrible. I didn't have very hight expectations but I really had a hard time going through it, I was just bored and I couldn't understand the script... why does Merric have to get himself killed again? Why didn't the vampires kill Buffy when they have a chance? Maybe this is just problem that I have because of the language but it honestly feels more like the movie is very messed up. The only thing I expected Buffy to do is to burn the gym down and she didn't... very disappointing. Once again, thanks a lot for your review. I feel very glad to know that Wheedon was pissed because of the directing and that the script wasn't like this, it's a relief. I am looking foward to see the new guide videos, I really miss them!
I'll probably be flogged for this...but I love your brief synopsis of the tie in with the origin comics. I wonder if you'd be willing to eventually do reviews of the comics once the shows are completed?
I watched the film 1st then the tv show... While, I appreciate the film 'cause it gave us the show, I personally believe SMG is the ultimate Buffy (end of story). And if Buffy is appropriated in anyway, like in the comics it should be of SMG's characterization and her characterization only.
It's good to know that if Fox ever did sue you for the guides there is legal precedent for you to win now. Of course they probably won't ever sue you since they got that nice loophole going. That is assuming that that's still an issue. Regardless I am happy to hear you got some more videos still in the works.
If you havent' seen it watch "What we do in the Shadows", would love to see your take of it. Sorry just sniggering even thinking about it. I think you might be Stu
yes Ian I understood ur prospective i just wished u weren't late to the btvs party cuz ur very much spot on the ur guides i just didn't agree with ur take the og btvs but hey thats what makes the world go round. cant wait for ur next guide ❤
Awesome review, and I love the interpretation of Lovers Walk, one of my favourite Buffy episodes of all time. Now I don't need to watch the movie and I can concentrate on the show!!!
13:27 - Pedant time! He'd met and fought 4 by that point (missed Kendra), and technically met a 5th in Faith, although she was in Buffy's body so he couldn't have known. Sorry I can't help it, I have a problem with pickyness! Great vid though, like you I watched the film long after I'd started watching Buffy. If I'd seen the film first I might've never bothered with the show; it's incredible how night and day the quality of both is. Even stuff you would expect a film to be better at due to budget: fight scenes/effects are just far worse in the film, even compared to season 1/2.
The cultural context in which a thing happens is important to how it is received and remembered. The first time I saw this movie was when it was first released on video. A friend and I picked it up on a lark. It looked dumb so what the heck, right? I loved every terrible cheesy campy thing about it. It's the reason why I watched Buffy when it first came to television. I'm glad the movie exists to have put the idea of Buffy into the cultural ether, a whisper in the wind. I still view the movie through that lens of nostalgia. I can't unsee it through it. I mean, I *could* if I tried, but I don't have any reason to do so. Especially because I already accept it as it is, flaws and all. I can understand the, I don't know, consternation? of someone who comes at it from the other direction. Seeing it as an article of history, a vestigial that's uselessly attached to the fully formed and still useful organ that is the show(s). It's probably a bit like the Doctor or Star Trek. You can go back and see how it all started. Some will like it, some will not and most will likely have that particular fondness for "their" Doctor or "their" Star Trek.
Holy shit, I just had a short discussion, just maybe a week ago and even here on UA-cam as well, with someone who asked me what I would think about the possibiltity of a Buffy movie still coming out (since we basically agreed that the tv show didn´t quite end perfectly appropriately!). I explained that I wouldn´t want this, because I feel it would just have to have the original cast of the tv show (plus, there´s the comic book!) to feel cannon and by now, there´s just too much time past! BUT: Right after that he convinced me, that making a movie about some past slayers, maybe from the 19th century, maybe even going back to the very first one, could actually turn out to be fantastc, if it´s done correctly! But I would have never guessed, that we already had a Buffy movie, that came out a long time ago!... Kind of a mindfuck right there to me...
It's funny how much of this echoes in the Buffy series even when the two are wildly different. Just seeing prototype Bangel speak, the leather jacket, Buffy dealing with a boyfriend who wants to be her manly protector (hello proto-Riley) makes me so happy we got...well not this.
Don't feel bad, Ian. I don't think there's anyone really deluded enough to not see the movie's many many flaws, but the nostalgia factor does help shine some of those flaws off. And hey, how about that rockin' soundtrack? ;) What you should feel bad about is ragging on PeeWee's death scene! HDU! That is the best most ridiculously ludicrous death scene ever! :P And yay! Your guides are coming back! I'm so excited!
Could you do a review of Young Dracula ? It's on UA-cam . I like the episode by episode reviews , so that format would be cool . It's also about vampires . Please .
“When the music stops, the rest is silence” what if Giles randomly said that line when he saw Jenny’s dead body? I’d be like “Wow, nice homage there haha.” Maybe he’d do it better than Sutherland but it’d still be weird.
Humaira Ahmed When I said this, I just meant it as a joke because it’s such a silly line, especially the way it’s said by Donald Sutherland in the Buffy movie. Also Giles is Buffy’s Watcher and so was Merrick. So it’d make sense if it’s passed on from one Watcher to another, just for unintentional shits and giggles.
Think listening to you talk about the film is probably much better than watching it. I tend to agree that Swanson is actually pretty good (and some of the supporting cast decent), but agree that it's a bit of a mess as a story. And one other thing, "Fuck You Sutherland"!
To take Buffy's analogy from the end of S7:
The movie is cookie dough, not quite ready. The series is actual cookies,
The movie is putting sardines in the cookie dough which means it could never be good.
@@albertcornett7408 oh lighten up
I like how the more Buffy begins to dislike her Jock boyfriend and Clueless friends she starts dressing like a member of Pearl Jam. Gotta love the 90s
OMG Seth Green was in this movie I never knew that. That is one reason right there why it was great that you reviewed this movie
Paul Reubens' death scene actually had me confused as to whether he was actually dying or if for some reason the stake didn't affect him similarly to how the fire didn't affect Lothos and he was just taunting Buffy and was gonna get right back up and attack her or something.
Also, Buffy being superior to other slayers because she's different kind of falls apart when the only difference (her keen fashion sense) doesn't even help her much. Like Lothos just shakes off the flames and continues his rampage and that's it. Still, I found the movie to be kind of enjoyable despite how cheesy and campy it was.
Have we considered the possibility that Seth Green is, in fact, a vampire?
Then the werewolf thing is just a phase. A phase, get it? Get it? Get...... ok, that was lame
tsukigalleta,
You owned the lameness of your joke, and thereby restored yourself to a state of non-lameness.
I laughed too hard at that
He certainly seems to by immortal.
tsukigalleta HAHAHHAHA hahhahaha holy shit
Every time I see Donald Sutherland in an interview for the _Hunger Games_ describing how much he can relate to his character, Coriolanus Snow, I’m reminded of what it must have been like for Joss to work with him as I laugh, half nodding, half shaking my head, in agreement with the statements he makes emphasizing his emotional compatibility with a ruthless, greedy, and villainous dictator 🧐
The irony when it was revealed the roles were actually reversed, and Joss Whedon has been outed as an enormous monster who bullied and harassed his staff, delighted in making them cry, physically assaulting them or trying to milestone them when they were still minors.
'The Gift' music starts playing - DAMN YOUUUUUU!!!
Dude, right?!? First note and i get choked up.
I like the ridiculous death scene of Paul Reuben! It's an utterly inane and incongruous element. Like a brilliant peacock feather duck taped onto an armadillo.
"Like a brilliant peacock feather duck taped onto an armadillo."
Great idea! I'm gonna do it!
How do you tape with a duck?
What an apt analogy
EXACTLY
@@BubbaSmurft Use duke tape.
Interesting to note little things that made it in to the first 2 seasons from this movie. Lothos' 'Close you Eyes', and the white prom dress with her boyfriend's jacket went into Prophecy Girl
Okay, I saw this movie in a theater when I was in college because I loved the West Coast, "Valley Girl" culture, as well as hyperviolent, preternatural stuff, so I figured this movie was right up my alley: "Buffy," obviously a Malibu Beach-crawling mallrat slaying bloodsucking vampires? I was in. Keep in mind, at this point, we'd had a couple of pretentious Anne Rice vamp flicks - not to mention the mystical anchor that was 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' - and way too many teen sex romps. This seemed like a delightful send-off of the two genres, plus a non-Peewee Herman Paul Reubens - interesting! I went to this movie expecting a clever pop-culture parody, and what I got was a somewhat compelling story that couldn't seem to figure out if it was serious, ironic, or outright parodic.
The California Girl stuff - which I'd emulated, though I'm not from Cali - was over-the-top campy, yet her relationship to her Watcher seemed to be reaching for some deep emotions without connecting (your revelations of Donald Sutherland's attitude during filming sheds much light on this), namely, the moment when he tells Buffy that she is not like previous Slayers, but is "extraordinary," has stuck with me years later for both its emotional weight and creepiness. I agree with your assessment of Rutger Hauer's performance, completely - it seemed like it had been edited in from a different movie.
Overall, however, my number-one take-away from the movie was how I liked it during the prom scene when Buffy put on running shoes and a leather jacket with her fluffy, frilly prom dress, because in that moment, she reminded me of one of my very first action heroes, Princess Leia from Star Wars, who wore the lovely dress with kick-ass boots and could fire a blaster rifle as well as any boy or man around her. I think that was why the movie, with all of its flaws, wasn't able to turn me away from the TV series: the 6-year-old girl in me finally found another Princess Leia.
Oh, and when I referred to 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' as an anchor, above, I didn't mean in a good way, I meant that it was a terrible weight that dragged the genre into stupid darkness and we're still trying to dig our way out of it. 'Twilight' is another one. "He's a bloodthirsty killing machine, but he won't hurt me because my love will save him." REALLY?! Is that all that vampires can be? Magical domestic abusers?
The idea that Buffy's strength is her ties to the world resonates better with family and friends rather than fashion. A hero with a meaningful life is better than the solitary hero.
I think Star Wars was (at some point) trying to make the same point, that the Jedi were wrong for their monk-like lifestyle. My understanding of "bringing balance to the Force" is reflected in Luke having friends, a community, something to fight for.
The " right" vs " good" dichotomy you touched on here is really getting close to the heart of the show, which is that Buffy is an altruist. Whether it's defending Dawn in season5 or defending Spike in season7 she absolutely refuses to compromise about being good. And a show about the power of altruism will be forever relevant.
All these Buffy scenes made me tear up... especially the ones from "The Gift"...
God, i really should rewatch this show.
Even though i finished rewatching it a week ago.
I LOVE the Buffy origin comic, it's so underrated and Pike actually was a pretty good love interest.
Every time I hear The Sacrifice, my eyes instantly fill with tears.
So much gorgeous original music from this show. The Sacrifice, arguably, is the best of them all. It's so achingly simple and sad and hopeful.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I watched it all the time. I remember in 6th grade my friend coming up to me and going "Are you going to watch the BtVS tv show? I know how much you love that movie!" And of course I watched the show from the beginning and loved it. I see the two as two separate entities and I love them both for different reasons.
Lol great video but the thing that made me smile the most was hearing that the guide was coming back in a couple of weeks Xd
JOY.
Agreed.
I never thought Spike's lines in "Fool for love" could have any sexual connotation, but it makes all the sense when one of the first things he said after actually having sex with Buffy was "I knew it, I knew the only thing better than killing a slayer would be (f*cking one)".
Great review, Ian!
It also adds up because she is suicidal is season 6 and then spike learns that he can physically harm her. The response is sex and violence being merged together.
Wow! You're right!
I've never seen that either, but now that Ian's brought it up, it's all I CAN see.
I saw it right off, but I think by the time I watched it I had spoiled myself about the fact that they have a thing later, so it may have been because of that. His lines in School Hard where really sexual though, not to mention the way he moved when fighting the second slayer. It wasn't a hard leap to make for me.
I saw this movie when I was in Kindergarten, so you can imagine the affect it had on me. Needless to say it was my favorite movie until the show came around. So seeing it first might have been an advantage. I had no bias. Still one of my favorite movies of all time.
BTW. I'm glad to hear you might be coming back. Been a fan since the beginning. I won't be going anywhere.
I believe that helps. I also saw the movie before the show came out and I think that's why I like it.
Ditto. I was movie buffy for Halloween as a kid, I had the worst crush on luke Perry. I was thrilled when I heard the show was coming out, it was instantly my favourite show.
But I love camp. I love the lame movie jokes, "kill him...kill him a lot." I love the never-ending death scene.
The only thing I didn't like was the super creepy watcher, I was convinced he was a bad guy. Donald was awful.
Movie first for me as well. Looks like for most who did are much more forgiving of the movie. I honestly didn’t think it was bad at all. Kristy Swanson and Paul Reubens made the movie.
Yep, that was my experience too. Combined with the fact that for some reason both the film and later the early seasons of the series (which started airing in my country around 1999, when I was 13-14) would always be on late at night on the randomest, often regional, TV channels, my perception of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was that of an elusive and almost magnetically charming story, with a most badass heroine who I'd like to identify with, that I always only caught glimpses of. It took almost 10 years and the advent of fast internet for me to discover the TV series fully and completely fall in love with it.
I saw the film when it was released, and because of it, I didn't give the series a chance until season six. I then went back and watched the entire series. I just couldn't believe (and still can't) that such an awesome show came from such schlocky beginnings.
That music! Why?! I thought I'd be safe from tears in a review of the movie but nooooo, still gotta break my heart.
Ahhh!!! OMG!!! I just screamed out loud when you said u were back doing Buffy videos in a few weeks! I'm soooooooo excited!! Thank you!!! So glad you are back!
Spike met Kendra in What's my line as well, so that would make 4 slayers wouldn't it? Anyway, great to see another Buffy review!
I 100% agree with you on the part about Kristy Swanson by far is the best part of the movie. I haven't seen it since it first came out on VHS but I do remember really liking Kristy Swanson and the character of Buffy. And when I finally got around to watching the TV series ( I didn't start the show till it was long off the air ) I remember thinking as I watched the first episode that Sarah was doing a good imitation of the Swanson's character. Of course, Sarah took the character and made it her own very quickly and the character of Buffy herself changed as the events of the show dictated, but I will always be fond of Swanson's version too.
Thrilled to watch this review, but mostly loved your digression into the show and a little mini-review of Fool for Love. We haven't had much Spike in your reviews and I love his arc! Looking forward to Something Blue.
Well there was an itch that has just been scratched. Over the last month I have been rewatching your previous reviews. I have always loved watching a Buffy episode just after its review and seeing if it has changed because of your review. Oh how I have missed them. So glad they are coming back, can not wait.
YES! Glas to hear you're bringing back the guides! :D
Yes, I'm so glad you're back! I haven't even watched the video yet, just saw you posted this review and I'm so happy.
"Something Blue" and "Hero"
Wait, WHAT??!!? f They've not killed your channel yet?!? Good on ya! I'm quite pleased about it and look forward tae seeing more from one of my favourite reviewers.
Looking forward to him continuing his reviews. I guess he won against the copyrighting claims, or whatever he was having trouble with. Fair Use and all that...
Probably related to H3H3 Productions' big win in court last month. Now he has same legal precedent to stand on regarding UA-cam copyright strikes.
Glad i watched the making of it. Got to see your work go all out. Keep up your great videos and ready to see the return of your buffy and angel videos
Marick: You will be able to use this to track the vampires.
Buffy: There's one.
Giles: But, but you didn't *hone*.
So happy to see a new video from you!
Gosh, that analysis of `The Gift` left me traumatized...
All in all, great review, as usual! I love how you picked the movie apart and recognized it's flaws in an almost unbiased way. It's refreshing to start a morning with a new piece of your reviews!
YOU'RE COMING BACK OHMAGAWD
Sorry just cant get through my last year of college without these guides,I swear
Glad to see a new video from you!
So Buffy getting cramps in this movie is like their version of spider-sense? Pffffhahahaha! XD This movie’s really somethin’
I think it was a great idea at the time, specially considering that anything related to women's menstruation always had and still has stigmas and bad connotations. In the very last episode of the show, Buffy, Faith and all the potentials open the seal bleeding together over it. Joss said he was representing their menstruation
tsukigalleta That was more symbolic though, so it was more subtle, here it’s literal and more obvious, which makes it more hilariously bad.
Thank you for helping me realize that even a couple of notes from 'Sacrifice' can make me cry. I haven't bothered to watch the movie for the same reasons. I wouldn't be able to stop thinking of the wasted potential.
I'm looking forward to your take on "Something Blue." It has always struck me as a crucial episode, reversing Marx's observation that history repeats itself "first as tragedy, then as farce," because here is the farce that foreshadows the tragedy at the end of Season 6. I have never been able to watch the last four continuous episodes of Season 6 without thinking of "Something Blue," and saying to myself "We should have seen it coming."
A huge Hug from Chile, I love your videos especially Buffy, im really happy you are continuing them
Yes!! Cannot wait for your reviews to start again.
My nostalgia is completely severed from my recognition of this film's flaws, so your (spot-on) review did not damage it at all. I do however think there is something to be said for the now-eroded charms that resonated within the film's particular moment that, though past, has stayed with me. I was ten or younger when I saw this movie on TV and, for a young girl, there was nothing like it going on at the time. The two things that made it stand out, namely the female superhero and the comedy horror take on it, felt linked to me (though of course these two elements have appeared unattached to each other in other films). I felt strongly that Buffy's stock 90s femininity, as you call it, was being used as a platform to critique horror and the comic-book superhero genre, not to tear it down necessarily, but to open up a new view on it. Some of the significations are problematic, and it quickly deflates into campy humour, but at the time it felt like there was something there, a new vantage point that was deeply exciting. I did wish, even then, that it had taken itself more seriously and was better developed, and to my lasting delight, I got my wish a few years later in the form of the series.
I also think it would be interesting to look at how both the film and the series suffer and succeed in relation to the generation transition that was going on at the time (teenage Xers giving way to the first wave of teen Millennials).
I would like your reading of the idea, that the image of Buffy pulling on the leather jacket over her white prom dress was copied exactly in the tv series season 1 finale (it's how I read it). It's not the jacket that Angel gave her in a previous episode, but the parallels between Angel and Pike and the link between this prop and the memorable scene where Angel gives her the jacket seem too obvious to me to not suggest an adaptation of some of the meanings at work in the Kristy Swanson scene, which, by the way, was a scene I loved as a kid.
Finally: "You're floating! C'mon get away from here!" How do you not find that hilarious? :-)
Having seen the making of live stream of this video I appreciate this even more than I would anyway.
Awesome you're back! Can't wait for mooore Guide! :D Thanks!
I really missed your reviews. It's been awhile since I've seen this movie, so I forgot a lot about it, but the OG Buffy seems really good actually! I'm a bit surprised about that.
i had checked out of this channel for a while, since it was having so many issues with videos getting flagged. I'm just delighted that you are back in business. I've missed you!!!
I can't tell you how thrilled I am to hear that you are making more guides!! Congrats on another great video!
Well done
And very excited the episode guides are coming back!!!
This movie is what you have called, "a candy episode" for me. I know it has it's flaws and the show is superior, but I love it.
The soundtrack to this movie is one of my favorite movie soundtracks.
It’s biggest flaw is that overall it’s a crap movie.
Great review. I'm impressed, and the thoughts you expressed seemed to mirror my own feelings that I didn't know how to go about expressing about this movie. I too watched it years after I established myself as a huuuge buffy fan, fan of the series that is. Thanks for another great video !
Great review man, I look forward to the return of the Buffy Guide reviews. James :-)
With the revelations about how truly horrid Joss Whedon is, it delights me immensely to hear that Donald Sutherland was a constant source of Joss’s unhappiness.
I just realized how often you go to the season five finale for that emotional ending, IT'S SO GOOD. Gosh darned it.
So glad I watched the movie. When I bought the BoxSet for Season 1, Joss mentioned in his Audio Commentary for Welcome To The Hellmouth that the TV show did, to some extent, follow on from the film. So I stopped watching the DVDs until I watched the movie, then I restarted by rewatching WTTH again. So glad I did, as this made Normal Again the most psychologically scary thing I've ever seen.
Please review the 20 minutes Presentation. :)
I Love your Buffy Videos im so excited when the Buffy guide is Coming back
So pumped hearing you'll be back yo reviewing episodes!!! Love your work and am the biggest Buffy/Angel fan ever. Keep up the amazing work!
I totally agree with you about the one thing that I am appreciative of this movie. It gave us the series.
It's been too long, friend :) Welcome back!
Thank you for your commentary on this movie! I watched the movie before I watched the show (because I had heard the Buffy pilot loosely references the movie). It's fascinating how the ideas in the movie became the amazing Buffy TV show. It just goes to show that it takes a team--the right team--to make something great.
Yesss!!! So good to see you back!
The Buffy Guide is coming back???!?!?!?? I have the biggest grin on my face right now. I knew it was a great time to start rewatching the show,
I always think it would’ve been nice to see Buffy before the show with the same cast we had in the show and a better script!
Jon Agreed!
Me too, but I know for sure that Sarah Michelle Gellar (TV Buffy) was 20-ish in 1997 so she would've been actually 15 in the movie, and probably not only wouldn't have looked like the Buffy we know but also, the scenes with Angel would've been even worse with Sarah Michelle Gellar actually being 15... Yeah, no. Besides, the Show references the movie all the time from what I recall
I never watched this movie, but it’s hilarious to watch your analysis. It really feels like Season 1. But hey, I love camp.
Btw, you might see me on a ship next time I comment on this channel.
the comic book version of this story in Buffy Omnibus vol. 1 is incredible. I love that we got to see what Buffy did before coming to Sunnydale in those comics. Absolutely glorious.
YEEEEEEESSS, HE'S BACK. HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY.
hahahaha, i loved how you pointed Seth Green!!! XD
13:30 now i think about it he didnt personally meet Kendra...but he met Faith sorta in season 4 of the show and actually met her in season 7 and he didnt personally meet those two slayers he killed so hes met 5 slayers then in season 7....im just gonna say 5 for now and wait for you to explain
Please review the unaired Buffy pilot
Donald Sutherland is a great actor but this is not his best moment.
You can tell he wanders around the whole time wondering "How the f*** did I get roped into this?"
As someone who originally watched the Buffy movie way before the original airdate of the Buffy show... the movie has a special place in my heart for the fact it was all we had at the time... it’s either 90s Buffy or no Buffy at all - plus by the way the Paul rubens vampire from this version has been now canon within ‘what we do in the shadows’ universe lol
I'd say the main reason why the movie is struggling is that it's in the middle of the shift between the traditinal 80's storytelling and the emerging countermovement to it. In a sense the Angel episode "Lonely Heart" refers quite a lot to the Buffy movie. Having a very conventional enemy in a very conventional setting (even referred to as terminally in the 80's), the episode even introduces Kate as the traditional police connection to the detective and their strained relationship...
The saving grace for the movie IMO is Kristy Swanson who performs quite well despite all the Karate Kid stuff, also "Party With The Animals" is one of my favourite Ozzy songs so the movie holds a special place for me.
When I knew you were doing this I thought "okay, it's time to see the movie" to see your review afterwards and, god, it was terrible. I didn't have very hight expectations but I really had a hard time going through it, I was just bored and I couldn't understand the script... why does Merric have to get himself killed again? Why didn't the vampires kill Buffy when they have a chance? Maybe this is just problem that I have because of the language but it honestly feels more like the movie is very messed up. The only thing I expected Buffy to do is to burn the gym down and she didn't... very disappointing.
Once again, thanks a lot for your review. I feel very glad to know that Wheedon was pissed because of the directing and that the script wasn't like this, it's a relief.
I am looking foward to see the new guide videos, I really miss them!
I'll probably be flogged for this...but I love your brief synopsis of the tie in with the origin comics. I wonder if you'd be willing to eventually do reviews of the comics once the shows are completed?
I watched the film 1st then the tv show... While, I appreciate the film 'cause it gave us the show, I personally believe SMG is the ultimate Buffy (end of story). And if Buffy is appropriated in anyway, like in the comics it should be of SMG's characterization and her characterization only.
Soo.. what is your favourite piece of fiction, if it's not buffy?
Great video as always, makes me excited for the season 5 guide!
Wow, awesome vid! Keep up the good work
It's good to know that if Fox ever did sue you for the guides there is legal precedent for you to win now. Of course they probably won't ever sue you since they got that nice loophole going. That is assuming that that's still an issue. Regardless I am happy to hear you got some more videos still in the works.
BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOREVER!!!!!!! Well worth the wait just because of the sexy close-talking part. 😂😂😂
your extrapolations are brillliant!
If you havent' seen it watch "What we do in the Shadows", would love to see your take of it. Sorry just sniggering even thinking about it. I think you might be Stu
Awesome video dude!
yes Ian I understood ur prospective i just wished u weren't late to the btvs party cuz ur very much spot on the ur guides i just didn't agree with ur take the og btvs but hey thats what makes the world go round. cant wait for ur next guide ❤
Awesome review, and I love the interpretation of Lovers Walk, one of my favourite Buffy episodes of all time. Now I don't need to watch the movie and I can concentrate on the show!!!
I've missed your videos so much!
Have I seen the actor for Merrick somewhere before?
His beard makes it harder to remember, but I've seen him in something before.
Sutherland has been in hundreds of things. He's a great actor...except here.
www.imdb.com/name/nm0000661/?ref_=nv_sr_1
HE'S BACK!
I can't wait for more buffy guides!!
13:27 - Pedant time! He'd met and fought 4 by that point (missed Kendra), and technically met a 5th in Faith, although she was in Buffy's body so he couldn't have known.
Sorry I can't help it, I have a problem with pickyness! Great vid though, like you I watched the film long after I'd started watching Buffy. If I'd seen the film first I might've never bothered with the show; it's incredible how night and day the quality of both is. Even stuff you would expect a film to be better at due to budget: fight scenes/effects are just far worse in the film, even compared to season 1/2.
The cultural context in which a thing happens is important to how it is received and remembered. The first time I saw this movie was when it was first released on video. A friend and I picked it up on a lark. It looked dumb so what the heck, right?
I loved every terrible cheesy campy thing about it. It's the reason why I watched Buffy when it first came to television. I'm glad the movie exists to have put the idea of Buffy into the cultural ether, a whisper in the wind.
I still view the movie through that lens of nostalgia. I can't unsee it through it. I mean, I *could* if I tried, but I don't have any reason to do so. Especially because I already accept it as it is, flaws and all.
I can understand the, I don't know, consternation? of someone who comes at it from the other direction. Seeing it as an article of history, a vestigial that's uselessly attached to the fully formed and still useful organ that is the show(s).
It's probably a bit like the Doctor or Star Trek. You can go back and see how it all started. Some will like it, some will not and most will likely have that particular fondness for "their" Doctor or "their" Star Trek.
'walking fountain of innuendo' YES I LOVE HIM SO MUCH
It's odd to hear that Sutherland did not want to be connected with this movie when I think of him as Katniss' President Snow now.
Holy shit, I just had a short discussion, just maybe a week ago and even here on UA-cam as well, with someone who asked me what I would think about the possibiltity of a Buffy movie still coming out (since we basically agreed that the tv show didn´t quite end perfectly appropriately!). I explained that I wouldn´t want this, because I feel it would just have to have the original cast of the tv show (plus, there´s the comic book!) to feel cannon and by now, there´s just too much time past! BUT: Right after that he convinced me, that making a movie about some past slayers, maybe from the 19th century, maybe even going back to the very first one, could actually turn out to be fantastc, if it´s done correctly! But I would have never guessed, that we already had a Buffy movie, that came out a long time ago!... Kind of a mindfuck right there to me...
The Guide coming back?! Hell yes!
Welcome back!!!!!
Hey I got a question is it cannon in the show that merrick was her watcher before Giles
Yes. Merrick's first appearance in the show is Becoming Part 1.
So was he the guy who told her she was the Chosen.one at the LA high school?
Heather. Yes!
I just watch Joss Whedon's "Dr. Horrible sing along Blog" OMG is so good and layered, if you can make a video for it it would be awesome :)
It's funny how much of this echoes in the Buffy series even when the two are wildly different. Just seeing prototype Bangel speak, the leather jacket, Buffy dealing with a boyfriend who wants to be her manly protector (hello proto-Riley) makes me so happy we got...well not this.
Don't feel bad, Ian. I don't think there's anyone really deluded enough to not see the movie's many many flaws, but the nostalgia factor does help shine some of those flaws off. And hey, how about that rockin' soundtrack? ;)
What you should feel bad about is ragging on PeeWee's death scene! HDU! That is the best most ridiculously ludicrous death scene ever! :P
And yay! Your guides are coming back! I'm so excited!
Could you do a review of Young Dracula ? It's on UA-cam . I like the episode by episode reviews , so that format would be cool . It's also about vampires . Please .
So you have read the comics. What do you think of Angel's character in season 8?
Oh how I've missed you!
“When the music stops, the rest is silence” what if Giles randomly said that line when he saw Jenny’s dead body? I’d be like “Wow, nice homage there haha.” Maybe he’d do it better than Sutherland but it’d still be weird.
scifinerd17 Actually, I think it would've been better if Angelus said it since he did a voiceover in Passion.
Humaira Ahmed When I said this, I just meant it as a joke because it’s such a silly line, especially the way it’s said by Donald Sutherland in the Buffy movie. Also Giles is Buffy’s Watcher and so was Merrick. So it’d make sense if it’s passed on from one Watcher to another, just for unintentional shits and giggles.
Think listening to you talk about the film is probably much better than watching it. I tend to agree that Swanson is actually pretty good (and some of the supporting cast decent), but agree that it's a bit of a mess as a story. And one other thing, "Fuck You Sutherland"!