 | |
List Price: $9.98 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 10371
Released: September 4, 2001 |
| Our Price: $4.30 |
| Used Price: $2.75 |
|
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
Blonde, bouncy Buffy (Kristy Swanson) is your typical high school cheerleader-- her goal is to "marry Christian Slater and die" and nothing gets in her way when it's time to shop. But all that changes when a strange man (Donald Sutherland) informs her she's been chosen by fate to kill vampires. With the help of a romantic rebel (Luke Perry), Buffy is soon spending school nights protecting L.A. from Lothos, the Vampire King (Rutger Hauer), his sidekick. Lefty (Paul Ruebens) and their determined gang of bloodsuckers. It's everything you'd expect from a teen queen in the Valley.
Description of Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
Fran Rubel Kuzui's 1992 tongue-in-cheek vampire comedy is sugarcoated horror, an unusual mix of the cute and scary, with a splash of postmodern pop nonsense to give culture critics something to think about. Kristy Swanson plays a Valley Girl who learns she belongs to a line of ancient vampire killers. After training under the watchful eye of a mentor (Donald Sutherland), she becomes a spandex-wearing, kung-fu kicking, stake-stabbing babe and the mortal enemy of a narcissistic master vampire (Rutger Hauer). The accent is all on cheery attitude, though the action can be as authentically unnerving as any other halfway decent monster movie. Paul Reubens, formerly Pee-wee Herman, has a small role as Hauer's fanged familiar. --Tom Keogh
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reviews:
I was just curious 
2009-07-23 - I got this movie cause I saw the TV show and I wanted to see what the movie was like. This movie is not that great and if it were not for the TV series, it would probably fall off the face of the planet. Do yourself a favor and just try to rent it from somewhere.
Be afraid be very afraid. 
2009-02-18 - Very teen movie. Accurate valley girls, real air heads. Simple plot. Luke Perry's 4th movie before SNL. Hilary Swank's frist movie before they both did 90210. Don't expect much from this 1992 movie and you'll find it's a laugh riot. It's how the whole Buffyverse got started.
In The Words of Joss Whedon: "It was funny when I wrote it."
2008-12-15 - As fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer the television series know, this movie from 1992 does not function as a prequel to the series. Creator Joss Whedon did write the script, but all the freshness and creativity was sucked out by the director, lines were read badly or completely misread, and the entire production team just didn't get what Whedon was trying to say. After this introduction, comparisons between the movie and the series will cease, but I just thought I should warn anyone who might be new to Joss Whedon's work that this movie is nothing like Joss's vision of Buffy. That can all be found in the TV series and, currently, the comics. But as for this movie...
One would think that this could be an adorable, cheesy movie. One would think the bittersweetness of a bad director messing up Joss Whedon's vision would fade once the film started. One would think that the movie might be so cheesy that it, like all of the corniest films, would be entertaining because of the overt cheesiness. But... no. The scenes that are supposed to be hilarious--the extra long death of Paul Reubens's character--was so awfully unfunny that I seriously debated turning off the movie, even though there was only ten minutes left. The scenes that are supposed to be dramatic--Buffy's "big win" at the end, as well as the major death scene--fell entirely flat, due to out of place dramatic pauses, bad readings of good lines, and the--sorry, all--bad acting of Kristy Swanson.
While the movie is devoid of quirk or real understanding of the feminist message Whedon wove into the script, it's not all bad. As a reviewer said, it did indeed pave the way for things to come, because without the movie, there would never have been the show. Also, Luke Perry gave a nice performance as Pike, and Hilary Swank's talent was able to shine through the badness of this movie, despite how small her role was. But aside from those actors, some gems in the script, and a hilariously random cameo from then no body Ben Affleck, this movie isn't worth seeing, no matter how much you love the REAL "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
3/10
A little Cheesy, but still a fun movie 
2008-08-25 - If you're a fan of the tv show, you might be really disappointed in this one if you're looking for more of the same thing. The tone, pacing, and overall feel are very different.
The original movie is much more of a comedy and a bit of a silly one at that. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's much more for a fan of fun 80s movies thatn for the BTVS series. Some of the lines are very cheesy and haven't aged well, but the fun of the movie is still there. It's entertaining and can keep you in good spirits for nearly 2 hours.
Fun for fans of light comedy, not for the horror fanatic or diehard BTVS fan.
Cheesy, comedic fun. 
2008-07-30 - This is a great movie for the lighthearted, cheesy, comedic angle. I prefer this type of thing to the TV series, which takes itself WAY to seriously. This movie is a great lighthearted laugh or two.
