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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
In Season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sunnydale high school is left behind in smoking ruins and Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) becomes a college freshman at the (fictitious) University of California Sunnydale campus. The major arc of the season involves a semi-sinister Man from U.N.C.L.E.-type government agency known as The Initiative which has its Bond-style HQ under the campus. Their nefarious plans involve capturing vampires and demons, including the now-regular character Spike (James Marsters), and hacking them to pieces for assembly into a Frankensteinian supermonster or fitting them with chips that mute their killing urges. Buffy's plank-like new boyfriend Riley (Mark Blucas) is deadweight, Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) is shoved into new corners of irrelevance (and turns folkie!), Willow (Alyson Hannigan) breaks up with the werewolf (Seth Green) and comes out, Xander (Nicholas Brendon) whines about not being a student but starts dating a former demon (the amusing Emma Caulfield), Angel (David Boreanaz) has his own series but drops in for crossovers (you'll need to buy the Angel box set to find out how some key plotlines pay off) and previously killed or comatose semi-regulars pop in for dreams or revivals. A run of shaky episodes starts off this season, with the show seemingly uncomfortable with the new setting as it treads water with the same old monsters. This set starts to pick up with a few well-above-average episodes, the stand-out being "hush"!. This is a rare attempt for the show at being truly scary, featuring Nosferatu-like demons who glide around robbing people of their voices and force all the characters who have been evading the truth to open up to each other through non-verbal communication. The big plot, spread over the bulk of the episodes, is less interesting than the major arcs of the last two seasons, perhaps because Buffy's new love interest and new nemesis both fail to make much of an impression. This also tends to leave Sarah Michelle Gellar in the shadows of the show she is supposed to be starring in--her best 42 minutes in this series ("Who Are You", not included in this set) comes when she is possessed by bad girl Faith and can cut loose a bit. Mildly wobbly after the last two years, Buffy is still hanging in there and making its absurd premise pay off. --Kim Newman
Video Description
Including the following episodes:
The Freshman
Living Conditions
The Harsh Light of Day
Fear, Itself
Beer Bad
Wild at Heart
The Initiative
Pangs
Something Blue
Hush
Doomed
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well worth the money,
By A Customer
This review is from: Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Season 4 (Box Set 1) [VHS] [1998] (VHS Tape)
People are continally bashing season 4 - I don't get it. This season contains some excellent episodes - take "Hush" for example, which was an interesting premise to begin with, but then superbly carried out! I think we see Buffy and her friends (and foes!) growing up more - following on from season 3, which was when they stopped being "school kids" While I originally didn't like the idea of Riley, I have to admit that it was all done so well - and showed a new aspect of Buffy. Angel is doing much better in his own show - in BTVS he was always overshadowed - he was "Buffy's boyfriend" and didn't get a lot of chance to shine. Having Angel leave also left the door open for some fantastic crossovers, and led to interesting scenes between Buffy and Angel. The re-introduction of Spike was a stroke of genius, although it would've been nice to see a bit of Dru as well. The whole Willow/Tara arc caused some controversy, and a lot of people have criticised it. Personally, I thought it was a great idea - it dealt with an issue that is very real in today's world, but did so in a tasteful, discreet way. Alyson Hannigan does a superb job as Willow - she's really brought her on from the computer geek with frog fear! All-in-all, season 4, I feel, keeps the BtVS flag flying high - it's kept the original feel of the first 3 seasons, while adding new flavours that have matured the show - mixed metaphors aside! I just can't wait for season 5!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Some great television (with a few ups and downs),
By A Customer
This review is from: Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Season 4 (Box Set 1) [VHS] [1998] (VHS Tape)
Major changes abound in Season 4 of BtVS. Now Buffy is in college and sharing rooms with Willow, and the season is sadly lacking in Angel, Cordelia and stories focussed on Giles and Xander. However, accomplished storyteller Joss Whedon has some great tricks up his sleeve, including Spike (an absolute treasure), Anya, heartbreak for Willow and Oz, magic spells going wrong (again) and mysterious commando guys running around in the shadows. I liked the gentle and clever introduction of Riley. It was rather obvious that he was destined to be Buffy's new love interest when he kept on popping up, but the relationship between Buffy and Riley doesn't quite pull off on screen. I think he's too young for Buffy, who has already lived through years of very tough growing up. Still, nearly all the episodes are fun viewing, with #3 The Harsh Light of Day, #6 Wild at Heart, #7 The Initiative, #8 Pangs, #9 Something Blue and #10 Hush, being top watches and well worth the money to buy them.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buffy's fourth season is amazing!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Season 4 (Box Set 1) [VHS] [1998] (VHS Tape)
Although Season Three is my favourite ever season, Season Four comes a close second. As a huge Buffy fan, even I have to admit the show needed a refreshing change of scenery. And that's what we get as (most of) the Scooby Gang head off to UC Sunnydale, home to some of the nastiest demons Buffy has ever faced. There's more of what we Buffy fans love. Super scripts, exciting action scenes, excellent characterisation and amazing performances. As well as this, there's the return of Spike and Harmony (who's a little different this time around). Tara, who will become an important part of Willow's life later on this season, is introduced as is Riley, part of a little thing called the Initiative... Hush is the standout eppy on this box, if not the whole series. It is truly nightmarish, scary and tense yet funny. The whole cast do a great job, and although there's less Giles and Xander than we'd like, they're still around for light relief as is the hysterical Anya. Make sure you purchase this boxset as soon as it hits the shelves! Your life won't be worth living without it......
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