Any rumors about Buffy the Vampire Slayer show coming out on Blu-ray?

[Red45]

I would sell my left foot to own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel on Blu-Ray

Remaster the video and audio, throw in some new special features and put it in nice packaging and that's a formula for success

Coincidentally I emailed Fox about bringing the show on Blu-Ray about a year ago (i'm a huge Buffy/Angel fan) and they said they have no plans right now

[HDMe]

Forget the 4:3 vs 16:9 arguments... These shows should be in original aspect. As I said once before, Joss Whedon himself put a note in the DVD cases about it at one point... I know some outside the US releases were widescreen... but that doesn't mean it is proper.

The problem with Buffy and Angel is going to be the F/X work... they had a lot of CGI work outside of film... and that might be expensive to recreate.

Buffy is still in syndication a little... but Angel is only on TNT that I've seen... and TNTHD never shows widescreen versions! They always have the stretched 4:3 versions even of the seasons that were shot for widescreen! So this tells me they aren't willing to pay much for the show.

It's a shame... but Buffy doesn't have the fanbase that Trek does. I would happily re-buy these in HD on Blu-ray... but the Blu-ray sales aren't going to drive this.

Syndication will drive this... and there has to be evidence that these shows can sell for more in HD than they do now... and I'm not sure that is true for now.

My fingers are still crossed... and if Whedon wanted to fund this himself, then it could be done... but getting someone who doesn't just love these shows personally to fund the work with no promise of syndication rewards? That might be tough this far away from the show's heyday.

[spanky87]

The left side of the screen. Creepy dude sitting in the corner of Willow's dorm room while her and Dawn don't even notice.



Enough said.

[samukas]

Same goes for Friends and the scene with the camera man on the right side of the screen and they re-framed it.

Which episode is that screenshot from? I can't remember.

[awongus]

Originally Posted by ChrisOz

This is a ripe time for Buffy on Blu-Ray. I'll be surprised if it isn't out by the end of 2015, if not earlier.

Let's hope ur right.

[stvn1974]

Release it with a big giant disclaimer that reads "From The Director Of The Avengers" on the front if that is what it takes.

[deadhatetheliving]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

Release it with a big giant disclaimer that reads "From The Director Of The Avengers" on the front if that is what it takes.

They do that shit then they loose my money and gain an angry, f bomb filled letter with some cat shit in the envolope.

[ijustblumyself]

So the complete series is going pretty cheap on Amazon right now, should I just bite the bullet and purchase it, or continue to hold out in the hope it'll make it's way to blu?

[GoldMotel]

Originally Posted by ijustblumyself

So the complete series is going pretty cheap on Amazon right now, should I just bite the bullet and purchase it, or continue to hold out in the hope it'll make it's way to blu?

If you want to hold off on buying the dvds, the entire series in on netflix (in SD of course).

[theprestige85]

Originally Posted by deadhatetheliving

They do that shit then they loose my money and gain an angry, f bomb filled letter with some cat shit in the envolope.

What, all because they will try to market it based on Whedon's recent success?? Ok.

Personally, whatever it takes for me. I can't think of a bunch of blu ray's other than Buffy, Angel and Ginger Snaps that I would love to see in HD.

Also, I wouldn't underestimate the fan base of Buffy. There are some SERIOUS fans out there (myself included) who feel that Buffy & Angel have shaped their lives and changed the way they thought about television and film. The fan base might be as large as Star Trek, but Star Trek has about 30 plus on Buffy & Angel and isn't nearly as daring and experimental.


I would suggest a kickstarted campaign to have Buffy properly restored on blu ray, providing the prints have been kept in good shape. Angel should be easier to translate to blu ray, though. At least post season 1.

I think Buffy's HD potential won't be maximised until the 3rd or 4th season. Which is not to say that the earlier seasons won't be significantly improved, but the show didn't start using 35mm cams until later and the production quality stepped up every season.

It's probably going to be a little pricey, but if they wanted to kickstart this thing, even if it was just for a one off season, I would be VERY surprised if they didn't raise the funds within two weeks. That's how passionate fans are of Buffy.

[double_l4488]

I would rather have Angel, but having both would be great. Going back and watching season 1-2 in any format of Buffy is not easy, and Season 2 is really good. The quality is so bad. Angel, season 2-5 looks good even on DVD. On blu-ray it would be very good. I doubt this will happen though.

[theprestige85]

Originally Posted by double_l4488

I would rather have Angel, but having both would be great. Going back and watching season 1-2 in any format of Buffy is not easy, and Season 2 is really good. The quality is so bad. Angel, season 2-5 looks good even on DVD. On blu-ray it would be very good. I doubt this will happen though.

Angel is the more cinematic show and, like I said before, should lend itself to blu ray a lot easier than Buffy given the technical nature of the show. I'd be happy if they just released Angel on blu ray, it would certainly be better than none of them at all. That said, Buffy seasons 4-7 upscaled on blu ray isn't too bad. I know they are shown in the incorrect aspect ratio over here, but the picture upscaled isn't that bad and comparable with the Angel dvdd imo.

[mredman]

i would kill to get Buffy and Angel on Blu Ray the same with ALIAS. We need these great cult shows on blu ray i am also certain the sales would be really good for those 3 shows because they have a massive fan base around the world. Is there any hope at all for them to be released ?

somebody need to ask Whedon about this

[versionfiv]

Originally Posted by mredman

i would kill to get Buffy and Angel on Blu Ray the same with ALIAS. We need these great cult shows on blu ray i am also certain the sales would be really good for those 3 shows because they have a massive fan base around the world. Is there any hope at all for them to be released ?

somebody need to ask Whedon about this

nobody needs an Alias bluray set. that show stinks. I tried watching the first few seasons and by Season 3 episode 1, I was done. First season was a true chore to get through with all the obnoxious techno beats interspersed haphazardly, the scrubbed clean kitschy pretentiousness of all the characters and the damned cliffhangers. I thought Dark Angel was better even though that show is also pretty pathetic and obnoxious at times (the pilot was fantastic).

[Rambaldi47]

I'm surprised Alias hasn't been released yet. It didn't have too many special effects from what I can remember, and it's in widescreen. I think the first two seasons were among the best television I've seen, but that's me. Buffy would be amazing to have, especially if they could clean up the first two seasons a bit. I know it's a longshot (like getting the early seasons of Smallville on blu) but Buffy has a pretty huge fanbase that shouldn't be underestimated. WB thought no one cared about Veronica Mars and look what happened.

[walkerb1983]

was watching Hush last night and would love to see it in Blu Ray. Still no rumours I take it

[GenPion]

I would buy the complete Buffy and Angel Blu-ray sets. While on the topic of Alias, that series too. I hope this happens!

[iank]

There are only a few shows I would re-buy on Blu-ray, and Buffy is top of the list. One of the best TV shows ever. Ridiculous that it seems no one can be arsed.

[blergedandlawyered]

I adore this show, and a blu release of it is probably number 1 on my wishlist. (West Wing would be nice, too...and the EE's of Friends....)
I've owned several versions of the DVDs, and it'd gotten to the point where I refused to buy anymore of the various sets that were released because of holding off for the blu. For a while there, I was resigned to watching the show on Netflix due to DVD wear or loss - this was until my girlfriend bought me all seven seasons of a recent release this last Christmas.
The reason I refused to repurchase them (yet again..) when my last set was lost was due to PQ. Season 1 is near unwatchable on DVD. Season 2 is slightly better, but only just. While the PQ seems to get a bit better every season, it's still certainly lacking and would definitely benefit from a blu release. The blu would be a day one purchase for me, no doubt.
It stands to reason that the demand for the show on physical media is still very much alive, given the numerous re-releases of the DVDs over the years, no?

[theprestige85]

Originally Posted by blergedandlawyered

I adore this show, and a blu release of it is probably number 1 on my wishlist. (West Wing would be nice, too...and the EE's of Friends....)
I've owned several versions of the DVDs, and it'd gotten to the point where I refused to buy anymore of the various sets that were released because of holding off for the blu. For a while there, I was resigned to watching the show on Netflix due to DVD wear or loss - this was until my girlfriend bought me all seven seasons of a recent release this last Christmas.
The reason I refused to repurchase them (yet again..) when my last set was lost was due to PQ. Season 1 is near unwatchable on DVD. Season 2 is slightly better, but only just. While the PQ seems to get a bit better every season, it's still certainly lacking and would definitely benefit from a blu release. The blu would be a day one purchase for me, no doubt.
It stands to reason that the demand for the show on physical media is still very much alive, given the numerous re-releases of the DVDs over the years, no?

Oh the demand for the show is certainly high. Higher than this forum would have you believe, that's for sure.

As I understand it, Buffy being restored on blu ray would a costly one as the special effects were done in standard definition and there are 144 episodes to go through if they were to restore it to hi def PROPERLY. What they could do is what they did for Firefly (another show in which the effects were standard def) and restore the 16mm (seasons 1-2) and 35mm (seasons 3-7) prints and then leave the effects untouched. This would be less costly and the effects would appear more jarring BUT everything else will be a significantly upgrade.

Buffy has wonderful filmic texture that could seriously benefit from a blu ray restoration, a la Star Trek, I agree, but do they believe in the sales enough to do it is the question? WE know it'll sell very well, but Fox don't have the balls to go and do it, despite the fact that it was the flagship show for them for 5 seasons until Whedon decided to go with UPN for the final two seasons.

If they were going to simple up convert the dvdd to blu rays then I would quickly say do not bother because that would be tragic, it would be worse than not releasing it at all. We need a proper restoration either Firefly style or going all the way and rerendering the effects, which would be very costly.

I'd like to think it will make it onto blu ray at some point. Perhaps a kickstarted campaign will surface for it at some point, but for now I don't think there are any immediate plans, my friend.