Thoughts on Buffy: Season 2 (1 Viewer)

[DeborahK]

Jeff,
Thanks for the info! I actually have looked into such options before, but iIstill have problems. The first one being that I probably don't have a set up that can do this because 1.) I use a Mac, both at work and home (most of these solutions seem to be for PCs) and anyway my at home Mac is not DVD rom enabled. 2.) The room where my HT is set up is tiny and there is no room to put a computer in there as well, alas. So, when you factor in that I might minimally need a new computer (and I am not going over to "The Dark Side" -- not even for BUFFY and ANGEL!), and maximally a different place to live in order to accomodate a bigger viewing room, it 'sstill is sounding quite expensive.
Nice try tho' -- and I do appreciate it.
Deborah

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Well then Deborah, my only suggestion can be a Malata or that JVC model. Each can be had for a few hundred dollars, and the conversion is done in much the same way as the computer solution.

I've seen the Farouja(sp?) chip output. It's about as good as you're going to get

 

[DeborahK]

Hi, again,

Well, sigh. If I were in the market for a new player I would probably consider one of those (been tracking them for a while), but I have two players as it is -- one of them barely a year old. I really can't see spending another $300 on a player at this point just so that I could buy and play a few of these things from other regions. And I would still have to buy the DVD sets at not cheap prices. Some people can spend all their money on electronics and media and some people just have a ton of discretionary $$. But I am not in either of these categories, sad to say.

Deborah

 

[Al_S]

Wow, this is one of worst DVDs I've ever seen. Some of the dark shots are so bad it looks like it's a cartoon. I know they shot it on 16mm but man couldn't they do anything to clean it up at least a little.

 

[Melanie Walker]

Okay... question about Lie To Me... was this episode cut? I seem to remember in the Bronze when Buffy runs into Angel a small conversation about him drinking something other than blood.
Does anyone still have their first run videos around so they could check? Or did I just see it in the script and it didn't make it into the final cut...
Overall though I'm pleased as punch with my copy. The first DVD is pretty bad, especially any dark scene, but my videos were that way to so I know that had to be a problem from the master. The rest of the discs all look great, although the menus are kind of nerve-racking at times.
Thanks a bunch!
Melanie

 

[Rhett_Y]

I am only on the second disks, but the picture quality is not up to par. There is a lot of grain so far, except for the scene, can't remember which one, where the vampire is filming buffy fight via camcorder, the picture on the camcorder (in black and white) is great....perfect, yet when the picture goes back to the color, it is grainy and what have you. Hopefully like others have said, the picture quality improves...

R~

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Melanie, all the eps are uncut as far as I can tell. Probably just episode cross-pollination in your brain
And what picture quality par? The entire series looks this way until season 3. The show is/was finished on video, so they just took the tape the camera shot and spliced it in at the proper point. that's why the video footage doesn't have any grain
You try to make a show taking place mostly at night on virtually no money on 16mm And yes, they could have DVNR'd the footage to death, but it would have come out looking artificial and like a cartoon

 

[Vlad D]

I noticed that some of you guys bought S2 for $40. My local Best Buy is selling it for $69.99. Do you know any online places I can get it for cheaper?

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Relatively speaking, I think the look of Season Two improves considerably as it goes along. By "What's My Line", it looks a lot better than Season One or the first half dozen episodes of Season Two. That being said, Season Three was a quantum improvement due to more money and the switch to 35mm. Season Four is yet another jump due probably to more finances for production design (they built a lot of new sets and redressed some old ones quite spiffily). They seemed to be using more elaborate lighting set-ups, too, but perhaps I'm just being fooled by the aforementioned production design.
Regards,

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Vlad, Best Buy has the price wrong in their computers. The SRP is $59.95 hopefully they will correct it

If you bought the set first week, many places were selling it for $39.99

 

[John Bryant]

Vlad-The local BB has restickered all of their sets to $49.99. You might want to ask someone at your store. I think they just made a mistake. Circuit City has it for $45.99 and Wal-Mart for $42.44 if those are options for you.

 

[William-R]

my local suncoast had the price tag at 59.99 but when
i went to pay for it, it was only $45.99

i honestly don't care about the video quality of the eps its one of my favorite tv shows and im glad to get it for a good price

becieds when i origonaly seen them on the the WB they were fuzzy anyway lol

 

[Vlad D]

John, thanks. I have a Wal-Mart and a CC close by. I think I'll go to Wal-Mart.

 

[Vlad D]

Picked up S2 today at Wal-Mart for $42.44; Sweet!!!!

Thanks for the tip John.

 

[John Bryant]

Hey, no problem buddy. Anytime. Now, go enjoy some Buffytastic Goodness™!

 

[Mark E J]

And the solution is a MultiRegion DVD. There are a lot of models with a great range of prices... Without this sets, my only TV DVD's will be the V ones.

I saw a DVD player for a very good price that said it played both NTSC and PAL. Is this the the kind of player you're talking about? Will it convert the PAL to NTSC? If so how good or bad would the quality of a low end PAL compatible disc player be?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

John, the ™ goes after the Buffytastic™
Mark, many players will OUTPUT PAL and NTSC, but you need one that CONVERTS like a Malata or that JVC model

 

[Mark E J]

Thanks for the info Jeff. I'll save up for the Malata.

 

[Rod Martin]

Finally! got my chance to view S2 on DVD! My set actually arrived the day before release day but Disc 5 was missing! Had to return it and wait until this week to get it back.
My wife and I have been fans from the beginning. We saw and hated the movie. I was willing to give the TV series a chance. My wife, not so much. She sat in the same room reading while I watched the premiere -- by the end we were both hooked. Truly the best written show on television ever! Joss is a master.
Rod Martin
Fan of Alyson Hannigan? Visit AHAS (The Alyson Hannigan Appreciation Society)

 

[Rhett_Y]

"And what picture quality par? The entire series looks this way until season 3. The show is/was finished on video, so they just took the tape the camera shot and spliced it in at the proper point. that's why the video footage doesn't have any grain"

For some reason, I expected the picture to be a little clearer......I mean I have seen dvds of ie mash that were filmed long before buffy and picture looks 10folds. Regardless of what they shot the orginal film in, I think with the technology we have today, they could of spent a little more time and effort to clean up the first part of the series. I felt like I was watching a vhs video tape that someone else recordered off of!

But heh that is my only complaint.....Still love the show, and will still by the DVD's when they come out.......

R~