Being a movie collector is lots of fun. You go to the store or the online site and shop for hours looking for deals on your favorite movies. But, a problem for me is I go to secondhand stores and will sometimes buy movies that maybe I wasn’t crazy about when I saw them but now it’s only $6, so I figure “Why not?” Or, I buy a movie I’ve seen and I forget to watch it.

I have mentioned before that my wife is supportive of my collecting, but she also gets annoyed because I buy movies and they sit on my shelf, never seeing the inside of my blu-ray player.

At first, I told my wife “I’ve watched most of them!” But recently I decided to separate the films that I have not watched. And darn it, my wife is right!

So, I took all those discs and placed them on the bottom of my shelf. My movies are organized alphabetically, so I thought for fun I would mix them up, place them back on the bottom of the shelf and watch whatever movie is next.

I will review the discs as it will help keep me focused on completing my task of finally being able to tell my wife, “I have watched them all!”

Welcome to Blu-Buried!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 The Motion Comic

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended its seven season run on television in 2003. And although the show ended with a great and uplifting finale, I as one of its many fans still wanted more. So too did Joss Whedon, and thus the official continuation of the franchise happened not on TV, but in comics. Whedon brought along some of comics’ best writers with him and they crafted a 40-issue season eight that was an exciting follow up to the classic series. Most issues were drawn by one of my personal favorite artists, Georges Jeanty.

Fox Television decided to release the first 19 issues on blu-ray in the form of motion comics, which means they take the comic art and add voice work, sound effects and “motion” to bring the comics to quasi-animated life.

I won’t bore you with a synopsis of each issue, but rather tell you if this is a worthy investment for Buffy fans.

And that is a hard question to answer. The comics on their own are a must read. The writing captures the show perfectly and Jeanty’s pencils tell an incredible visual story.

As a motion comic, it mostly works. The art is slightly recolored, giving it a brighter look then what is on page. Each “issue” flies by running around 15 minutes each. And with 19 issues you do get over 3.5 hours of motion comic goodness. It also omits issue 12, which is a really fun comic. It is based on a Buffy animated show, which is what made the comics unexpected and a must read every month.

I will say however something is lost in Jeanty’s amazing line work when it’s put in motion. As you watch his art move, you realize that he doesn’t need the motion his art stands on its own.

Although the voice work is solid, you can’t help but miss Sarah Michelle Gellar and the rest of the Scoobies in their roles. It makes it a weird experience as I found myself focusing, maybe too much on the sound-alike actors.

Overall if you are a Buffy die-hard I would say that this is a fun diversion and a nice continuation of the show.

The video presentation of Buffy Season 8 mostly gets the job done. As I mentioned above, the art is slightly recolored but the art on its own is awesome to see in high definition. The line work, the inking are all standouts. If anything, what hinders the video is when the comic “moves” the lines become jaggy and less refined. Overall, it’s a pleasant looking blu-ray.

What took me by surprise most on this disc is the thumping 5.1 audio track. It truly gives the comic life. The sound effects and dialogue all pop, giving the viewer an immersive experience.

The special features are pretty lacking and I wasn’t able to access two of them due to them being accessed through a computer.

Under Buffy’s Spell: A quick 5 minute blink and you’ll miss it talk with several contributors to Buffy over the years, wish it was longer.

Buffy: Season 8 Motion Comic Test Pilot: Rough stuff on how the motion comic was put together.

The Buffy Trivia Experience: A fun pop up quiz that testing your knowledge on Buffy.

Two features I couldn’t check out, Covering Jo Chen, which is a bummer because she is a great artist whose Buffy covers are sensational. Create your own Buffy comic, sounds cool, I have no idea.

Last is a Comic Cover gallery.

Buffy Season 8 Motion Comic is fun but not without caveats, if you’re a fan of Buffy I think you will be more forgiving, newcomers it is a tough sell. Recommended for Buffy fans.

Film: B

Video: B

Audio: A-

Extras: C-

Overall: B-