The MLP Arena

Pony Talk => Off Topic => Topic started by: Noasar on July 21, 2018, 02:27:32 PM

Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: Noasar on July 21, 2018, 02:27:32 PM

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.hollywoodreporter.com/amp/live-feed/buffy-vampire-slayer-reboot-inclusive-take-joss-whedon-works-1128888

Any Buffy fans here? How do we feel about this??

I’m scared. BtVS is my all time favourite show. You can’t improve on perfection. Joss is involved so I’ll give it a watch but still...I’m sceptical. I really hope they don’t ruin it  :drunk:

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: DreamvalleyMLP on July 21, 2018, 02:35:10 PM

I read that on IMDb earlier today! Honestly, I'm gonna keep an open mind here, I've always loved Buffy (though not all seasons were good - the one with the Initiative wasn't my cup of tea), so I'm open to see a re'vamp'.

But is super early though, there is no script, only some vague ideas.

I kind of don't want Whedon on board; he may have created the first Buffy, but it would seem that he lost his magic over time when it comes to handling female characters. There have been a lot of minor scandals.

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: Emberfly on July 21, 2018, 02:43:48 PM

I, too, loved Buffy and I hope they do good with it. With Joss involved there is hope but I think it depends on what they do with it.  I think on my love of Star Trek; when they create a new series with new characters, etc, it works.  Now, the new movies messing around with my beloved Kirk are a different kettle of fish. I like the visuals etc but I hate when they try to redo story lines differently.  I've been known to yell at the screen. :blush:

Here's hoping it not just a redo of the old show but more like the reboot of Dr Who.

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: NovelNerd on July 21, 2018, 03:17:56 PM

This has been debated all over my friends FB pages lately. I grew up watching Buffy and even enjoy the original movie. I’m just tired of things being remade instead of something new. I won’t be watching it.

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: lovesbabysquirmy on July 21, 2018, 03:36:10 PM

Noooooooooooooo.  It is epic  the way it is.  Don't reboot it!!!

I'm not a massive  fan of Joss Whedan.  Yes he created some great stories and characters, but then he took that quirky originality and just started doing what the producers told him to do so he could make more money. 

 Firefly?  AWESOME until it was cancelled due to offensive content and "lack of network interest".  Serendipity was interesting but it really lacked the grit that made Firefly special.

Buffy was great until it went ON and ON and ON and ON and then it still wasn't done and there was Angel and Buffy and it STILL wasn't over.  I liked the original movie best.  :D 

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: flutterscotch on July 21, 2018, 06:32:59 PM

I feel kind of...indifferent. 

I don't know.  I like Buffy and all, but I didn't watch it during its original run because a) Sarah Michelle Gellar was known to me as the antagonist of Swan's Crossing to begin with, and b) I had seen Buffy in theaters because my friends at the time were in the throes of Luke Perry Fever.  So for me the Buffy series was always the reboot.

The only reason I watched it in the first place is because someone told me that Joss based Buffy off my long-time favorite comic book character Kitty Pryde.


It could be good, it could be wretched.  Only time will tell.

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: dashesndots on July 21, 2018, 08:18:43 PM

My husband is livid.  I'm not far behind.  We're both huge Buffy fans and this just seems silly.

Why can't they create a new show set in the same universe?  Pull stuff from the comics?  At the end of the show/beginning of the comics, there were thousands of slayers stationed all over the world...can't the character of the new show be one of those? 

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: Noasar on July 22, 2018, 12:11:48 AM

I am really hoping that that just create a new story within the universe, and don’t actually call a character Buffy and just re-tell the same story in a modern way. But I’m not sure how they would carry on the universe seeing how they unlocked all of the potential slayers at the end and Sunnyvale slid into a hole anyway...

Part of Buffy’s original charm was its 90’s cheesiness and the fact that it was so groundbreaking to have a strong female superhero lead. That stuff isn’t really new any more. So I’m not sure how they’re going to make the new series original and relevant is they do a remake and not a new story.

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: LadyMoondancer on July 22, 2018, 06:29:51 AM

My roommate loves Buffy, and to a lesser extent Angel, and we ended up marathoning both of them.

Unpopular opinion:  I don't think either show is very good.  The character motivations change abruptly, very few plot / character arcs end in a satisfying way (they just kind of meander to an end), and all the protagonists feel very 'flat' to me.  It was hard to care about any of them.

Buffy is physically strong, but aside from that she feels like standard author's-fantasy-girlfriend to me, not a well-thought out character.  She spends so much time dealing with contrived relationship issues, mooning after one guy or another while being lectured by author-insert Xander, who is simply The Worst.

Joss Whedon being involved will make it very uncomfortable as he spent decades setting himself up as Your Heroic Male Feminist Ally when, as it turns out, he was cheating on his wife and pressuring young actresses into having sex with him (https://www.thewrap.com/joss-whedon-feminist-hypocrite-infidelity-affairs-ex-wife-kai-cole-says/).

"When I was running ‘Buffy,’ I was surrounded by beautiful, needy, aggressive young women. It felt like I had a disease, like something from a Greek myth. In many ways I was the HEIGHT of normal, in this culture. We’re taught to be providers and companions and at the same time, to conquer and acquire — specifically sexually — and I was pulling off both!"

Wow!  What a creep.  I know a lot of people cheat, but to me what makes this worse than 'average' is that it has a tone of "listen, I just couldn't help it.  Society MADE ME cheat!  And those needy women!  Not my fault!"

Edit:  My feeling of "these series are unsatisfying" predates the whole "Whedon cheated" revelation, so my opinion was not influenced by that.

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: Noasar on July 22, 2018, 10:10:56 AM

I grew up with Buffy and as a young gay woman it came along at a pivotal moment in my life. I think Joss Whedon’s universe that he created in Buffy was empowering for a lot of young women. What he does in his private life is no business of mine and doesn’t take away anything from the show I love.

Maybe you had to have watched it in your teens to appreciate it - I rewatch it all the time as an adult and love it no less!! I think everyone can identify with one of the characters at one point or other in their story and I think it’s great that young people had such strong role models and stories growing up.

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: northstar3184 on July 22, 2018, 01:57:22 PM

I loved Buffy. I watched every episode (except for the last season), recorded many of them on VHS, had 2 Buffy posters, the whole set of Buffy trading cards, multiple action figures, etc....

If the show is rebooted, I won't be watching. I've seen other great shows (Dynasty, Garfield) and movies (Halloween) get rebooted and I have yet to see a single reboot that I find enjoyable. I'm tired of seeing recycled ideas from those who lack innovation and creativity and instead try to ride someone else's coattails of fame by resurrecting a beloved creation only to do a hack-job with it.

Some may say well Buffy was adapted from a movie. Well yes, but that's a change in story format. A rebooted series would be plugging the same characters (or at least main character) into a format that's already been done.

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: Beldarna on July 22, 2018, 10:00:30 PM

I rewatched the show on Netflix a couple of months ago and I remember thinking a lot that this would've been an easy fix if they had had cellphones and could call each other. Considering how much time they spend looking for each other every episode could easy be cut in half. Then I thought there would'nt be a good show if it ended with "hey, wheres Xander" ringring "you guys I'm in this weird cave I fell into, can you come and get me?" there would'nt be much hang in the library as they could call Giles everytime they needed info.. And you know, imagine a reboot with smartphones? Why need Giles at all when all info is a click away? An app with UV light? No. I liked the old 90's charm. Why can't they come up with something new instead fo keep redoing old stuff?!

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: Loa on July 23, 2018, 12:28:51 AM

I have smalllll hopes. Small.

1. If they expanded 'Tales of the Slayers' to the big screen that would be AWESOME.
2. Joss expands on the world he has created in the comics. Not Fray. But some of the Slayers that he has created worlds for.

I've heard some suggestions of expanding Principal Wood's mother, but that has been really carefully explored in the comics.

I have faith in Joss. But I'm over the reboots too!

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: brightberry on July 23, 2018, 10:34:10 AM

I'm kind of excited.  I love Buffy, Angel and Firefly.  But I really hope the "new" Buffy is significantly different from the original so it feels like a new show with different and interesting characters.  I wouldn't want it to feel like a copy.  If they're living in Sunnydale, doing the same things, falling in love with "Angel", I wouldn't be happy.

Honestly, I think it would be more interesting if they lived somewhere other than California.  Maybe somewhere with poor mobile reception. :)

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: SnorkMaiden on July 23, 2018, 12:11:58 PM

Quote from: Beldarna on July 22, 2018, 10:00:30 PM

I rewatched the show on Netflix a couple of months ago and I remember thinking a lot that this would've been an easy fix if they had had cellphones and could call each other. Considering how much time they spend looking for each other every episode could easy be cut in half. Then I thought there would'nt be a good show if it ended with "hey, wheres Xander" ringring "you guys I'm in this weird cave I fell into, can you come and get me?" there would'nt be much hang in the library as they could call Giles everytime they needed info.. And you know, imagine a reboot with smartphones? Why need Giles at all when all info is a click away? An app with UV light? No. I liked the old 90's charm. Why can't they come up with something new instead fo keep redoing old stuff?!

*lol* You're so right! So much of the stuff just wouldn't work anymore in a modern remake. But unlike many other shows, "Buffy" is still enjoyable to watch. A while back, I tried to watch a few episodes of "Quincy, M.E.", and it was so horribly racist and sexist I couldn't bear it. "Buffy" has aged well, I think. I don't really get the idea of a remake, but I'll reserve judgement until more details are known.

And remember, it could always be worse. It could be a remake of "Angel". :P Sorry, but those last few seasons were painful to watch.

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: Noasar on July 24, 2018, 01:49:07 AM

I agree Snorkmaiden, those last few seasons of Angel were so bad!

As long as it’s a new story that builds on the original series I’ll be ok...not a whole rehash of what is already a great series. I’ll be really bored if I have to sit through 7 ‘new’ seasons of the same storylines!

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: brightberry on July 24, 2018, 10:43:51 AM

Oh I agree, Angel was bad at the end.  But I did love the first season.  I didn't fight demons, but I did work at a start-up at the time and related to Cordelia's woes.   I hated what became of the show.

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: dashesndots on July 24, 2018, 02:23:22 PM

Season 4 of Angel is bad, I agree.  Starts out okay and ends with a bang, but I have a hard time getting through a large chunk in the middle of it.

But Season 5 of Angel is brilliant.  I love that they flipped the premise of the show on its head, having Angel & co. take over Wolfram & Hart....

Spoiler

In fact, the finale of Season 2 of Luke Cage pulled an almost identical move, with Mariah leaving Luke in charge of Harlem's Paradise, to try to fight crime from within the corrupt organization.

There are so many amazing episodes: "Harm's Way" "Life of the Party", "Smile Time", and pretty much anything to do with Fred/Illyria.    And it has Spike! :) 

And don't get me wrong, Buffy is far from perfect as it is.  We are currently rewatching it for the 5th or 6th time, haha, and we're on Season 6 at the moment.  My husband really struggles with this season and how much "melodrama" it has, but even he admits that *most* of the episodes, even the ones that don't work as well plot-wise, still have good dialogue and really nice character moments. 

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: Noasar on July 27, 2018, 04:05:17 AM

I have up watching Angel after the baby was born and things just got a bit weird. I might give it another go if it gets better after that!

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: mlp4me on July 27, 2018, 06:40:54 AM

Taking a pass on the re-boot. I like to leave a good show as is. Angel I didn't get into as much. Buffy I honestly stopped watching after a few years (and if I remember correctly it was on cable and I couldn't watch because we went to antenna only...)

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: SnorkMaiden on July 28, 2018, 01:18:48 PM

Quote from: Noasar on July 27, 2018, 04:05:17 AM

I have up watching Angel after the baby was born and things just got a bit weird. I might give it another go if it gets better after that!

It depends on what you're into. There are two major things I disliked about the later seasons of "Angel":

- The overall atmosphere became very dark, and there was virtually no reprive. One of the things I adored about "Buffy" is that even when it was very dark, there were still moments that were cute or tender or funny, moments that gave the viewer a bit of breathing space. "Angel" didn't have that anymore.

- Some episodes in the later seasons, especially in season 5, were very gory, and that's something I just can't stand.

I appreciate that different people like different things, so you might just want to give it a go and see how you like it. If I were to rewatch "Angel", I'd probably just watch the first two seasons, which had some great moments.

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: Charmer on July 30, 2018, 04:22:33 AM

Has everyone heard the latest news? It's going to be a continuation in the same world as Buffy, where we could maybe get appearances from characters we know, or mentions at least. One of the head show runners was saying about it on Facebook to calm everyone down. I'm looking forward to where it could go.

Quote from: brightberry on July 24, 2018, 10:43:51 AM

Oh I agree, Angel was bad at the end.  But I did love the first season.  I didn't fight demons, but I did work at a start-up at the time and related to Cordelia's woes.   I hated what became of the show.

Season 4 of Angel was pretty bad due to re-writes and other issues. Season 5 was one of, if not the best season I think. We got some of the all time best episodes out of Buffy or Angel such as Smile Time. It really got struck down as it was going somewhere great!

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: Noasar on July 31, 2018, 09:01:06 AM

Quote from: Charmer on July 30, 2018, 04:22:33 AM

Has everyone heard the latest news? It's going to be a continuation in the same world as Buffy, where we could maybe get appearances from characters we know, or mentions at least. One of the head show runners was saying about it on Facebook to calm everyone down.

No way, that’s great news! I’m so glad they’re continuing the story on!

Title: Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot!! I’m scared!!
Post by: SwirlyWhirly on July 31, 2018, 09:10:55 AM

I wold like to like it but I don't thin I will. For me Buffy is part of my youth in a nostalgic kind of way. I don't just like the script and characters but a big part of it for me is that Buffy was set during the years when I was a teenager. I re-watch shows like Buffy, Gilmore Girls and Dawson's Creek and can still relate even though I'm not 16 any more because the shows were made at a time when I was. The clothes, hair, cultural references, I remember all of it. A revamp of Buffy would be set in present day and at 35 I don't think I could relate to a 16 year old Buffy in a present day high school.