MOVIE: Battle of the Champions (Premiere: Feb 3th)

[Emcee]

The long-awaited Buffy/Angel/Nyazian Prophecies movie.

Wolfram and Hart is up to its old tricks. But this time, they've gotten more ambitious. Not only are they attacking Angel, but all of the champions in the world. Now seven Champions are thrown into a deadly battle against their fiercest foes. They must join together, share their secrets and once against stop darkness from taking over.

[bvfan Randy Giles]

First thing this was Spike at his best i half wanted him too run over to where Buffy and Angel were and yell Stake him. Its going to be good to see him pop up in a few episodes

You set Flying Demon Monkeys up well with Jamie and Andrew talking about comic book arrivals on the subject of Andrew is anyone else shocked that he didn't end up tell every slayer who didn't know the story of the Son of the Two Vampyres(its Andrew no one should know the exact spelling off the top of there heads so if it is wrong forgive me).

On too our favorite Red/Black/White haired witch after her break up with Ken i was shocked there was no jokes from Faith on the subject as that does seem like the Faith thing. I enjoyed Willow killing all of the Ubers with one spell that was well no other way to describe it Willificous.

Wesley I am going to miss him as a regular but I hope when he pops up it is with God-King Illyria her and Sal were great together and I hope it shows up more.

Now onto the Man of the Series Connor He kills the Beast, bonds with uncle Spike, finds out that a glowing ball of energy has a crush on him (Which if he wants to keep her alive don't tell Sal), and one last key thing on Connor that occured in this was. He stared at Eve's ass i mean Connor I know its been two months but if you gonna stare at a girls ass who isn't Salome let it be Dawn but not Eve.

Overall the Movie was great can't wait for season 2. "Oh Mandy you came and you gave without taking and i sent you away- you get the idea I am waiting for season 2 and got Oh Mandy stuck in my head.

Oh one last thing i was going through the main site and you need to fix the links with the buttons every link from reruns down does not take you too the right place

[Emcee]

I'm glad you enjoyed the movie.

I think Spike was being smart not yelling that. It would only turn Buffy's attention (and wrath) onto him. I think he had a better chance just leaving them to it.

I am very much looking forward to writing him in TNP. I think he and Connor are a lot of fun together.

I was wondering if someone would pick up on my set up of FDM. There is actually a lot of foreshadowing to stuff that will happen in S2 and that is one of 'em. Try and figure out the others, if you dare.

I'm pretty sure Andrew has been telling the tale of Connor to Faith and Vi ad naseum. At the beginning of the movie, I think the only ones who didn't know about Connor were Buffy, Spike and Riley.

I don't know if Faith realizes Willow and Kennedy are no longer together. Salome knows because she's been living with them, but no one else mentions it at all. They're also acting very nice to each other, so it's possible it's not exactly widely known.

I felt it was important for Willow to get a big moment. I couldn't really see her taking out any of the other dark champions (You'll notice every light champion kills a dark champion). Also, I've obviously given Willow some competition for bad-ass spellcaster in the Buffyverse, with Salome. I wanted to firmly place Willow in her spot as Bad-Ass Wicca.

I am going to deeply miss Wesley too, but it will become obvious in S2 that Wes needed to go off on his own for a reason. Illyria will most definitely show up at some point... I would love to deal with Illyria's reaction to Oni. And yeah, Illyria and Salome is just so great. But I don't know if Illyria will show up at the same time as Wes. Wes has made it pretty clear he needs to go out on his own for a while. But I've actually got big plans for the good old God-King.

And Connor... I love getting him to interact with people he hasn't really gotten to yet. As for him killing the Beast, it just made sense to me. When I decided each of the Champions was going to kill a baddie, I decided they had to kill one they didn't kill on the series. My first idea was to have Connor take out Azriel, but I thought... No... It's gotta be the Beast. The Beast is the one who beat him to a bloody pulp.

Also, Salome KNOWS Dawn has a crush on Connor. She actually figured it out before Connor, in 1x22. Connor gets to live, because Salome doesn't see Dawn as a threat (and actually she likes the kid).

On the Eve thing.... Considering the short, tight skirts she wears, it's kind of natural he'd look at her ass while she was walking ahead of him. Add to that the fact he HASN'T gotten any in months and it's almost necessary for him to check her out a bit.

I'm really glad you liked the movie. I'm working away at 2x01 now and it should be done soon.

You might want to try reloading the page. I checked all of the links and they work all right for me. Your browser might be loading the page funny, since the layout was changed.

[Buffy8Fan]

I watched/read the movie almost as soon as it was put up. I know this because one minute the site was down and the background use to be blue, then it was up and it was red.

I loved it. All those characters together and lots of them having scenes together for the first time ever was great.

The Immortal as evil is something I have been looking forward to for a long time.

I personally though loved the Willow/Kennedy relationship, but if they aren't together at least they're friends.

Buffy remaining in character and jumping down someone's throat (Angel's) when she has done the same thing or similar pissed me off, but like I mentioned before it is easier to watch/read your argument scenes than it ever was Joss Whedon's.

Two problems I had with it. Buffy already knew Spike was alive. This was the first time we realize this, so they don't really comment on the status of their relationship. Is it over and their friends or is it a secret or are they together. It seems like the first one but with Buffy and Spike it is all unclear. And the second problem I have is that there was a tad too much fight the bad guys to the death. I understand that that was the point in order to escape but it seemed like there were times that it took away from some plot opportunities.

PS: Do you know when the rest (or any others really) of the DVD Special Features are going to be ready.

[Emcee]

I don't actually think the Immortal is "evil". I think he's opportunistic and amoral. In a way, I think this is almost worse than out-and-out evil.

I am not a huge fan of Willow/Kennedy and, honestly, I didn't think it was "long haul". Willow needed Kennedy at the time, but after a while, things just sort of petered out.

I had a lot of trouble writing Buffy because I felt she was really bitchy. But honestly, Buffy can be that way sometimes. She's very self-righteous (which I think comes with the Slayer territory), but I'm glad it wasn't hard for you to read.

I left Buffy/Spike intentionally vague. We already knew from TNP 1x01 that Buffy helped in the alley fight, so she did know he was alive and wouldn't react to it. And honestly, I don't KNOW the status of their relationship. I think they're friends.... But very confused.

I'm surprised you had the second problem... I thought people were going to find that fighting the bad guys was much to easy. I realized about halfway through the script that I wanted to spend more time with the character interactions... The only problem is, after all of these people were separated, the only way I could get them back into the same place was by making the situation really dire.

I am about halfway through the commentary on "Purple Haze" and the special features on Disc Six. I'm having a problem with the deleted scenes, because I have to search through my old documents and find them.

[Buffy8Fan]

With the second problem I said I had, I think I need to clear something up. I didn't think it was a bad idea. I liked it. But once everyone was there and fighting, there was nothing but fighting and after a while it seemed like that was all the movie was and even too much of a good thing can be...well...to much. I don't know whether or not that explains what I meant but...

PS: On the DVD Commentary 'Secrets' the link to go on to Act Two of the commentary isn't a link, just words that say they are.

[Wind Fish]

This was a lot of fun. I liked seeing all the characters together.

The whole opening part with The Immortal, I kept hoping Buffy would lop off his head. I didn't think I could come to hate someone so quickly. Usually it takes a second scene before I wish for someone's death. And maybe she should have made with the swinging because, well, you know.

With that said, I kind of laughed when Angel just left Buffy. I haven't really liked her since season 3 of her show.

I was waiting for Salome to get ticked about not being chosen for this thing. For a while I was just assuming W&H didn't want her dead. Actually, I still am somewhat.

For some reason I found myself skimming the spoiler forum a while ago, and I read that someone who appeared in the credits on one of the shows was going to die. I knew it would be Harmony. Mainly because I thought I had read at one point that a certain writer didn't like her much.

"Really..." Angel broke into a huge grin. "You killed the Beast?" He turned to Faith, beaming. "My son killed the Beast."

Hee hee!

I really liked Hamilton in S5, so I guess I'm slightly disappointed about his role. But also amused.

I can safely say I wasn't expecting the Nyazian/Illyria connection at all.

And Jasmine, huh?

[Buffy8Fan]

First, I am surprised that Wind Fish took so long to either read or update (or both) this, but there are probably reasons, I am just curious because you and I are usually the first to do so.

Second, I read over the movie cast list again and have currently been watching Buffy season five. Is the immortal played by Dracula? If so I think that is curious because whether or not Buffy denied it I personally think she was attracted to him. Also before he was Dracula, Sarah Michelle Gellar and him worked together on All My Children and they played...husband and wife. Was all that a coincidence or was it planned?

[Emcee]

I needed to really define the Immortal as a self-serving jerk right away, so I tried very hard to make him dislikable in the first scene. The reason he survives is because he's so damn UNIMPORTANT in the grand scheme of things. He's not really evil, he's just amoral and self-serving, so I didn't feel the need to get rid of him outright.

I laughed a bit when Angel left Buffy myself, because honestly... Sometimes Buffy pisses me off. It was also my way of showing that it's not all about Buffy anymore. Certainly, she's a very important part of the Buffyverse (hence the name), but I don't think she's a necessity any longer. It's kind of like Kirk in Star Trek... Yeah, he's the first name that comes to mind, but the universe still exists without him.

I think Salome was left out:

(1) Because she hasn't REALLY established herself as a Champion on her own yet. She's still very dependant on Connor. I think this will change in S2.
(2) Azriel specified that if he won, he wanted to torture Salome and he couldn't do that if she had been killed during the Game.

It is very true I don't like Harmony, but that's not really the reason I killed her. I mostly killed her because... Well, she should really die. She's evil and she's never been apologetic about it and she's been let go way too many times. As much as I liked Spike in seasons 2-5 of BtVS, I always thought that Buffy went way too easy on him.

Hamilton unfortunately suffered from my exhaustion. After a while of writing, I got very tired of writing the fight scenes, so I short handed the ones I could. And it just seemed funny that Buffy should kill him while in the midst of fighting with Angel. Storywise, it just worked.

I'm surprised you didn't expect the Nyazian/Illyria connection. True, it was not developed from the beginning (I think I started to develop it around "Sweet Boy" or so), but it just made sense to me. Illyria and the Nyazians have a lot in common-- playing with reality, time and dimensions, not to mention the physical aspects (Salome's veins looked a lot like Illyria's blue marks... Blue is the most common Nyazian hair colour). After I started to develop it, Salome does make several mentions of Illyria that I thought tipped it off.

It IS Rudolph Martin, who played Dracula, playing the Immortal. This was done for a couple of reasons:

(1) Rudolph Martin DEFINES "Eurotrash".
(2) Long tradition of Buffyverse actor recycling (as God as my witness, Jonathan M. Woodward WILL appear eventually).
(3) I do think Buffy was attracted to Dracula and the fact the Immortal resembles him is a bit of transferance.

As for Wind Fish's final comment, I will make a post in the spoiler board about it.

[Wind Fish]

The reason it took me so long to read this is because I had a HUGE backlog of reading I was working on when it was posted. I knew I'd read this eventually, so it had to wait until I finished with things I might not have read if I kept putting them off.

About the Nyazian/Illyria thing, maybe I did suspect something. Reading the explanation sparked some sort of memory about that, but I can't tell if my brain is just trying to cover up for missing something obvious or not. I tend to forget/miss too many small details, which is why I probably should at least skim season 1 before I start with season 2.

[Emcee]

I must say, I'm absolutely SHOCKED no one has picked up on what I think is the biggest (and by biggest I mean my favourite) detail from the movie.

Now you're all going crazy as to what it is, aren't you?

[Wind Fish]

*glares evilly*

But that does remind me of something. Did we know that stuff about Wes before? That he isn't exactly human anymore? Or did I just completely forget a detail about a different character?

I better explain in case I do need clarification.

Demon: Salome, Groo
Human: Gunn, Xander, Riley
Both: Wes.

Or did I completely mess that up?

Yep, definitely re-reading the second half of season 1. And plot summaries of the last four seasons of Buffy, apparently.

[Emcee]

I haven't stated outright that Wes isn't quite human anymore, but it was hinted at in "Rogue". It's a bit of residual from having Vail in him for so long.

[Anna]

Sorry for reviewing so late, I haven't found the time to sit on my lazy ass and write a nice review, until now that is!!

As expected I loved the interaction. The tension between father and son was heartbreaking, I wanted to hit them both, especially Angel. They need to have a very big, big, big needed talk!!

There was also lots of fun interaction:
The looks and reactions the new and improved Andrew got, Salome complaining she didn't get picked to be one of the kidnapped champions and Connor saying Spike talked to much etc. (to much to write all down)

And I hope Wesley will find the answers he is looking for!! Illiria was awsome!

I also wanted to say I remade up my mind about killing of one of the main characters, as soon as I started to read the intro where everybody started to be kidnapped, I no longer wanted any of them dead, I love them to much!! So I am happy I forgot that Harmonie apparently was also part of the main cast in season 5 of Angel ;D! Harmonie ending up dead for real wasn't so bad!!

The battles between the champions and the bad guys where pretty original (Connor/beast) or even though very simple very funny (Buffy/Hamilton). The bad guys did come across weaker then in the show, but that's just my opinion.

And I loved the ending, the speech about better communication (so very truth) and of course Yasmin's return!! Can't wait to find out what your plans are for season 2.

[Emcee]

One of these days, I'm going to lock Connor and Angel in a room together and make them talk for an entire episode.

Wait a second... That's actually a good idea. Forget I said anything!

All of the moments you've mentioned are ones that I absolutely loved writing.

Wesley will definitely reappear in TNP. His character journey is not at all over. While he's not a regular in TNP I think he is, after Angel, the most important non-regular character.

I LOVED writing the Illyria bits. She's a really fun character to play with.

With the exception of Harmony, I felt I couldn't kill one of the regulars without making it all about them. I didn't want to pull a Serenity and take a regular out without spending a lot of time doing justice to their characters. I just didn't have time within the confines of the movie to do it.

The bad guys were, without a doubt, weaker than they were in the series. They had to be. Between them, they probably had about a hundred episodes to be built up as major threats. I only had an hour and a half to get rid of ALL of them. It's just the nature of making a switch between a series and a movie.

I hope I won't disappoint with S2. I think it's off to a very good start so far... But only time will tell.