Question about vampire speed

[Fuffy Baith]

Watching 'Reprise' and there's a scene in the beginning where Angel moves really fast towards these guys and pins them up against a wall. This is not the first time we've seen vampires move fast before and we've heard them make threats about it. My question is, if they can move this fast, why don't they do it more often?

I get that if they did it would make fights a little too easy and we'd wonder why vamps even lose battles. But is there a reason why they can't? Like maybe it requires a lot of energy and they can only do it in short bursts before they need more blood to recharge. It's always been something I've wondered. Also why can't Buffy move that quick, or can she? What are your guys thoughts, I'm curious.

 

[Xin Rong]

I don't think vampire's have super speed, just super reflexes and endurance. I could move as fast as Angel does in that scene, I'd just miss and probably run into the wall.

Buffy is the same, faster than the average person but as a consequence of her increased strength, reflexes, stamina and endurance.

At least that's my take on it, others may have more informed response?

 

[thetopher]

I think that when we see vampires moving really fast we're seeing it from the 'human' perspective, how they would view vampire speed/reflexes.

Usually we see things from Buffy's 'angle' or Angel's, and they move at 'normal' speed. It switches when the writers want to do some dramatic 'whoosh' thing to show how powerful/cool vampires are in comparison with normal humans.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

I think that when we see vampires moving really fast we're seeing it from the 'human' perspective, how they would view vampire speed/reflexes.

Usually we see things from Buffy's 'angle' or Angel's, and they move at 'normal' speed. It switches when the writers want to do some dramatic 'whoosh' thing to show how powerful/cool vampires are in comparison with normal humans.

That's interesting. So what would Willow and Xander see when Buffy fights vampires? Would it be like a blur? I do think that it is a cool ability but it's not shown often.

 

[JCoatsworth]

My question is, if they can move this fast, why don't they do it more often?

For the same reason Obi-Wan doesn't use his force sprint to save Qui-Gon in Phantom Menace, although we clearly see in the first 5 minutes of the film that Jedi can run extremely fast.
What I mean is that writers don't think about every detail all the time. They probably used the sprint for some scenes when it was needed, but forgot about it in other scenes.
To be fair, I don't know if there's a real explanation for this. But I think this is something we have to thank the writers for.

 

[Kana]

I always took that vampire could move at great speed (of course depending on the age and experience of the vampire). I agree that Slayers can also move at speed, but we usually see the 'slowed down' version of events.

 

[Buffy Summers]

Can I just go on record as saying I HATE that "sped up" effect they use on film to show vampire speed?

---------- Post added at 05:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:50 PM ----------

JCoatsworth agrees: I guess that was all the budget allowed for

It doesn't matter what show it is, it always looks bad and fake. True Blood is terrible for it!

 

[white avenger]

Obviously, from what we have seen on both shows at various times, vampires can move at what would be seen a superhuman speed, but I have always seen that as similar to the speed of the cheetah. The cheetah can move extremely fast in short bursts, but can't maintain that speed over any great distance. If a vampire could maintain speed like that for extended periods, neither Buffy nor anyone else in the Buffyverse would have a prayer of being able to kill them.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Vampires can and do move fast, but as tv is a visual thing the question was how to show the vamp was moving fast. Hours, days and weeks have been spent on that same subject by producers, directors and special effect teams. And if they didn't come up with a satisfactory way to show it, then vampires moving fast wouldn't be in the show.
The best I have seen was in the film Queen of the Damned, at least that way the vamps moved slow enough so there was a visual aspect seen that they were moving fast.
But in a series like Buffy, and this is just a guess, why have a special effect that looks so good it detracts the goody goody stuff from the heroine, plus the vamps had that whole turning to dust thing going on, as seen best when the Vampy Willow was staked. I always wondered what word(s) she was about to say: Flip? Flaming fantastic? Fiddle de dee? or was it .. ..?

 

[Fuffy Baith]

Obviously, from what we have seen on both shows at various times, vampires can move at what would be seen a superhuman speed, but I have always seen that as similar to the speed of the cheetah. The cheetah can move extremely fast in short bursts, but can't maintain that speed over any great distance. If a vampire could maintain speed like that for extended periods, neither Buffy nor anyone else in the Buffyverse would have a prayer of being able to kill them.

That's what I was thinking, but we don't see it used enough. Is there like a recovery time they have to wait before they can do it again? My guess is that it would just make things to easy.

 

[JCoatsworth]

It doesn't matter what show it is, it always looks bad and fake. True Blood is terrible for it!

Of course, I meant generally on TV. They can't afford expensive CGI which would probably still look fake anyway. I've seen that one scene from one of the Twilight movies, and it looks horrible.