Review of X Files, The: The Movie (Special Edition)

Introduction

With the X Files hitting a peak sometime around Season 5, the powers that be decided in their infinite wisdom to reward devoted fans with a big screen outing. What had previously been a small screen show, with limited budget and time would get extravagant effects and a suitably cinematic script. At the time I thought that this would be the beginning of a trend, that every few years a new X Files movie would be released and the series would eventually vanish into syndication. Alas, that didn`t happen and the programme makers returned to milking more and more profit from a rapidly desiccating cash cow. Perhaps now, with the ninth and final series reaching its conclusion, a new film may be made that will live up to if not exceed the potential of the 1998 feature.

The film takes place in the hiatus between Season 5 and 6. The X Files have been shut down again, with Mulder and Scully assigned to routine and relatively mundane operations. On one of these operations, they are responding to a terrorist threat to a Federal building in Dallas, when ignoring procedure, Mulder starts investigating the building opposite, reluctant partner in tow. To their surprise, it is this building which houses an explosive device and the building is rapidly evacuated. Agent Michaud remains behind to defuse the bomb, but once everyone has left the building, it becomes clear that he has no intention of even trying. Agent Michaud dies in the resultant explosion and the building is destroyed. Returning to Washington to explain their unorthodox actions, Mulder and Scully find themselves being made culpable for the death of Michaud, as well as 3 firemen and a child whose bodies were found in the rubble. Both determined not to be made scapegoats of this, Scully investigates one of the bodies to find evidence of a contagion never seen before. Meanwhile Mulder makes an acquaintance of a Doctor Kurtzweil, who claims to have evidence of a shadow government cover up of a planned alien invasion in Dallas. Mulder and Scully must pursue the trail of denial and disinformation from Texas to Antarctica in a quest for the ultimate truth.

Video

The X Files Movie is presented in glorious widescreen, a 2.40:1 anamorphic transfer to be precise. The colours are strong and the picture is sharp and well defined, with little or no evidence of damage. Rob Bowman, director of many of the television episodes makes his feature film debut here, and translates the X Files to the big screen very well. He makes full use of the canvas and fills the screen with large vistas and swooping camera angles to emphasise the story.

Audio

There is a well-accomplished DD 5.1 soundtrack, which conveys the screen action well. The speakers powerfully express the explosions and special effects. Mark Snow returns to update his classic X Files score and the new orchestral rendering of the music really suits the expanded scope of the film well. The contributions to the soundtrack by contemporary artists are also exceptional. I have a particular soft spot for Teotihuacan by Noel Gallagher

Features

As well as the expected trailer, you get a 27-minute making of documentary, introduced by cast member, Mitch Pileggi. As well as copious scenes from the movie, it goes into the background of the TV series and translating it to the big screen. With interviews with the cast and crew, it really is quite good. To top the disc off, there is an audio commentary. Creator Chris Carter talks about the story while Director Rob Bowman discusses the making of the film itself. It`s interesting and informative, but be warned, they dive right in without even bothering to introduce themselves.

Conclusion

The regular cast of the X Files reprise their television roles for the big screen here. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson play the roles we know so well, but for the cinema, there has been a small degree of reinvention in their characters. Their relationship is more intimate and playful now, with them playing little practical jokes on each other and making more of an emotional connection with each other in 2 hours than they have done in the previous 100 hours of television programming put together. William B. Davis gets a key role as the cigarette smoking man and gets to expand his character here significantly on the TV incarnation. Martin Landau is Kurtzweil and his presence helps to confirm that this is actually a movie that you`re watching. All the cast live up well to the demands of the expanded canvas of the cinema screen, and it was a delightful moment to see the Lone Gunmen make a cameo.

The bottom line then. X Files fans will lap this up as you get to see your heroes in a new light and the mythology gets substantially expanded. Now I count myself as a devotee of all things X Files, but trying to be objective I feel that this film doesn`t really cater for those coming fresh to the series, despite what the creators may say in the commentary and documentary. The Special Edition DVD has additional footage as a reward for loyal fans that expands on the mythology and background of Mulder`s quest when he is with the Well Manicured Man in the limousine, but unfortunately this is material that will go over the head of anyone else and was rightly left out of the theatrical release. They make a good and quite clever attempt to fill in the backstory as rapidly as possible with Mulder`s drunken soliloquy in the bar describing his woes, but despite this a lot of what occurs in the film may be incomprehensible to many, for instance the demise of a character in this film has little resonance in this film alone, but taken in context of the TV show may be considered a significant event. I also feel that while the cinematography and music may be cinematic in scale and scope, the story is not far removed from a two-part television story. Now whether that is a comment on the film or a compliment on the quality of the television show may be up to debate, but I believe that there wasn`t enough to differentiate this story from the others. This is definitely a film for fans, anyone else may wish to rent first.