The X Files (1998)

THE X-FILES (FIGHT THE FUTURE) is an excellent bridge between seasons 5 and 6. It ties in perfectly, playing like the big screen middle "alien / shadow government conspiracy" episode weaving the series' THE END and THE BEGINNING together. Watching it today, I found it even better than I'd remembered it in 1998. Mulder and Scully are their familiar selves, thankfully, NOT going Hollywood! The introduction of the ferocious EBE's, along w/ the explanation for some of the more perplexing elements of the show, make this movie a gift from the sci-fi gods for all X-philes. Highly recommended...

In 35,000 BC northern Texas, two men enter an ice cave to find shelter. They battle a mysterious creature. A black substance oozes from the creature and infects one of the men. In the present day, a boy falls into the cave and is infected by the black ooze. Firefighters climb in and are also attacked. One week later, the FBI is checking on a bomb threat in Dallas. Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) go to the building across the street on a hunch. They find the bomb and barely escape. The pair is made the scapegoats. Alvin Kurtzweil (Martin Landau) tells Fox that FEMA has a secret isolation ward in the building. The boy and the firefighters are found in the rubble presumed to be killed by the blast.Mulder and Scully's banter is back almost immediately. Everything that is beloved about the show is present in this movie. They are the outsiders. There is a conspiracy. There is something creepy. This is what true fans of the show love. For non-fans, this can be a bit of a climb to understand everything.

The X-Files movie (or, as it is now called "X-Files: Fight the Future") was a disappointment to me when I saw it in the theatres back in the day, and I had the same reaction watching it on Blu-Ray just today.It's an OK movie, but it suffers in comparison with the best of the TV episodes. The story isn't as interesting, crazy or scary as many in the series, the pace of the story is much slower (whole film should have been at least 15 minutes shorter), and the banter between the main characters is not as sharp.And since ALL of this is also true of the later "I Want to Believe" feature film--except even more so-- then the only conclusion I can come to is that Chris Carter should stick to TV. At least as far as X-Files goes. A genius at TV, he just doesn't seem to get what works in movies.I hope they revive the series with Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny in the leads. It would actually make more sense for experienced FBI agents to be in their mid 40s to early 50s, in my opinion. (of course, it helps that Duchovny is still quire handsome and Anderson has gotten even hotter in her mid years). If they do it as a limited series,like House of Cards or American Horror Story, I think it could be a big hit.

Originally known simply as "The X-Files" but now as "The X-Files: Fight the Future," this 1998 film is essentially an elongated episode of the TV series with a bigger budget. I've never been more than a casual viewer and, to me, this film represents the best the series had to offer.Everyone knows that creator Chris Carter was inspired by the Night Stalker TV Series when he formulated The X-Files. Whereas that brief 70s series was overt and almost cartoony with it's depictions of the paranormal, The X-Files always took a more subdued, realistic approach. To some, this made it boring; to others, fascinating; to many, a mixture of both.The way the plot in the movie unfolds is similar to "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark," albeit more serious and quasi-believable. After an explosion reminiscent of the Oklahoma City bombing, FBI agents Mulder and Scully stumble on an otherworldy virus and an intricate governmental cover-up. Their investigation leads them all over the map and, ultimately, to Antarctica, with numerous mysterious happenings.Other than the paranormal, the appeal of The X-Files has always been Gillian Anderson. What a uniquely beautiful redhead! The film runs two hours and was shot in California, British Columbia, Texas, New Jersey, London and Washington DC.GRADE: B+