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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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The
X-Files season one box set
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Reviewed
by: |
David
Fierro |
| Genre: |
sci-
fi |
| Video: |
1.33,
full frame |
| Audio: |
English
( Dolby Digital 2.0 surround) French ( Dolby Digital |
| Language: |
English
and French |
| Subtitle: |
English
and Spanish |
| Length: |
24
Episodes/and one special feature disc/1104 Minutes |
| Rating: |
Not
rated |
| Release
Date: |
5-9-2000 |
| Studio: |
20th
Century Fox |
| Commentary:
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None |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
Interviews
with Chris Carter on 12 of his favorite episodes, "Truth about
season 1" documentary, 11 "Behind the truth" segments produced
for FX, Preview of all twenty four episodes, 47 promotional
spots, deleted scenes, web links, and DVD-ROM game. |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
Interviews
with Chris Carter on 12 of his favorite episodes |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
24 spots |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
cut
scenes from pilot, funny FX shot |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
None |
| Cast
and Crew: |
David Duchovony,
Gillian Anderson, various. |
| Screenplay
by: |
Writers:
Chris Carter, Glen Morgan, James Wong, Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa,
Larry Berber, Paul Berber, Chris Ruppenthal, Marilyn Osborn,
and Scott Kaufer |
| Produced
by: |
Chris Carter |
| Directed
By: |
Robert Mandel, Daniel
Sackheim, Harry Longstreet, Joe Napolitano, Michael Katleman,
Jerrold Freedman, David Nutter, Larry Shaw, Fred Gerber, Will
Graham, Rob Bowman, Michael Lange, and R.W. Goodwin. |
| Music: |
Mark Snow |
| The
Review: |
In September
of 1993, FOX TV took a chance on show that proudly proclaimed
that "the Truth was out there". 8 years later, they released
the DVDs to prove it. "The X Files" was a show completely alien
to TV as real extraterrestrials would be to people. The show
was dark, filmed to look more like mini films than an hour dramatic
series, and walked new ground on the content of TV. Based on
creator Chris Carter's love of the show "Kolchak, the Night
Stalker", he made a show that was intelligent and sometimes
completely frightening. It took many chances, in casting and
in content that made it stand alone as one of the best television
shows of the nineties. It is the story of FBI agents Fox Mulder
(David Duchovony) and Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson) and their
exploration of the X files, cases involving the paranormal that
cannot be explained and have been closed. Mulder is the believer
searching for his lost sister. Scully is the skeptic dealing
with issues of faith as she chases her partner down some of
the darkest alleys in the world. Season one is probably one
of the most interesting seasons, but not the best. In season
one they had the task of creating and establishing the world
that they would later build on. It is also the season that they
had some of the lowest budgets possible, so sometimes you're
amazed as you realize how they could do so much with so little,
and sometimes you wish they had a little more cash to make a
plastic thing look a little more real. The writing is also uneven
and sometimes you got great episodes like "Beyond the Sea" that
became staples, and some you got episodes like "Space" which
I'm sure they wish they could forget. A few examples of the
best episodes of this 7 disc set are: The Pilot: We are introduced
to our characters as they journey to Oregon to investigate the
disappearances and deaths of local teenagers. The episode sets
the tone, and also gives us a chance to meet our protagonists.
The one interesting thing is that they also build some sexual
tension between the characters, something that is not really
found in the rest of the show, and is just FOX trying to push
the show on it's audience. Squeeze: One of the finest monster
episodes they ever created. Chris Carter said he wanted to move
away from the alien stuff quickly to give the sow a more broad
pallete, and they made all the right choices with this episode.
Eugene Tooms is a man who can squeeze into any small area, and
does so through vents and chimneys in his search for livers
to keep him alive for the next thirty years. The chills and
thrills are all there making this quite a harrowing hour of
TV. Beyond the Sea: The episode opens with the death of Scully's
father, and quickly becomes possibly the best episode of the
X files. This episode is the reason you should buy this set.
Perhaps it's the writing, or the directing or the bravura performance
of Brad Dourif as Luther Lee Boggs, the murderer on death row
that seems to be channeling Scully's dead father. Boggs plays
with them to save his life (he's on death row) as a serial killer
is on the loose. Boggs knows more information than he should,
as uses this to his advantage. ICE: This episode creates a formula
in it's script that is well crafted and will be repeated several
times over the course of the series. But none of the similar
stories have the same impact or pacing. Mulder and Scully go
to the artic to investigate the deaths of several scientists.
As a mysterious worm slowly infects everyone, the drama builds
as to who can be trusted, who's real and who's infected. And
the worms are also 11 on the gross out level of ten, giving
the whole episode a great creepy crawly feel. The Erlenmeyer
Flask: It's one of the first of the mythology episodes and also
the season finale. And in many ways it's the summation of the
whole first season. It takes all that you have learned over
the season, and says, you ain't learned nothing yet. It shows
you that nothing is sacred on the show, and no character is
safe. With nightmare inducing images, alien babies, and the
death of a major character, it dares you to come back for season
2. Also included in the set are: Deep Throat, Conduit, The Jersey
Devil, Shadows, Ghost in the Machine, Space, Fallen Angel, Eve,
Fire, Gender Bender, Lazarus, Young at Heart, E.B.E, Shapes,
Darkness Falls, Tooms, Born Again, and Roland. |
| Image
and Sound |
Is this
the best presentation of the show in audio and sound? Well,
yes and no. It certainly looks and sounds better than you'll
ever see on network TV. But that's not the point is it? No,
you've got a DVD player for a reason, and for that reason here's
just a few complaints. There is some edge enhancement visible
over the course of the discs and minor compression artifacting.
But the blacks are strong, which is important for a show that
takes place mostly in the dark. The audio is good but not great.
But something tells me no one thought at the time that they
needed to sup it up to blow you away at home. |
| The
Extras |
This is
a beautiful package from FOX from top to bottom. First off,
you have the packaging, which is just striking, and then you
open the thing, and the presentation of the discs is also top
knotch. But if we're talking extras, we're talking disc 7, which
is the definitive way to look at Season one. First off, you
have the interviews with Chris Carter. Now, while these are
just cribbed from the video box set, they are still interesting
tidbits from the king of the show himself. He has a good presence
and you will enjoy his stories. Sadly, some of his stories are
repeated in the other feature the "Truth about Season 1". This
is only a step above the promo documentaries found on most DVDs.
It's interesting it does the job, but isn't really that fascinating.
"The Behind the Truth" segments are short and actually are far
more interesting than the documentary. They go from everything
to talking about a specific character to doing a short profile
on people who work on the show. They're fun, but short. The
TV ads are interesting but don't watch the ten second ones,
go for the full twenty seconds commercials. The DVD ROM game
sucked and was boring, and is probably the worst extra feature
on the disc. Lastly, the deleted scenes are fun. First off we
get a chance to meet Scully's boyfriend who was written into
the pilot and then quickly written and edited out as the before
that episode hit the air. And there's a pretty funny FX shot
that they added which thankfully was what they didn't end up
going with on the episode. |
| Commentary |
None |
| Final
Words: |
This was
one of the shows that changed the face of television. After
X- Files, everybody wanted to have that cool movie look to their
show. NBC created four or five mediocre shows with shows like
Profiler and the Pretnder, to try and wrangle some of the audience
away. A movie got spawned out of the whole deal, and Duchovony
and Anderson became major stars. Having said that I am happy
that FOX decided to reward it's fans with a comprehensive collection
of the first season. It is pricey, but some of the best things
are expensive. If you are a fan, and don't have this set you're
crazy. And if you aren't and want to believe, this box set is
just the right place to start. |
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