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The X-Files (film)

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For other uses, see The X-Files (film) (disambiguation).
The X-Files
Film poster
Directed byRob Bowman
Written byScreenplay:
Chris Carter
Story:
Chris Carter
Frank Spotnitz
Produced byChris Carter
Daniel Sackheim
StarringDavid Duchovny
Gillian Anderson
Martin Landau
Mitch Pileggi
William B. Davis
Blythe Danner
Armin Mueller-Stahl
CinematographyWard Russell
Edited byStephen Mark
Music byMark Snow
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
June 19, 1998 (US)
July 23, 1998 (AUS)
August 21, 1998 (UK)
Running time
121 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Canada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$66,000,000 (est.)
Box office$189,198,313

The X-Files (also known as The X-Files: Fight the Future) is a 1998 science-fiction, horror and thriller film written by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Rob Bowman. It is the first feature film based on The X-Files franchise created by Carter. Three main characters from the television series appear in the film: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson and Mitch Pileggi reprise their respective roles as Fox Mulder, Dana Scully and Walter Skinner. The film's tagline and sub-title is Fight the Future; being commonly mistaken and referred to as The X-Files: Fight the Future.

The story follows Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) uncovering what seems to be a government conspiracy attempting to hide the truth about an alien colonization of Earth. If viewed in the context of The X-Files chronology, the film takes place between seasons five and six of the television series, and unlike the second film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe, is based upon the series' extraterrestrial mythology.

The film premiered on June 19, 1998 in the United States, and was mostly well-received by critics and viewers alike.

Plot

The film opens North Texas in 35,000 BC. Entering a cave, a Neanderthal man stumbles upon what appears to be a large, primal extraterrestrial lifeform. The two fight, and the caveman wins, stabbing the creature to death, but as a result is infected by black oil. In 1998, small-town Texas, a young boy (Lucas Black) falls down a hole in his backyard and finds a human skull. As he picks it up, black oil seeps out from the ground and slithers up his legs until it reaches his head, causing his eyes to turn black. Firefighters descend into the hole to rescue him but are presumably lost to the same fate. A team of biohazard-suited men in a helicopter, accompanied by several semi-trailers and a man named Ben Bronschweig (Jeffrey DeMunn), arrive on the scene.

FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) have been assigned to other projects since the closure of the X-Files. They are first seen assisting Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Darius Michaud (Terry O'Quinn) and his team as they investigate a bomb threat against a federal building in Dallas, Texas. When Mulder scouts out the building across the street, he discovers the bomb in a first-floor vending machine. While Michaud stays behind to disarm the bomb, Mulder and Scully evacuate the building. It becomes clear to the viewer (but not to the agents) that Michaud makes no effort to disarm the bomb, which ultimately explodes.

Returning to Washington, D.C., Mulder and Scully are chastised because four people were still in the building. They are scheduled separate hearings at which their job performances will be evaluated. That evening, Mulder encounters a paranoid doctor, Alvin Kurtzweil (Martin Landau), who explains that the four victims were already dead, and that the bomb was allowed to detonate to destroy the evidence as to how they died.

Mulder and Scully go to the morgue where the bodies are being held and find that Kurtzweil's testimony is true. Returning to the crime scene in Texas, they follow a convoy of tanker trucks to a large cornfield surrounding two bright, glowing domes. When they infiltrate the domes, they find only a large, empty space. However, grates in the floor open up and a thick swarm of bees forces the agents out onto the cornfield. Soon black helicopters appear overhead, and the two make a harrowing escape back to Washington.

Upon their return, Mulder — finding the evidence disappearing rapidly — unsuccessfully tries to seek help from Kurtzweil, while Scully attends her performance hearing and learns that she is to be transferred from Washington to Salt Lake City, Utah. Mulder is devastated at the thought of not having Scully as a partner to help him uncover the truth. The two share a tender moment, until Scully is stung by a bee which had lodged itself under her shirt collar. She has an instant adverse reaction, and Mulder calls for emergency aid. However, when an ambulance arrives, the driver shoots Mulder in the head and whisks Scully away to an undisclosed location. The real ambulance appears moments later as the scene fades to black. Awaking in hospital, Mulder is informed that the bullet only grazed his temple, and escapes with the assistance of the Lone Gunmen. He is accosted by the Well-Manicured Man, who gives him Scully's location in Antarctica along with a vaccine to combat the virus that has infected her. The Well-Manicured Man then kills his driver and commits suicide before his betrayal of the Syndicate is discovered.

Mulder travels to Antarctica to save Scully, discovering a secret underground laboratory run by the Cigarette Smoking Man and his associate Conrad Strughold. Mulder uses the vaccine to revive Scully, disrupting the stable environment of the lab and reviving the cocooned aliens. The lab is destroyed just after Mulder and Scully escape to the surface, when an alien vessel lying dormant beneath it leaves its underground port and launches into the sky. Scully is unconscious while the ship flies directly overhead, and Mulder wakes her in time to allow her a hazy view of the spacecraft disappearing into the distance. It is unclear whether Scully, in her weakened state, discerned anything.

Later, Mulder and Scully attend a hearing where their testimony is routinely ignored, and the evidence covered up. The only remaining proof of the whole ordeal is the bee that stung Scully, collected by the Lone Gunmen. She hands it over, noting that the FBI does not currently have an investigative unit qualified to pursue the evidence at hand. Later, on a bench along the National Mall in Washington, Mulder is appalled by the media's cover-up of the incident, and tries to persuade Scully to leave his crusade. However, she refuses, saying, "If I quit now, they win."

At another crop outpost in Tunisia, the Cigarette Smoking Man hands Strughold a telegram revealing that the X-Files have been re-opened.

Cast and characters

Production

Conception and pre-production

"We wanted it to be true to the TV show, for one thing. We didn't want The X-Files to become something else in the movie, just because we had a bigger budget to work with. Yet, we were also mindful that it had to be a culmination of something for the people who had been watching the show for five years, as well as an introduction of these characters and this story to people who hadn't."
— Frank Spotnitz talking about the development of The X-Files film.[1]

After five successful seasons, The X-Files would meet its peak during the fifth season. Chris Carter wanted to tell the story of the series on a wider scale, which ultimately meant creating a feature film. He later explained that the main problem was to create a story for which the viewer would not need to be familiar with the show's setting and the various story arcs.[2]

Carter and Frank Spotnitz wrote major parts of the script in Hawaii over the Christmas period. They used the same method that they had used when writing episodes and sketching out scenes for the series on 3x5 index cards. By the time the Christmas break had ended, the whole narrative for the film had been written. Upon his return from Hawaii, Carter looked for spare time to write the script. He returned to Hawaii and in ten days wrote about half of the 124-page screenplay for the film.[3]

The nearly completed screenplay was then turned over to Fox where it was "enthusiastically" received. While not officially greenlighted, the film was given a budget and plans were set up as to when and where it would be filmed. Carter then enlisted Daniel Sackheim to produce the film. Sackheim had previously produced the pilot episode of The X-Files and directed several episodes in the first two seasons. The X-Files marked the his first contribution as producer to a feature film. Carter's choice for director was Rob Bowman, who had been the series' executive producer and a director before the production base was moved from Vancouver to Los Angeles.[4]

During production, the filmmakers went to great lengths to preserve secrecy, including printing the script on red paper to prevent photocopying, and leaking disinformation to the media by giving the film the codename "Project Blackwood". The codename was eventually cracked by "X-Philes" (a name adopted by fans of The X-Files). Various fans thought the codename had a connection to the film, which led to hundreds of widespread debates across the internet. Eventually, Spotnitz announced that Blackwood was just "a name" and had nothing to do with the film, saying that it could as well have been named "Project Black".[5]

At the beginning of the pre-production phase, Carter and Bowman were busy with the television series, leaving Sackheim to work alone. Sackheim hired executive producer Lata Ryan, who had previously collaborated with Steven Spielberg for his 1993 film, Jurassic Park. Once hired, Ryan was allowed to read the script under the "watchful eyes" of the Ten Thirteen Productions staff members. At this time, most of the staff members had not read the script for themselves. After Ryan accepted the offer of becoming executive producer, Chris Nowak was hired as production designer, Ward Russell as director of photography and Bill Liams as construction coordinator among other key personnel. According to Ryan, they were enabled in securing all key personnel in six weeks.[6]

Writing and casting

Martin Landau was one of the film's well-known stars

Both Carter and Spotnitz wanted to make the film "bigger" than the series, so they decided to start and end the film at an "extreme place" and explain aspects of the story arc that the show had not. While gathering various research materials, they found out that the Earth was once covered with ice and decided to open the film in Texas in 35,000 BC with a Neanderthal taking the lead.[7]

While the film included known actors from the show such as David Duchovny as Fox Mulder, Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully, Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner and William B. Davis as the Cigarette Smoking Man, the show also introduced new actors and characters to the franchise. These included well-known actors such as Martin Landau and Blythe Danner. The signing of these actors broke with what had become tradition for The X-Files. Carter had purposely cast virtually unknown actors for the television series, saying the show could only be as "scary as it is believable." He elaborates, "As soon as you put in an actor whose face is very recognizable, you've got a situation that works against the reality of the show." Carter saw creating the film as a chance to break this rule.[8]

Set design

Chris Nowak was hired as production designer for the film by Daniel Sackheim. Nowak was a former architect who had worked as a professional theater set designer for eight years, before moving towards the film business as an art director. Nowak had previously worked with Sackheim on a television production, which led to Sackheim contacting him to do an interview for the selection of a production designer. According to Sackheim, Nowak was hired because he was the only one able to create a "focused vision" for the film.[9]

Nowak wanted to start the design process after talking through the story with the filmmakers so that he could formulate "a sense of the atmosphere" which they wanted to create for the film. He wanted to create a "dark, scary and oppressive environment" for the characters, especially Mulder. While familiar with the television series, Nowak decided not to review any episodes as preparation for his role in the production. Explaining this decision, he said, "I wanted the movie to be as fresh and new as possible in its design. Of course, there were some elements from the show that had to be retained."[9]

The design department had only eight weeks to "find all the locations" and to "conceive the sets." Through these eight weeks, the design department was guided with input from the filmmakers. Nowak started by creating artwork for all the major sets and locations, working with the two concept artists Tim Flattery and Jim Martin. Nowak would create "rough sketches" and then send them to Flattery and Martin who would continue to develop them until they were complete. The complete artwork was then presented to Chris Carter, Rob Bowman, Lata Ryan and Sackheim for approval. While considering the time schedule, they made no notable changes to the artwork.[9]

Once the set concepts were approved by Carter, Bowman, Sackheim and Ryan, they were sent to the blueprint stage so that construction of the sets could begin under the supervision of construction coordinator Bill Liams. All the major sets were constructed "simultaneously" because of the schedule. However, this proved to be a challenge for the production team, because it meant they had to pay the rent on all the stages at the same time. The set construction started seven weeks before filming.[9]

Filming

Not only could I not have directed the movie as well as Rob Bowman [...] I didn't have the time to even attempt to direct the movie as well as Rob Bowman. Rob is a very collaborative person; and I thought that working with him collaboratively was a much wiser way to approach this than to try to do it myself."
— Carter talking about choosing a director for the film.[5]

Chris Carter and Rob Bowman wanted to film in as many different locations as possible to give the film a "grander" feel than what had usually been achievable for the television episodes.[2][7] Principal photography for the film started on June 16, 1997.[5]

The X-Files was filmed in the hiatus between the show's fourth and fifth seasons and re-shoots were conducted during the filming of the show's fifth season. Due to the demands of the film shoot on the actors' schedules, some episodes of the fifth season did not revolve around both Mulder and Scully but just one of the two lead stars.[10]

Music

Main articles: Music of The X-Files, The X-Files: Original Motion Picture Score, and The X-Files: The Album

Mark Snow, who had worked on the television series as a composer, was hired to score the film. Chris Carter wanted a "very minimal approach" to the music. He did not want much "melody" and wanted to replace it with plain "ambient atmosphere" and "sound design". Snow mixed electronic music with an 85-member orchestra to give the film a "great sense of scope and grandeur."[2]

When creating the music for the film, Snow had a couple of months to write and produce the music, composing the television series simultaneously. The film marked the first time in the history of the franchise that music was composed and recorded with the help of an orchestra, although, according to Snow, there was no significant change in the recording and writing process during the production of the film. The most substantial difference was that Snow used MIDI files to save his musical scores and pieces, which would afterward be sent to a copyist who would take it through one of their programs and eventually give it to the orchestrators.[11]

Release

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 63% of 68 listed film critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of six out of ten. The website wrote of the critics' consensus, "Results may vary for newcomers, but fans of the series will enjoy its big-screen transition."[12] The film had a lower approval rating with the 15 critics in Rotten Tomatoes' "Cream of the Crop", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs,[13] receiving a 53% approval rating.[14] Within the Rotten Tomatoes community, it was reported that over 80% of the 500 members gave the film a positive review.[15]

Roger Ebert gave a positive review of the film with three out of four stars, saying, "As pure movie, The X-Files more or less works. As a story, it needs a sequel, a prequel, and Cliff Notes."[16] Joyce Millman of Salon magazine was more equivocal, writing, "... You really can't treat "The X-Files" as a movie because it isn't one. It's a two-hour episode of the show," and said it was far from the "most satisfying" of X-Files releases.[17] San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Bob Graham was positive towards the film, calling "David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson [...] enormously sympathetic heroes"[18] Michael O'Sullivan, a reviewer from The Washington Post called the film, "stylish, scary, sardonically funny and at times just plain gross."[19]

The Los Angeles Times reviewer Kenneth Turan felt that it was difficult to make sense of the film, arguing that it relied too heavily on the series' mythology.[20] Lisa Alspector wrote that "Only two scenes in this spin-off are worth the time of followers of the TV series."[21] Variety magazine reviewer Todd McCarthy remarked, "As it is, the pic serves up set-pieces and a measure of scope that are beyond TV size but remain rather underwhelming by feature standards"[22] Janet Maslin of The New York Times responded negatively towards the film, complaining that it was uneventful and scorning the "hush-hush atmosphere" surrounding the production.[14]

Sequel

Main articles: The X-Files franchise and The X-Files: I Want to Believe

The X-Files has spawned one sequel, a 2008 film entitled The X-Files: I Want to Believe released six years after the cancellation of the series. The film performed modestly at the box office[23] and received a less positive response than the first film.[24] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Chris Carter announced that if I Want to Believe proved successful, he would propose that a third movie go back to the television series' mythology and focus on the alien invasion foretold within the series, due to occur on December 22, 2012.[25]

Home media

Main articles: Series overview and home release and The X-Files merchandise

The two soundtracks, The X-Files: Original Motion Picture Score[26] and The X-Files: The Album were both released to home markets in 1998. The X-Files: The Album included the original theme song, "The X-Files" and included a hidden track on which Chris Carter details a summary of the The X-Files mythology.[27] The same year as the international theatrical release, the film was released on VHS.[18] The film made its first appearance on DVD on January 24, 2000 in Region 2[28] and in early 2001 in Region 1.[29] Producer Frank Spotnitz announced plans to release a new Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray Edition of the movie. "We are working on packing the [re-issued] DVD and Blu-ray releases with as many extras as they will fit, including video and audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage, bloopers, trailers, a new documentary, and several other cool surprises." The Blu-ray version was released on December 2, 2008.[30]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Duncan 1998, pp. 4.
  2. ^ a b c Carter, Chris, Spotnitz, Frank, Bowman, Rob, Duchovny, David, Anderson, Gillian, Pileggi, Mitch, Sackheim, Daniel, Paris, David, Lombardi, Paul, Epstein, John, McLaglen, Josh, Beck, Mat, Wash, John and Snow, Mark (1998). The Making of The X-Files Movie (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
  3. ^ Duncan 1998, pp. 4-5.
  4. ^ Duncan 1998, pp. 5-6.
  5. ^ a b c Duncan 1998, pp. 6.
  6. ^ Duncan 1998, pp. 6-7.
  7. ^ a b Carter, Chris and Bowman, Rob (1998). Audio commentary for The X-Files (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
  8. ^ Duncan 1998, pp. 9.
  9. ^ a b c d Duncan 1998, pp. 7.
  10. ^ Carter, Chris, Gilligan, Vince, Shiban, John, Haglund, Dean, Manners, Kim, Bowman, Rob, Spotnitz, Frank, Cartwright, Veronica, Rabwin, Paul, Rogers, Mimi and Goodwin, R.W. "Bob" (1998). The Truth Behind Season 5 (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
  11. ^ "The S Files". Soundtrack.net. May 27, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
  12. ^ "The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 29, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  13. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes FAQ: What is Cream of the Crop". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 29, 2009.
  14. ^ a b "The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 29, 2009.
  15. ^ "The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 29, 2009.
  16. ^ Ebert, Roger (June 19, 1998). "The X-Files". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved September 29, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ Millmann, Joyce (1998). "I want to believe". Salon magazine. Retrieved September 29, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ a b Graham, Bob (October 16, 1998). "Conspiracy Marks the Spot The X-Files proves an intriguing thrill". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 29, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ O'Sullivan, Michael (June 19, 1998). "'X'-tra, 'X'-tra! See All About It!". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 29, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ Turan, Kenneth (June 19, 1998). "The X-Files". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 29, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ Alspector, Lisa (1998). "The X-Files". Chicago Reader. Retrieved September 29, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ McCarthy, Todd (June 19, 1998). "The X-Files". Variety magazine. Retrieved September 29, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ "The X-Files: I Want to Believe". The Numbers. Retrieved September 5, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ "The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 29, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  25. ^ Clark Collis (April 18, 2008). "'X-Files' creator Chris Carter wants to believe in a third movie featuring Mulder and Scully". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 27, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ Love, Brett. "X-Files (Score)". Allmusic. Retrieved September 29, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "X-Files (Original Soundtrack)". Allmusic. Retrieved September 29, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ "The X Files Movie (1998) (DVD)". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
  29. ^ Stark, Jeff (January 16, 2001). "The X-Files: Fight the Future". Salon magazine. Retrieved September 29, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ "Producer: Fox Plotting to Bring X-Files Movies to Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. July 7, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2009.

Bibliography

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