(A+) Overall, the picture is fabulous. The picture is always sharp, and features plenty of detail and rich, deep colors. In addition, there are some nice symbolic color contrasts, such as the icy cold bluish tint of a military morgue scene, versus the lush greens and warmth of a European setting that add to the total effect.
AUDIO:
(A+) While perhaps not quite of demonstration caliber overall, the disc sounds great throughout. From the familiar, but now supped up score by Mark Snow and Mike Oldfield, to the great use of sound and spatial effects -- including a nice, deep resounding bass response during a crucial explosion, the sound field is perfectly handled and ably reproduced here.
EXTRAS:
Scene selection/Jump to any scene.
"The Truth Behind the Making of The X-Files Movie" -- A 26 minute feature including interviews with the cast and crew, as well as footage from the movie and some from behind the scenes.
Running audio commentary by creator/producer Chris Carter and director Rob Bowman.
Three theatrical trailers.
COMMENTS:
Based on the popular Fox TV show of the same name, "The X-Files" is essentially a two-hour, big budget and big screen version of the show. Featuring essentially the same cast and the usual paranormal activity and government conspiracy, this film should please fans of the genre and may just introduce others into becoming devoted followers of the show.
That said, the film isn't spectacular by any means, but is still quite enjoyable. By heavily borrowing elements from other successful sci-fi hits (such as "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and the movies from the "Alien" series) and raising the ante from the normal small-scale plot to near global Armageddon, however, that fun and the film's overall impact is lessened somewhat.
Both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson deliver good performances in the roles they've played for five years, and Duchovny gets yet another chance to poke fun at his often stoic expression. Fans of the series will be happy to see appearances by Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and the Lone Gunmen (Dean Haglund, Bruce Harwood and Tom Braidwood), but may be disappointed that collectively they have little time on screen.
If one can get around the lifted material from those other sci-fi classics, this is a rather enjoyable and entertaining flick. With enough humor to offset the "serious" conspiracy elements and enough suspense and action to keep things moving, the film should easily please fans of the series.
The same holds true for the overall DVD. The picture and audio are outstanding, and the supplemental material is good. That especially holds true for the running audio commentary that's very insightful into the film's production, such as an interesting bit about shooting long scenes in the snow and needing to worry about footprints from the cast and crew, as well as previous takes, that would ruin the effect of the finished shot. All in all, this is a decent DVD to add to one's collection.
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