A secret government conspiracy to cover up the existence of aliens, you say? Where have I heard that one before? Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day (running in theaters as I write this) feels really late to the game on this subject, seeing that The X Files had eleven seasons of it on television, starting way back in 1993. In any case, our Film After 11 podcast’s alphabetical marathon hitting the letter “X” this week felt like an appropriate convergence of topics as we watch the show’s first feature film, credited on screen as just The X Files but commonly known as The X Files: Fight the Future, or The X-Files: Fight the Future if you insist on shoving a hyphen into it.
I was all-in on The X Files back in the day. While it had its share of ups and downs, the show was really on fire for its first five seasons. Sadly, later seasons, including the two belated TV revivals and the second film, took a significant downward trajectory with fewer bright spots. Fight the Future is also a very uneven and sometimes dumb movie, but it was really fun to watch in a theater in 1998 and I still contend that it was a solid expansion of a TV series into a big screen summer blockbuster.
I can’t believe I never put it together before now, but the big North by Northwest reference with the cornfield set-piece near the end nicely ties in with Martin Landau’s presence in both films.
In retrospect, creator Chris Carter’s compulsion to believe any and every conspiracy theory he’s ever heard hasn’t aged well. I’m sure he probably was (or still is) a big Pizzagate and QAnon guy. I decided to leave that part out of the discussion with my son Thomas.
| Title: | The X Files |
| Also Known As: | The X-Files, or The X Files: Fight the Future, or The X-Files: Fight the Future |
| Year of Release: | 1998 |
| Director: | Rob Bowman |
| Watched On: | Blu-ray |
| Also Available On: | Hulu Various VOD rental and purchase platforms |
The Blu-ray
Twentieth Century Fox brought The X Files: Fight the Future to Blu-ray in 2008, simultaneously with the home video debut of the second movie, The X Files: I Want to Believe. I initially acquired separate copies of each as review screeners, but later repurchased them anyway as part of a double-feature SteelBook I laughably thought would have collectible value.
Unfortunately, while the sequel had a pretty decent video transfer at the time, Fight the Future was recycled from a very old video master that looked really terrible, perhaps even more so by current standards. The 2.35:1 image is marred by a thick layer of edge enhancement, resulting in nasty electronic halos around just about every person or object on screen. The whole thing has a very gritty, ugly appearance that makes film grain look noisy as hell. Poor digital compression then further adds to the problem by causing grain to move in unusual patterns and freeze in place on screen, while a coating of DNR wipes away actual picture detail.
I’m not sure if Fox or its current corporate owners at Disney feel this property is worth investing more into right now, but the movie is in desperate need of a good 4K remaster.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, on the other hand, is super fun. Like many 1990s blockbuster movies, the sound mix has hyper-aggressive surround activity and tons of slamming bass. Modern movie soundtracks are so timid and tame in comparison. Highlights of this one include helicopters flying around the room from front to back, bees swarming everywhere, and a couple huge explosions. Balancing this out, the track also has moments of eerie quiet and subtle atmospheric effects.
Bonus features seem more impressive in quantity than quality. Items include two audio commentaries (one from 1999 and another from 2008), a couple very superficial making-of “documentaries,” several much shorter featurettes, a gag reel, and a still gallery. Most of these can alternately be viewed picture-in-picture on top of the movie, but the interactive interface for that is infuriating and many of the items overlap one another, forcing you to switch around between them using various color buttons on the remote. (You know, those buttons you’ve never used, if you even noticed them at all.) You’re better off just watching this stuff separately, assuming you really feel any of it might be worth your time.
Related
- The X Files
- Martin Landau
- Mission: Impossible (1966) series premiere
- North by Northwest (1959) – Film After 11 podcast
The Video File Blog 
I saw this in the shows too sitting in like the 3rd row, and that jump scare at the beginning of the film was very effective.
I liked the movie, but I think I was getting sick of the non-resolution “resolutions” that started infiltrating the show. After being fed another half answer about something that lead to 37 more possibilities, I kind of gave up on the show as it felt more like the creators were stringing me along rather than building towards something meaningful. The mystery box nonsense got old when there weren’t any payoffs. I remember walking out of the theater thinking, “It was fun and all, but what was the point of all of it?”
It’s probably why I haven’t seen it since.
Oh, and Josh…a belated Happy Father’s Day. I hope you had a great day.
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