The X-Files: The Complete First Season
by Daniel Sackheim, David Nutter, Fred Gerber, Harry Longstreet, Jerrold Freedman
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Actor: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, Robert Patrick, Tom BraidwoodDirector: Daniel Sackheim, David Nutter, Fred Gerber, Harry Longstreet, Jerrold Freedman
Brand: TCFHE
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 1089 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-01-31
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Subtitled; Color; Closed-captioned; NTSC; Full Screen
DVD Reviews of The X-Files: The Complete First Season
DVD Review: Finally! An affordable edition of one of TV's great shows
Summary: 5 Stars
Thank God! Finally, after for several years having only the option of the very expensive original release of THE X-FILES DVD boxed sets, we have an affordable edition. In fairness, THE X-FILES was one of the first television series to become available on DVD. It was a moderate seller, but did not sell nearly to the same degree that most sets today do. For instance, only a couple of years later BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER began being released in sets priced approximately half and sold quite well. In other words, as a pioneer release there was not yet a sense both of what the demand for television shows on DVD was or what the proper pricing was. I believe there are a very large number of X-FILES fans such as myself who have put off buying the series because of the exorbitant price. This new release fills a major need.
There are very few truly landmark series in the history of TV, but THE X-FILES is beyond debate one of them. The show had illustrious predecessors, most importantly THE TWILIGHT ZONE, in which avant-garde darling Rod Serling proved you could write brilliant stories in a genre--the supernatural--that had previously been looked down upon. THE X-FILES is THE TWILIGHT ZONE's descendent that reintroduced the supernatural to sophisticated audiences, paving the way for subsequent shows such as BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (which predated it as a movie but antedate it as television) and ANGEL.
THE X-FILES is also important for making long story arcs acceptable--or, rather, a bit more acceptable--to TV execs. As a rule, TV execs hate long story arcs. It makes a show more difficult for newcomers to "get." I actually did not watch THE X-FILES during the nineties for this very reason. I saw a few episodes, recognized that it was a superior show, but I also had missed so many episodes that I had no handle on the greater story line. While TV execs don't care for the long story arcs, instead preferring that each episode be self-contained and completely friendly to newcomers, there is absolutely no question that long story arcs provide a superior form of entertainment. I earnestly believe that when allowed to develop long arcs, television easily surpasses movies in developing sustained narratives.
Season One of THE X-FILES isn't yet the show that it would become. Instead of long story arcs, there are no story arcs. Each episode is pretty much "the encounter of the week." We deal with a new phenomenon, a new uniquely gifted person, a new event that demands explanation. So, there is a real sense in which the show isn't as good as it would become. Nonetheless, given the limitations of episodic television, the series manages to excel. The quality of writing, the marvelous development of lighting and atmosphere, and the consistently fine group of guest actors makes this an absolutely first rate season. The alien colonization plot that would become increasingly important in the seasons to come was barely present in Season One. Yes, there were hints of a conspiracy, but it isn't clear that the show's creators were aware of where things were going. As Chris Carter has acknowledged, they were making this up as they went along.
And what can one say of the casting of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson? The pair are such an iconic presence that it is simply impossible to think of the show and not think of the two, as if the two were linked to it by metaphysical necessity (like trying to imagine the original STAR TREK with someone other than William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy as Kirk and Spock). They are not merely perfect for the roles; they are essential for the roles. It is probably not amiss to say that as soon as those two were cast in the parts, the success of the show was assured. Things did get complicated near the end of Season One when Gillian Anderson learned she was pregnant. Throughout the history of TV, series have had to decide how to cope with the pregnancies of their stars. I LOVE LUCY made Lucy's pregnancy an integral part of the show. SEX AND THE CITY took a hiatus during the critical part of Sarah Jessica Parker's pregnancy. ANGEL made Cordelia Chase the carrier of a demon when Charisma Carpenter was pregnant. As would happen later on WILL AND GRACE, it was decided to pretend that Gillian Anderson was not pregnant at all. As a result, towards the end of the season and especially in the early parts of Season Two, filming became increasingly challenging. One can actually play a game noting how they hide her midsection in shot after shot. She stands behind a lot of high tables, sit behind desks, leans out of a doorway only to have her trenchcoat fall forward to hide her stomach, and otherwise makes herself hard to see. Nonetheless, her face got fuller and fuller as time went by. Noticeably in the famous scene in which Deep Throat is shot, her's is very clearly the face of someone who is very pregnant.
The worldview of the show is interesting, and if there is an aspect of the show that I would quibble with, this is it. On the one hand the show is driven by a complete paranoia about the inner, hidden workings of government bureaucracy. Government is presented as secretive, patriarchal, all knowing, belligerent, and more than a little inhuman. On the other hand, all supernatural and alien phenomena and entities are presented as aggressive, hostile to human life, and unapproachable. The gap between Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and THE X-FILES couldn't be more pronounced. In Season One "The Truth is Out There" the intro pronounces, and what is "out there" ain't our friend. It has had some negative political impact as well. My own feeling is that we need a strong central government to oppose the almost overwhelming power of large corporations. Teddy Roosevelt became a trust buster only because he was able to expand the power of government. In the past five years we have seen an unprecedented expansion of the prerogatives of Big Business and corporate interests. Instead of increasing regulation and oversight of business, we see even more calls for less interference and yet more tax cuts. Although the makers of THE X-FILES were left-leaning politically, I fear the show has help foster some attitudes that aide right wing causes.
Although the show started before the advent of DVD, it is absolutely perfect for DVD viewing. THE X-FILES is an atmospheric show, and nothing could be worse for breaking the mood than a commercial. There is simply no better way to view these shows than on DVD. And now we can all afford to buy and not merely rent them.
Description of The X-Files: The Complete First Season
Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 12/02/2008 Run time: 1104 minutes Rating: NrIn the first season of The X-Files, creator Chris Carter was uncertain of the series' future, so each of the episodes is a self-contained suspense story; they do not delve deep into the ongoing X-Files mythology or turn to self-parody and humor as do episodes in later seasons. Yet, these episodes display the elements for which the show would become famous: the cinematic production values and top-notch special effects, the stark lighting of the Vancouver sets, the atmospheric halo of Mark Snow's score, and the clever plots dealing with subjects ranging from the occult, religion, and monsters to urban legends, conspiracy theories, and science fiction. Most importantly, season 1 introduces FBI agents Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox "Spooky" Mulder (David Duchovny), two of the most attractive government officials around. Scully is the serious-minded medical scientist assigned to join Mulder on the X-Files, a division of the FBI dealing with the paranormal. Mulder is the intuitive thinker with a dry wit, a passionate believer in the existence of paranormal phenomena and one of the few characters on television smart enough to figure out who the bad guy is before the audience does. Their muddled relationship, a deep friendship laced with sexual tension, provides the human heart in a world where the bizarre and horrible lurk in everyday society.
Those unfamiliar with The X-Files often view all the fuss with the same skepticism with which Scully first regards her new partner's ideas. But just as she comes to realize the uncanny accuracy of Mulder's outlandish theories, newcomers to The X-Files who sample a few episodes in this boxed set will likely find themselves riveted to their television late into the night. And undoubtedly, the shadows and creaking noises in the house that evening will seem more menacing than usual. --Eugene Wei
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