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The X-Files

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6.9/10 • 1.7K

1998-06-192h 1m

MysteryScience FictionThriller

Fight the future.

Mulder and Scully, now taken off the FBI's X Files cases, must find a way to fight the shadowy elements of the government to find out the truth about a conspiracy that might mean the alien colonization of Earth.

Directors
Rob Bowman
Editors
Stephen Mark

Top Billed Cast

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  1. David Duchovny

    David Duchovny

    Agent Fox Mulder

  2. Gillian Anderson

    Gillian Anderson

    Agent Dana Scully

  3. Mitch Pileggi

    Mitch Pileggi

    Assistant Director Walter Skinner

  4. William B. Davis

    William B. Davis

    The Cigarette-Smoking Man

  5. John Neville

    John Neville

    The Well-Manicured Man

  6. Martin Landau

    Martin Landau

    Kurtzweil

  7. Jeffrey DeMunn

    Jeffrey DeMunn

    Bronschweig

  8. Tom Braidwood

    Tom Braidwood

    Frohike

  9. Blythe Danner

    Blythe Danner

    Cassidy

Reviews1

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Wuchak Avatar

Wuchak

Sep 2, 2025

7/10

The best of The X Files After an explosion reminiscent of the Oklahoma City bombing, FBI agents Mulder and Scully stumble on an otherworldly virus and an intricate governmental cover-up. Their investigation leads them all over the map and, ultimately, to Antarctica, with numerous mysterious happenings and shadowy meetings. Originally known simply as "The X Files" but later as "The X-Files: Fight the Future," this 1998 film is essentially an elongated episode of the TV series with a bigger budget. I've never been more than a casual viewer (seeing 10-12 of the top-rated episodes) and, to me, this film pretty much represents the best the series had to offer, except that I favor the MOTW episodes as opposed to the alien conspiracy ones. “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” from season 3 is a good example. I just prefer the human interest and uniqueness of such episodes compared to the listless redundancy of the alien conspiracy segments. Everyone knows that creator Chris Carter was inspired by The Night Stalker TV Series/movies when he formulated the show. Whereas that brief 70s’ series was overt and almost cartoony with its depictions of the paranormal, The X Files always took a more subdued, realistic approach. To some, this made it boring; to others, fascinating; to me, a mixture of both. The way the plot in the movie unfolds is similar to "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark," albeit grimmer and quasi-believable. Other than the paranormal, the appeal of The X Files has always been Gillian Anderson. What a uniquely beautiful redhead with her intelligent, cynical expressions. There are some glaring geographical problems, unfortunately. For instance, Dallas is located in east Texas, which is technically on the eastern side of the USA and looks it; it’s very green. There are no desert-like landscapes anywhere close. Producers obviously did this to save on costs, but why not have those particular sequences take place outside of El Paso in west Texas? Or how about nearby Santa Fe or Albuquerque, New Mexico? Furthermore, a car trip from Dallas to DC takes 20 hours, not a single night’s drive as shown; not to mention traveling from Dallas to the Mexican border takes over 9 hours, not a couple of hours. It runs 2 hours, 2 minutes (with the Theatrical Release running a minute or two shorter) and was shot in California, British Columbia, Texas, New Jersey, London and Washington DC. GRADE: B/B+

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$66,000,000.00
Revenue
$189,198,313.00
Keywords
helicopterspace marinegovernmentbombmutationextraterrestrial technologyobsessionfbisecret societysecret organizationsecret labx-filesufoconspiracyovine