One for the files
Certainly one of the best aspects of Chris Carter and his team of talented writers is that fact they could draw you into a story and keep you there. Regardless of the goofiness of the story itself, such as a giant leach in the New Jersey sewers, there’s no denying how talented they were in their hay-day.
I saw this because 20th Century Fox has just released X-Files Revelations on DVD for preparation of the second movie coming out this month. This disc set gives you the best of the best, or at least in Chris Charter’s mind some of the best of what was offered. It also might give clues about the relevance of the upcoming movie and what to expect. Whatever the reason, it certainly isn’t a bad compilation of of good shows from the X-Files in its prime. Here’s what you get on this DVD:
Disc One:
-Pilot (from Season 1)
-Beyond the Sea (from Season 1)
-The Host (from Season 2)
-Clyde Bruckmans Final Repose (from Season 3)
Disc Two:
-Memento Mori (from Season 4)
-Post-Modern Prometheus (from Season 5)
-Bad Blood (from Season 5)
-Milagro (from Season 6)
Bonus features:
-2008 theatrical trailer
-WonderCon talent panel session
Again, all of these shows are worthy to watch, but there are a few that make you want to watch the seasons. For example, Memento Mori, which is probably near the peak of the show in terms of seasons, is about Scully’s ongoing battle with cancer in her sinus cavity. It’s one of the most heart-wrenching episodes that actually brings the show to a very dramatic and human level. That’s tough to pull-off when you’re trying to write sci-fi. The fact that you only get one episode from a series of episodes regarding this storyline is tough. I’m not sure if you’re suppose to go out and buy the season or what, but it’s difficult only having that one particular show. When you see something like that you have wonder if the DVD is worth it. Sure it picks the best of the best, but for a continual storyline it’s difficult not wanting the rest of the story, which you can’t have in X-Files Revelations.
All is not lost, just seems like it was misplaced
Aside from this, the other downfall to this DVD set is that it lacks DVD substance. Having a WonderCon panel and theatrical movie trailer for the next film isn’t exactly the best set of features. Where’s the commentary? Where’s the extra beef for the particular episodes. It couldn’t take long to add old or new commentary to the episodes, especially for episodes like Bad Blood, which is probably one of the funniest X-Files episodes to date.
With that said, the only real feature is the WonderCon panel discussion and it’s entertaining, but just not any real substance. I don’t count the theatrical trailer as a feature, more like a promotion.
In the end, there can be only eight
Regardless, the episodes, such as Bad Blood and the show’s pilot, that count make this worth having. The fact that these are probably the best out of all nine seasons seems to make it manageable for someone’s DVD shelf. For the die-hard fan, this might not seem worth the time or effort, since you could probably just watch the panel discussion and theatrical trailer on the Internet.