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X-Files: Fight the Future (1998)

Rating: 8 out of 10

One television series dominated the ratings and awards ceremonies around the world during the 1990s. The same series revolutionised the television horror and sci-fi genres, paving the way for a range of similar ‘copycat’ and spin-off series’. Books, magazines, videos and music CDs based on the program have run riot through their respective charts. It has also created idols out of its two stars, whose on-screen love life is perhaps more complicated and certainly more captivating than those on some of Aaron Spelling’s serial dramas. The series, of course, is The X-Files, and its creator Chris Carter.

Chris Carter continued to push the X-Files universe into another dimension in creating the feature film. Certainly, the film does play like an extended episode though it could be argued that this is how audiences want it to play. Agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) are their usual cool, brooding selves and Chris Carter’s masterful screenplay cuts no corners in maintaining the series’ patented blend of thrills, conspiracies and satire.

Carter’s screenplay also leaves a number of questions unanswered, including the agonising development of Mulder and Scully’s relationship, the reasons behind the multiple government cover-ups and the mystery surrounding extra-terrestrial beings and viruses found on Earth. It could be said that Carter increased the program’s pace for the big screen, hitting the audience with three superbly atmospheric teasers before progressing through 120-minutes of edge-of-your-seat action.

The first teaser, particularly, which takes place in “North Texas, 35,000 B.C.”, is cut in a manner that allows it to flow together effortlessly, while chilling the audience at every step. By cutting on loud beats of Mark Snow’s tremendous score, and by leaving the spine-tingling attack sequences up to the imagination to piece together, as it were, the sequence is both a fitting introduction to big screen dynamics and a masterfully emotive tool that draws the viewer into the bizarre world of the X-Files without subjecting them to a voice-over or text-scrolling introduction as in many science fiction films. The film’s director, Rob Bowman, and Chris Carter can be applauded for the manner in which they were able to contain the look, feel, pace and interactions of five seasons of programming into the first half of this film, enabling it to stand alone and to appeal to those who aren’t familiar with the series.

Rob Bowman is a relative newcomer to the feature film scene, though his television directing experience is wide and varied, many of his programs becoming cult classics. Bowman has directed multiple episodes of MacGyver, Star Trek: The Next Generation, M.A.N.T.I.S and, of course, The X-Files. He has carefully and conveniently crafted the film version of The X-Files to include conventional elements that would appeal to the regular viewer, such as the presence of Cancer Man (William B. Davis), Well-Manicured Man (John Neville), alien parasites, torches, cell-phones and brief romantic interludes. He has also effectively integrated a number of guest performances into the complex X-Files diegesis. Shine’s Armin Mueller-Stahl and the inimitable Martin Landau both contribute brilliant supporting performances.

The X-Files’ transition from the small screen has been conducted without encountering the hiccups that have cursed a number of similar based-on-TV events in the past, perhaps because of the ‘mini-film’ nature of the series’ episodic construction. Another pleasant surprise is that the film’s script and characters have been sketched in such a manner as to appeal to both the hardened X-Phile and to the newcomer, keeping the strength and unique nature of the series alive leading into its sixth successful season.

Review written by Joshua Smith, 1998.

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