Taglines: Discover the past, live the present, fight the future.
The X-Files movie storyline. This 60-million-dollar science fiction suspense drama (marketed with an additional 25 million dollars), was adapted from the popular TV series The X-Files — arriving in theaters while the Emmy-winning series was still being aired, continuing plot threads familiar to many of the series’ 25 million viewers, and featuring several familiar recurring characters introduced during the previous five TV seasons.
In 15,000 B.C., a strange creature attacks a caveman. Cut to present day, when a boy at the same North Texas spot falls into a pit and is contaminated by a black substance. When a bomb threatens the Dallas Federal Building, special FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) locate the device but are unable to prevent the explosion. The agency blames Mulder and Scully for the disaster, subjecting them to lengthy interrogations while trying to sever their partnership.
In a bar, conspiracy theorist Kurtzweil (Martin Landau), a friend of Mulder’s father, tells Mulder about the group behind the explosion, the cover-up of the boy’s death, the bodies of four infected rescue workers removed from the Federal Building, the secret government, and the forthcoming plague. Mulder and Scully set out to find answers, and their investigation becomes a foray into the fantastic.
The X-Files (also known as The X-Files: Fight the Future) is a 1998 American science fiction thriller film directed by Rob Bowman. Chris Carter wrote the screenplay. The story is by Carter and Frank Spotnitz. It is the first feature film based on Carter’s television series The X-Files, which revolves around fictional unsolved cases called the X-Files and the characters solving them.
Five main characters from the television series appear in the film: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, John Neville, and William B. Davis reprise their respective roles as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner, Well-Manicured Man, and the Cigarette-Smoking Man. The film was promoted with the tagline Fight the Future.
The film takes place between seasons five (episode “The End”) and six (episode “The Beginning”) of the television series, and is based upon the series’ extraterrestrial mythology. The story follows agents Mulder and Scully, removed from their usual jobs on the X-Files, and investigating the bombing of a building and the destruction of criminal evidence. They uncover what appears to be a government conspiracy attempting to hide the truth about an alien colonization of Earth.
Carter decided to make a feature film to explore the show’s mythology on a wider scale, as well as appealing to non-fans. He wrote the story with Frank Spotnitz at the end of 1996 and, with a budget from 20th Century Fox, filming began in 1997, following the end of the show’s fourth season. Carter assembled cast and crew from the show, as well as some other, well-known actors such as Blythe Danner and Martin Landau, to begin production on what they termed “Project Blackwood”. The film was produced by Carter and Daniel Sackheim. Mark Snow continued his role as X-Files composer to create the film’s score.
The film premiered on June 19, 1998, in the United States, and received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Although some enjoyed the style and effects of the film, others found the plot confusing and viewed it as little more than an extended episode of the series. A sequel, entitled I Want to Believe, was released ten years later.
The X-Files (1998)
Directed by: Rob Bowman
Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Martin Landau, Blythe Danner, Armin Mueller-Stahl, John Neville, William B. Davis, Lucas Black, Mitch Pileggi
Screenplay by: Chris Carter
Production Design by: Christopher Nowak
Cinematography by: Ward Russell
Film Editing by: Stephen Mark
Costume Design by: Marlene Stewart
Set Decoration by: Jackie Carr
Art Direction by: Gregory Bolton, Marc Fisichell, Hugo Santiago
Music by: Mark Snow
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some intense violence and gore.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: June 19, 1998
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