The X-Files: Revelations - An Essential Guide to the Movie (DVD)

As an enamored, but definitely casual, fan of The X-Files, I do appreciate the release of this new two-disc offering from Fox Home Entertainment, which is meant to serve as a primer for the feature length film, X-Files: I Want To Believe.

I've really only scratched the surface on the whole alien abduction conspiracy aspect of the groundbreaking and long-running television series (1993 - 2002), as I leaned more toward the standalone horror and dark comedy episodes (of which there were many). The movie is set sometime after the series end, but the themes, according to series maestro Frank Spotnitz, are extracted from the focus of the first handful of seasons.

Naturally, the Pilot is included, in which we meet FBI investigator Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Scully has been assigned to a new partner — the partner nobody wants. His name is Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), but his coworkers snidely call him "Spooky Mulder" because he's an obsessed eccentric who wants to believe in all those unexplained and curiously classified FBI cases, known internally as the "X-Files". In this episode, we first see Mulder's famous flying saucer wall poster with the words I Want To Believe emblazoned across it; we get a glimpse of the team's will-be infamous nemesis, Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis); and find out a little about aliens and how they factor into our world (it's not a good thing).

In the second and third episodes presented, there's some personal horror involving the death of Scully's dad who may or may not be coming back as a ghost to warn her of the dangers that lie ahead. In the episode entitled The Host, we meet fan favorite, Flukeman (Darin Morgan), a genetic mutant who lives in the sewer system while taking innocent lives; and during the introduction to Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, Spotnitz reveals that Bob Newhart was actually their first choice for the role of Peter Boyle's clairvoyant insurance investigator (lucky thing for the late Boyle, as this part won him an Emmy Award).

One of my favorite X-Files episodes of all time, Bad Blood (from Season 5), is included on the disc, and this makes me anticipate the upcoming feature film that much more. Does it mean there will be some black comedy in the movie? I sure hope so, because when Mulder and Scully are going for the gallows humor, there is no better deadpan duo. This Rashomon-style vampire episode, mostly set in Texas's trailer trash territory, is truly unforgettable — yet worth seeing again and again. A pre-Legally Blonde Luke Wilson stars as the befuddled sheriff of the small town that's suddenly beset by bloodsuckers, and the vampire-bite action is perfectly balanced between goofy and gory.

Number of discs: 2

Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: July 8, 2008

Run Time: 352 minutes

 Disc 1:

• Introduction to Pilot by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz

Pilot 9/10/1993

• Introduction to Beyond the Sea by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz

Beyond the Sea 1/7/1994

• Introduction to The Host by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz

The Host 9/23/1994

• Introduction to Clyde Bruckmans Final Repose by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz

Clyde Bruckmans Final Repose 10/13/95

Disc 2:

• Introduction to Memento Mori by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz

Memento Mori 2/9/97

• Introduction to Post Modern Prometheus by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz

Post Modern Prometheus 11/30/97

• Introduction to Bad Blood by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz

Bad Blood 2/22/98

• Introduction to Milagro by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz

Milagro 4/18/99

• X-Files Movie Teaser trailer

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