The X Files (1998)

Mulder and Scully must fight the government in a conspiracy and find the truth about an alien colonization of Earth.

Director:

Rob Bowman

Writers:

Chris Carter (story), Frank Spotnitz (story)

Stars:

David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, John Neville

7 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Duchovny	...	Agent Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Agent Dana Scully
John Neville	...	The Well-Manicured Man
William B. Davis	...	The Cigarette-Smoking Man
Martin Landau	...	Kurtzweil
Mitch Pileggi	...	Assistant Director Walter Skinner
Jeffrey DeMunn	...	Bronschweig (as Jeffrey De Munn)
Blythe Danner	...	Cassidy
Terry O'Quinn	...	Michaud
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Strughold
Lucas Black	...	Stevie
Christopher Fennell	...	2nd Boy (as Chris Fennell)
Cody Newton	...	3rd Boy
Blake Stokes	...	4th Boy
Dean Haglund	...	Langly

Storyline

With problems appearing between FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, a dangerous conspiracy is starting to appear. A deadly virus, which appears to be of extraterrestrial origin has appeared, which could destroy all life on Earth. With the help of a paranoid doctor, Alvin Kurtzweil, Mulder and Scully must act fast in order to save everyone on the planet.

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Plot Keywords:

agent | bomb | government | alien | conspiracy | 

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Taglines:

Fight

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some intense violence and gore

Did You Know?

Trivia

The final scene takes place in Foum Tatouine, which is an actual place (in Tunisia), which was also used for filming the scenes on the planet Tatooine in the Star Wars movies.

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Goofs

When the helicopter is flying through Dallas, it passes the "One Wilshire" building in Downtown L.A. As it lands, the building to the right bears the "Pacific Bell" logo which would not be found in Texas.

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Quotes

[on the phone]
Ben Bronschweig, M.D.: It's Bronschweig. Sir, the impossible scenario we never planned for? Well, we better come up with a plan.

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Alternate Versions

The video release has additional footage not shown in the theatrical release:

• In the opening scene you now see more of the alien. In the theatrical release we see it fight off one of the cavemen, killing it, and the other caveman gets up to see it lying on the ground draining out the black blood (or what fans know as black oil). In the video release, we see it run off after it kills one of the cavemen, and when the other caveman gets up, he tracks it down and then kills it using the broken end of his torch.
• In the scene with Mulder talking to the Well Manicured Man in the car, he reveals to Mulder that Samantha, Mulder's sister, was abducted by aliens at the request of her father, William Mulder, so she could be part of the colonization project, thus ensuring her survival in the colonization of Earth by the visitors. Also revealed is that when plans went awry, Mulder was intended, by his father, to seek the truth and reveal what had been done.
• There is also an added scene in the video release with Mulder running down the street after the hospital scene.

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Connections

Featured in Reflections on 'The X-Files' (2004)

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Soundtracks

More Than This
(uncredited)
Written by Robert Smith
Performed by The Cure

User Reviews

A laughable cult to be derided like The Invaders, Land of the Giants or, indeed, Lost In Space. Wrong.

When it began you may have thought this paranoid adventure's destiny, in say fifteen years time, was a slot after The Waltons on a Sunday afternoon. A laughable cult to be derided like The Invaders, Land of the Giants or, indeed, Lost In Space. Wrong. It has matured into the most revered SF phenomenon since Star Trek and as those champions of hair, ZZ Top, once proclaimed it's 'got legs'.

Forsaking opening credits or a slow build-up, director Rob Bowman propels us on to a roller-coaster ride of moderately daft spooky shenanigans and grand effects. All the same elements from the TV series are here, shadowy high-ranking figures controlling the planet - "These people have been secretly negotiating a planned Armageddon", plenty of furtive glances and hellish beasties from the dawn of time. Plus we have the two small box giants, Mulder (David 'Mondeo Man' Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian 'the FHM pin-up' Anderson), coming across marvellously well on the big screen.

In fact, for a show which thrives on a claustrophobic feel, this wide-screen treatment is cleverly handled. Bowman arms his two leads with a witty, edgy script, and pits them against the pervading evil through a combination of Aliens, James Bond and Alfred Hitchcock action sequences.

Ultimately, The X-Files is very entertaining and thankfully devoid of any product placing or blessed meteors.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

19 June 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blackwood

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$66,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$30,138,758, 21 June 1998

Gross USA:

$83,898,313

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$189,176,423

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Ten Thirteen Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1