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 & 10 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 | fbi | bomb | government | alien | 

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Taglines:

Cherish the past. Enjoy the present. Because the truth is coming. Fight the future.

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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

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, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$83,898,313

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$105,300,000

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chris Carter originally wanted to end the television series after the fifth season, and continue the show mythology with a series of films, beginning with this one. The Fox Network, however, saw the series as too profitable, and forced Carter to write this film as a tie-in between two seasons of the show, a task which he found very daunting.

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Goofs

Mulder has gloves on when he falls down the ice chute in the Antarctic, but the gloves mysteriously disappear when he comes out of the chute into the main spaceship area.

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Quotes

Fire Captain Miles Cooles: [to Bronschwieg] What about my men! What about my men!

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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

References Independence Day (1996)

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Soundtracks

Teotihuacan
Written by Noel Gallagher
Performed by Noel Gallagher
Produced by Mark Coyle and Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher performs courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment (U.K.) Limited

User Reviews

If viewed over 9 seasons,it plays out as a novel

In my view, the movie serves as the centerpiece of a 200 episode novel. The team of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson deserve to be listed among the great screen duos of all time. They made characters come to life as people. For seven years they were the centerpiece of what is likely to be remembered as the show of the 90's. Drama, comedy, they did it all well and different. Season 8 and 9 are not in that league due to the reduced presence of Duchovny and Anderson and a burned out core writing staff, but it was still better than most of its rivals. The movie essentially can serve as a cliffnote to the first five years, although I highly recommend buying the season box sets and start from the beginning. For the film itself, keep in mind that the X-Files in the end was about the journey of Mulder and Scully to each other and not really about conspiracies or aliens. In the end, that was the truth they were always searching for.