Was the series better than this film?
The film was ho-hum.
sharewithout question.
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MovieChat Forums > The X Files (1998) Discussion > Was the series better than this film?
Absolutely. The X-Files works much better as a TV show than it does on the big screen.
shareOr perhaps the X Files has not yet had the chance to work better on the big screen? The first film was trying to please everyone and that is always impossible to do. The second film was better for not trying to do that although many people were expecting it to be something it couldn't be with the small amount of money they had. I'm not pretending it was the greatest moment in the history of the X Files but many people (myself included ) enjoyed it a lot more than you may be forgiven for thinking based on the reviews of some others. Those people wanted a blockbuster.
Hopefully the next X Files movie will be the big one!
I don't think the series and the first film are meant to be considered separately for such a comparison. Based on when the film was in theaters and where the series was in it's storyline at the time, it's obvious that FTF was meant to be both a compliment to the series, and at the same time, a teaser designed to draw in anyone who was seeing the film who wasn't already watching the series as a new series viewer.
shareThe series had its moments, but there were also a lot of filler episodes, IMHO. The film focused on the conspiracy storyline that drove about 30%(?) of the episodes in the series, but the others were mostly one off stories. WhoToTrust is right - the film fitted into the series storyline at that moment, and the conspiracy storyline still had a fair bit further to go afterwards, but I think it flogged it to death in the end.
shareThe series had its moments, but there were also a lot of filler episodes, IMHO. The film focused on the conspiracy storyline that drove about 30%(?) of the episodes in the series, but the others were mostly one off stories. WhoToTrust is right - the film fitted into the series storyline at that moment, and the conspiracy storyline still had a fair bit further to go afterwards, but I think it flogged it to death in the end.
Just because an episode wasn't about the alien conspiracy didn't mean it was filler. "BEYOND THE SEA", for example is far from filler, it's one of the greatest episodes of TV ever produced.
Proud member of the Pro-film Anti-digital Society (PFADS). share
I personally loved the film but it's just kind of a long filler episode (with no details that made the show storyline so amazing and brilliantly detailed and enthralling) that the fans didn't need. It clearly tried to be a stand-alone and I, personally, think they did a pretty good job but, unless you know the show and plot, you're not going to get nearly enough out of it. I loved the action/chase scenes but they're nothing that you wouldn't see in the show on a regular basis. (I actually loved the bee part, don't care what anyone says).
If you think about it though, they just kind of repeated the storyline in season 2 in which the FBI destroyed the X-Files section of the FBI and separated Mulder and Scully yet they secretly got together to pursue supernatural cases. At least in the movie they could still work together though, although that, I guess, made it less interesting since it was less taboo. Damn it! Now I'm reconsidering whether I loved one of my childhood favorite movies!! Well, I guess it's not as bad as when I went back and watched an old Goosebumps on Netflix.
I always found the series kinda ho-hum myself. I just watched the first half of the 1998 film and it's definitely less ho-hum than the series (at least the 12-15 episodes I saw, including the first two).
I'd say they're about the same, but the movie is a little more exciting.
Some of the early episodes weren't spectacular. The show was trying to find its feet, and never really got going until toward the end of the first season. By the second it was really going, and the third really was spectacular. By the time FTF was released, it felt too mainstream to me, as if they were afraid of offending a mass audience in a way they definitely weren't with the show.
shareI like the movies as well as the show, but as a fan I think the tv show was better than the movies. With the movies I feel like they had to try to satisfy to many people.
shareThis movie is a historical part of the tv-series, so i am wondering about this subject.
What happened in this movie is even mentioned in a later episode in Season 6, the episode Two Fathers if i remember correctly.
It is only the movie I Want To Believe who stands completely on its own, because it take place a long time after the FBI shut down the X-Files for good in the last episode of the tv-show.
Both of these films had big obstacles. The first had to worry about happening while the series was still going, and the second film had to contend with happening long after the series had finished. There has been a lot of criticism of both films by people who conveniently ignore those obstacles, and they always some how forget that CC did well on both occasions to face those obstacles. No one can truthfully say he didn't try.
shareI think Carter handled the obstacles well with the first film. I saw it in theaters and, at the time, didn't watch the show regularly (had seen maybe less than 10 full episodes) but I still really liked the film. Now that I have seen every episode I appreciate the first film even more for fitting into the show's mytharc.
The second film, considering the show had been off the air for a while, really should have came back with a BANG. Instead they chose to make a very low-key film not involving aliens or even the paranormal which the show was known for, and release it in the summer a week after The Dark Knight. Not a bad film at all, but seemed set up for failure and was a disappointment. Especially since if it did well, maybe we would have had another film or two since then.
On a side note, it's interesting how the internet changes the consensus of a film over time. After the first film came out, everyone I knew who saw it loved it and was hoping for a sequel. Now it's almost impossible to find anything positive about the film.
by johnnydinkis - I think Carter handled the obstacles well with the first film. I saw it in theaters and, at the time, didn't watch the show regularly (had seen maybe less than 10 full episodes) but I still really liked the film. Now that I have seen every episode I appreciate the first film even more for fitting into the show's mytharc.
The second film, considering the show had been off the air for a while, really should have came back with a BANG. Instead they chose to make a very low-key film not involving aliens or even the paranormal which the show was known for, and release it in the summer a week after The Dark Knight. Not a bad film at all, but seemed set up for failure and was a disappointment. Especially since if it did well, maybe we would have had another film or two since then.
On a side note, it's interesting how the internet changes the consensus of a film over time. After the first film came out, everyone I knew who saw it loved it and was hoping for a sequel. Now it's almost impossible to find anything positive about the film.
I'm still puzzled when I see people suggest the 2nd movie included nothing regarding the paranormal when one of the main characters was a priest, exhibiting psychic connections with other people, because of either past personal association or the more basic physiological connections being formed by organ transplantations. While those connections were pointed out in more subtle ways in the 2nd movie than they may have been in individual series episodes based on the differing time constraints of a movie compared to a series episode, they WERE still there.
As far as the overall feel of each movie goes, in my opinion they represented each of the respective times in which they actually occurred in real life very well.
The first movie had a much grander feel and scope at a time when the series was VERY popular in overall society worldwide. The second movie on the other hand takes place years after the series ended at a time when it isn't getting the same attention it once was, and has the main characters living low key lives not getting the same attention that THEY once were, yet still obviously exhibiting the same beliefs in the same possibilities that they always did and illustrating the root premise of the series for ALL viewers (already familiar with the series or not), hence the title.
As far as it being almost impossible to find anything positive about the first film, is it possible that viewpoint simply stems from the fact that many obviously still feel short-changed (negative) that they've yet to be presented with a resolution to the overall mythology that the first movie was mainly about?
If that's the case, while there are admittedly some instances in life where two negatives do actually result in a positive (mathematics, magnetism, etc), I have to say it also puzzles me that some might be thinking that being negative about the first mythology-based film may induce Chris Carter to start feeling negative about not having offered resolution to the mythology for them in the form of a third movie, resulting in him starting to show more positive signs of offering a third mythology-based movie. Is the tactic supposed to be some sort of negative+negative=positive, reverse psychology kind of thing? If so, how has that been working out so far? share
Yes, I would say the best TV episodes of the series were better than this film.
The 1998 movie was average at best; it feels like a rehash of all the main "mythology" stories from the first five seasons.
You do have to give Carter a break because this was made while the show was still on air and he had to think of new ideas for a sixth season of a show that he only planned to do five.
They tried way too hard to add that extra blockbuster effect. Plus most fans of the show are aware that it's Canadian shooting locations added to the tone and look of the show. Not only were some of the scenes too over-the-top for the regular X-Files fan (the caveman scene for example) but they went for a much too grand of a look that took away too much attention from the film's plot. The show itself suffered when they moved shooting to Los Angeles from S6 onwards.
Season 1-5 was and will always be XF's prime. It gets bad around S8 where it only becomes worth it for the stand alones.
I remember being dissapointed by the very last episode
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I enjoyed the movie a lot. I like how it was linked to the series. However instead of making film a movie on the big screen I would probably have this a 4 part arch in season 6.
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