Customer Reviews

The X-Files: The First Season [7 Discs]

5 star:		(140)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This reduced price edition of The X-Files: Season 1 differs from the original not only in packaging but in content.
The episodes are all here, but the bonus features found on the 7th disc is not. This is evidenced here:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=5019
I also have personally checked this and other reissued sets in the store.

A masterful series exploring the unexplained. Its conception was brilliant, its production spectacular, and its themes ahead-of-its-time. The X-Files is a series which should never be forgotten.

Chris Carter, earlier a freelance writer and associate editor of the magazine "Surfacing", afterwards initiated into a semi-successful writing career for Walt Disney in 1985, was given a chance to help a struggling FOX network in the early 90s. Tired of the comedies he had been working on and inspired by a report that 3.7 million Americans had been abducted by aliens, Carter wrote the pilot for a very different kind of television series in 1992. This idea placed both a believer (Fox Mulder) and a skeptic (Dana Scully) together to investigate a series of unsolved paranormal mysteries, and to peer into the very well-guarded secrets of covert FBI and military factions. These often involved the 'Shadow Government', responsible for safe-guarding certain classified truths at any cost.

Despite the carefully developed plots, Carter never wanted the cases to dominate the characters; instead, the series is very character-oriented, focusing deeply on their pasts, beliefs and personal struggles. The show was filmed in Vancouver, Canada, which supplied the filmmakers with ample rich forests in which to film haunting scenes for eerie effect. The series is ultimately about the value of truth, about how passionately some of us are willing to fight to find it. It is part horror, part murder mystery, and part government conspiracy intrigue and part mythological adventure. The brilliant photography, lighting, acting and directing added up to make a fantastic series which will live on long after the series' end. I also believe it is the most realistic series ever aired on television ... if the fact that I'm calling a show which believes 'we are not alone' realistic doesn't get me tagged as a total nut, that is.

In the first season we meet a number of noteworthy characters. The first is the Cigarette-smoking Man; an enigmatic figure who was never intended to be a main character but whose curious presence earned him a place of central importance in the series, as a high-up member of the Shadow Government. In this season he only speaks one line. There is Deep Throat; Mulder's first informant, famed for uttering the words, "Trust no one." There is Eugene Victor Tooms -- a liver-eating, body-stretching, 40-year-hibernating nemesis famed for killing his victims in seemingly impossible locations. Skinner is also introduced; a stone-faced FBI boss known for 'skinning' his agents down from individualism, but who will later in the series become a likeable and central character.

For this set I can tell you that the packaging is good, but not great (it is reasonable for the price.) There are six disks, each with its own unique artwork, two to a thin plastic case which are together stored inside a sleeve, which is in turn stored inside another sleeve. Some of the teeth in the plastic cases were broken off, likely due to crude handling before packaging. But otherwise everything was in excellent condition. The sound and visual quality are very good. (And it is in color, in case the B&W cover has you wondering.) I cannot wait to watch season two (on DVD, that is!)

In short, this is an adult series which I highly recommend for anyone feeling open-minded or just plain bored with the usual. It is a classic series, and on DVD!!

"The truth is out there."

This is a great way for fans of The X-files to add the DVDs to their collection. Previously, the set has cost $110. At a savings of over 50%, who could resist?

I think it is silly to complain about the features not being here. If you want the features, buy the collector's edition! Shell out the extra bucks!

This set is Fox's way of giving the fans a chance to own their own slice of tv history without having to forgo their monthly mortgage payment.

Buy it now! Buy it today!

The show rocked when it all started in 1993 and it once bought it breaks back the creepyness and scaryness that it had then. I love it!! Shot beautifully and if your a fan of the show its a must have. My ratting if I could make mine 100/100 I feel in the love with the show and after re living alot of the boxsets Im home baby! Im home

When the show debuted on September 10, 1993, every viewer was stunned. Never had a pilot episode been so fun, or serious, or strange. The pilot episode remains a favorite of every X-Phile.

After that, Mulder's first informant, Deep Throat, appeared in an episode bearing his name. Then Tooms slithered through ducts in Squeeze and Tooms. Green microscopic buggies invaded a nice little forest in Darkness Falls, and Mulder confronted his sister's abduction whilst dealing with another in Conduit. The series came to an excellent finale with The Erlenmeyer Flask, where Deep Throat is shot dead, and the X-Files are terminated.

This is the season that unleashed the X-Files phenomenon upon the world. The X-Files, although cancelled in 2002, remains the staple of science fiction TV and is still popular because of these giftsets. The special features are fantastic, featuring interviews with Chris Carter. The picture is top-notch, along with a roaring Dolby Surround audio track.

X-Phile or not, buy this set if you're looking for great TV.

I caught up with the first season of THE X-FILES via these DVDs recently, and as ever I am struck by the freshness of the chemistry between David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as Mulder and Scully. Even in some of the lesser filler episodes you rarely get a sense of the two phoning in their performances like they were sometimes wont to do in later seasons. Already in the "Pilot," you sense these two clicking along wonderfully, and it continued on for quite a few more episodes afterwards. It's quite refreshing.

Overall, this first season was quite good. Inconsistent, maybe, but that can be forgiven as creator Chris Carter was still trying to find the show's distinctive voice. It may not be quite a match for the second or third seasons, which have many great moments and episodes among them, but there are still some very entertaining and creative episodes to be found here, most of which admirably emphasize intelligent horror over hollow shock value. As for the so-called "mythology" episodes of the season, they are quite refreshing to watch too: episodes during a time when the mythology wasn't so convoluted and overblown, when it was all simply a matter of touching upon our embedded paranoias about extraterrestrials or our government instead of degenerating into the bloated sci-fi soap opera it was to become in later seasons. Back then, the paranoia was fun, as you can probably sense in wonderful early episodes like "Deep Throat" and "E.B.E."

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Thus, some highlights and other random comments on this first season:

The first four episodes of the show really set the wheels in motion for THE X-FILES. The "Pilot" skillfully introduced us to our two main characters, and "Deep Throat" went further with themes touched upon in the previous episode (as well as introducing Mulder's first secret source in Deep Throat). "Squeeze" was the first "standalone" X-FILES mystery, and it set an early standard for creepy effectiveness and sheer creativity of concept (admit it, the idea of a genetic mutant who can squeeze through almost anything is kinda scary). And "Conduit" was an emotional mystery that showed us just how much Mulder's experience as a witness to his sister's abduction had truly affected him. All four were near-great episodes that set the show up quite nicely.

I am going to respectfully dissent with those who bash "Ghost in the Machine" as one of this season's lowlights (although I won't extend the same empathy for the truly lame "Space"). It is by no means great (it has its unintentionally funny aspects, like the computer program itself, a poor man's HAL 9000), but it's hardly as bad as others might lead you to believe. It has a good, creepy premise---in which a computer program suddenly gains human consciousness and starts trying to preserve itself---and at least it shows an attempt by the writers to craft good, intelligent horror instead of yet another sci-fi retread. I think it works, in parts.

Writers Glen Morgan and James Wong really distinguished themselves in this season as the best writers on the show. Their first collaboration was the chilling "Squeeze," and if their subsequent "Shadows" was not on the same plane (a little too soapy for my taste), they came back brilliantly with the classic "Ice," which truly put Mulder and Scully's relationship to the test as a parasite threatens to destroy them both. In later episodes such as the powerful "Beyond the Sea" and "E.B.E." they showed an attention to character detail that really made their scripts stand out among the pack (although "Tooms" was not quite successful at matching "Squeeze" for creepily effective scares). With one or two exceptions, Morgan and Wong crafted episodes that were not to be missed.

And of course the season finale, "The Erlenmeyer Flask," which insinuated that the government might have a bigger role in things than previously believed, and set things up nicely for a new season.

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Thus the first season of the X-FILES, not the show's greatest (the next two seasons qualify strongly for that honor), but a wonderful reminder of how new this show must have felt to many who first tuned in, if more in execution than in concept. Of course other sci-fi TV shows had shown us aliens and government conspiracies before, but never with this degree of intelligence and attention to scientific detail. This first season truly set the tone for the show that Chris Carter sustained remarkably in most of the later seasons, and for that reason alone this is the place to start if you want to get into this wonderful series. Recommended.

This is the series that started it all, its great for its time, but unlike the many series to follow now looks a little dated. Granted this series had the modest budget of an unproven commodity where as the series that followed had a considerable inflation of resources. This series still had soem amazing episodes but had quite a few clunkers aswell like Space and Ghost in the Machine. Over all you must buy this as it is history in the making.

Chris Carter clearly has found his niche as a writer. "The X-Files" combines elements of "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" (a series I loved as a kid) with other elements (including David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" where Duchovny appeared as a cross dressing FBI agent during the first season)to create a unique, scary and fun television series that captured the media & public's attention for 9 years.

Having purchased the first and second seasons when they first became available on VHS back in the 90's, I'm a happy camper that they finally appeared on DVD at a reasonable price. The first season looks exceptional on DVD. I had forgotten how good "Ice", "Deep Throat", "Squeeze", "Tooms", The Erhlanger Flask", the outstanding "Beyond the Sea" and many of the other outstanding episodes were here. Some weren't all that great to begin ("Space" being a prime example) but they only served to highlight how good the show was when it was firing on all cylinders.

The extras aren't quite as extensive as on later sets. We get a couple of deleted scenes from the pilot, international clips where we get to hear what Mulder and Scully sound like in other countries. We also get an 11 minute featurette on the first season where Carter and the other producers/writers/directors comment on the series and its formative first year. There's also a number of clips that were used for promos when "The X-Files" was being exclusively shown on FX network. These include segments were we meet some of the folks behind the scenes on the series including the special effects make up guy (who has always done a great job on helping to fashion a quality show that held its own against the best of TV and movies) and others.

If you're buying this for the extras, it's the wrong purchase as they aren't as extensive here as later sets. The original uncut episodes (including the deleted scenes of Scully's love interest)make this set worthwhile. While the price is a bit more reasonable than before, I'd like to see this set come down to the same price as "Buffy", "Gilmore Girls", "Dead Like Me" and other popular series. It seems only fair to make the show available to the mass audience that always supported it.

I love this DVD. Its sometimes better to watch on DVD than TV because there are not commercials. So when you can wait to see what happens next, you don't have to worry it will be coming on very soon

X-Files is a show that just has what it takes to captivate you. from the minute the show came on air it showed so strongly how brilliant it was that know one could stop it...

The show may be over now, but movies is still in the workings...

This show will never die... and every season of X-Files is worth every penny.... Simply brilliant