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DVD The X-Files Mythology, Vol. 1 - Abduction
The X-Files Mythology series consists of collections of episodes grouped around certain themes that were central to Chris Carter's gripping, funny, and sometimes impenetrable sci-fi/suspense/horror series. The 15 episodes in the first volume, Abduction, are culled from the first three seasons of the show, and they introduce FBI agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who has been assigned to keep tabs on her new partner, the eccentric Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). Mulder's specialty is those cases that can't seem to be solved on normal parameters--the "X-Files"--because he believes that many years ago his sister was abducted by aliens. We meet a dizzying cast of supporting characters: FBI assistant director Skinner (Mitch Pileggi); a government informant, code-named "Deep Throat," who offers to get Mulder closer to the truth than he's ever imagined; apparent abductee Duane Barry (Steve Railsback); a trio of conspiracy theorists called the Lone Gunmen (Dean Haglund, Tom Braidwood, and Bruce Harwood); the mysterious Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis); and suspicious agent Krycek (Nicholas Lea). And the theme of alien abduction leads to deeper threads involving experiments with alien DNA, cloning, alien bounty hunters, and more. These early episodes are some of the best the series ever had to offer, and the reasonably priced Mythology sets might be enticing for novices who would like to get a feel for the series without having to wade through all the story arcs and concepts that wandered through the nine seasons. (They're also conveniently packaged, with four discs in two Thinpaks.) X-philes, of course, would prefer the complete seasons, with the multiple arcs as well as the numerous excellent standalone (a.k.a. "creature feature") episodes. The discs include new commentary tracks on five of the episodes by Chris Carter, writer Frank Spotnitz, or director R.W. Goodwin, and there's a new 28-minute documentary that provides an overview of the series and the pertinent episodes that's well suited to novices. --David Horiuchi
Review(s): DVD The X-Files Mythology, Vol. 1 - Abduction
"I hope the smoking man's in this one" *****
The X-Files is my favorite all-time TV series (though, I must admit, it is tied with Seinfeld and the Simpsons). I would always look forward to seeing it, whether a rerun or a new show. Though I missed many, many, many episodes during its 9 year life (I was never really one to be glued to the TV for any show), I have been frustrated in my efforts to watch episodes I have missed, mostly due to the expense of the Complete Season DVD sets. It is once in a blue moon that I can afford to put down as much as $120 for a TV show, so I've done without for a long time, barring my ownership of Season 3. Also, I've found that the episodes I care the most about catching up on are the ones that push the main story line along-- the ones dealing with the government-conspiracy-alien-takeover story line; something I've since learned is referred to as "the Mythology arc." This will sound lame (even to this writer) but the Bare Naked Ladies song "One Week" summarized my hopes when sitting down to watch the X-Files. "I hope the Smoking Man is in this one." The smoking man's involvement in an episode usually indicated a furthering of the overall plot, the mythology arc. In short, these are the Smoking Man episodes.
Seasons 1-3 are the show in its prime. Most X-heads agree with this, and it's tough to argue, considering the show's originality in its genesis. The arc moves especially fast in season 1, where Mulder's knowledge of the paranormal seems to be based on research and over 22 episodes he becomes emersed in it. The acting is a bit shotty in those beginning episodes. Hindsight gives us the advantage of comparing the newbies with the developed Skully and Mulder characters. But that is little to argue, since the entire show was always about the story. And, of course, this DVD set focuses on the BIG story of those early seasons. Yes, a few of the details are missed, but I can't see a casual fan putting down the amount of money it takes to get all the episodes of any season, where only about 4 or 5 episodes deal with the mythology arc. This series of the show trims the fat, leaving you with the first installment of a 60 episode complex, detailed, thrilling story. A 60 hour movie minus the commercials.
The best part is I had the idea to do this for myself, years down the line after I had collected all 9 seasons. I was going to burn all the mythology episodes onto a few DVDs so I could watch them continuously. Well needless to say, I'm thrilled someone else has done it for me.
Finally, there is great value in this series. A single entire season of the show consists of 22 - 24 episodes (including TBCs) on 7 DVDs for $90 - $120, depending on the place you buy it. The Mythology series offers 15 - 16 episodes per Volume (4 Volumes, 60 episodes total) on 4 DVDs per Volume (16 DVDs total) for $30 each ($120 total). That's 60 episodes versus 24 episodes for the exact same price. I'm glad I waited.
Oh, and for the completists complaining that Fox is putting this series out-- of course they're trying to make money. Why do you think they put the show on TV in the first place? No one is MAKING you buy these Volumes. That's your choice. If you choose to become a completist, that's the price you pay. This is a great idea, for a great show, for a great value. 5 stars all around!
Overall: 10 out of 10.
Good Collection But Some Gaps Develop
The X-Files is my all time favorite television show. I remember waiting with baited breath for each new episode in the paranoid world of Mulder and Scully. After the show went off the air, i've had a hard time scraping enough cash together to get even one season, let alone all nine that I really wanted. Luckily Fox is reissuing the frist three seasons at around $40.00 dollars on January 31st, but in the mean time i've gotten my fix from these collections of the anthology episodes.
Overall this is a good collection of some great episodes. Abduction collects episodes spanning the first four seasons of the show and the abduction theme that dominated most of the story. Some highlights include my all time favorite episode Fallen Angel, as well as classic episodes like Duane Berry and Paper Clip.
The problem with the piece meal presentation of the show however is that some gaps develop in the storyline. This is fine for longtime fans of the show like myself who have a working knowlege of the character and their interactions, but people new to the show will have a hard time figuring out characters like Mr. X, Krychek and Skinner who seem to pop up out of nowhere on this collection. If you've never watched the show, just seeing these episodes would have you believe that Mulder and Scully's relationship develops rather quickly.
I would much rather watch these episodes in context with the rest of the series, but until the new DVD's come out, then I guess this will have to do. This is recommended for fans who are strapped for cash and can't afford the $120 dollar complete season DVD's. Casual fans will love this collection because it trims the fat from the storyline that developed around these episodes. If you've never watched the show, then catch a few early episodes on TNT or Sci-Fi and get the gist of what is going on before buying this collection
Lean Meat Without The Fat
Finally, I can get the main reason for watching the X-Files without having to wade through a bunch of toxic waste. The Mythology was the reason for the X-Files. All other shows were just fillers to pad out the remainder of the seasons. I got tired of the monster of the week episodes and lost interest after the first three seasons.
Now they need to collect all of the Lone Gunmen X-File episodes together so we can have a complete set of those episodes.
Related DVD's The X-Files Mythology, Vol. 1 - Abduction
The third volume of the X-Files Mythology series picks up in the fifth season, when much of the series' alien-conspiracy themes begin to be revealed. The title Colonization refers to a secret plan, traced back to Roswell 1947, in which aliens will colonize the Earth and obliterate normal human life through the use of the black-oil virus and the infiltration of alien-human hybrids. Scully (Gillian Anderson) befriends a fellow abductee, Clarissa Spender (Veronica Cartwright), who also happens to be the mother of an FBI agent, Jeffery Spender (Chris Owens), who has another surprising family connection. And it's with Clarissa that Scully experiences one of the series' most memorable scenes, in which a group of abductees gathers on a bridge only to watch in horror as a band of... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): David Duchovny DVD Release Date: Released the 27 September 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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In this final and worst installment of The X-Files Mythology series, one witnesses a huge shift in quality represented from each season. While the Mythology episodes from seasons 1 through 8 (the latter of which is mostly represented on the first third of this set) were among the best of each season, the episodes selected from Season 9 mark the worst of that season, which -- as a whole -- was not very good to begin with.
The Season 8 episodes "This Is Not Happening", "DeadAlive", and "Essence" are excellent, while the remainder of Season 8 Mythology episodes are decent, but not great. Starting with the 9th season premiere "Nothing Important Happened Today", it's all downhill, until the last disc, which is just alright, with only the finale holding some refreshing, nicely done... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): David Duchovny DVD Release Date: 22 November 2005
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The Lone Gunmen was the short-lived spin-off series starring those scene-stealing conspiracy theorists from The X-Files. To recap, there is buttoned-down Byers (the bearded, relatively normal-looking one, played by Bruce Harwood), the "man of action" Frohike (the short one who had the hots for Scully, played by Tom Braidwood), and master hacker Langly (the one with the long blond hair, played by Dean Haglund). They also meet some new characters who both help and hinder: a female agent calling herself Yves Adele Harlow (and other anagrams for Lee Harvey Oswald, played by Zuleikha Robinson), who always seems a step ahead of them, and James "Jimmy" Bond (Stephen Snedden), the dimwitted benefactor who thinks that the Gunmen give him a purpose in life.
The series... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 29 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The definitive American television series of the '90s comes to the big screen with an anticlimactic whimper. And how could it be otherwise? Why should material so perfectly realized in one medium necessarily translate well into another? The series is crisply and thoughtfully executed in just about every detail, but the heart of its appeal lies in the elegant handling of complicated and evolving ongoing story lines, which is not something movies are especially good at. The big-screen drive for closure cramps the creative style, though it may also help nonfans get a grip on the proceedings. We do get some invigorating thrills and chills, however, and a more satisfying sense of the scale of an all-enveloping human-alien conspiracy than ever before, but there's no more plot development here... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): David Duchovny - Gillian Anderson Director(s): Rob Bowman DVD Release Date: Released the 23 January 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The 4400, which began as a five-week miniseries on the USA Network, is built around a deceptively simple, dramatically rich premise. What if all the people, who had ever been abducted by aliens, were suddenly returned to Earth? What would happen? Although they look exactly as they did when they left, they have no knowledge of where they were or why they were taken. Now some even have special powers, like clairvoyance. As with ABC's Lost, which centers on the survivors of a plane crash, The 4400 features a large cast of characters and a host of mysteries to be solved. If the special effects, which are kept to a minimum, can be a little cheesy at times, the concept--and the skillful execution of the concept--easily makes up for it.
