Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Thirty-seven thousand years ago, a deadly secret was buried in a cave in Texas. Now the secret has been unleashed. And its discovery may mean the end of all humanity. "The plague to end all plagues." When a terrorist bomb destroys a building in Dallas, Texas, FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are drawn into a dangerous conspiracy surpassing anything they've ever encountered. With the dubious assistance of a paranoid doctor. Mulder and Scully risk their careers and their lives to hunt down a deadly virus which may be extraterrestrial in origin - and could destroy all life on earth. Their pursuit of truth pits them against the mysterious Syndicate, powerful men who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets safe, leading the agents from the cave in Texas, to the halls of the FBI, and finally to a secret installation in Antarctica which holds the greatest secret of all.

Aside from maybe one or two episodes of the TV show that I caught this was my formal introduction to the world of X-Files when it was released in theaters. Thankfully the storyline doesn’t require a large back-story knowledge but I’m sure avid fans got more out of it than I did. Despite being based on the TV series the film does a great job with the scope of the story and the characters. Unlike the more recent film this one deals more with the alien themes of the early part of the X-Files TV series whereas the new film deals a bit with paranormal issues. Watching it now was as entertaining as before though some of the themes feel slightly dated.

The HD transfer is good but not quite to the quality of the newer film that we just reviewed. The image has a nice sense of depth but dimensionality isn’t quite as strong as some of the newer films out there. Fine detail is good in close ups but medium to long shots look a bit soft and the image has a slightly processed look at times. Contrast levels are good but blacks are a bit elevated at times, which hurts overall dimension. While I did see some very light ringing from time to time, compression artifacts are rarely an issue.

The DTS Master Audio soundtrack does a great job with the material and makes a strong showing with this release. Dynamic range is good and the low bass compliment of the track really adds to the intensity. There are lots of moments of sudden and dramatic volume shifts that can be jarring, but this wouldn’t be a thriller if there wasn’t! Dialogue is balanced nicely within the open mix and timbre has a very natural quality.

Rather than just porting over the supplements from the previous DVD releases, Fox actually brings in some great supplements for this HD release. You get a new audio commentary from the film’s creators plus the original audio commentary for the DVD release. If that wasn’t enough there is also a visual commentary with the full crew. Some production features look at the creation of the film and some key sequences and you get the original making of feature from the last DVD. Some deleted scenes and the trailers are also included.

It has been awhile since I’ve seen this one but it was nice revisiting it along with the new film. I still preferred the sequel a bit more in tone but this is still a great addition to the sci-fi thriller library. While the presentation isn’t a complete home run, fans won’t be too disappointed.