Genre – SciFi
Movie Total Runtime – 1 Hour 48 Minutes
Spoilers – Yes
I do not know why I own this movie. I strongly suspect that it is also a Blockbuster Bargain Bin acquisition. I did not watch the X-Files on their first broadcast run. I did watch part of the X-Files when I was unemployed as part of my Blockbuster subscription service where they’d mail me DVDs. I began skipping the so-called “Mytharc” episodes because of lack of interest in that story, favoring the monster of the week. So a Mytharc movie installment… not something I went out of my way to get. At least I think the movie is a Mytharc ‘episode’. Not sure.
We start with the FBI searching a snow field with zero context, and some woman coming home to fight an intruder with a garden tool. The woman’s scenes are at night, while the search is in the day. The FBI finds a severed arm in the field. We cut to Scully in some sort of teleconference which gets interrupted by a priest, as she’s apparently practicing medicine at a catholic hospital.
I am confused.
It might help if I actually knew the series continuity and where this film falls. Apparently Scully has left the Feds and Mulder is missing, as the Feds arrive at the hospital to ask where Mulder went. Mulder is doing his best schizophrenic impersonation by being a bearded hermit taking cuttings out of newspapers. He is apparently in legal trouble, and the agency wants him to find a missing Agent, so they’re offering amnesty. Scully talks him into helping.
At the FBI headquarters we get the exposition dump that the woman from the opening is the missing agent. The psychic who led them to the severed arm is apparently an ex-priest. Ex- because he was convicted of sex offenses. Scully is strongly confrontational when they go to interview the kiddie diddler. While I don’t blame her, it does run to the unprofessional. You’re trying to get information about psychic visions. Being antagonistic doesn’t seem to be productive.
So they take the psychic for a ride around the countryside. After some conversation about Mulder’s background, the psychic declares that they brought him to the wrong spot as a crime scene. The yellow tape at the house across the road might have been a dead giveaway though. The tears of blood, on the other hand are a bit less obvious.
This does lead me to something I did like about the series in general. Despite being about a world where the paranormal exists, it is not always obvious whether this particular individual is a fraud for much of a storyline. Of course, it usually is real to some extent, being the nature of the show.
After Scully argues with an administrator at her hospital, we get the suspect stalking a woman from a pool to running her off the road and abducting her from her vehicle. The psychic brings the FBI back to the field from the start claiming they will find a body, but not the missing agent. If true, it could be the guy missing an arm, the newly abducted woman, or a new body. Mulder and Scully get into a pointless argument while the psychic wanders off into the field. While they dig down to the ice, we intercut to scenes of the suspect trying to dispose of body parts and seeing the search on the ice.
Under the ice, is a frozen body. Identity still not known. Though we do find out the suspect is keeping his captives in a kennel, behind which is a surgical theater where the guy clawed by garden tools at the start is weeping blood.
The excavation of the ice turns up a bunch of body parts unrelated to the body. None of which are the missing agent. After finding the most recent abductee’s car, the speculation becomes black market organ harvesting because of a medical ID bracelet on the scene.
I am confused. Not by the plot but by the character interaction when the speculation is brought up where it seems that yes, the two agents are in some sort of relationship? I must have missed that in the show itself.
Scully goes to confront the psychic, Not sure why. As they argue, he has a seizure. Evidently at the same time one of the patients at the bad guy surgical center has a seizure as well. This distraction lets one of the prisoners to escape her box, but she runs into a dog with two heads. The FBI does an aggressive search of an organ courier company. The suspect is spotted running away and Mulder gives chase into a construction site. Doubting FBI agent finds the bag the suspect dropped and opens it to finds a severed head. Suspect pitches the FBI agent in charge down an elevator shaft and escapes.
Mulder decides to go back to the psychic, who, as per the X-Files psychic clause, is dying. Can’t have them lying around causing complications after the story is over. Of course, he now gives a wrong answer about whether the person whose severed head was recovered is still alive.
Following a lead on sources of a tranquilizer found in all the dead people, Mulder spots the suspect and tails him to an ice road where he promptly gets into a car accident and pushed down a hillside. Scully makes some sort of connection relating to dog head transplant experiments.
Since this isn’t the end of the series, Mulder crawls bleeding out of the wrecked car and finds himself at the icy dump site. Suspect has car trouble leaving the scene and ends up walking. Mulder finds his truck and heads off in the same general direction. At the surgical center we find garden tool man is a head transplanted to someone else’s body. Mulder gets attacked by the two-headed dog and suspect is sent to investigate the noise. The surgeons begin to prep the last prisoner for head transplant.
Scully and the authorities find the crashed car and begin looking for Mulder.
In the surgical theater, Mulder confronts the surgeons and gets dosed with dog tranquilizer, failing to interrupt the operation. Suspect is tasked with getting rid of the meddling Mulder and takes him to the woodshed for a faster craniectomy than the surgeons might inflict. Though in the manner of villains, he decided that chopping up an already dead body is of higher importance than disposing of the live interloper. This gives Mulder the opportunity to come around and think about axing him a few questions, but he’s too groggy. So Scully has to clobber the suspect instead.
Scully and Skinner interrupt the surgeons before they can finish their craniectomy on the last prisoner, but they did start it. So Scully gets to practice emergency medicine to reverse the process. The psychic dies and Mulder gets indignant that the psychic is officially listed as an accomplice.
So the movie wasn’t a Mytharc episode after all. At least insofar as the paranormal aspects are. The problem is, it isn’t written to be truly standalone as a movie. It is clearly an episode in the middle of a longer series, despite the main plot. Otherwise, Scully simply summoning Skinner near the end would not make sense. For a standalone, he should have ben unbelieving FBI agent as a character established in this narrative. There was nothing about the role played that required it to be Skinner. He barely had any lines. The character moments leave me lost because they do not reflect the dynamic from the series insofar as those parts I watched went. I’m still not sure why the subplot with Scully’s terminal patient was in there. From a narrative standpoint, it is like a sore thumb. Nice to have for character, but needlessly breaks up and slows down the story otherwise told. It’s composed as if this were not a theatrical release, but just another episode of the series. Which is the biggest shortcoming of the movie as a movie. From the first draft, they have basically assumed that they will not get anyone in the theater who was not a superfan of the TV show. So it does not serve as a good jumping-on point for people who might be curious about the franchise but unsure of where to start.
So, my recommendation is pointless. If you’re an X-Files fan watching the series in order, put it in the list. If you’re not… go start with Season 1 and wait before watching. You’d just be starting in the middle of the series run otherwise.
The series was fine for a while but movie?
Shark jumped.
But Jillian, yummy
So yummy 😋
DenverJ!
Nicely done.
“…it seems that yes, the two agents are in some sort of relationship? I must have missed that in the show itself.” <– I thought that was kinda 'the point' of the character aspects of the show. Much like Bones, which isn't at all good, the 'hidden' romance between the leads, always subdued, was a big sell of the show (I imagine for female viewers.' Are they finally gonna kiss?!?!')
I know tropes and aspects from pop culture, but I've never watched even 15min of an episode.
From the tv episodes I remember, there was no romantic relationship between the agents, certainly nothing that would translate to the interactions in the movie.
Of course, I watched pieces of the series over seventeen years ago, so my memory for details is not the most reliable.
I’ll also add: It’s rare to see “craniectomy” in proper context. Such a funny word. Trepanation’s underrated, yo.
*pours out a Tall Sabbath can in respect and remembrance*
I thought I watched an X Files movie but it was about a spaceship in the article? Weird
In the Artic, not the article! Damn you, autospell!
That’s the one I saw, in Antarctica.
Maybe if you had typed “Arctic” you wouldn’t had that problem.
Maybe. Ima blame autospell anyway.
Yup. I was very confused until I realized our host was describing a second X-Files movie that I have not seen.
Today I learned there was more than one movie.
Thinking in general about TV series that attempted the leap to the big screen, the only one that comes to mind as being really successful is Star Trek, and then mainly the original series more than any of the subsequent incarnations. [Disclaimer: I don’t get out to see many movies.] It seems to be easier for a successful film to continue its success as a TV series, with the prime example, for better or for worse, being M*A*S*H. (Fame had a pretty good run, too, as I recall.)
Are there any shining examples I’m overlooking?
Night Stalker had a successful movie. I think the movie came before the series.
The real series was in 1974! Kolchak, The Night Stalker
Exactly, the movie freaked me out at 11years old. So of course I had watch the series,
“Kolchak!!!!”
Stargate
Mission: Impossible
The first one in ’95 is outstanding.
(Some of the others are interesting, and certainly fun, but I remember the first one kinda changing the game *back* to tension, rather than shock.)
Good morning Jim
True! There was such a time lag between the TV series and the movies, and they seem so different (from what I vaguely recall of the series) that I find it hard to connect them.
This is probably the secret to their success, only a vague connection to the series in the first movie and then just running with the original premise.
Police Squad
Rewatching ‘How to Rob a Bank’ on Netflix. Scott Scurlock, now there’s an interesting intersection in the Glibby Venn Diagram of independence, living in a fancy tree house he built himself (w help), and robbing banks in a very professional manner.
Huh. Anyone live through the 19 northwest bank robberies? He’s certainly an interesting character. “No one injured. No shots fired.” Wore makeup and costumes to disguise himself, nicknamed “Hollywood” by the cops+.
Certainly a damn-good tale. Seems a perfect Swayze /Reeves flick.
I suppose was part of the inspiration for Walt in Breaking Bad.
(Cranston, that man is *damn* good at his job.)
Will aways be Malcolm’s dad to me. But Breaking Bad was fun
🤔
Wasn’t he the guy who’s head exploded in the back of Moulder’s car?
He was!
@How dare you ignore his turn as Dentist Watley in Seinfeld! (God, he’s good in that. And all else.)
@Yusef: [REDACTED]
Cranston? You mean the dentist? From Seinfeld?
Anit-Dentite!
“Hell or Highwater” on small town bank robbery.
Jeff Bridges is outstanding and the “What don’t you want with that?” scene is iconic.
Check out Thunderbolt and lightfoot for how to rob a bank
Very, very frightening . . . .
I’m trying to remember when I heard the statistic, but the average bank robber only got about $1,200 when I heard the statistic. I wonder what it is in more recent years. But most bank robberies are somone just passing a note to the teller, getting what’s in the cash drawer and getting out of there.
Correct K,
Take a lesson young E, banks are hard
Christopher Plummer in The Silent Partner.
Yeah way back in high school (the 80’s!) We had a secret service officer give a presentation. The haul was low, and the lifestyle expensive, so people don’t just rob one bank and retire rich, but rather keep robbing banks, until they get caught.
Clooney in Out Of Sight.
Just a quick note to a tell and a whole lot of BS.
*conflicting Venn
This might resonate with a few people here
You’ve Been Misled About the Political Spectrum | A History Professor Explains
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_HQ4rHTxco
YT turned into Facebook so fast, forget it, advos and ridiculous formatting, nevermind.
It’s nice, but he misspelled “approach” on his damn cover slide. I can’t stop staring at it.
That stuck out like a sore thumb and I instantly discounted anything he had to say
Can he explain it in words that I can read in a minute or so instead of a video that I have to direct my full attention at for over seven minutes?
A straight line with anarchy on the left as starting point to communisim/facism/socialism on the right…
Fill in the blanks from there
Define “anarchy”. Cuz the soi-disant “anarchists” I have known were all hard-left communists.
I am an X account lurker and a Spotify account holder, the rest of social media can get fucked. Never used it, never will.
“I only use is it for family!”
Bullshit
FB was great for marketplace.
Bank robbery movie? Quick Change.
This is the second movie, formally titled “The X-Files: I Want to Believe.” It is not part of the mytharc and was generally panned by fans and critics. Mulder & Scully have, essentially, been in some kind of relationship since the end of the series run.
The movie with the UFO under the Antarctic ice was the first movie, originally just titled “The X-Files” but later renamed to “The X-Files: Fight the Future.” It fits between the end of Season 5 & the start of Season 6 and is part of the mytharc.
What’s that? Why, yes, I am a fan of the show, why do you ask?
Wait, there was more than one movie?
Yep
#metoo but Unciv is absolutely right about this:
I do the same. The mythology is so convoluted and unfulfilling that it doesn’t reward rewatching unless *maybe* you’ve got a few weeks to watch the whole series in order.
I love the mytharc part of the show through about the S6 episode One Son
That’s around the time I stopped watching every week, so I missed whatever became of the mythology and it’s impossible to follow in repeats.
Some of us watched the series as it came out, week by week. (Turns up nose)
@Rhywun. Yeah, the super soldier thing was just weird. In retrospect, it looks like a mid-series re-boot to keep the money coming in.
I remember reading a piece in National Review of all places about that time about the increasingly convoluted mytharc. The author noted that, up until that point, fans had stuck with the show even if they didn’t quite understand what was going on because they were confident Chris Carter knew what was going on. The author noted, dryly, that it no longer appeared that CC was quite sure what was going on with the mytharc.
The truth is *not* out there.
I’m on team Raven here.
We went to see the second movie in theatre.
There was one other couple there. We laughed that we were the only people there and said that we got married on the anniversary of Mulder’s sisters abduction (totally coincidental) the other couple was so excited to hear that face about.
“So did we!”
Yeah they planned it.
JFC I’m getting a “Severe Weather Alert” for… “the possibility of patchy frost”.
Donald really needs to cut the stupid at the National Weather Service; they obviously have way too much time on their hands.
It was 70’s here today. A blessing since I had to spend 4 hours mowing and edging the lawn.
Ya 70s…light breeze. Hint of apple wood giving off its glorious scent while burning in thr smoker.
Hurricane Kinky, OOPS, Kiko is coming towards us. It should track to the north, but I am hoping for a couple of bands of rain to water my lawn and garden.
“If we shift all our colors to the red spectrum even for 70 degs and shift to the blue spectrum for anything under 50 degs, we get more viewers and interests in the greatest science of all!”
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAMechanic/s/J458v4A05p
Sounds legit.
I once went to get a flat tire replaced at a national chain. They offered to do a free inspection so I said “Sure.”
They went ahead and priced everything out at $1800. I got the tire replaced and never went back.
You need a new Johnson rod.
This gives Mulder the opportunity to come around and think about axing him a few questions
Yuk yuk yuk
Also everyplace you mention “Skinner” all I think about is the superintendent from The Simpsons yelling “Skinner!”
/nothing useful to contribute
I… have never made that connection. 🤯
+1 Supernintendo Chalmers
It’s a Utica thing.
Stop taking away my grift!
Trump destroyed it! But also the office has been in disarray for decades….but Trump!
The Hill is on a roll with its opinion pieces…
https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5488592-kennedy-undermines-cdc-guidance/
The last calls of the expert class claiming you will all die if we dont listen to how to be human.
To be fair, Donald pretending that SS has any sort of future is one of his more stupid pretenses but SS is one of the many 3rd rails of American politics so it’s not surprising.
Sunday smiles, scroll past the gibberish if you want, the rest is hilarious
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2025/09/07/sunday-smiles-n3806553
Some good ones in there
Indeed there are. It is a worthy foe to TWIP.
Any one have wood stove recs? In the market for a new one. Looking at Jotul & Hearthstone right now.
They’re still letting you burn wood?
I wonder what OMWC’s blood pressure is right now.
lol I left the game an hour ago in frustration but came back to catch the last 20 minutes or so. w00t
It’s a good thing that the game went past his bedtime. He’s gonna be upset when he reads the score in tomorrow’s paper.
Rip
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Davies
And also
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Volman
One of those bands where I know all the hits and had no idea I knew the hits.
Did you ever have one of those days? Where you just got done driving 250 miles and you come home and just do nothing but brainstorm. This is one of those nights
Tomorrow I’m going to attempt to play Disc golf . My best friend Brandon is going to assist me in my endeavors. He’s the guy who picks me up when I fall down. Anyway, so we’ll find out how that works..
I have been convolescing for the last week do to a severe hip injury so I hope I can still throw.
Otherwise Ill have to subject you to my electronica, pray for us all !
My week ends as yours begins. I trust everything will be fruitful… my new phone is being overnighted and I *may* have it by the end of the day.
Luna is in spectacular form this eve. Shine on too, ya crazy diamonds, y’all.
Happy Monday Glibroni’s!
Get out there and make this economy your bitch.
💵🌥️🤠
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMrIy9zm7QY
🤬
Would you like a jelly baby?
No, too much sugar.
I gotta go to work, catch up with you guys from the office.
Good morning!
😀
Day 5 of no coffee.
Does not compute.
Tenth circle of hell.
What are you talking about? No coffee? Are you insane?
It gets easier by the time you get to 20,000 days.
20K days from now I’ll be about 108.
Please don’t say you have substituted in tea.
LOL, no.
Mornin’, reprobates!
Brrr. 50°, mighty chilly for early September.
Slept with the windows open – so refreshing.
Trying for Pneumonia?
I had to close mine. The quietier sleep was nice, too.
Mornin’
The rain has moved out of southern NH leaving beautiful weather.
Off to the gym.
Good morning, DEG, ‘patzie, Roat, Suthen, Ted’S., Sean, U, and EfE!
Mornin’, GT. Another year of lousy football begins. Jets. Browns. We have a lot to look forward to.
Oh, I don’t know – the Bengals and the Cheeseheads got off to an OK start. 😁 (I will say, though I didn’t watch the game, the Battle of Ohio was a lot closer than it had any right to be.)
Good morning.
How are you today, U?
Overthinking my doctor’s appointment this week (regularly scheduled).
I need a vacation, but I don’t have the leave for one.
I’m not sure which collections of hours I slept, but they did include 1am-4am. I did have to trade out pillows and turn on the AC because the first one was so sweat-soaked I debated checking myself for a fever (but there were no other symptoms that would indicate one, so I had to conclude the room was just too hot)
I can’t afford another high electric bill because the damn school district raised rates again on their extortion. They need to be shut down, frog-marched into the street and shot for their embezzlement of public funds. Given how shitty the education they provide is, there’s no other term for it.
But I’m just venting.
There’s a mess at work which I’m pretty sure is the result of my problem subordinate not doing his assigned duties.
That problem subordinate better get his ass in gear! 😒
I wish he would.
I’m not sure how far he is from retirement, but despite being older than me, I suspect he has fewer years, so won’t be looking to leave any time soon.
Does he have a problem with reporting to someone younger than he is?
I don’t get that impression. Just a long habit of Military sandbagging.
“Problem Subordinate”.
Album name or garage cover band ?
suh’ fam
whats goody
Good morning, homey!
Hey from the (216). Ill be in (tr)Ashtabua, right on the lake.
Mornin’ all.
Good morning, JI!
Is our regularly scheduled Linkster all right?