- Actors: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, Robert Patrick, Tom Braidwood
- Writers: Chris Carter
- Language English
- Classification: 12
- Studio: Fox
- VHS Release Date: 4 Nov 1996
- Run Time: 45 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00004RTGN
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
4,555 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
- #36 in Film & TV > Television > TV Series > X-Files
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Back in 1993, the fledgling US network Fox thought its breakout hit series would be The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr, a wild Western that barely lasted a season. They expected little of this odd show they commissioned from producer-writer Chris Carter, whose track record was mainly in surfing magazines and teen programmes. Too many series (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Project UFO, Shadow Chasers) had been down the parapsychology/alien visitation route without making television history, and teaming a leading man (David Duchovny) who was fresh from wearing a dress in Twin Peaks and the cable erotica series Red Shoe Diaries with a female co-star with nothing at all on her curriculum vitae more or less guaranteed fast cancellation.
Yet The X Files clicked and has grown into a major franchise, expanding into movies, books, t-shirts, comics and alien mugs. The foundation of the X-industry is in this box set, which collects all 24 episodes of the first season, as the show, its creators and stars were finding their feet. Watching them all at once, you can see Gillian Anderson go from stiff to subtle without breaking character, and notice how the Dragnet-style emotionless patter of the early episodes unbends to allow for a streak of black humour that has become one of the show's great strengths.
The episodes themselves are hit and miss. The first couple of shows ("The X Files", "Deep Throat") and many later episodes ("Conduit", "Space", "Fallen Angel", "E.B.E." and series finale "The Erlenmeyer Flask") introduce and develop the so-called "mythology" thread as FBI agent Fox Mulder (Duchovny) probes a series of UFO or alien-encounter stories to assuage his guilt over the disappearance of his sister long ago. Meanwhile, sinister forces within the government try to stop him and prevent any revelations as to what exactly is going on from breaking (a thread that would, in later seasons, stretch and break). The episode that really sold the series was the third, "Squeeze", in which Mulder and his sceptical partner Dana Scully (Anderson) tangle with a mutant (Doug Hutchison, the evil guard of The Green Mile) who can elongate himself and eat human livers. A bizarre, creepy, gruesome and slyly amusing show, this kicks off a run of episodes ("Shadows", "Fire", "Miracle Man", "Shapes", "Roland" and the "Squeeze" sequel "Tooms") featuring mutants, ghosts, psychic happenings, grisly murders (Anderson gets to do all the autopsies) and plots which sometimes have resolutions.
Other standout episodes include: "Ice", a miniature of The Thing with alien bugs in the arctic taking over a research station; "Eve", an evil child/cloning story; and "Beyond the Sea", an unusually emotional ghost tale which finally allowed Anderson as much anguish as Duchovny. There are dropped balls ("Genderbender", "Lazarus", "Young at Heart") where repetition has already set in, or too much conventional cop-action stuff gets in the way. The simmering sexual chemistry of Mulder and Scully only surfaces in a few moments as the characters and the players settle into their game, and the supporting cast (Mitch Pileggi as the FBI superior, William B. Davis as the ever-smoking master villain) have yet to come into their own, but X-philes will need this on their shelves between their bottled alien baby and Anderson-in-lingerie calendar. --Kim Newman
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
The X-Files became a suprise hit globally, eventually running for 202 episodes and nine seasons. Season One laid the foundations for what the show would become; starting the mythology (with a much tighter focus than later seasons) and establishing the ambiguity of the standalone cases.
Much of Season One can be applauded; for its time and genre, production values were high, acting spot on, and it gave mass-audiences something besides the predictable. In my opinion, the episodes aren't of a consistently high quality. There are many so-so/poor episodes, such as "Space", "Gender Bender", "Roland", "Lazarus", "Young At Heart". But then there are some episodes that still stand out as being amongst the finest the show has produced; "Squeeze", "Ice", "Beyond The Sea", "Eve" and "The Erlenmeyer Flask" are my personal faves of the season.
Although shaky in places and not quite the complete package deleivered over the coming years, Season One of The X-Files is still high quality television and an essential starting point for non-fans.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
I started watching The X-Files during season 2 so I missed this season (mainly because I was only 9 when it was on). 6 years on I decided I had better see it, so I bought the season 1 box set. I was expecting to see some good ones, lots of O.K. ones and some terrible ones. I was pleasently surprised to find that there are NO bad episodes in season 1. The worst one is probably Genderbender and even that is worth watching for an apperance by Nicolas Lea who would reapear in the second season as the double crossing Alex Krychek. If you are buying this in he hope that you will get a season similar to the others you will be dissapointed. It is very different from the other seasons and could even be a series of itself (The Elmneyer Flask being the perfect final episode because of the major events at the end). The best episodes are Deep Throat, Ice, Squeeze, Tooms, E.B.E., Fallen Angel, The Elemnyer Flask and The Jersey devil. It is interesting to note that the cigaratte-smoking-man who plays such a big part in later seasons only appears in three episodes and has only one line ("of course I do"). Skinner also, only appears in one episode, although he is mentioned in another. Overall, this is an excellent box set and well worth what it costs. It is also an excellent introduction to the series if you have never seen it before. 5 stars dosn't do it justace.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
If you want the X-Files were it all began, go for this boxset. Within you'll find all 24 episodes from the first season, nicely packaged in a sturdy little box, which will impress your mates no end.
But wait... inside the box there's more. 24 fantastic episodes iontroducing you to the world of Mulder and Scully. Be prepared for chills and goosebumps as the fanous duo investigate UFOs, ghosts, werewolves, and anything else you can label with an X.
But be warned... this isn't your typical sci-fi show. The success is partly due to it's down-to-earth, rational viewpoint. Instead of giving you the answers, the viewer is expected to ponder whether what actually happenned did happen. Skeptics and believers alike will be enthralled by the show.
Fab series. And it gets better...
Most Recent Customer Reviews
The beginning of an amazing series...
Where it all started, the very first series. Despite not being the best, it still manages to create an impact unlike any other shows out there at the time. Read more
Published on 31 July 2001 by "emotional_boy"
X Files Rules!
Season One of The X Files is absolutely amazing. Mainly because it's where it all started. We are introduced to Mulder, Scully and obviously the strange phenomonon that is The X... Read more
Published on 21 July 2000
A Must Have For All X-Philes!
After buying the season 1 collectors edition, every single episode had me hooked from start to finish. Read more
Published on 8 July 2000
This is the single best x-files season of them all. A Must.
With 23 episodes and the original Pilot episode the young Anderson and Duchovny along with the superb imagination of Chris Carter put together one of the best seasons of any... Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2000
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