The X-Files : Essentials (DVD)

By Clint Morris

Released in juxtaposition with the new “X-Files” movie (“X-Files : I Want to Believe”), “X-Files : Essentials” is exactly as the name suggests – a bunch of ‘essential’ episodes you need to watch before you see the movie (or so the marketing department tells us). I guess it’s sort of a short-cut to familiarizing yourself with the world of Fox and Dana before you catch them on the big screen without having to sit through all 9 seasons of the series.

(Funny though that the film’s creators stress you don’t actually need to have seen any “X-Files” episodes before watching the film, saying it’s more of a stand-alone film than the earlier one. But I guess if you’re film’s not ‘Happy Meal’ friendly – can’t imagine them including Mulder and Scully action figures in the kids meal, can you? – you have to think of something else you can sell to the fans; it makes sense to try and milk the series that one last time).

There are eight episodes here – mostly moments from the first six years of the series (not quite sure why they didn’t include any of the later episodes, especially from the two-part finale which sorta leads into the new movie) and not a bad episode among the bunch.

Among the episodes : the pilot (not overtly exciting; the show didn’t really hit its stride until second season), the beloved “Bad Blood” (Mulder kills a teenage boy whom he mistakes for a vampire; Luke Wilson features in this one – complete with Chad Morgan-esque teeth), “Beyond the Sea” (a criminal seems to think he can contact the souls of two kidnapped boys) and “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose”, the one Peter Boyle won an Emmy for.

Though most “X-Files” fans will no doubt already own each of the episodes feature in this 2-disc set – they’re all available in the respective seasons of the show – there are a couple (and only a couple, I expected them to feature commentaries – sadly not) of extra features in tow that weren’t included in the earlier releases.

There’s – of course – the theatrical trailer for “I Want to Believe” (not that that’s anything special, you can easily log onto the Apple website and download a high-quality copy of it to your desktop) but more so the Wondercon panel featuring the cast and crew of the show, as well as newly-recorded introductions to the eps by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz.

It’s far from a ‘collector’s item’ but it’s not often you’re treated to ‘only the good episodes’ of a series, so fans will enjoy the release.