PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998) is turning 25 this month, which reminded me of just how freaking exciting and rare it was to have a big screen bridge to tide you over between epic seasons of one of the most ground-breaking shows in television history.
It was the kind of thing you knew was coming, but that didn’t make it any less epic when it finally hit. The X-Files (1993) was one series that was made for the big screen. It was inevitable that someday, this sci-fi smash hit would cross over into big-budget films. And we were more than ready. I had just graduated high school and fought off who knows how many of my co-workers and bosses at the movie theater where I worked for the poster. When the lights went down and that new version of the theme song kicked in, we knew we were in for a treat.
Even now, 25 years later, as I sit down for a re-watch, I get that same rush. Back then, this was our fix to keep us fed between seasons 5 and 6 of the series. Today, it is a fantastic reminder of the series that changed television forever.
At its core, the film maintains all that The X-Files was: two highly intelligent, selfless FBI agents seek the truth behind the conspiracy theory that the government is aware of the existence of alien life and the possible end of humanity.
Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny, Twin Peaks 2017) is an eccentric, but effective man dedicated to uncovering the truth behind his sister’s disappearance and the existence of life on other planets. Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson, Hannibal 2013) has essentially been sent by the higher-ups to debunk Mulder and his “X-Files.” The yin and yang of their relationship serve as the foundation for the most solid two-character drama in television history. And let’s not forget the sexual tension.
So how do you top something like that when you adapt it for theaters? Well, you don’t. Flawed and all, Fight the Future still beat its accompanying sequel both at the box office and in longevity.
A deadly virus of extraterrestrial origin has begun infecting the human race. Pulled from the “X-Files,” Agents Mulder and Scully are working on your basic bomb threat case when they make the discovery. Now they’re thrown headlong back into the thralls of conspiracies and cover-ups in an attempt to stop the colonization of the human race.
The final episode of season five of The X-Files was intended to be the final episode of the series as it evolved into a full-fledged film franchise. However, it was determined that despite the film’s success, it was still more profitable to keep the series in syndication. And thus, episode one of season six picks up where Fight the Future leaves off. And that is – in true X-Files fashion – indeterminate.
Now, can we talk about that damn bee?
X-Files fans were almost blessed with romantic catharsis as Mulder and Scully embrace and move in for a kiss… until that damn bee stings Dana and infects her with the deadly alien virus.
Looking back, we can see now why it was necessary to maintain the sexual tension between Mulder and Scully without a payoff. But at the time, it had almost every person in the movie theater groaning in frustration. Go ahead – google “that damn bee The X-Files.” Never has a bee been so despised.
While the second film in the franchise didn’t see the same success, and the series revival of season 11 wasn’t quite as strong a return as anticipated, The X-Files still stands as one of the most successful series to ever grace screens of every size – a true cultural phenomenon.
Join me in an epic marathon, will you? It more than deserves a re-watch.
The X-Files: Fight the Future is available to rent and own on Amazon Here.
