| The X-Files: I Want to Believe (Three-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy) | 
 enlarge | Actors: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $34.98
Buy New: $21.77
You Save: $13.21 (38%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  119 reviews
Sales Rank: 139
Format: Ac-3, Box Set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 3
Running Time: 104
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.7
UPC: 024543548911
EAN: 0024543548911
ASIN: B001G7PSN0
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: December 2, 2008 (New: This Week)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: factory wrapped and sealed
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The feature film The X-Files: I Want to Believe is a satisfying if unspectacular installment in the X-Files series, taking place an unspecified time after the show's nine-year television run. Former agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is now a doctor, while Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is being hunted by his former agency and living in seclusion. He and Scully are summoned back by a case involving a missing agent and a former priest (Billy Connolly) who claims to be able to see clues to the agent's whereabouts psychically, though his initial search turns up only a severed limb. Don't expect the usual cast of characters; the FBI has completely turned over (except for the George W. Bush portrait), and the only reason Scully and Mulder are back is because agent Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet) remembers his success on similar cases involving the unexplainable. Don't expect the same rogues' gallery either; unlike the previous X-Files feature film, which was inextricably linked to the series' convoluted mythology arc (and served as a bridge between the fifth and sixth seasons), I Want to Believe is a stand-alone piece that makes use of the series' roots in horror/sci-fi and moody Vancouver, B.C., locales. Also unlike the previous film, which was almost self-consciously shot for the big screen, this film is on a smaller scale, like a double-length episode of the series. But it's still a good reminder of the creepy vibe that hooked fans for years. And the relationship between Mulder and Scully? It seems to have resumed pretty much where it left off, at least when you take into account the long period of separation. But stick around for the end-credit sequence to take in all the possibilities for the future. --David Horiuchi
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Stills from The X-Files: I Want to Believe (Click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 114 more reviews...
 Nice to Have You Back Kids December 5, 2008
It's been 10 years since the first X-Files movie, The X-Files - Fight the Future came out and with the iconic show long since vanished from the airwaves, it came as quite a shock to hear last year that a follow-up had finally been green lighted. I was a big fan of the series and of Fight the Future, which I felt got short shrift from movie audiences at the time and should been more widely recognized for the quality production it was. But like most of us I was disappointed to hear that the new film, subtitled I Want to Believe, wouldn't focus on aliens or the global conspiracy to cover-up the presence of same but would instead be what the fans used to call a "Monster of the Week" episode. That is, a standalone piece that wouldn't advance the show's over-arching mythology.
Fox evidently was willing to take a shot at reviving the franchise as long as it could be made on a low budget. As a result, there are no city sized alien spacecraft, huge sets or dazzling special effects. This movie simply updates us on what's happened to Scully and Mulder in the six years since the show went off the air.
As a character study, the movie works well. Both main characters have long since abandoned the FBI and Mulder is in hiding, although it seems the FBI isn't trying very hard to find him. They're brought back into the FBI fold when a case with supernatural overtones has the investigating agents baffled. Scully at first encourages Mulder to jump back into the fight, seeing that he's wasting away hiding in her house. But she's soon reminded of all the reasons why it was so painful to work with him before; his obsessive belief in the paranormal, his still unresolved guilt over his sister's alien abduction and the darkness that inevitably descends upon their lives once he re-engages with his old mindset at the FBI.
Scully, now working as a medical doctor, herself struggles with her faith in god, evidently shaken by her experiences with Mulder and her time at the FBI. She is challenged by the case of a young boy with a fatal illness which can only be cured by a desperate and hellish experimental treatment. She is encouraged in this effort by Father Joe, a defrocked catholic priest who has psychic visions that Mulder believes can lead him to the serial killer the FBI seeks. It's very interesting to watch Mulder and Scully change roles and perspectives throughout the movie.
There are also some very nice scenes between Duchovny and Anderson, who know these characters so well that they actually do seem to be like a married couple. When Scully threatens to leave Mulder if he pursues the case and his relationship with Father Joe any further, we don't believe it and neither do the characters. It's clear in the performances that these two people have too much history together and too much left undone in their lives to leave each other. Mulder can't crack the case without Scully's scientific insights, and Sully can't save the young boy without Mulder's unyielding faith in her and in something greater than either of them. The final scenes are made up of the standard physical confrontation with evil, but for once it doesn't involve guns and a cliched shootout.
The supporting cast in generally excellent, but Amanda Peet and rapper Xzibit play roles that are essentially clones of the Monica Reyes and John Doggett characters from the last few seasons of the show, so why not just use them? It's possible that Robert Patrick and Anabeth Gish were too expensive, but it would have been a nice tie-in nonetheless. Callum Keith Rennie, who plays the "Leoben" Cylon on Battlestar Galactica, is generally wasted in what could have been a very creepy role.
Overall the film has a very dark, Millennium-esque look and feel to it, and I can't help thinking that the production could have used a dose of Frank Black and a more paranormal angle to liven things up. Still, it was nice to catch up with Mulder and Scully after all these years, and I suspect that was the intention all along. The story was less important than what it put the characters through.
In the end, Mulder and Scully face the reality that they can't hide from who they are and what they do any longer, and it's clear that if the film makes money there will be another sequel.
But next time, let's get back to aliens, shall we?
 Awful!!! December 4, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
That was a truly awful film. As a true fan of the show, I was so excited to see this. Please do not make the same mistake I did. Save your money and your time. The plot is laughable and it has nothing to do with the show or the paranormal. One of the worst plots in years. Now I know why this is on almost every critics list for worst films of 2008.
 Do not recommend, Wait till they show it on TV December 4, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Picture quality Outstanding, Sound quality needs work. Story line and plot sucked. Chris C. must have needed the money.
Not what I expected December 3, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Looking at the trailer and then at the movie I would have to say that I am disappointed in this film. I wish I had rented it and not purchased it.
A pedophile priest with visions of murders? December 3, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Thats the best that Chris Carter and company could come up with for a story idea? I have been a fan of the X Files for years and own all of the seasons. This film is awful. Empty. I'm glad that I didn't drive 33 miles to the theater to watch it. I still cannot believe that this was the X Files movie. Anyone who claims to have enjoyed this floater, obviously has not seen the series and has no idea how good the X Files can be. I thoroughly enjoy the series and the Fight The Future movie and I am so thankful to own them. Great stories with interesting characters that make you think and appreciate good writing and directing.
This movie is just disappointing and worse, embarrassing.
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