Release Date: December 2nd, 2008 Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Xzibit, Amanda Peet, Billy
Connolly, Callum Keith Rennie, Adam Godley Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for violent and disturbing content and thematic
material)
Plot Summary: "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" is a stand-alone story in
the tradition of some of the show's most acclaimed and beloved episodes, and
takes the complicated relationship between Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully
(Anderson) in unexpected directions. Mulder continues his unshakable quest for
the truth, and Scully, the passionate, ferociously intelligent physician,
remains inextricably tied to Mulder's pursuits
Theatrical Version and Unrated Extended Cut available in a single-disc DVD,
a three-disc Ultimate X-Phile Edition DVD with Digital Copy, and a Blu-ray
Disc.
Extras: Single DVD: Commentary by Chris Carter and
Frank Spotnitz; "Body Parts: Special Make-up Effects" featurette; "Chris
Carter: Statements on Green Production" featurette; deleted scenes; gag
reel; music slideshow: "Dying 2 Live" by Xzibit; still galleries.
Extras: Ultimate X-Phile Edition: Adds three-part "Trust No One:
Can The X-Files Remain A Secret? feature-length documentary.
Extras:
Blu-ray adds: "The X-Files Dossier: Agent Dakota Whitney Files"
allowing users to create their own Special Agent avatar profile to browse
through five "X-Files" case files on clairvoyance; BonusView mode; "The
X-Files Complete Interactive Timeline" featuring over 80 video clip segments
from "The X-Files" archives; Picture-in-picture commentary with Chris Carter
and Frank Spotnitz; In-Movie Features via BD remote direct access; "Behind
the Camera"; storyboards and concept art; isolated score track. (Fox).
The X-Files: I Want to Believe Release Date: July 25, 2008 Studio: 20th Century Fox Director: Chris Carter Screenwriter: Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Xzibit, Amanda Peet, Billy
Connolly, Callum Keith Rennie, Adam Godley Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for violent and disturbing content and thematic
material)
Plot Summary: "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" is a stand-alone story in
the tradition of some of the show's most acclaimed and beloved episodes, and
takes the complicated relationship between Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully
(Anderson) in unexpected directions. Mulder continues his unshakable quest for
the truth, and Scully, the passionate, ferociously intelligent physician,
remains inextricably tied to Mulder's pursuits
EN 5 Second Review:
We really wanted to like this movie, and we did, but
much like many things in our past, we remember it as much better than
maybe it was.
Featured
Review:
"It’s reasonably
engaging and shouldn’t be written off entirely although not
recommended."
Peter Veugelaers: EntertainmentNutz.com
The sequel to 1998’s X-Files
movie (it is not required viewing to see the first X-Files to get it) is
bigger than the uncanny genre it belongs to when stand-up comedian and
actor Billy Connolly plays a ‘psychic’ defrocked priest, who says his
insights or visions on a case is proof that God has forgiven him for
sexual abuse. At least it does not compromise Hollywood’s empathy for
outsiders.
Recluse former FBI agent Mulder
(David Duchovny), who was an expert in preternatural phenomena, now
discredited by the FBI, is brought out of seclusion when his former
partner and ex-wife Scully (Gillian Anderson), now a surgeon, is asked
by the FBI to get to him. It doesn’t look too credible when Scully is
working for a Catholic hospital and does not get on with the hierarchy.
In a parallel plot line about a boy with a disease didn’t she check it
out with the Pope that stem cell research is a no-no?
The FBI want Mulder’s expertise
on investigating a missing female agent.
Surrounding the case is the
influence of murder, organ transplants and Russians.
Mulder gets involved out of a
desire to resurrect his dead sister at least metaphorically; it’s been
haunting him. The potential thread is never developed.
For a movie with a mood of
open-ended uncertainty there is a claustrophobic setting flushed with
snow, dirty backstreet experimentation and up-close and personal with
Scully and Mulder. The only bigger elements that it gives itself credit
for is protesting the Catholic hierarchy and not being sympathetic to
Russians. Some people may call them aliens but there is not one in
sight.
Crucially the point of
engagement is cerebral; the issues are art-fully cohered, rather than
physically dramatic. Still, it’s reasonably engaging and shouldn’t be
written off entirely although not recommended.
The
ingredients are still there for what made people love the series in the
first place Bill Goodykoontz: Arizona Republic
If you are a fan of the show, this is a must-see movie,
simply because it touches on enough of the grace notes the show offered
weekly to take you back to the days when Mulder and Scully were shining
their flashlights into the darkness. If you're not, then
I Want to Believe is a rather workaday thriller
with some particularly creepy touches...more
This
latest, and presumably last, X-Files installment is
not an unpleasant way to pass a couple of hours, provided
you, too, want to believe. But you have to want it pretty
badly Chris Orr: New Republic
This latest foray into X-Filedom shrewdly shrugs off the
series' convoluted alien "mythology" and presents itself,
instead, as a one-off story of the kind the show regularly
scattered in amidst its longer narrative arc. Sadly, the
movie's shrewdness does not extend much beyond this initial
notion...more
EN 5 Second Review:
We really wanted to like this movie, and we did, but
much like many things in our past, we remember it as much better than
maybe it was.
