Product description

The X Files : Season One Box Set [1994]

Price: £7.49
RRP: £79.99
Average customer rating: 4.5

Binding : VHS Tape
EAN : 5013738411043
Label : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Publisher : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release date : 2000-06-19
Title : The X Files : Season One Box Set [1994]
Actor : Array
Audience rating : Suitable for 12 years and over
Format : PAL
Languages : Array
Number of items : 5
Original release date : 1994-01-26
Running time : 45
Studio : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Theatrical releaseDate : 1993-09-10
Number of discs : 5

Editorial reviews

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

Customer reviews

review by: reallydeadguy date: 2003-01-05 rating:

The conspiracy begins
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.

review by: date: 2002-08-26 rating:

The start of a great series...
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...

review by: emotional_boy date: 2001-07-31 rating:

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. Beautifully arranged and designed, this limited edition set is a true limited collectors item. Mulder and Scullys relationship begins to grow, and we get a taster of things to come. Every episode stands out, rather than having two or three parters about alien abductions or government conspiracies. My favourite episodes are squeeze, gender bender, ice, the elemeyer flask, shapes, and many more. In fact, there isnt a bad episode. Buy this now, before it disappears forever!!

review by: date: 2001-01-09 rating:

The best season of the X-Files EVER.
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.

review by: date: 2000-07-21 rating:

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 Files. I liked all the episodes but my favourites have to be: Squeeze, Shadows, Ghost In The Machine, Ice, Tooms, Darkness Falls, Born Again, Roland and The Erelenmeyer Flask. If you're a true X Files Fan then get this Box Set.

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