The X-Files 5: the Complete 5th Season
20th Century Fox / 1997 and 1998 / 999 Minutes / Not Rated Street Date: May 14, 2002

Ah, another season, another "X-Files" collection. Now it is time for Season 5, and after writing four previous reviews of past X-Files sets, I'm running out of things to say. So I'll make this one quick...

Moving beyond cult status to a critically-acclaimed, Emmy-winning, bona fide phenomenon, the series really hit its stride about now. But what's new this time around? A movie to tie-in to by season's end, Fight The Future, so fans got alot more "mythology" for better or worse. Alas, for me, the movie was a letdown that didn't answer anything, so once again it all lead nowhere...

But the more things change, the more they stay the same. Still strong was the great chemistry between leads David "I'm getting bored" Duchovny and Gillian "How come I don't make as much as Duchovny?" Anderson, now well-worn in their armani suits but not quite on autopilot. The effects got better, the guest stars more high-profile, and hey, this time it was all in widescreen! Cool! We also got some pretty groovy episodes, like such stand-alone gems as "Kitsunegari," the Stephen King-scripted "Chinga," the vampire-infested "Bad Blood," and two of my favorite episode of all time, Lili Taylor in "Mind's Eye" and the black and white "Post-Modern Prometheus."

The entire 1997-1998 season is here, including the episodes: "Unusual Suspects," "Redux," "Redux II," "Detour," "Patient X," "Red and the Black," "Travelers," "Mind's Eye," "Christmas Carol," "Postmodern Prometheus," "Emily," "Kitsunegari," "All Souls," "Pine Bluff Variant," "Folie a Deux," "The End," "Schizogeny," "Chinga," "Kill Switch," and "Bad Blood."

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Rejoice widescreen fans, the The X-Files finally went 16x9 in Season 5. Presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, this is the best-looking season of The X-Files yet released on DVD. It's not just the broader canvas that impresses, but an overall slicker and spiffier look.

As with my other X-Files reviews, I watched four full episodes and sampled the others. And as always, The X-Files is a dark show, but black level and contrast is generally excellent. Colors are also nicely saturated and relatively free of the bleeding and smearing that plagued the first couple of seasons of X-Files sets. The source material looks in very good shape, and though a bit grainy overall, detail is quite good. The increased resolution of the anamorphic encoding gives a nice three-dimensional appearance to many episodes, especially the brighter outdoor sequences. However, shadow delineation is still sometimes wanting, with murky interiors and a bit of edge enhancement to distract. I also noticed the occasional compression artifact, but nothing excessive. Overall, this is a very nice set of transfers and it's great to see Scully and Mulder in widescreen!

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Once again, like all past sets, Season 5 is presented in 2.0 Dolby surround, and on par in terms of quality. The X-Files sound mixes have always been quite active, but the lack of discreet rears is disappointing. The front channels have some nice stereo separation, though the imaging is only good but not great with front to back pans. Most well-rendered are Mark Snow's eerie scores, which really benefit from the nice dynamic range and pretty good low-end kick for a 2.0 track. The mix is also very well balanced between the music, effects and dialogue, which integral to such a dialogue-heavy show, though on occasion I found dialogue a bit hard to discern. As X-Files is one of the most well-produced shows on television, this is certainly an above-average mix, though I can't wait for future seasons which were produced in full 5.1...tap tap...tap tap...tap tap...

French 2.0 surround tracks are also provided for each episode, along with English Captions and Spanish Subtitles. (And rather strangely, there are also brief "International Clips" for the episodes "Memento Mori," "Leonard Betts," and "Small Potatoes" available in German, Japanese, and Castilian! These only run a minute or two, not the entire episode, so of what use they'll be to most I have no idea. You can access these clips on each episode's respective disc.)

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

On disc smaller than previous collections, all ... episodes of Season 5 are spread across 5 discs, with the 6th platter reserved for the goodies. My impression once again after viewing this Season 5 set is that most of these supplements will be familiar to X-Files devotees, so newcomers will probably find this the most engaging. All the video footage is presented in full frame and 2.0 stereo despite the series being shot in widescreen, and each episode also generously includes 8 chapter stops and complete cast listings.

First up we get two screen-specific audio commentaries, by Chris Carter for "The Post-Modern Prometheus" and John Shiban on "The Pine Bluff Variant." Since "Prometheus" is just about my all-time favorite episode, I loved this one...how can you not love a Elephant Man-esque homage in black and white and featuring the music of Cher? The X-Files is sometimes not remembered for taking as many chances as it did, so kudos to Carter for this one! Next is The Truth About Season 5. Just like the other X-Files sets, this is a featurette (20 minutes this time) featuring interviews with creator Chris Carter as well as just about everyone involved with the show except David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, including directors and producers Kim Manners, Paul Rabwin, R.W. Goodwin, Frank Spotnitz, and several cast members including Dean Haglund and guest stars Veronica Cartwright and Mimi Rogers. Truth be told, this one is a bit more interesting than previous seasons, if only because they had to script the entire season to build up to a movie that had already been shot, but also because it was the last season to be shot in Vancouver. The addition of Cartwright and Rogers is also nice, and we get a little truth about that Cher episode. And, of course, this is only the first part of a longer documentary that has been spread across all the season collection sets, so watch for The Truth About Season 6 in a few months...

Inside The X-Files is a surprise, the 1998 Fox TV 45-minute special that aired near the end of the season to prime the pump for the big-screen debut of Mulder and Scully. Unlike "the Truth About" mini-docs, this one features everyone including Duchovny and Anderson discussing the series, the mythology, the movie, expanding the canvas for the big screen, and the future of the show. I'd forgotten all about this TV special until I realized what it was on the DVD, and it was kinda fun to revisit it again. A shortened version of much of this material can also be found on The X-Files: Fight The Future DVD release as well. More Fox TV goodies includes the brief 3-minute "featurette" The X-Files: Behind the Scenes. This one is purely promotional and more a commercial than any sort of in-depth look at...anything.

More goodies include six special effects vignettes with commentary by producer Paul Rabwin, for the episodes "Folie A Deux," "Patient X," "Red and the Black," "Travelers," "All Souls," "Emily," and two scenes from "Chinga." Each segment runs about 2 to 4 minutes and features Rabwin narrating various "effects plates" of a sequence, including the original background plate, green screen, mechanical effects and the final composition, as well as some interesting use of newsreel footage and mechanical effects. Also included is a selection of 6 deleted scenes available from the episodes "Christmas Carol" and "Red and the Black," plus two each from "The Postmodern Prometheus" and "All Souls." Creator Chris Carter offers optional commentary with Chris Carter, and you can also access these scenes as a supplement or via each episode's respective disc.

For you completists, there are also two sets of extensive TV spots and material, Behind The Truth and TV Spot Promos. The former appeared on the FX network, and were short little "infomercials" for the show that aired between commercial breaks. Each one provides more brief insight into a specific X-File topic (such as a character, effect, or comments from a particular show's writer) and there are 10 in all this time. The TV spots are just that, both 10 second and 20 second adverts for each show, totaling 48 in all. Like all the other video footage, these are pretty quick, but are there for the completists.

Thankfully, Fox continues to carry over the menu design (now also in anamorphic widescreen) and nifty packaging from all the previous season sets. A nice, well-designed booklet with many photos (though little in the way of in-depth text) and a very neat fold-out package makes this a very attractive purchase. But, as always, the paper sleeve used to house the fold-out box is rather fragile and should be treated with care, This is a very nice-looking box, and should last...if you're careful.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

Finally, there is the ROM portion of the disc, is much better than most offered on DVDs these days, for a TV show or otherwise. A constantly-evolving online destination, each X-Files DVD collection released thus far includes an interactive game, and Season 5's is Earthbound. Shockwave is required, and this one is pretty involved. And very cool is the fact that for once this actually revolves around season 5 and will test your knowledge in an interesting way, and even non-X-Files devotees should have a good time. Just expect to lose more than a few hours with this one...

Unlike previous X-Files sets, some of the other ROM extras seem to have been lost this time. Aside from a weblink to The X-Files Event site, the actual official site does not seem to be contained on the disc, more any downloadables like postcards or wallpaper. But, all that good stuff is just a click away if you are web-enabled, so I suppose it isn't too much of a loss?

Parting Thoughts

Another fine X-Files collection, and the standout this time is the widescreen aspect ratio and the inclusion of the full-length Fox "Inside The X-Files" TV special. The $149.95 price tag always seems steep, but hey, if you're an X-Files fan and have already collected all the seasons so far, are you really going to stop now?

The season 5 DVD's are available for 25% off at Amazon.com. Click here to see the artwork for the cover.

Review courtesy of DVDfile.com.