6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 3.3 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Mulder and Scully are called back to duty by the FBI when a former priest claims to be receiving psychic visions pertaining to a kidnapped agent.
Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, XzibitThriller | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 82% |
Mystery | 40% |
Horror | 37% |
Supernatural | 35% |
Crime | 24% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, Spanish, Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional)
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy (on disc)
Bonus View (PiP)
BD-Live
D-Box
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
“The X Files” was one of the most groundbreaking and innovative television shows of the 1990s. Creator Chris Carter drew from his love of the classic television mysteries “The Night Stalker” and “The Outer Limits” to create a fascinating story that revolved around rogue FBI agent, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), and his attempts at investigating cases that involved paranormal activity. The shows brilliant conceit was in pairing Mulder with a skeptical partner, Scully (Gillian Anderson), who served as a voice of reason to his conspiratorial ramblings. The show was steeped in tales involving urban legend, hauntings, monsters, alien abductions and vast governmental conspiracies. Mulder and Scully faced insurmountable odds in every episode as they were shunned by their peers, questioned by their superiors and faced life and death situations on a weekly basis. Years have passed since this once groundbreaking show has disappeared from the public consciousness. It’s still widely seen in syndication, but not much had been heard from “The X Files” in years. Last year, Chris Carter surprised fans around the world by announcing that X Files: I Want to Believe was in production. The film debuted this past summer and was instantly hit with a barrage of scathing reviews. The film quickly floundered at the box- office, never having found the die-hard “X Files” audience that had propelled the previous film, Fight the Future, to relative box-office success. As I Want to Believe arrives on Blu-ray, the question remains: Is the film really that horrible?
Surprises lie behind every door in the X Files universe
Presented in 1080p, compressed using AVC Mpeg-4 and preserving the film's original aspect ratio of 2.40:1, I Want to Believe on Blu-ray is a faithful reproduction of the film that was shown in theaters. The movie was shot with both 35mm film as well as high definition video cameras and there are occasions where the transitions from film to video are apparent. I noticed instances of banding during several of the nighttime scenes in shots where intense lights pierce through the darkness. It occurs consistently throughout the film and was also present theatrically. So, the transfer isn't at fault in this case. On the bright side, edge enhancement and noise is non-existent. In fact, digital annoyances are never a problem in the film. Contrast is also excellent and the film displays tremendous levels of shadow detail. One other issue that is worth noting lies in the style of photography present in the film. There's a lot of handheld camera being used in the outdoor scenes of I Want to Believe and that often gives the picture an out-of-focus appearance. There is very little depth of field to this film; the focus pullers must have had a hell of a time keeping some of the longer shots in focus while the camera panned between characters. Naturally, this isn't the fault of this Blu-ray encode, but it is worth noting for those who find such stylistic choices bothersome.
I Want to Believe arrives on Blu-ray with an impressive DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack that does an eloquent job of helping to build and sustain the film's chill-factor. Unlike its predecessor, I Want to Believe is a mostly dialogue-driven film that values expository conversation over explosions and fireworks. There are a few scenes that do up the decibel levels in your home theater, but they are few and far between. The majority of the film centers around conversations, and, as such, this soundtrack was tasked with being sure that every last syllable is perfectly presented. In that respect, it succeeds wildly. For those looking for something more akin to Transformers, you won't be finding it here. As in the first film, Mark Snow's outstanding musical score is well preserved and adds its own creepy element to what transpires on screen. I Want to Believe features a high quality soundtrack that, while low on the excitement factor, still maintains enough atmosphere and ambiance to effectively serve the story.
Here's what's included:
-Audio commentary with Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz
-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
-The X-Files Dossier: Agent Dakota Whitney Files - create your own Special Agent avatar
profile to browse through 5 "X-Files" case files on clairvoyance; users can also participate in
several online forensic challenges with Agent Drummy
-Isolated Score track
-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
-Theatrical Trailers
-Still Galleries
-Collectibles
-Storyboards
-Concept Art
-Unit Photography
-In-Movie Features via BD remote direct access:
-Real-time Index (Red Button)
-BonusView Commentary (Green Button)
-Behind The Camera (Blue Button)
-Storyboards and Concept Art (Yellow Button)
Fox delivers again with a huge number of special features on this Blu-ray edition of I Want to Believe. There pretty much something for everyone contained in this set. As with Fight the Future, I enjoyed the picture-in-picture commentary as it offers fresh perspectives on the film from the creative team behind its creation. I Want to Believe has a special and unique feature that intrigued me beyond anything else on the set, however: The "X Files Complete Interactive Timeline" is an outstanding extra that gives the viewer the option of selecting events from the series and viewing clips that illustrate the franchise's mythology. It's a whole lot of fun to play around with and could be quite informative to those not familiar with the original "X Files" TV series. Fox has also included a special feature that is frequently begged for by fans of supplements: The film's isolated musical score track. It's a great track and fans of Mark Snow are going to be thrilled. What remains are a truckload of featurettes, presented in high definition, that detail the film's production. It's all pretty sold stuff, but none of it measures up to the excellence of the Interactive Timeline.
It's a pretty sad situation when diehard fans of a series don't even bother defending its latest vision. That was the case with I Want to Believe. I don't think the film is bad or unwatchable; it's just disappointing. Millions of "X Files" fans have been waiting to see their favorite science fiction heroes save the world from an alien invasion for years. So, it's understandable that so many felt let down by a throwaway tale with no real relevance to the overall arc of the show. From a technical standpoint, this Blu-ray edition features excellent video and audio as well as tons of compelling supplements. I just hope that if and when someone at Fox decides to give the "X Files" one more try on the big screen; someone remembers what the fans are itching for. As a good friend of mine once said: "you please the fans and the large audience will follow."
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