The X-Files - "I Want to Believe" Full Movie Reaction

you missed the post credit scene...

Vincenzo Maisto

My main complaint with this movie is that it's NO FUN. The X-Files has had dark storylines before with very creepy characters, but the crux and heart of the show is the relationship between Mulder and Scully and watching them work as a team is always fun and entertaining, but they were just at loggerheads through almost the entire movie. Watching them fight is just a bummer (plus all the dark AF subject matter too) and honestly feels contrived. I imagine how much better this movie would be if they just had each other's backs throughout (still wouldn't be GREAT but would be much much improved).

zammmerjammer

Can anyone help me with this? Just after Mulder is injected with the animal tranquilliser, the Russian guy says something to him in Russian before he punches him. Anyone ever work out what it is? Despite my having studied Russian at school and having searched transcript websites I have never found the answer.

And that moment of Mulder seeing his "sister" in the hallway and them sharing that moment of recognition -- that was hilarious. This movie was very much made with the fans in mind, unlike the first movie which was made to appeal to a broader audience unfamiliar with the show.

zammmerjammer

"Beautiful Wasps Having Sex" is a real book, written by Chris Carter's wife.

zammmerjammer

The owner of the feed store has the distinction of being the FIRST speaking role in the entire X-Files universe! Actor's name is Stephen E. Miller (not to be confused with the repulsive Nazi in the Trump administration) and he was in the show three times. Other than the pilot, he was in classic episodes Duane Barry and Piper Maru. He was also in 12 episodes of Chris Carter's other show "Millenium." Also, the blond woman who gets kidnapped at her house, that same actor was in "The Postmodern Prometheus" (and I particularly remember her because she had done a little interview at the time gushing about being so excited to be on the show and everyone she had ever known calling her up after the episode aired). I had a lot of fun with this movie and the revival seasons, since they were all filmed in Vancouver, noticing all the actors from seasons 1-5 that they hired again.

zammmerjammer

I blame FOX for not allowing them to complete the Myth plot from the end of the series and forcing them to do an MOTW. But I also agree with you, they could come up with a much better MOTW plot than this one. What I would have liked to have seen if they were still force to do a MOTW is to have a good MOTW plot while still keeping the fact that their still on the run. Maybe have them hiding out in Canada under assume names and supernatural event or issue runs into them while their on the run and or hiding. What really bothered me the most about the 2nd movie was the fact there were no explanation on what happen to the Super Soldiers. They basically took over the FBI and looks to have been put in places on the Government and Military by the end of Series. But this movie doesn't mention anything about them.

Tre

By the way, Chris Carter himself is very religious, but also very interested in science as well. The X Files kinda reflects on both sides. Might sound surprising to some, but he thinks quite critical of conspiracy theorists and pseudoscience. So that is really more the fictional side of things, his fun of exploring weird, bizarre concepts and ideas, and the fear of the unknown. He takes a lot of inspiration from 50ies - 70ies shows, like Twillight Zone or The Night Stalker, but also Twin Peaks. So his maingoal with The X Files was to write stuff that scares people. And sometimes he combines all of that. But according to a lot of interviews it seems that he is very concerned about how mainstream conspiracy theories have become post 9/11, and how they shaped the political climate these days. Some people took The X Files waaaayyy too serious.

Wolfgang Engel

Not that I feel called out, but I'll have to say it anyway....I'm definately not what you would call a Chris Carter apologist. I always said that I see him as one of the worst writers, during the late stages of the show. However, you can't deny, that Fox plays a big part in a lot of things that went downhill, and it surely didn't help to make things better, when a studio keeps you from making a movie for years, forces you to rewrite things, and pressures you to have unecessary gueststars, while limiting your budget. It just hurts the creative process massively. Of course you can still make a good movie on a low budget, but when you get only the third of the budget you had for the first movie, it's pretty much clear, that you will get a different kind of movie. We fans knew from the beginning, that this would be an MOTW, because they told us. And once I knew that, I thought to myself "well, I'm looking forward to a scary paranormal horror standalone movie". But that's unfortunately not what we got here. I mean, movies like 30 days of night show how to do it, on a small budget. But yeah, this is were Chris Carters awkward writing, with all those weird connections and pseudo messages comes into play. And he's just not the best director. I mean, they had Rob Bowman for the first oney someone who really knows what he's doing.

Wolfgang Engel

Hmm, maybe I got that wrong. Was pretty sure about it. Maybe my brain connected it wrong, because Mulder said that he wanted to have a countryside home, in "home" season 4". So at least the first part is right. 😅

Wolfgang Engel

This movie flopped, more or less. It has some good atmosphere and that's about it, in my view. Many things are extremely hard to put together (no pun intended) until near the end of the film. Chris Carter apologists will blame it all on FOX as well as the budget, but that's no excuse for having one of the most... boring MOTW-case ever. The movie basically feels like a mediocre X-Files episode that was a rough draft and simply did not finalize properly. That's all I can say. The side story with Christian was a huge distraction as well. And yeah... tons of things to nitpick. Did I enjoy it when I first saw it? No. Did it get better a few years after that? Yes. Do I consider it a successful X-Files story? Nope. I think the Mulder and Scully moments are great, especially if someone is a hardcore shipper. And it's good to see Mulder was "forgiven" and the charges were dropped. Other than that, really nothing memorable. That's about it. One of my friend likes it a lot. I don't, for tons of reasons. I do, however, see that this can be a "third" ending, in addition to the S8 and S9 finales, respectively. It is not an ending of the mythology, but it can be considered an ending for the characters. So in terms of how it ends for the two main characters, perhaps it succeeds at that... maybe.

Demijan Omeragic

The evil doctor is Alex Diakun, and he was on The X-Files before in more than one episode. The other one you are referring to, Lewan Utschaneischwili, also known as "Levani", who played Mostow in "Grotesque", was not in this film though, if I recall correctly.

Demijan Omeragic

Actually no, that's not the same house. The house you're talking about (from "Home") is definitely 100% not the house from this movie. Maybe I misunderstood you, and you meant it's a location nearby? I say this because know the exact location / address of that house, and my friend literally visited it and took photos. The house has been on plenty of other shows including Millennium, Fringe, Harsh Realm, maybe even Supernatural. It has also been in another X-Files episode, season two "Aubrey". It could be that I misunderstood what you were saying, but in case you meant that this is the "Home" house, no, it is not.

Demijan Omeragic

Aww... I would have loved to see Doggett and Reyes in this movie as those characters... because yes it made no sense that they have an X-Files type case so they seek out Mulder...? who isn't in the FBI anymore and is a fugitive... instead of the two agents who were the last to work on the X-Files...? But then I would have been very upset if they had killed Reyes, so...

zammmerjammer

There were multiple actors reused from the show for this movie. The guy that had his arm cut off was Mostow in the Grotesque in the 3 season. The evil doctor played multiple parts as well. That owner of the store that wanted close that Mulder was in also looked familiar.

Tre

Funny enough Home predicted 2 things that would happen later on. First as you stated the fact that Mulder would choose to live in the country if he didn't work for the FBI. And 2, Mulder and Scully little baby talk where it appeared that Scully hinted at Mulder being the father of her baby when she asked about if Mulder has any known illness in his family.

Tre

Yes, it's a weird movie! Honestly, I rewatch it simply to see M&S together on screen; every opportunity will be taken. I think they missed a great opportunity to create a really cool movie. We've watched so many episodes that could have easily been turned into an incredible film. But that's it; Carter's mind works in mysterious and strange ways. In my humble opinion, I believe you'll make better use of the 10th and 11th seasons, even with their flaws here and there, which have always existed in the series. So, let's go! Don't get discouraged ^_^ Thank you for the great reactions, as always!

Fernanda Monteiro

Also FOX wanted them to make MOTW instead of continuing the plot from the end of series. FOX felt in their infinite wisdom felt that a MOTW would bring a more broader audience with an MOTW style of movie.

Tre

I felt they did Scully dirty, regarding her rather irrational actions, but I liked your explanation about it👏🏼 When Mulder and Scully are in bed, Scully has a book beside her called Beautiful WASPs having sex😂bleeping trolls😉 I”m just grateful for the moments we get with Mulder and Scully in this movie. Embrace the things you like about the movie and pretend like the other stuff does not happen😉💛 a good thing to do, moving forwards.

Baconbob23

Really, such a let down of a movie =/ the big bad was...russians? wut? but as always mulder and scully are adorable. Watching it again it makes even less sense...dude was throwing body parts off a cliff and no one thought to look up? Were the organ transporter man and the headless guy lovers or did he just really liked his boss? Maybe FOX wanted to cash in on the Saw movies trend? And the whole priest thing just makes me feel icky...really just...WHY is this movie? what a waste of great characters... they already did the frankestein thing SO MUCH BETTER on the great mutato episode...

Amália Coccia

Beside all of that, a little funfact: It's the first time we see Mulders house. In the episode "Home" season 4, Mulder told Scully that he doesn't like to live in DC, and that he wishes to have a farm house on the countryside some day. Well, the house you see in the movie, that's the same location where they shot that season 4 episode, with that inbred family.

Wolfgang Engel

Chris Carter had 2 major issues with making this movie. 1. Their first plan was to make a movie 2 years after the series ended. But Chris Carter had been in a legal battle with Fox, so they couldn't do it. Carter felt that he didn't get enough money out of the DVD sales of his shows (X Files, Millennium, The Lone Gunmen, Harsh Realm) Years later Fox told him, that he should drop the legal battle NOW, if he wants to make another X Files movie, or it won't happen at all. So Carter dropped the thing to make this movie. At this point, Carter had to rewrite the script he already had, mostly due to pressure by Fox. 2. This was a low budget movie. Fox gave them only a third of the budget they had for the first movie. And you can clearly tell. The first movie was a huge action-scifi blockbuster. Yes, this is a monster of the week. Yes, it feels kinda off. Not a classic X File, no supernatural connection beside a psychic priest. It's basicly a dark crime thriller, with some body horror. It's not that she show never did something like that, but I think it is not a good and fitting representation of the show, as a movie. Come on. I remember seeing this in the theatre back then, and I was very disappointed. I was constantly thinking, what are they doing, where is the big X Files moment? It almost felt like an extreme long built up, without a satisfying release in the end. You 2 said, this might be your third ending. Well, I think that's absolutely not the way to look at this movie. 🙈 They had to make a revival, cause this movie clearly wasn't worth it, to end this awesome franchise. I think this movie was the worst thinkable outcome the X Files crew came up with, at this point. And I don't know a single one fan, who really enjoyed it, beside the shipper moments. The plot was nuts, a complete mess. I think the best you can say about this movie is, that it brought us up to date with the Mulder and Scully relationship. I didn't like, that the movie only had Skinner. What I say now is not officialy confirmed, but my theory. I feel like Amanda Peets, and XZibits characters could have been written as Doggett and Reyes in an early script. But maybe Fox didn't want them to do that. They wanted to have some big names in the movie. Just my 2 cents. By the way, I like the revival much better. For me it was a reparation of the disappointment I had with this movie. But even if there's a lot to blame on Chris Carter, there's maybe even more to blame on Fox, who always pressured the crew to do things as they wanted.

Wolfgang Engel

The actor with the long dark hair who is with a man and passes Mulder and Scully in the corridor when they arrive at the FBI is the actor who played Samantha in most of the episodes where she is shown as a child.

So for what it's worth Frank Spotniz did an interview on an X-Files Podcast and there was a fan question asking why they didn't continue the plot from ending to series to this movie. He stated that even before the series ended he/they had plans and storyboards on continuing the plot from the end of the series to the movie. The hold up was that Chris Carter was in a legal battle with FOX and held up making the movie which is why it took so long for next movie come out. Then when they were finally able to make the movie, he stated that he thought FOX had last faith in the movie. First FOX didn't want them to continue the Myth Story Plot from the series and instead asked them to do a MOTW story thinking it would draw in a more broader audience vs Myth Story Plot and they were not given a lot money to this movie. He said much later that an FOX Executive told him that FOX was indeed wrong and they should have continue with the Myth story plot. If you wanted to listen to that Podcast interview https://podcasts.apple.com/md/podcast/284-interview-frank-spotnitz-producer-of-the-x-files/id1157097612?i=1000419070656

Tre