The X Files Movie (1998)
HomeWe've come to a crucial part of the X-Files. With season 5 finished, it was supposed to end here. However Chris Carter managed to convince some filthy rich film industry bosses to make a movie, and that's exactly what happened. Between season 5 and season 6, we saw the X-Files Movie. It explains more about alien activity on earth then ever before. It's important to remember that the film had to cater for two audiences; those who have seen the X-Files, and those that haven't. For the most part, we watch the film from the latter eyes, with most dialogue referring to previous experience the agents have shared, however for those who have no idea what's going on - the well manicured man steps in to explain a few 'truths' to Mulder.
The movie starts right where Season 5 left off. Mulder and Scully have been reassigned and are looking for a bomb that's been called in. Mulder manages to get himself stuck with it and after a rather close escape, both agents manage to run the hell away from the building before it goes bang. The usual blame game begins and It's Mulder and Scully who have been picked, since they were in the wrong building at the time, and ignored protocol - which, according to the hearing... killed 3 firemen and a young boy. (Mulder following his hunches despite Scully's sensible words of advice). There's the usual talk of splitting the two up, since they always seem to get into trouble when Mulder meets Alvin Kurtzweil - a mysterious man who lives in the shadows... and knows way too much. He tells Mulder of a cover up performed by FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency, who caused the explosion to cover up the deaths of firemen and kid, because what Mulder didn't know was that they were already dead. It seems that Kurtzweil knows a little too much for a gynaecologist. He tells Mulder of the real power FEMA have, and that they are currently dealing with a small time outbreak of the Hander virus in Texas. We see the smoking man arrive at this site, and there's the 4th fireman underground... with something growing inside him. Mulder doesn't really buy Kurtzweil's story, and goes home.. but for some reason, he changes his mind and wakes Scully at 3am and they're off to the morgue, just to see what those men died off. Naturally, they don't look in good health, with a green, jelly like skin. Mulder goes back to Kurtzweil who tells him he used to work with his father, and they were part of a project to oversee the creation of a virus, which will end all mankind, they were negotiating with aliens on when to release this virus... as the aliens are the natural inhabitants of this planet. Bit of a mouthful ha? So Mulder goes back to Dallas (the site of the bomb) and digs. He turns up some bone fragments that were found at the blast site, they were in the FEMA office. Scully takes a look and with a stunned face, they head straight out to the location where those bones were found. Everything is pointing to Texas. Meanwhile in Texas, things get a little bad. It turns out the smoking man has no idea why an alien is growing within this firemen's body, and orders them to let it grow, only to test the vaccination on it. However the alien gestates, escapes and kills a poor scientist. They seal the hole, cover their tracks and disappear. Scully and Mulder arrive to get some information from some typical Texan kids with new bikes who inform them they just left... in big tankers. The chase is on to find them. Having not much luck until they are spotted on a train.
The story gets quite simplistic from this point on. Luckily there isn't much of a sub-plot in this film so we only really need to concentrate on the facts at this time. We know from Kurtzweil that the bomb explosion was a cover up, and we know how the firemen and the little boy got there (from the very beginning, you see the boy discover the cave in Texas by falling into it, and then 4 firemen go in to get him, 3 came out and along with the boy, went to FEMA). We know that Scully has seen two very strange things. For one, the body of one of the firemen who supposedly died in the blast actually died from something unexplainable, and the bone fragments found make her look a little shocked. Mulder still doesn't know if Kurtzweil.. who knows far too much for his usual field of work - is telling the truth, but decides to investigate anyway, knowing that he and Scully face being separated.
Now it's time for the meeting of the secret security council - or are they FEMA? Smoking man, well manicured man, mono-tone man and a new Russian sounding dude all meet in London to discuss a new problem. Pay attention now folks. It seems the virus has mutated, into a new EBE (Extra-terrestrial Biological Entity), and that this poses a new threat as is could potentially surpass the colonization plan and become spontaneously re population. Their plan of action? Turn over one of the infected gestating alien mutations to the aliens, and hope that it buys them more time. Well-manicured man seems to be the only one not buying this plan, he believes it was their plan all along - that the virus was designed to become a gestating alien, using humanity as the host. Telling the aliens about this, may only confirm their plan. In which case it will all be over. It's also the first hint we get of the group developing a vaccine to 'save themselves', and not humanity. Smoking man also enlightens the group to another problem - the fact that Mulder has seen one of the infected bodies at Dallas, and that he was tipped off by Kurtzweil. They agree Kurtzweil must be killed, and Mulder should be too. Well manicured man is the only one who reminds them that Mulder's quest could become a crusade - so they must take something that means so much to him, he cannot continue without... I wonder who that could be?
Meanwhile, Scully and Mulder are off chasing the tanker trucks that so quickly left Texas. Mulder tells Scully that they may be hauling a virus, to which Scully doesn't believe. However at that moment, the tanker trucks go whizzing past on a train, Mulder and Scully are in hot pursuit. They follow it to a field full of crops (strangely located in the middle of nowhere), and two large, well light incubating structures. Upon closer inspection Mulder and Scully find themselves in a large empty room which very quickly becomes filled with millions of bees. As they run out, two helicopters chase them over the hills and through the crops, after a narrow escape, Scully makes it back to her reassignment hearing slighter later then she expected. During the hearing, Scully presents the bone fragments as evidence to confirm there is something strange going on, and Mulder goes to visit Kurtzweil, telling him what he saw. They guess that the bees are a form of carrier for the virus. Mulder gets a little pissed off that Kurtzweil doesn't know for sure, which is when we find out Kurtzweil may have more involvement then we first thought - saying that despite being chased off by helicopters from the strange 'Bee building', he's still standing... thanks to Kurtzweil. Unfortunately for them, the conversation was overheard.
Now it's time to get the red ink out cause things get a little sad for Mulder and Scully. Scully finally learns the outcome of her hearing.. she's being reassigned to Salt lake City, Utah, and FBI Field office. Since this couldn't be further from what she wants in life, she hands in her resignation to Skinner! Mulder expresses his anger, knowing they are close to something and she can't just walk away. Scully delivers some painful words stating that Mulder is close to something, and he's never needed her. She just gets in the way. As she goes to leave, Mulder follows thinking she just wants to leave with a clear concious but corrects her stating she's saved him. Her rational logic and 'god dam science' have saved him a thousand times over. She's made him a whole person, he owes her everything, and she owes Mulder nothing. Mulder goes on to say he doesn't think he can face it alone, he doesn't even know if he wants to and if he quits... they win. Scully cries a little, and this is when it finally (almost) happens! They hold each other, look into each other's eyes, move closer, their lips prepare for the inevitable kiss... until Scully scours in pain, and pulls a Bee out from her collar.
They brush off the bee, just as Scully starts to feel a bit funny, eventually collapsing on the floor, her lasts words of conciousness confirm to Mulder she has no allergy. Mulder rushes to call for help, and Scully gets placed in an ambulance. Just as Mulder asks the driver of the ambulance what hospital she's going to... he shoots Mulder. Mulder falls to the floor with a rather serious looking head wound, just as the real ambulance turns up. Finally, we see Scully getting loaded onto a plane under smoking man's supervision.
It's not really clear how they could have planned to kidnap Scully in this way, since they couldn't have guaranteed the bee sting would happen. Perhaps it's just good timing.
Who should Mulder awake to in hospital but... The Lone Gunmen! They inform him that the 911 call was intercepted and Scully's missing. They do happen to have the bee that stung her though. Skinner pays a visit to talk some sense into Mulder who wants to leave the hospital. Knowing that they tried to kill him once, they'll just wait for him to leave hospital, so a quick switch-a-roonie with Byers see's Mulder walk out, and off to meet Kurtzweil.
However things aren't going well for Kurtzweil, when he meets the well manicured man in the alley. Mulder makes it just in time to hear that Kurtzweil has 'come and gone', (with well manicured man's driver closing the trunk of the car). Mulder has met well manicured man before, briefly. He offers him the location of Agent Scully, and the means to save her life. Mulder gets in the car with him. Were not sure how he obtained the vaccine, or why he's helping Mulder, though we do get some sort of explanation later. He goes on to tell Mulder that the virus is extra-terrestrial, and the original inhabitant of the planet. The weak vaccine is all we have against it. The virus once walked the planet as aliens. The ones who didn't leave become frozen as a pathogen underground, waiting to be awakened in the future and integrated into the aliens when they come to colonize the planet - using us as hosts. The well manicured man goes on to tell Mulder that the virus was only supposed to control humans, making us into a slave race, however now that one has gestated, it could be extermination. The security council have been working with the aliens to give them access to the virus, and have been working secretly to create a cure.
Now form some serious truths. Mulder's father didn't want to be part of the project because the vaccine wasn't a cure for mankind, but for the men involved in the scheme. However he left Samantha be abducted for one reason (remember, Bill Mulder had to choose which kid was abducted): Because other then the vaccine, the only survivors of the virus holocaust will be alien\human hybrids. Mulder's father allowed Samantha to be taken so she could become one, and survive beyond the human race. Now that must make Mulder feel pretty crap, though the reasons Mulder wasn't selected was because his tasks was to expose the truth... to keep digging, and fight the future.
Mulder asks the important question of why is well manicured man telling him all this. His answer... his own children. Accepting that his life will be over now that he's revealed this, he tells Mulder of his orders. To kill Kurtzweil, and to kill Mulder. After shooting the driver in the back of the head.. He turns to Mulder and says 'Trust no one, Mr Mulder'.
The last advice well manicured man gives is that no one knows about the vaccine, and that introducing it into an alien environment may destroy everything they've been working for... in other words, could seriously screw up the aliens. He orders Mulder to find Scully, only then will he understand the depth of this project. As Mulder turns and walks away... well manicured man's car explodes into a ball of flames.
Following his advice, Mulder heads to the location given. The middle of the Antarctica. On first look, it seems there's nothing there, until he notices a little base of igloos and snow-mobiles. Heading towards on foot he falls through the snow into a strange structure, full of bodies in containers. One of the bodies has an alien head. Little does Mulder know that smoking man is back on top, and has found his transport and footprints leading to the base. Meanwhile, Mulder is looking around this new structure he's discovered. It's massive, going further underground, and full of containers. Some containing humans and others containing aliens. After a few slips and bangs, he finds Scully's cross in an empty container, which leads him to Scully herself. After breaking her out of the container he injects her with the vaccine. The strange umbilical like tubes connecting her shrivel up and die, and smoking man realizes that every things about to go to hell. They evacuate the station with a rather concerned look on his face. Mulder realizes the scale of the problem he may have caused when the aliens in the containers start moving and breaking out. In a rush to get a barely concious moving Scully back to the surface, he performs CPR on her, bringing her back to life. They escape the structure, only to have something grab at Mulder's foot on the way out, which he manages to shake loose. As they get to the surface, the snow around them caves in, and after a short run Scully passes out on the floor as Mulder comes to terms with what he's seeing. The large structure lifts out of the snow, lights up and flies slowly over Mulder's head. Finally understanding with his own eyes he's just been in an alien UFO, he tells Scully she's gotta see this, however she's passed out on the floor. The UFO flies off and Mulder smiles, falling to the ground. Scully awakens to comfort him, and they both hug for warmth.
The movie ends with Scully at the hearing, where somehow they now know the bomb defusal agent was involved in the plot (by not defusing the bomb), but the rest of the stuff, they can't even begin to accept. During which we see the tanker trucks renamed to be carrying Corn Oil, and the crop fields burnt. The chair lady of the hearing (the curator from Mad City) tells Agent Scully that they must delete the entries she's made before presenting the file to the district attorney because no hard evidence exists to support them. Scully stands, approaches and places a single item on the table. The Bee which stung her. She states "I don't believe the FBI currently has an investigative unit qualified to pursue the evidence in hand."
Mulder reads of the 'Hander virus' outbreak contained, and that it's being buried. Mulder gets a little mad knowing that they've been in this situation so many times, they got so close to the truth and they are right back where they started. He goes on to say Scully was right to want to quit, and she should get away from Mulder, go be a doctor. Scully looks at him, saying she can't and won't. She accepts what she's seen and that her work is here with Mulder. Because they now know there is a cure, how many lives can they save with it. Holding hands, she says if she quits now, they win.
The lasting scenes of the film end in Tunisia, where the smoking man is at a new location in the middle of the desert, growing more crops. He meets with the strange Russian man, informing him that Mulder has seen more then he should. The Russian man doesn't seem to think this is a problem since he's only seen pieces. Smoking man informs us that Mulder is determined now and hands him a letter. The contents of which state the X-Files have been re-opened.
So what a film! We've learnt more about alien colonization then ever before. The death of well-manicured will surely have an effect, and Smoking man is worried about Mulder's involvement and everyone... including the aliens knows a vaccine exists. Let's recap the alien world as we currently understand it:
Space Aliens: The ones who want to colonise the planet.
Alien\Human clones: Created by the government, unsure why but most likely as experiments.
Black Oil Virus: Pathogen that's native to this planet, used to infect humans to either host a human life, or control humans, making us a slave race.
Alien rebels: Preventing the colonization by killing those in the project, including abductees. They have no eyes or mouth, so cannot be infected by black oil.
Bounty-hunters: Unsure where they fit in, though they seem to be enforcing the space\black oil aliens plans to take over the world by killing off the human\hybrid clones.
Now the movie's done, lets crack on with Season 6 :)