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The X-Files - The Complete First Season Customer Reviews (25 - 27 of 30 Reviews)

The start of something great
This is the season that started it all: The X-Files Season One. I watched this show from day one. For the most part, I never missed an episode of the entire series. And when I did miss it, I'd catch it some other time on a re-run or something.

When they started re-running them on the FX channel, I decided to tape every episode they aired, since they were aired in order. Then, once I got caught up with where they were at on FOX, I started taping those every Sunday night. I have every episode on tape, and every DVD set that's available.

This season was great. It was designed to stand on its own, since the series' future was uncertain at the time. But it had such great writing that the alien mythology stories could still be taken to another level if future seasons were to happen. And boy did they ever! We got eight more years after this!

This one is great to look back on what Mulder and Scully were like back then, and what the show was like back then. Comparing that to say season 6, there's an amazing difference. The characters and story really came a long way!

The special features are also a treat as well, since you get to look into where it all began and what it was like for the creators of the show to make a show like this.

Great season, great DVD!

Episodes deserve 5 starts, but the "extras" sub par
If you are considering spending over $... getting the entire season on DVD, I figure that you're already a big fan of the episodes... so I won't bore you with details about how engrossing, intelligent, and unique the series is and how great it is to have the entire season in your home library. Besides having the entire season, in order, at your disposal, the DVD's allow you to have great, crisp picture quality. I, like many X-Files fans, have many episodes either recorded off the T.V. or on the X-Files VHS series. The improved quality (and let's face it, the lack of commercials) made it worth the money to get the DVDs.

The extras, however, were very disappointing compared to the extra features added to other DVDs. There were only two or three deleted scenes and the behind the scenes stuff was routine. I was also shocked at the absence of the major actors in the featurettes. Duchovny, Anderson, and Pileggi barely appear. There is quite a bit from Chris Carter, however, so if you like to listen to him talk, you'll be happy. It was annoying that each episode has a "special feature" tab, but all you usually found there were "international clips". I don't know about you, but I'm not all that excited hearing an X-File clip dubbed in German or Italian.

If you're interested in having all the episodes, this is a great investment. But, don't buy it if you think you're going to get loads of great special features.

Finally--A Collection Well-Suited for DVD!
"The X-Files" is an excellent fit for DVD---beautifully shot, a mythology deep enough to keep teenagers buying background material, and a rabid fan following noted for their penchant to purchase anything "X".

Having collected several of the collector's sets on VHS, like many I was frustrated by the lack of completeness in each release, with a season represented by only 25% of its episodes. While this is acceptable for the casual fans, it proved exruciating for the true X-phile, as invariably favorite episodes were left out of the mix.

This situation has been rectified with the release of the entire first season of the show on DVD in a seven-disc collection. It is now possible to watch each episode commercial-free and in sequence in a digital-quality medium. In addition, an extras disc has been added (details are listed above), including a DVD-ROM computer game.

Having completed my viewing of the entire 1st set, several observations came to mind: - The "X-Files", almost unique in episodic television, hit the airwaves fully-formed. There is precious little difference in tone or execution between the pilot and subsequent episodes. - Whereas some of the 3rd and 4th season episodes saw a noticeable decline in quality (due to the loss of key writers and Chris Carter's focus elsewhere), the 1st season episodes are generally superbly-written.

Unfortunately, my cut of this collection did suffer from noticeable editing problems. Nothing major, typically just a couple of misaligned frames at chapter cuts, but let's face it--for this kind of money, it should be flawless.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend this collection.

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