The X-Files

"Fight the future."

1998 2h 1m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

🍅

66%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★6.9TMDB · 1,919🍅66%Rotten Tomatoes●60Metacritic★7IMDB · 113,394

MysteryScience FictionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Mulder and Scully, now taken off the FBI's X Files cases, must find a way to fight the shadowy elements of the government to find out the truth about a conspiracy that might mean the alien colonization of Earth.

“Fight the future.”

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Cast

David Duchovny
Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson
Dana Scully
Mitch Pileggi
Walter Skinner
William B. Davis
Carl Busch
John Neville
The Well-Manicured Man
Martin Landau
Kurtzweil
Jeffrey DeMunn
Bronschweig
Tom Braidwood
Frohike

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rob Bowman
Writers: Chris Carter, Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $66M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

28 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The X Files Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

240+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rob Bowman, shot by Ward Russell. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mark Snow. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Stephen Mark shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson and Mitch Pileggi carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rob Bowman directs. Ward Russell behind the camera. Mark Snow scores. Stephen Mark cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $66M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
228 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "The X Files Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4240+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Rob Bowman, shot by Ward Russell. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Mark Snow. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Stephen Mark shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson and Mitch Pileggi carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Fight the future.".
10IMDB entry: tt0120902 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 15 themes, including "helicopter", "space marine", "government", "bomb".
12Released under 26 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ward Russell
Original score: Mark Snow
Editing: Stephen Mark
Production design: Christopher Nowak
Costume design: Marlene Stewart
Makeup / hair: Kerry Mendenhall
VFX supervisor: Mat Beck
Sound: Paul Urmson
Stunt coordinator: Tim A. Davison
Runtime: 121 min · 2h 1m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $66,000,000
Box office: $189,198,313
Return: 287% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The X-Files (1998)
Rotten Tomatoes: 66% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 60/100
IMDB rating: 7/10 · 113,394 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

6 wins & 11 nominations total

Part of

The X Files Collection

The X-Files (also known as The X-Files: Fight the Future) is a 1998 American science fiction thriller film directed by Rob Bowman. Chris Carter wrote the screenplay. The story is by Carter and Frank Spotnitz. It is the first feature film based on Carter's television series The X-Files that revolves around fictional unsolved cases called the X-Files and the characters solving them. The X-Files has spawned one sequel, a 2008 film entitled The X-Files: I Want to Believe released six years after the series ended.

Also by

Rob Bowman

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2025-09-02
★ 7/10
The best of The X Files After an explosion reminiscent of the Oklahoma City bombing, FBI agents Mulder and Scully stumble on an otherworldly virus and an intricate governmental cover-up. Their investigation leads them all over the map and, ultimately, to Antarctica, with numerous mysterious happenings and shadowy meetings. Originally known simply as "The X Files" but later as "The X-Files: Fight the Future," this 1998 film is essentially an elongated episode of the TV series with a bigger budget. I've never been more than a casual viewer (seeing 10-12 of the top-rated episodes) and, to me, this film pretty much represents the best the series had to offer, except that I favor the MOTW episodes as opposed to the alien conspiracy ones. “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” from season 3 is a good example. I just prefer the human interest and uniqueness of such episodes compared to the listless redundancy of the alien conspiracy segments. Everyone knows that creator Chris Carter was inspired by The Night Stalker TV Series/movies when he formulated the show. Whereas that brief 70s’ series was overt and almost cartoony with its depictions of the paranormal, The X Files always took a more subdued, realistic approach. To some, this made it boring; to others, fascinating; to me, a mixture of both. The way the plot in the movie unfolds is similar to "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark," albeit grimmer and quasi-believable. Other than the paranormal, the appeal of The X Files has always been Gillian Anderson. What a uniquely beautiful redhead with her intelligent, cynical expressions. There are some glaring geographical problems, unfortunately. For instance, Dallas is located in east Texas, which is technically on the eastern side of the USA and looks it; it’s very green. There are no desert-like landscapes anywhere close. Producers obviously did this to save on costs, but why not have those particular sequences take place outside of El Paso in west Texas? Or how about nearby Santa Fe or Albuquerque, New Mexico? Furthermore, a car trip from Dallas to DC takes 20 hours, not a single night’s drive as shown; not to mention traveling from Dallas to the Mexican border takes over 9 hours, not a couple of hours. It runs 2 hours, 2 minutes (with the Theatrical Release running a minute or two shorter) and was shot in California, British Columbia, Texas, New Jersey, London and Washington DC. GRADE: B/B+

Production companies