Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51647 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-04-30
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 7
• Formats: Box set, Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 999 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Season Two, the 1994-95 run, of The X Files was the one where creator Chris Carter, having had a surprise hit when he expected a one-season wonder, started trying to make sense of all the storylines he had thrown into the pile in the first year. Moreover, he had to cope with Gillian Anderson's maternity leave by having Scully get abducted by aliens (back then, a pretty fresh device) for a few episodes and come back strangely altered. The season also inaugurated the tradition of opening ("Little Green Men") and closing ("Anasazi") with the show's worst episodes, both pot-boiling attempts to keep the alien infiltration/government conspiracy balls up in the air while seeming to offer narrative forward-thrusts or revelations.

But it's also a show noticeably surer of itself than Season One, with its stars reading from the same page in terms of their characters' relationship and attitudes to the wondrous. Scully's no-longer-workable scepticism finally starts to erode in the face of Mulder's increasingly cracked belief. There are fewer marking-time leftover-monster-of-the-week shows--although we do get a human fluke ("The Host"), vampires ("3"), an invisible rapist ("Excelsius Dei") voodoo ("Fresh Bones")--and the flying-saucer stories at last seem to be going somewhere. The powerful two-episode run ("Duane Barry", "Ascension") features Steve Railsback as Mulder's possible future, an FBI agent burned out after a UFO abduction who has become a hostage-taking terrorist, which climaxes with Scully's disappearance into the light. The standout episode is also a stand-alone--"Humbug"--the first and still most successful of the show's self-parodies (written by Darin Morgan, who had played the Flukeman in "The Host"), in which the agents investigate a murder in a circus freakshow, allowing the actors to make fun of the mannerisms they have earnestly built up in a run of solemn, even somnolent, explorations of the murk. Other worthy efforts: "Aubrey", about genetic memory; "Irresistible", a rare (and creepy) straight psycho-chiller with little paranormal content; and "The Calusari", a good ghost/mystery. Rising deputy characters include Nicholas Lea as the perfidious Krycek and Brian Thompson as the shapeshifting alien bounty hunters. Notable guest stars: Charles Martin Smith, C.C.H. Pounder, Leland Orser, Terry O'Quinn, Bruce Weitz, Daniel Benzali, John Savage, Vincent Schiavelli, Tony Shalhoub. --Kim Newman

On the DVD: The individual episode discs have a small selection of deleted scenes, foreign language clips and behind-the-scenes footage, but the bulk of the extra material is on the final disc. There's not a lot to get to grips with, but what there is consists of a 14-minute documentary about the making of Season Two, with contributions from Chris Carter, various directors, writers and actors (but not the two principals); Carter talking briefly about each episode in turn; a series of short TV spots and pieces about the show's FX and secondary characters; and three very short behind-the-scenes glimpses, one of which has the self-explanatory title "Gillian eats a cricket". There's also a DVD-ROM utility with Web links and a game. --Mark Walker

Video Description
DVD Special Features

The truth behind Season Two - featurette
Chris Carter interviews about 12 episodes from season 2
Behind-the-scenes clips
9 "Behind-the-truth" spots from F/X
Deleted Scenes
Additional Language Sections

DVD Rom Features

Website and links
Unholy Alliances' Game
Episode Guide
24 page booklet that contains all episode listings up to season seven

Synopsis
The complete second season of the cult television series is presented here on seven DVDs. The release features 25 episodes covering the deepening mysteries encountered by Agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson). The box set includes such popular mythology episodes as Little Green Men, Duane Barry, Ascension, and the season cliffhanger Anasazi, in which Mulder's father is killed and Mulder finds himself in a boxcar full of suspicious remains. The set also includes a documentary, The Truth About Season Two, plus interviews and interactive games.

Customer Reviews

TV doesn't get much better
The X-Files really found its footing with the onset of its second season & saw an almost doubling in viewing figures between the end of season 1 and the start of seaosn 2.

Despite now being 8 years old these episodes are as impressive now as they were watching them on tv, first time round. Every episode is clever, slick, imagenative and slightly creepy (or very creepy in the cases of: 'Die Hand Die Verletz' and 'The Calusari').

Highlights from season 2 include:

Duane Barry (for which Chris Carter was emmy nominated for outstanding writing)
One Breath (which sees Scully's return after her abduction)
Red Museum,
Fresh Bones,
Humbug (in my opinion 1 of the few comedic episodes that actually works),
F. Emasculata (gross but brilliant),
Our Town (it'll put you off chicken for sure),
& the best season finalé of the entire 9 seasons - Anasazi.

Season 2 - The year the X-Files became X-cellent.
This DVD box set is an excellent way to enjoy Season 2 of the X-Files in the correct episode order and with many extras such as deleted scenes. To me, this is the series when the format really began to work. The characters of Mulder and Scully were fully developed and the supporting cast were firmly in place.

It does take nearly 19 hours to watch all 25 episodes on these 7 discs in one sitting and so I guess it will only be true X-philes who will have the staying power to watch in this way. I recommend watching one or two episodes at once and take time to view the special features and play the DVD-ROM game on disc 7.

I look forward to the release of season 3 which is equally as good in the near future.

The X-Files at its peak
The second season of the X-files marks the perfect combination of the continued mythology episodes and the individual investigations, by consistently delivering original, intriguing and exciting plot twists. Building on the success of the first season, Chris Carter and his team were able to begin to expand and explore Mulder and Scully's relationship, but it is in the variety of the subject matter of each episode and the film-like production quality on display which really impresses in this season.

The first highlight is that of the two part episode - 'Duane Barry' and 'Ascension' which use the traditional UFO abduction formula but throws Scully into the action (the start of major plot advancements in later seasons).

Gillian Anderson's pregnancy in real life resulted in her presence being restricted in some episodes but this does not detract from the overall flow of the season.

Another stand out is that of 'Humbug' involving a circus mutant which uses scare tactics and humour for one of the first times in the X-Files, indicating a new direction for later seasons where irony and sarcasm are played upon to less success.

The DVD format of course provides instant access to each episode but it is the picture quality which is particularly impressive. Although the sound is only in stereo this does not detract from the tense atmosphere created by the stunning and eerie locales. When I bought this package I knew it was expensive but it is a long term investment to savour and enjoy and well worth the expense.