Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49210 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-10-14
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, Black & White, Colour, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 6
• Running time: 900 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The fifth season of The X-Files is the one in which the ongoing alien conspiracy arc really takes over, building towards box-office glory for the inevitable cinematic leap in The X-Files Movie (1998). The series opener "Redux" begins with Mulder having been framed for everything going. Scully finally sees a UFO ("The Red and the Black") before being presented with a potential daughter (the two-part "Christmas Carol" and "Emily"). By "The End", there's an enormous tangle of threads for the big-screen adaptation to unravel (or not, as it turned out). Cigarette Smoking Man is being hunted, playing every side against the middle, as well as chasing after information on Mulder's sister. Krycek is back, too, as is an old flame for Mulder in the shape of Agent Diana Fowley.

If that wasn't enough to goad viewers into the cinema, there was the Lone Gunmen's 1989-set back story ("Unusual Suspects", with Richard Belzer playing his Homicide: Life on the Streets character), a musical number in the black and white Frankenstein homage "Post Modern Prometheus", and scripts co-written by Stephen King ("Chinga"), William Gibson ("Kill Switch"), and even Darren McGavin (who had inspired the show as Kolchak: The Night Stalker) in "Travellers".

On the DVD: The X-Files, Season 5 extras include Chris Carter's commentary over "Post Modern Prometheus", which reveals the decision making behind shooting in black and white as well as the problems it caused. A second commentary is from writer/coproducer John Shiban on "Pine Bluff Variant", where he openly admits the influence of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Across the six discs (only 20 episodes because of the movie of course) you get credits for every episode, their TV promo spots, deleted and international versions of several scenes (some with commentary from Carter), and a couple of TV featurettes. The best of these is "The Truth About Season 5", talking to an excited Dean Haglund (Langly) amongst other crew members.--Paul Tonks

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

"The Truth About Season Five" Featurette
6 Special Effects clips with audio commentary
5 Deleted Scenes with optional commentary by Chris Carter and white rabbit branching option (extended versions of each to be found on Disc 7)
11 "Behind The Truth" TV Spots
30 Promotional TV Spots
International clips from 16 episodes
Alternate Audio Streams
24-page collector's booklet
Documentary "Inside the X-Files"
Language: English SDH
Original Aspect Ratio: 16x9FF 1.78
Sound Quality: Dolby 2.0 Surround

Synopsis
This collection documents all the truth that was out there during the fifth season of the beloved science-fiction suspense series, THE X-FILES. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) track suspicious cases that may be attributed to the supernatural or involve unexplained phenomena. Memorable episodes include The Post-Modern Prometheus, a bizarre monster tale shot mostly in black and white; Chinga, a horror story written by Stephen King and X-FILES creator Chris Carter; and Bad Blood, a favorite among fans that deals with vampirism and features a guest appearance by Luke Wilson. Other episodes include Redux, Christmas Carol, Kill Switch, Folie a Deux, and many more.

Customer Reviews

A 'must buy'
For any X Files fans, this is a must buy - all the platitudes in the world could not adequately describe how good this series is. And for the price it is well worth it.

You will either buy none, or buy them all, and at this price, it is an absolute bargain.

A great season with classic episodes and big stars!
There are so many great episodes in this season - 'The Post-Modern Prometheus', 'Bad Blood', 'Kill Switch', 'Chinga', 'The Pine Bluff Variant'.....

This is the last season before the movie (as well as the last season to be filmed in Vancouver), and these 20 episodes really showcase the series at its peaks.

There are episodes written by legendary novelists Stephen King and William Gibson, as well as the return of movie director Rob Bowman (The X-Files Movie, Reign Of Fire). Not to mention an appearence by Jerry Springer!

This was also the year when the writers began to experiment and as a result we ended up with some wonderfully different hours of television including an episode filmed entirely in black and white (to a Cher soundtrack) and possibly the funniest epsiode ever in which Mulder and Scully each tell the tale of a vampire wannabe from their own unique perspectives.

The season starts out great with 'Redux' and 'Redux II' as we find out about the circumstances surrounding Mulder's apparent suicide. The themes of the season are heavy on the parent-child relationship with at least three examples of this being Mulder-CSM, Scully-Emily, and Jeffrey and Cassandra Spender. After the 'Redux' two-parter the mythology gets a bit bland and annoying, but the sheer greatness of the standalone episodes more than make up for it.

Of course there are a few dud episodes; 'Minds Eye', 'All Souls', 'Travellers', but most people would consider this the last of the great seasons of the show.

For fans still watching the show now, rewatching these old episode certainly bring a refreshing relief to what Scully used to be like when dealing with her emotions (such as her cancer).

In essense, buy this now!

the pinnacle of 9 years
In this season the whole conspiracy plot blows out of proportion. The episode's of Redux and Patient X made my head spin of the charts. The idea of having Mulder as a skeptic with Scully having to revert his belief was a good emotional plotting technique used by Carter. The conclusion to Redux is the best in any x-files episode. Patient X was a complete shocker and was the programs first move towards a hollywood look which arguably is a positive or negative step. The season finale - the end - has a cliffhanger that will drop first time viewers jaws.
The season also has many comical moments such as the post modern prometheus which also contains social significance of alienation and has an hilariously cheesy must see conclusion. Duchovny provides laughter in the bad blood episode also.
The lone gunmen also attain an episode focusing on their gathering as Mulder's little helpers giving their characters a much more stronger representation in future episodes.
Schizogeny creates connotations of the 'Predator' scenario when the agents are stalked by an invisible predator in the woods containing a tense atmosphere.
The only let down of the series is firstly the return of the Pusher in Kitsunegari, which should not have focused on a new pusher and recreated the amazing staredown between the pusher and mulder in the original.
Secondly is the Emily storyline. A Christmas Carol seemed like a total waste of time where the only memorable moment is Mulder dresses in a hip bandana. This story could have been carried out in a more intense, fast paced manner much like the other conspiracy orientated episodes in the series.