"Fight the Future."
I am quite unhappy that I missed the sequel to this film in theatres, but it wasn't in theatres long enough for me to see it. Probably some poor marketing campaign and a stale interest in the television show due to other recent science fiction marvels such as Lost, the X-Files is truly for the nerdy teenager of the mid to late 90's.
Seeing this movie again, I realize how little Chris Carter and company truly understood their fan base back in 1998 and even now with the sequel. They made two films that are strictly movies that only viewers of the show would enjoy, yet they forced national releases and distribution for both films, spending millions in promotions, etc., instead of targeting their key demographics.
X-Files: Fight the Future is a wonderful film, beautifully shot with an exciting plot and a great tie-in to the television show back during its original release. However, many casual movie-goers were deterred from watching this film, as not only would the theatre be filled with sweaty, nerdy boys going through puberty and playing hours of video games, but the plot is somewhat confusing if you don't know any background at all.
The true test of this was getting my father to watch this film - a big fan of action movies and conspiracy films... you'd think that this would be right up his alley. Not at all. Although a big movie fan himself, my father lost interest very quickly and was only impressed by cameos of Martin Landau.
Although I am biased towards the franchise and of course, Gillian Anderson, I have to admit, if someone asked me to watch a movie for a show like 24 for example, after five or six seasons, I'd be lost - even if the film took 10-15 minutes to explain what was happening... I wouldn't know.
Because of this, I would've expected a limited release of the sequel, creating a viral marketing campaign, and a word of mouth buzz. Instead, the 2nd X-Files film was put up against the big boys this summer and lost.
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