FTF or IWTB?

[ex_rustingwil400]

Which X-Files movie do you prefer...Fight The Future or I Want To Believe? How many times did you see them in the theater?

I like both of them, but if I had to pick one over the other, I would choose I Want To Believe. I was disappointed to read so many negative reviews and comments on message boards after the movie's release. I liked the look of the film, and the snow and shadows were beautiful. I liked the story, even though there were a few lines of dialogue that seemed pretty hokey. (All the stuff about looking into the darkness...) I got to see it four times before it got yanked.

I saw FTF twice, I think. By comparison, it seems really bright and colorful and exciting, but I can never keep the story straight.

Comments

[yvi]

I... haven't even seen the second one yet...

[amalnahurriyeh]

OK, I'm going to say it: they're both kinda crap movies, in their own special ways. Neither plot got beyond semi-coherent. And, oy, some dialogue clunkers.

But they are both amazing comfort movies. I love Big Exciting Action Movies That Go Boom! and FTF is absolutely that, in a nutshell. And IWTB is like a meh MoTW but with TONS of shippy goodness, which makes my little mushy heart sing. And I find the IWTB-verse really interesting, as evidences that I keep writing in it.

IWTB I saw twice in the theater, and would have seen more but my family is lose. I've seen it twice on DVD since I bought it. FTF I must have seen in the theater, but probably only once; apart from that, I've seen it a few times on cable, but haven't actually ever popped the DVD in just to see it. I'm sure I will at some point...

[wendelah1]

I have never seen Fight the Future in a theater, as I was not even watching the show in 1997(?) when it was released. I have seen it on DVD a couple of times. It has some nice explosions and few shippy moments that I personally could have done without and an utterly incoherent plot. I do prefer it over I Want to Believe which has even more Mulder/Scully romance and a plot line that makes FTF look brilliant by comparison. Despite that, I saw it three times in the theater. I guess I kept thinking I would like it better, that I would see what so many fans saw and loved.

I don't think I have looked forward more eagerly to a movie since I was a child waiting for the Sound of Music to open in my neighborhood theater. IWTB was a horrible disappointment to me. To be honest, I nearly left the fandom over it, and I don't think I've felt the same about the show since. They had so many years to come up with a good script, and they failed. What I wanted from the movie was what I loved about the show: watching Mulder and Scully's partnership. I wanted to see them work together, and solve a crime or x-file together. I have not bought the DVD nor do I plan to do so. What is sad is how indifferent I am now to the idea of a third movie.

My retreat into denial is complete: in my personal canon, nothing past Je Souhaiteever occurred.

[chrissytng]

I saw FTF back when I was like 8 years old in the theater (parents were big XF fans at the time and I'd been allowed to watch it the entire time it was on) and it scared the crap out of me for various reasons (I was 8, so I sincerely believed Scully was in danger of dying, then again I also really thought Mulder died all those times on the show, but that's beside the point; also the theater I saw FTF in was run down and crawling with icky bugs, one which decided to crawl up my leg during the climatic 'Scully is in Antarctica and Mulder might fall off the ledge getting down there to her' scene -not cool when you're 8 years old!), so I only saw it the one time. But I've got it on dvd and watch it fairly often.

IWTB...well, now I saw this twice. The first time, bc obviously I was a fan and had high hopes for it. The second time...because I was guilty that I found myself loving The Dark Knight more and since the first time I saw TDK was right after I saw IWTB, I ended up seeing IWTB again the same day I decided to see TDK a second time. I also was hoping that maybe a second viewing would improve it, since I had been completely unspoiled for IWTB, and so now that I'd already seen it and knew the weak/bad parts, I would be better prepared. But I hate to say it...I really didn't like IWTB. I loved the shippy parts sure, but it really wasn't an enjoyable film for me, which is sad, bc I think I like movies of even less quality and yet I stupidly expect more out of XF!

(And it's bc I was unspoiled for IWTB that I went in to the new Trek completely spoiled...but until IWTB, I came out satisfied, each time, so yeah....)

[my_daroga]

I'm one of the very negative about IWTB people. I tried not to harsh anyone's squee, because yeah, I guess it was pretty special to get anything after all those years. But I hated it. I thought the plotlines were even stupider than usual, and I still don't understand how Scully googling "stem cell research" resulted in the page about the two-headed dogs or whatever that clued Mulder in. I don't even know. And I personally thought every scene between them was awkward and stilted, as if they hadn't met in five years. It just didn't work for me, though I did like the ambiguity around the priest. I only saw it once, and it reminded me why I'd left the show before the end.

I don't think FTF is a particularly good movie, but on the other hand it occurred while I personally was at the height of my fannishness, and hell, it was great to get that on the big screen while I was young and passionate. ;) The shippiness was kept to a minimum I thought, which was nice because I'm of the UST persuasion so it was there but not ruined. Also Martin Landau.

[bravenewcentury]

To be honest, neither is a great film on its own, but then they're really made to be super-long episodes of an ongoing storyline, rather than being self-contained.

I'd have to say FTF over IWTB because:

- Mytharc! Yay! Even if it makes no effing sense!
- They're still in the FBI and thus drive around looking hot in business suits.
- HALLWAY SCENE OMFG.
- The Syndicate are in it, and I love to hate them.
- The Gunmen are in it, even if it's only for about ten seconds.

I do like IWTB too, despite my misgivings about the last couple of years of canon. However I feel I should qualify this by saying that I would happily pay to watch two hours of Mulder and Scully going to the supermarket and arguing about the laundry, so you know.

I never saw either at the cinema because I am still in the juvenile stage of Philedom, having never watched a single episode before last November.

[my_daroga]

I understand that. We all watch for different things, and it doesn't take intelligence or a lack thereof to be bothered by different things. I have no problem with other people enjoying the film--it just means that X-Files is a lot of things to a lot of people, and this film just didn't happen to capture the stuff I wanted it to. Sometimes, though, I feel insulted by the shortcuts taken in films, though I'm less likely to object if I like other aspects of the film.

It didn't bother me that they were together. What bothered me was that it just didn't "play" right for me. *shrug* That may have just been my attitude going in, you know? It just wasn't XF for me. Which is fine, because we still have the DVDs, right?

[scarletbaldy]

YAY! *waves* Hi guys!

FTF without a doubt. I saw it in London when it was first released in the theatre back in 1998. we were ten fans in Leicester square back then and there was no premiere. *iz nostalgeek*

I like IWTB like I like an average X-F episode. But FTF for all its flaws still makes my heart beat when I watch it on telly. The plot is utterly preposterous but the picture itself is gorgeous, lots of shots in there are icon worthy. And Mulder and Scully are so very pretty, with their awesome suits and Scully got those amazing shoes and I'm not even a shoe person! In FTF they don't look like something the cat dragged in and I'm so shallow I'm gonna stop talking right now....

And two words really: HALLWAY SCENE.

I rest my case. *nods firmly*