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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of The X-Files: Fight the Future (Mark Snow)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you seek a transitional score that leads you from the
early days of atmospheric suspense music in "The X-Files" to the later
years of harmonic romanticism that poignantly emerged in the show.
Avoid it... if you expect to hear a score that truly embodies the electronic spirit and soul of the episodic scores that Mark Snow provided for the series on television, because the orchestral presence, as well as missing motifs from the show, set this work apart.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The X-Files: Fight the Future: (Mark Snow) Rare is
it that a feature film based upon a television series is released right
in the middle of that series' lifespan on the small screen, but
producer/creator Chris Carter and his regular "The X-Files" crew managed
to pull it off. Even more remarkable is that the film not only
integrated into the fifth and sixth seasons of the storyline of the show
perfectly, but was also a narrative success on its own. Generating
positive buzz from people who had never seen a single episode on TV,
The X-Files: Fight the Future intelligently satisfied both avid
fans and the regular mainstream, a rare feat that was in no way
duplicated ten years later with the ill-fated second feature film in the
franchise, The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Directed by one of the
show's regulars, The X-Files: Fight the Future and its successful
run promised of the possibility of another film in the future, though by
the time the 2008 "sequel" debuted, the magic of the show (and lingering
interest in the concept after actor loyalty issues caused its
disintegration in its late seasons) had waned. The plotline of The
X-Files: Fight the Future runs like that of an extended episode,
with larger production budgets for locations, sets, soundtrack, and
guest stars. The fact that the film leads fans to a huge
governmental/alien conspiracy and an associated alien spacecraft in
Antarctica is no surprise to aficionados of the series, and the script
developed several new plotlines for future television episodes to
reference. Composer Mark Snow had been writing music for the series for
all of its five seasons to the date of the film and had his own cult
following as a result. He had received six Emmy nominations spanning
work for "The X-Files" and "Millennium" and had begun to venture into
television and video films with varying success. His work for the "The
X-Files" episodes was typically dominated by synthesizers, for the
weekly television schedule never afforded him the time to work with an
orchestra. With two months and a significant number of re-cuts to work
around in producing the score for the feature film, Snow was given a
large enough budget to hire a studio orchestra to create a beefed-up,
more complex version of his weekly "X-Files" music, a decision later
described as an obvious way to adapt the concept to the big screen.
In the early days of the show (the film came at the end of that period), Snow's music was not really that listenable outside of context. Only in later years of the series did he explore more harmonic ideas for the growing romantic aspect of the show's overarching plotline. This feature film score serves as an interesting transitional bridge for the two sounds. As expected, the electronically whistled title theme for the show is translated to The X-Files: Fight the Future, and its incarnations are among the highlights of the score. In "Threnody in X," Snow provides the theme over masculine, synthetic rhythms reminiscent of the early scores in franchise of The Terminator. In its favor are those rhythms and harmonic bass accompaniment, though fans will immediately note the absence of some of the elements of the theme frm the show that truly make it what it is. Mostly gone from the theme (and the entire album) is the trademark echoing effect that is almost as famous at the whistling, a serious omission. Curiously, the film was treated to a performance of this variety during a helicopter-shot driving scene in the middle of the film, but this cue, "Crossroads," was ultimately a substitution for a much better orchestral version of the same general idea. The theme rarely makes subsequent appearances, its fragments finally put together once again for the finale's "Crater Hug" cue. The action and suspense cues seem like an odd combination of Snow's non-"X-Files" efforts and the dissonant experimentation of Elliot Goldenthal. The Goldenthal influence is clear in several places where Snow plants incongruous layers of shrieking strings and brass, in some cases mirroring what Goldenthal did the same year in Sphere. The resemblance to some of Snow's superior feature efforts is best heard in the back-to-back "Crossroads" and "Corn Hives" cues, which introduce the composer's trademark synthetic choir from the era. The driving orchestral rhythms in "Crossroads," led by timpani and largely absent of the murky electronics, produce the single best cue of the score, though this recording was replaced in the movie with a synthetic alternative better connected to the television show's musical style. A few pieces later in the score will remind of other composers, including James Horner's Aliens in "Corn Copters" and an adaptation of the title theme into vintage James Bond fashion in "Cargo Hold" (don't be surprised if you encounter a fair number of singular moments that attempt to recall Barry melodramatic suspense). It's important to remember that The X-Files: Fight the Future is mostly a suspense film, and you should expect to encounter a fair number of barely audible atmospheric cues of an electronic nature, hardly a surprise in this circumstance. Some of these more ambient cues are highlighted by the translation of the solo piano from the show into the film. Many of the motifs heard regularly in the show are not featured in the film, however, and this choice is most curious considering that the filmmakers positioned this movie to function as mostly an extra-long episode in between seasons. Still, fans of the concept will find considerable merit in the score's adherence to the basic parameters of Snow's treatment of the concept, though coming on the heels of his simply spectacular (but still sadly synthetic) score for the television production of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea only months earlier, Snow is definitely capable of better a merging of romanticism and suspense. The original 67-minute album for The X-Files: Fight the Future was not complete, missing arguably the most memorable sequence of music in the picture. A limited, 2014 La-La Land Records expanded product rectified this issue, adding five minutes or so of previously unreleased material. This added music includes a few unimportant incidental cues in the middle of the score, but it more vitally provides the film version of "Crossroads," which, although it is clearly inferior to the already-available, boldly orchestral album version of the cue, is perhaps this score's best connection to the show's iconic main theme. The orchestral version of "Crossroads," which recalls his 1997 work for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea well, is among Snow's most satisfying career cues and is fortunately included at the very end of the 2014 album as a bonus track. Enthusiasts of the score and concept will enjoy this revisiting of "The X-Files" in general, along with La-La Land's impressive sets of music from the show, and it's disappointing that this logical presentation wasn't provided by Elektra on the 1998 product. The sound quality does not seem to enjoy as major an improvement on the 2014 album as expected. In general, traditional orchestral film score collectors will find parts of the music for The X-Files: Fight the Future quite tedious, with only ten to fifteen of the whole on the expanded album worthy of compilation inclusion. Snow has, quite sadly, slipped from mainstream view in the years since "The X-Files" concluded on television, but at least the album treatment of his legacy for this concept has been well-handled years later. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
1998 Elektra Album:
Total Time: 67:50
(total and track times not listed on the packaging) 2014 La-La Land Album: Total Time: 75:33
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert of the 1998 album contains notes about Snow and the score. The wacky-colored font
used for the notes and credits is very difficult to read. The 2014 album's insert contains detailed
notes about the film and score.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from The X-Files: Fight the Future are Copyright © 1998, 2014, Elektra Entertainment, La-La Land Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 6/2/98 and last updated 12/22/14. |
