A number of problems with
The X-Files on Blu-ray have been found - and continue to be found - by fans. I've been working hard to find both the problems - as well as some of the things that were fixed - when comparing The X-Files Blu-ray release to its previous DVD release. A huge thanks to all the folks over at Blu-ray.com as well as everyone who has contacted me about things they've noticed. It's with your help that this article was put together.
This article will continue to be updated. The last update was January 28, 2016.
Opening Credits Tagline Inventory
At the end of the opening credits of every episode of The X-Files, the tagline "THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE" appeared - until everything changed when a unique tagline appeared in the first season finale, "The Erlenmeyer Flask." It became part of the show's mythology to feature unique taglines on some episodes. Unfortunately, the show's original DVD releases didn't always include the unique taglines. The subsequent "Mythology" DVD releases corrected the episodes that were included on them.
With The X-Files released on Blu-ray, fans hoped that everything would finally be correct as per the original airings. Sadly, two episodes are missing their unique tagline on Blu-ray - "Redux" and "4-D." (And of course, the Blu-rays use the wrong font for the taglines.)
# | Episode | Tagline | DVD | Mythology | Blu-ray |
#1X23 | The Erlenmeyer Flask | TRUST NO ONE | YES | YES | YES |
#2X06 | Ascension | DENY EVERYTHING | NO | YES | YES |
#2X25 | Anasazi | ÉÍ 'AANÍÍGÓÓ 'ÁHOOT'É | YES | YES | YES |
#3X10 | 731 | APOLOGY IS POLICY | YES | YES | YES |
#4X01 | Herrenvolk | EVERYTHING DIES | YES | YES | YES |
#4X04 | Teliko | DECEIVE INVEIGLE OBFUSCATE | YES | N/A | YES |
#4X10 | Terma | E PUR SI MUOVE | YES | YES | YES |
#4X24 | Gethsemane | BELIEVE THE LIE | YES | YES | YES |
#5X02 | Redux | ALL LIES LEAD TO THE TRUTH | NO | YES | NO |
#5X14 | The Red and the Black | RESIST OR SERVE | YES | YES | YES |
#5X20 | The End | THE END | NO | YES | YES |
#6ABX03 | Triangle | DIE WAHRHEIT IST IRGENDWO DA DRAUßEN | YES | N/A | YES |
#6ABX19 | The Unnatural | IN THE BIG INNING | YES | N/A | YES |
#7ABX04 | The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati | AMOR FATI | YES | YES | YES |
#7ABX11 | Closure | BELIEVE TO UNDERSTAND | YES | YES | YES |
#9ABX02 | Nothing Important Happened Today II | NOTHING IMPORTANT HAPPENED TODAY | YES | YES | YES |
#9ABX05 | 4-D | EREHT TUO SI HTURT EHT | NO | N/A | NO |
#9ABX08 | Trust No 1 | THEY'RE WATCHING | YES | YES | YES |
#9ABX14 | Improbable | DIO TI AMA | YES | N/A | YES |
General Blu-ray Notes
# | Episode | Note |
All | All | The font used for the words "THE X FILES" in the show's official, iconic logo - Industria - has been replaced, because the remastering company didn't know what font it was. They also added an ugly black outline to it. |
All | All | The other fonts used in the Emmy Award-winning opening credit sequence - Helvetica Condensed (names) and Helvetica Light (tagline) - have been replaced, because the remastering company didn't know what the fonts were. |
All | All | The text on the FBI photo in the opening credit sequence has been changed from "#X69" to "EX69" |
All | All | The font used for all location titles as well as credits - ITC American Typewriter Medium - has been replaced, because the remastering company didn't know what font it was. |
All | All | The footage from "Squeeze" in the opening credits could have been sourced from that episode. |
All | All | Text spacing of location text seems to be eyeballed instead of being evenly spaced as it should be. It's also possible a template was used that wasn't spaced evenly, as I haven't seen a 3-line location title with correct spacing yet. |
#1X79 | Pilot | The background "X" in the opening title card is stretched, despite the same "X" in the season opening credits appearing more accurate. |
#1X08 | Space | At the start of the episode, the WXDL overlay identifying Colonel Belt is missing during the news report. |
#5X12 | Bad Blood | In the end credits, the role of "Funeral Director" is incorrectly credited as Jerry Springer. (Jerry Springer had previously appeared earlier in the season, in "The Post-Modern Prometheus.") The role should have been credited to Forbes Angus, as it was correctly listed on the DVDs. |
#6ABX03 | Triangle | In the season title sequence, the "CREATED BY CHRIS CARTER" credit is missing. |
#6ABX05 | Dreamland II | In the opening credits, Dean Haglund is incorrectly credited as "Dean Haglung" |
#6ABX12 | One Son | In the opening credits, Dean Haglund is incorrectly credited as "Dean Haglung" |
#7ABX12 | X-Cops | This episode was shot on BetaCam to achieve a certain style. As such, the entire episode is upscaled, and the upscaling methods do not work well here. But even worse, the color grading, brightness and contrast is completely wrong on Blu-ray. It should have looked just like it does on the DVD, as the episode was NOT meant to look cinematic. It was meant to look like an episode of the reality TV show "COPS," which it no longer does. |
#7ABX19 | Brand X | At the 29:45 chapter stop, the location text incorrectly reads "Morely" instead of "Morley" |
Season 8 | All | The entirety of Season 8 has incorrect black levels. Click here for complete details. |
#9ABX17 | William | In the season title sequence, the "MITCH PILEGGI" credit is missing. |
Blu-ray 16:9 Framing Problems
Seasons 1 through 4 are presented in an expanded 16:9 frame instead of their original 4:3 aspect ratio. In some cases, this has caused goofs because things are visible on the sides that shouldn't be.
# | Episode | Note |
#2X14 | Die Hand die Verletzt | In a scene of a girl doing a dissection in a classroom, she's supposed to be alone (with the teacher, and then the teacher leaves), but at 24:06, a crew member - and a light - can be seen on the left side of the frame. |
#2X25 | Anasazi | The X-Files famously painted a rock quarry red for this episode. In both the original DVD and Blu-ray, you can clearly see unpainted areas starting at 38:05 as Mulder and Eric drive on the motorcycle, which are more apparent with the Blu-ray's color grading. Additionally, with the wider aspect ratio of the Blu-ray, you can now also see a line where they stopped painting in the upper left corner of an overhead shot of the buried boxcar at 38:43. This would have been an easy digital fix. |
#3X15 | Piper Maru | The ship is supposed to be in the middle of the ocean, but when the divers jump into the ocean at 0:42, you can see land and docks in the background on the left side of the frame. At 0:58, you can see a tire on a dock and a vehicle on the right side of the frame. |
Blu-ray Audio Issues
# | Episode | Note |
#4X10 | Terma | There is a short piece of awkward audio at the top of the episode, a leftover from a "Previously" recap that was not included on the Blu-rays (some recaps were included, others weren't). |
#6ABX01 | The Beginning | There is a short piece of awkward audio at the top of the episode, a leftover from a "Previously" recap that was not included on the Blu-rays (some recaps were included, others weren't). |
#7ABX04 | The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati | There is a short piece of awkward audio at the top of the episode, a leftover from a "Previously" recap that was not included on the Blu-rays (some recaps were included, others weren't). |
#8ABX02 | Without | There is a short piece of awkward audio at the top of the episode, a leftover from a "Previously" recap that was not included on the Blu-rays (some recaps were included, others weren't). |
#9ABX11 | Providence | There is one frame of stray video and a couple seconds of stray audio after the opening credits, leftovers from a "Previously" recap that was not included on the Blu-rays (some recaps were included, others weren't). |
Blu-ray Typos
# | Episode | Note |
#1X08 | Space | In the closing credits, there are 2 typos in the NASA disclaimer message. |
#4X12 | Kaddish | In the closing credits, the production number is incorrectly listed as "#4X012" instead of "#4X12" - it was listed correctly in the DVD version. |
#4X17 | Tempus Fugit | In the closing credits, there is at least 1 typo. |
#4X18 | Max | In the closing credits, there is at least 1 typo. |
#4X19 | Synchrony | In the closing credits, there is at least 1 typo. |
#4X20 | Small Potatoes | In the closing credits, there is at least 1 typo. |
#5X01 | Unusual Suspects | In the closing credits, there is at least 1 typo. |
#8ABX01 | Within | In the closing credits, there are 3 typos in the "The Producers wish" message. |
#8ABX02 | Without | In the closing credits, there is 1 typo in the "The Producers wish" message. |
Blu-ray Fixes
To the credit of the company who remastered The X-Files in HD, Illuminate, it's really great to see some errors from the DVDs corrected on the Blu-rays. Unfortunately, there are far, far more new mistakes compared to the amount of new fixes.
# | Episode | Fix |
#6ABX03 | Triangle | The Blu-ray corrects the location title from "SARAGASSO SEA" to "SARGASSO SEA." |
#6ABX03 | Triangle | The Blu-ray adds the missing final card of the end credits, which has the episode's production number. |
#7ABX09 | Signs and Wonders | At 8:27 on the DVD, a boom operator is seen on the left side of the frame. On the Blu-ray, a subtle zoom in and zoom out eliminates the crew member from frame. |
The X-Files Goofs
Some goofs appear on both the original DVDs and the new Blu-rays, although they're generally more noticeable on the Blu-rays.
# | Episode | Note |
#1X13 | Gender Bender | While care was taken to make sure all vehicles that got close enough to the camera had Massachusetts license plates, you can spot some incorrect license plates with the detail of the Blu-rays. The new 16:9 framing makes the most noticeable one more obvious - at 9:10, a Ford truck with a BC, Canada license plate (where the show was filmed) can be seen on the right side of the frame. |
#2X22 | F. Emasculata | As Mulder walks up to the phone booth at 17:50, on the left side of the frame, a helicopter is seen on the ground with its blades spinning - this is the helicopter that lands 25 seconds later. |
#5X10 | Chinga | In the hotel room at 23:47, when Scully is crossing the room to the window, a crew member can be seen reflected in a mirror. |