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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
The X Files-Deadalive (2001)

The X Files-Deadalive (2001)

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Released 5-Sep-2001

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Featurette-Character Profile Of Agent Doggett - Part 1
Featurette-Character Profile Of Agent Doggett - Part 2
Collector Card
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2001
Running Time 85:13
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Kim Manners
Tony Wharmby
Studio
Distributor

Twentieth Century Fox
Starring David Duchovny
Gillian Anderson
Robert Patrick
Mitch Pileggi
Case Six-Sided Star Clamp
RPI $36.95 Music Mark Snow


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Screen, not known whether Pan & Scan or Full Frame English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio Unknown Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures Yes
Subtitles Dutch
English for the Hearing Impaired
French
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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Plot Synopsis

    If you are a fan of The X Files you will know that Agent Mulder (David Duchovny) has been abducted by aliens and that Agent Scully (Gillian Anderson) refuses to give up the search for him. After the disappearance of Mulder, Agent Doggett (Robert Patrick) was assigned to lead the task force looking for Mulder and is now assigned to the X Files with Scully. In the two episodes on this DVD, This Is Not Happening and Deadalive, we find Assistant Director Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), Doggett and Scully trying to find out who is dumping badly mutilated bodies in the fields of Montana. On investigation, it turns out that these bodies belong to alien abductees and before long Mulder's body is also found and he is subsequently buried. Some months later, another body turns up at sea and even though it appears dead it actually isn't. Armed with this fact, A.D. Skinner has the body of Mulder exhumed to make sure that he really was dead when they buried him. As you might expect, it turns out that Mulder is not dead but is in a state where his metabolic rate has slowed to a level that is almost imperceptible. The big questions are: can they save Mulder, and if they do save him will he be the same Mulder, or is there an alien inside his skin?

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Transfer Quality

Video

    This is a very good transfer that is relatively free of any artefacts. There is some noticeable edge enhancement visible occasionally but this is not really a problem with this transfer.

    This transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer was very sharp except for a couple of instances of what was probably soft focus inherent in the source material such as at 28:10. There was no low level noise to be seen. Shadow detail was limited, however this is normal for The X Files and not a problem of the transfer per se.

    The colours, in typical X Files fashion are somewhat muted, and the palette of colours visible is always limited by the fact that almost all scenes are shot in very low light conditions.

    This is a very clean transfer. No MPEG artefacts were seen. There was some slight aliasing seen occasionally but you would really have to be looking for it. Otherwise, it would probably go unnoticed. There is also noticeable grain which stands out particularly in the lighter segments of the image.

    I sampled about 15 minutes of the English subtitles and found them to be 100% accurate.

    This is a single sided disk so there is no layer change.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio track provided was adequate for the task in that the dialogue was clear and the music and sound effects were well balanced, but these days I have a lot of trouble getting excited by any audio that doesn't have at least 5.1 channels!

    Both English and French Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded tracks are provided. I listened to the English soundtrack and checked the French track for a minute or so just to confirm its presence on the disc.

    I found the dialogue to always be clear and understandable. There were no problems with audio sync on this disc.

    If you're an X Files fan, you'll know this music well. It does its usual job of giving the show that slightly creepy feeling.

    The rear channels were only subtly used to provide some ambience. The main action was focused on the front sound stage with dialogue concentrated on the centre speaker.

    In my system, the subwoofer is only used for the LFE channel. Since this disc only sports Dolby Digital 2.0 audio, my subwoofer was silent. There were definitely some low frequency components in the soundtrack which would have benefited from being redirected to the subwoofer.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    The extras are fairly limited but the featurettes have been taken from good quality sources and do provide some interesting, if brief, insight into the making of these episodes.

Menu

    The menu is presented in a ratio of 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced. No animation or audio enhancement is provided.

Featurette - Character Profile of Agent Doggett - Part 1

    This is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is therefore not 16x9 enhanced. This gives some brief background on the John Doggett character and has a running time of 1:31.

Featurette - Character Profile of Agent Doggett - Part 2

    This is also presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and not 16x9 enhanced. This is a short behind the scenes feature which includes short interviews with Mitch Pileggi, Robert Patrick, and both of the Directors. The duration is 4:41.

Collector Card

    Number 6 of a set of 9 cards is included with the disc.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    There is no Region 1 version of this disc but there is a Region 2 version which is identical to ours.

Summary

    The X Files: Deadalive  DVD contains two atypical episodes of this series in that rather than posing questions which are never quite answered we do actually get a few answers here. However, not all the questions get answered and there are a few new questions raised which I'm sure will be taken up in later episodes. Definitely a must-have DVD for fans of this series.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

    The extras are limited.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Peter Cole (Surely you've got something better to do than read my bio)
Sunday, December 16, 2001
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-515, using S-Video output
DisplaySony VPL-WV10HT LCD Projector on to 100" (254 cm) 16:9 ratio Screen. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 720p.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationYamaha RXV-995
SpeakersFront L&R - B&W DM603, Centre - B&W LCR6, Rear L&R - B&W DM602, Sub - Yamaha YST-SW300

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