I have not heard a great deal about the movie, other than the fact that it’s supposed to be more akin to a “stand-alone” X-Files adventure than a “mythology” story (episodes dealing with the overarching series narrative arc of Fox Mulder’s missing sister and the alien conspiracy — called the “mytharc” within the fandom). So it would make sense that what is essentially being promoted as a “companion” to the film would veer away from the mytharc, and present a more varied tapestry of paranormal cases and crimes. Of the eight included episodes, only the series pilot and “Memento Mori” could be considered mytharc episodes.

As to whether these episodes are indeed essential to understanding and enjoying the movie, I’m not sure (since I have not yet seen the movie). What I am certain of is that these episodes do nicely represent X-Files at its best (if not necessarily the eight best episodes of the series' run). Interestingly, no episodes are included from the series’ final three seasons. Perhaps, like many fans, Spotnitz and Carter agree that X-Files began to lose its way by then within the increasingly convoluted conspiracy, and as the series star Duchovny distanced himself from the role and the show.

The DVD set is available July 8. With the street price at around $17.00, and a free movie ticket, the price is certainly right, especially if you don’t already have the entire series in your DVD collection. Even if you already have the first six seasons on DVD, it can be nice to have a pre-selected assortment of some the series’ best episodes in one small set. However, the very brief, albeit new, episode introductions, panel discussion, and included theatrical trailer do not render this collection exactly “essential” to veteran X-Philes. The film The X-Files: I Want to Believe opens July 25.

So, my fellow “philes,” in anticipation of the upcoming film, dust off your old DVDs (or pop in this new one) and think about which episodes would you include in your own “essential guide to the X-Files.”

Here are mine; and if not necessarily “essential,” they are certainly among my favorites:

• Season One: “Pilot,” “Deep Throat,” “Ice,” “The Erlenmeyer Flask”
• Season Two: “Little Green Men,” “One Breath,” “Irresistible,” “Humbug”
• Season Three: “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose,” “Grotesque,” “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space”
• Season Four: “Field Where I Died,” “Paper Hearts,” “Memento Mori,” ”Demons,” “Gethsemane”
• Season Five: “Redux” (2-parter),”Post Modern Prometheus,” “Mind’s Eye,” “Folie a Deux,” “The End”
• Season Six: “Triangle,” “Dreamland (two-parter),” "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas,” “The Unnatural”