Because of the destruction of the federal office building and the loss of life, the government needs a scapegoat and Mulder fits the bill nicely. Mulder learns from Kurtzweil that the explosion in Dallas was in actuality a smokescreen to divert attention away from the global conspiracy involving extraterrestrials that Mulder has been investigating for years as part of The X-Files. After corroborating part of Kurtzweil's story, Mulder convinces Scully to help him dig deeper into the Dallas bombing and determine what actually killed the five civilians that supposedly died in the blast. The investigation takes Mulder from the back alleys of Washington D.C. to an isolated cornfield in the Texas desert and finally to a remote scientific station in Antarctica, where the lives of every person on the planet hangs in the balance. Even brightly lit daylight sequences in the film are filtered down to avoid a shocking contrast with the naturally darker scenes.
Nighttime scenes look remarkably good on the DVD, with deep inky blacks and abundant shadow detail.
Colors have relatively good saturation, but may appear a tad subdued when compared to other recently Hollywood films with a less atmospheric look. Flesh tones appear very natural, except for in sequences where they are intended to look otherwise. Film grain is noticeable in places, but it never becomes bothersome. Digital compression artifacts remain well concealed, thanks to first rate authoring. The Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack was a winner the first time the film was released on DVD and it remains a winner even now.