Customer Reviews

The Lone Gunmen: The Complete Series

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The Lone Gunmen finally got their own show -- even if it was sadly short-lived. They were introduced as UFO-chasing supergeeks early in "The X-Files," and soon garnered a cult following -- and eventually a spinoff, complete with tango-dancing kingpins, genius chimps and parallel universes.

The increasingly broke Lone Gunmen are in the middle of stealing a computer chip when a mysterious bearded man -- who turns out to be a beautiful woman, Yves Adele Harlow (Zuleikha Robinson)-- intervenes and gets them caught. After they foil an attempt to ram a plane into a skyscraper, they investigate a geeky golfer's kidnapping, and make a new friend: Jimmy Bond (Stephen Sneddon), a naive young man who gives them financial backing.

With Jimmy as a sort of apprentice Lone Gunman, the boys set out to deal with the conspiracies and strange occurrances: a superintelligent chimp that wants a life of his own, a man who claims to have been abducted by aliens, investigate a Nazi war criminal (who happens to be a little old lady), and search for a car that runs on water instead of gas.

It was a TV tragedy that this funny conspiracy series only lasted half a season. Then again, that's what cult TV is made of. While it lacked the audience and longevity of its parent series "The X-Files," "The Lone Gummen" made up for that in humor and creativity.

Not every episode was so good -- "Three Men and a Smoking Diaper" is just embarrassing, with a none-too-thinly-veiled Senator William Jefferson (Clinton?), a genial Southern womanizer who is just below the angels. Come on, at least TRY to be subtle. However, "Lone Gunmen" hit the mark more often than it missed, with ingeniously offbeat stories that allowed the characters to be goofy as well as serious. ("Prepare to get mooned!")

Certainly the stories tend to be imaginative -- superbrained chimps, trips into prison to save innocent men, and tangoing in competitions. And the humor that cropped up is what makes these stories priceless -- in one episode, poor Langly ends up with his arm up a cow's backside. In others, Jimmy does a spot-on Elvis impersonation, all four guys try to dance (with absurd results), and Frohike toughs it up as a martial arts master (with the help of some wire).

Tom Braidwood, Dean Haglund, and Bruce Harwood all appeared to be having plenty of fun in this series as the geek, the uptight bureaucrat, and the "man of action." (We even get to see all three as kids, talking about what they want to do when they grow up) Sneddon is a great addition as the eager-puppy Jimmy Bond, who seems a lot dumber than he is. And Robinson rounds off the cast as a mystery woman with a ruthless streak and a few vulnerable spots.

Take the funniest episodes of "X-Files," and center them on the Lone Gunmen. "The Lone Gunmen" didn't last long, but it was fun while it lasted -- humorous, goofy, and has Frohike in a bottle-bra.

The Lone Gunman (2001), a trio of computer-hacking conspiracy geeks, was a spin-off from the X-Files. They appeared numerous times during the run of the X-files and for one season they had their own series.

If you like the Lone Gunmen on the X-Files, you should enjoy their 13 episodes.

Episodes:
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1) Pilot - A Mission-Impossible style episode as Frohike and Byers attempt to steal the Octium IV chip from E-Com-Con.

2) Bond, Jimmy Bond - The Gunmen encounter Jimmy Bond, a hapless pawn in a breakaway republic's attempt to fund a nerve gas operation.

3) Eine Kleine Frohike - Frohike disguises himself as the long-lost son of a woman who is believed to be a Nazi war criminal that the Gunmen are trying to smoke out.

4) Like Water for Octane - Jimmy narrates the history of heroes as he talks about his admiration for the Gunmen.

5) Three Men and a Smoking Diaper - Byers and Jimmy are in the crowd at a campaign speech, when a reporter begins asking questions of the candidate.

6) Madam, I'm Adam - The Gunmen meet a strange man who "may or may not" have been transported by aliens from a parallel universe.

7) Planet of the Frohikes: A Short History of My Demeaning Captivity - The Gunmen match wits with an intelligent chimpanzee after it escapes from a government lab.

8) Maximum Byers - On a cruise ship in the Pacific, the boy's chase a man they think is Elvis, still live and kicking.

9) Diagnosis: Jimmy - The trio stalks a grizzly-bear poacher in a snowy forest, and Jimmy believes his doctor is a killer profiled on America's Most Wanted.

10) Tango de los Pistoleros - The Gunmen turning the table on Yves for once, and bugging her to follow her on a case.

11) The Lying Game - The Gunmen investigate the murder of a blackmailer and the evidence points to Skinner.

12) All About Yves - The Gunman learn of Romeo 61 which maybe a government agency that may harbor the most sensitive secrets in America.

13) The Cap'n Toby Show - Langly's childhood hero, Cap'n Toby, is accused of being an international spy.

Spoiler Alert:

All I really have to say about this release is "Finally." But since this is a review, I'll offer a little more.

Ever since The Lone Gunmen appeared in episode "E.B.E." in the first season of "The X-Files" TV series, the characters of Byers, Frohike and Langly became three of the most coolest characters ever conceived for television. And ever since the episode "The Unusual Suspects" in the fifth season of The X-Files, the creators of the show realized the potential for The Lone Gunmen to carry their own spin-off TV series. By the time The X-Files reached its 8th season, The Lone Gunmen TV series finally became a reality - for a while anyway.

This show was more comedic than The X-Files was. And that was to be expected since the Lone Gunmen were the funniest characters on The X-Files. "The Lone Gunmen" TV series was witty, humorous, it contained good story-telling - and it should never have been cancelled.

The cancelling of this show really showed just how low FOX can get. It was one of the best shows on TV and they just took it away without giving it the chance that The X-Files was given (remember, The X-Files started out small and earned a bigger following as the years went by). Not only that, but the show ended with a cliffhanger. Since it was cancelled, the only way the cliffhanger was resolved was to conclude it in an episode of The X-files called "Jump the Shark" in its 9th season. I didn't mind this so much except that they ended up killing off the Lone Gunmen in that episode! If their spin-off series didn't get cancelled, the Lone Gunmen would never have died.

One cool thing about having this series on DVD will be that fans of the X-files can have a sense of continuity to the series, because occasionally episodes of this series would cross over into the 8th and 9th seasons of The X-Files.

Perhaps the real reason this show got cancelled was because the pilot episode was about someone trying to crash an airplane into the World Trade Center (this show was cancelled four months prior to 9/11/01). Conspiracy, anyone? But I'm glad they're still releasing it on DVD. This is the best news I've heard in a while.

I'll say it again - "Finally."

Part of the attraction of "The X-Files" were the trio of goofballs that helped Mulder and Scully from time to time who called themselves The Lone Gunmen. These conspiracy theorist, hackers and underground Mother Jones type journalists could always be counted on for humor and for helping to save Mulder's butt. So it's no surprise that these popular characters created by Glen Morgan and James Wong (the duo that created "Space: Above and Beyond" and wrote key episodes of both "The X-Files" and "Millennium") eventually got their own series. The big surprise was how briefly it was on Fox Network; the show was cancelled after 13 episodes. With a much more tongue-in-cheek approach and less emphasis on the supernatural and more on the spy elements that always lurked in "The X-Files", "The Lone Gunmen" quickly found its own tone after the pilot episode. The pilot episode which aired six months before 9/11 had more or less the same "plot"; a group of men are planning on crashing an airplane into the World Trade Center as part of a terrorist attack on America. While the results were quite different, the episode is both spooky for its prediction of what occurred six months later and a highly effective suspenseful episode. After the pilot, the series veered into a more comic direction with the character of Frohike (Tom Braindwood) getting knocked on his butt and the trio's earnest attempt to fight all the conspiracies that try to undermine the American way. With the introduction of Jimmy Bond (Stephen Snedden) and Yves Adele Harlow (Zuleikha Robinson whose character's name was an anagram for Lee Harvey Oswald) the trio had two very different people trying to help them achieve their goal of saving America. In future episodes the Gunmen try and catch a poacher dealing in grizzly bear gallbladders, prevent a tango dancing smuggler from passing along top secret information, help a man recover the house and wife that were stolen from him and other slightly off beat stories. Needless to say this is Chris Carter's whimsical side. His frequent collaborators Frank Spotnitz and Vince Gilligan give the show just the right mix of serious jeopardy and whimsy giving it a distinct identity separate from other Carter produced shows.

I've finally figured out why Glen Morgan and James Wong didn't do a commentary track for the second season of "Millennium"; they came up with the original characters of The Lone Gunmen and while they are credited as creating the characters themselves, they didn't participate in the production/writing/direction of the show nor were they credited as "creators" of this particular series. I'm sure that probably caused hard feelings between Morgan & Wong and Carter. Regardless, The Lone Gunmen were always a highlight of any "X-Files" episode and here with the show all to themselves, they do a fine job of creating enough havoc and solving enough mysteries to keep fans of "The X-Files" (and fans of this series) happy. The best part is one of the most popular villains from "The X-Files" Morris Fletcher returns in one of the best episodes (also featuring a cameo from David Duchovny) "All About Yves".

As usual an extremely good transfer from Fox. Clearly there was no conspiracy to make this series look bad on DVD. With a sharp, crisp transfer and vivid colors "The Lone Gunmen" actually looks better than the Fox flagship series "The X-Files". With less episodes per disc side, that's not a surprise. Although not a dual layered DVD, it's clear the short cuts that Fox took with this set didn't hurt the image quality. The surround sound mix is also quite good taking advantage of the 2.0 surround format.

A generous helping of extras for this fine but short lived series makes up for some other shortcomings. We get a retrospective featurette with the stars of the show and producers/writers Spotnitz & Gilligan as well as director Rob Bowman and others discussing the failure of the series to find the audience it needed to survive. It's also clear that the Fox Network made a commitment to the series but failed to give it a chance just as it had "The X-Files" and "Millennium". It's a pity because, as much as I liked "Millennium", "The Lone Gunmen" clearly was the more inspired, original series crossing "Get Smart" with "The X-Files" in a unique way. There's also four promo spots included for the show as well. Fox has thoughtfully also provided the season finale which never aired as part of the original show. "The Lone Gunmen" was cancelled after just 13 episodes so Chris Carter and his crew decided (as they did with "Millennium") to conclude the series and show the fate of the characters in a vastly underrated "X-Files" episode entitled "Jump the Shark". It's a funny, sad sent off for some of the most memorable characters from "The X-Files". It's a pity that the tone of "Millennium" didn't allow for "The Lone Gunmen" to show up on that show as well-perhaps the two shows might have generated a synergy and made the two more successful.

The negatives about this set are few but substantial; the boxed set (like "The Pretender") features three single layered, dual sided discs with all 13 episodes, the bonus episode from "The X-Files" and extras on them. The packaging leaves a lot to be desired. While I like the design overall, two discs are housed in a single slimline DVD holder facing each other. This increases the chance of damage to the discs. The third disc is housed alone in the second holder. It wouldn't have cost all that much extra to put each disc in its own holder and it also would have ensured better care of the discs. I'm a bit surprised that Fox has instituted this cost cutting move and I wish they would abandon it in the future for other series.

We get commentary tracks featuring writers/producers Spotnitz, Gilligan, director Rob Bowman as well as the actors from the series. The pilot episode commentary track is one of the best as the writers and director ruminate on the shortcomings of the episode, what they liked best about the performances and the chilling fact that they predicted what would occur on 9/11 nearly six months to the day before it happened (although the outcome was quite different). "Bond, Jimmy Bond" is also an outstanding commentary track with stars Haglund, Braidwood, Harwood, Snedden, Robinson and director Bryan Spicer giving each other a hard time about their performances and having a grand old time busting each other's chops. It's clear that the trio from the "X-Files" and their cast mates had a great working relationship. It's a pity that more commentary tracks aren't as good as those included here. Curiously, Carter is completely absent in the commentary section. Perhaps it's because at this stage he was spending more time on "The X-Files" after having been away from his flagship series for the debut season of "Millennium". It also leads me to believe that Carter had less to do with this spin-off than "Millennium".

A delightful, funny and entertaining series that never found its audience, "The Lone Gunmen" finally arrives on DVD (the hold up might have been the residual feelings about 9/11 and the similarity to the plot of the pilot episode). It's a terrific series that deserved better.

It must've seemed like a good idea at the time. Take the three most popular supporting characters from The X-Files and give them their own show. A few episodes aired before it promptly disappeared from our TV screens. So, what happened? Had Chris Carter and the network miscalculated on the size of The Lone Gunmen's fanbase, or was it a case of too little going a long way? What made the Gunmen work was that we were subjected to their quirky, entertaining ways in small, concentrated doses. Are these characters rich and interesting enough to carry their own show? Obviously, mainstream audiences didn't think so.

Not surprisingly, The Lone Gunmen has a lighter tone than The X-Files. It's more playful in nature but does take itself seriously as well. These guys seemed pretty wacky on The X-Files but on their own show they cross paths with people even stranger than they are: a poacher who deals in grizzly bear gallbladders, a tango-dancing smuggler and a secret government terrorist organization. The show is well made but missing that certain quality that made their appearances in The X-Files so memorable. The satire that they represented, being even more paranoid than Mulder, worked well on that show but is missing on their own. It's almost too much of a good thing.

On disc one there is an audio commentary on the pilot episode by director Rob Bowman, cinematographer Robert McLachlan and writers Frank Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan and John Shiban. They address the similarities to 9/11 and how much things have changed since then.

There is also an audio commentary on "Bond, Jimmy Bond" by the Gunmen themselves, Dean Haglund, Tom Braidwood, and Bruce Harwood, along with director Bryan Spicer and actors Stephen Snedden and Zuleikha Robinson. As one would expect, this is a spirited track as the Gunmen actors playfully make fun of each other and recount the occasional amusing anecdote about filming the episode.

Disc two features an audio commentary on "Tango de los Pistoleros" by Haglund, Braidwood, Harwood, writer Thomas Schnauz, Spicer, Snedden and Robinson. This is another rousing track as everyone jokes and recounts anecdotes from filming the episode.

The third disc includes an audio commentary on "All About Yves" by Shiban, Spotnitz, Gilligan and Spicer. They talk about how this was the last episode that aired and how it parodied The X-Files.

The last commentary is for The X-Files episode, "Jump the Shark," that wrapped up all the loose threads of the Lone Gunmen series. Spotnitz, Gilligan and Shiban return to talk about their intentions for this episode to be an elegy to these characters and how their ultimate fate was decided.

"Defenders of Justice: The Story of The Lone Gunmen" traces the characters' first appearance in "E.B.E" in the first season of The X-Files, to their own show to their demise on "Jump the Shark." This is a good look at these characters, their legacy and how each episode came together.

Finally, there are some TV spots.

I have to preface my review by pointing out how utterly bizarre it was in watching this show to see the episode in which Byers and his father get on a plane to foil a devious plot, only to find themselves on a plane that hijackers are intending to use as a bomb to ram . . . one of the towers of the World Trade Center. The episode was originally broadcast in the spring of 2001, which lends the episode an air of eeriness that is almost overwhelming. One simply can't watch this episode and respond to it as one would to a normal television episode. It just touches on too many raw nerves and seems to be prophesying the horrors that were to follow only a few months later. Even as the pilot regains control of the plane and manages to barely miss the tower, one almost has the feeling that there wasn't much of a point; others in the near future would succeed where these television villains failed. The two or three minutes in which it appears the WTC is going to be rammed is without question one of the strangest moments--if not the strangest--in television history.

That bizarre episode apart, this is a highly enjoyable series that will primarily be of interest to fans of THE X-FILES. Byers, Langley, and Frohike were all, of course, regular guests on that show, almost always in comic relief, sometimes as more. They were what novelist E. M. Forster in his ASPECTS OF THE NOVEL called "flat" characters, rather one-dimensional characters incapable of any actual development or change. It isn't impossible for "flat" characters to alter and become "round" characters. Cordelia in BUFFY starts off as the flattest of flat characters, but by the end of her time on that series and definitely by her reemergence on ANGEL, she was a marvelously round character. Ditto Wesley in his transition from BUFFY to ANGEL. The question in looking at THE LONE GUNMEN was going to be: will the guys cease being flat and become round characters? The answer is that they did not. Moreover, it seems unlikely that had the show stayed on that they would have become "rounder." The fundamental problem is that the Lone Gunmen, as delightful as they always were to see on THE X-FILES, were essentially comic relief, and the spin off series never managed to find a plausible means for them to become much more. Mind you, I love the guys, and whenever I saw them on the parent show I was delighted to see them. It didn't help that they had their own comic relief in the person of Jimmy Bond, whose naïve yet upbeat devotion to their cause made him seem a large yet well trained puppy. A foil in the person of the beautiful free lance secret agent Yves Adele Harlow didn't help too much. So, in the end the show was not terribly successfully because the central conception underlying the characters on the show didn't work.

Despite a flawed central concept, this was despite all this a frequently entertaining show. After all, much of the talent behind THE X-FILES was behind this show. The writing is always at least competent, and if there isn't a single episode that stands out like a host of episodes on THE X-FILES. I had a good time watching ever episode, though never did I experience the kind of excitement that I did watching THE X-FILES. The connection with THE X-FILES is interesting. The guys mention to characters on the show connections they have with the FBI and sometimes mention a character by name, but there is less crossover than one might expect. Assistant Director Skinner appears as a character in one episode and Michael McKean's Morris Fletcher, who was in a pair of memorable episodes at the beginning of Season Six of THE X-FILES, appears in a single episode of THE LONE GUNMEN. But one would have expected a few more guest appearances, in particular by Gillian Anderson and perhaps Robert Patrick or even David Duchovny.

Most interesting of all, THE LONE GUNMEN doesn't share much of the worldview of THE X-FILES. Government conspiracy plays virtually no role in THE LONE GUNMEN, which is striking given its preeminence. Personally, I think this is a good thing. As someone who trusts the government vastly more than I do the good intentions of corporate America, I always thought the distrust of government that was a theme of THE X-FILES probably did its share to encourage the goals of the far right (ironic, because most of the people involved in THE X-FILES are left-leaning). Even more surprising, THE LONE GUNMEN's universe is a decidedly nonsupernatural one, with neither paranormal activity nor alien presences.

In summary, this is not a bad show, but it is going to appeal almost exclusively to fans of THE X-FILES for whom it will primarily function as a means to get a few more episodes with a few of the supporting characters who made that show one of the finest the medium has ever experienced.

I'm kinda peeved, so bear with me. The Lone Gunmen is the third great show FOX cancelled after less than a year (the other two being Greg The Bunny and The Tick). These shows were all well written, hilarious, and very off beat. Perhaps Fox is afraid of offbeat now that they're "legitimate". This is the same company that launched and stuck with The Simpsons, X-Files and Married With Children? At least two out three were probably the most subversive comedies since All In The Family, and X-Files raised the bar for quality drama on TV. So what's up? Will the success of the Lone Gunmen DVD slap FOX upside the head and convince them that they goofed up (the same way they did with Family Guy)? Will they bring the trio back (which is slightly more complicated, but they could do it!!!)

Alright I'm done ranting, but geez!

The show is obviously five stars. I personally loved every episode. The serious ones, the goofy ones, the ones where you roll your eyes in the first 20 minutes and are laughing your butt off in the last 20 - I loved them all. Obviously, writing-wise the pilot (with its creepy pre-911 scenario) and the final episode with its revelations about Yves and the daring ending were the best, but great casting throughout and ingenious twists and turns made every episode worthwhile.

... I don't know but its still bothering me! If FOX had been deciding the fate of say, MASH or Law and Order, both shows that struggled in their first years, well, who knows...

Anyway, I don't know if anyone else noticed, but the "look" of this show is amazing. Basically its the third Chris Carter show (although he apparently had limited input), run by people who had years of experience on X-Files and Millenium. This experience shows with amazing and complicated camera moves, editing, sets and designs. It looks like a million dollar an episode show! The writing is top notch with the bulk of it from X-Filer' John Shiban, Frank Spotnitz and Vince Gilligan; the majority of the shows were directed by Bryan Spicer and the amazing pilot was by Rob Bowman.

Watching the shows again I was struck by something that makes its cancellation even more sad. This show had unlimited potential, constructed basically as: Three Stooges meets Mission Impossible, the shows plots were limitless. Unlike Carter's other two hits, this show was not "limited" by its mythology (remember Millenium couldn't have gone on forever - either the world was going to end or not - although I would have preferred it end "after" another season - and X-files was limited by the fact that "when the heck are the aliens coming afterall"; and I think both shows were sometimes limited by their overall "seriousness" - and please save the hate mail - I love both of the shows!) The Lone Gunmen could be serious, funny, both in the same episode and one week they could solve something big like a terrorist plot, one week they cold save a baby, one week they could tango, one week they could take on an old stand-by (JFK assassination, car that runs on water, etc.) and it could all blend seamlessly because of the loose structure of the show. This show did not start off with the crutch of the others that bascially said: "One day this will have to end". They would never run out of plots, even in the post 9-11 world. They would always have been able to rescue damsels in distress or protect the little guy from the government (Hey, we need them now more than ever!)

A note on packaging: It is so bad I almost deducted a star! It's one thing to use slimline cases (which I actually like), it's another to only use 2 with 3 discs, but it's totally ridiculous to make the those discs 2 sided so that the discs can fly off and bang in to each other! Hello! Double sided discs I don't like but can live with to save on the overall cost of the set, but how much would a 3rd slipcase have cost us (them and us) - another dollar, maybe?

Bonus features rock in this set and are kind of surprising considering how long the show lasted, but the creators definitely care! NOTE: Do NOT watch the documentary (about 40 minutes) unless you've watched the episodes - way too many spoilers. In fact - don't watch it until you've watched the best bonus feature which is an X-Files episode centered on the boys, that wraps up the Lone Gunmen series. I know alot people didn't watch season NINE(!) of X-files so you might have missed this one. This show is a stunner - you will definitely be surprised! It also has a variety of commentaries with the shows 3 main writers on several, the actors on 2 of them and various other directors/techs joining in. A total of five commentaires out of 14 episodes (counting the X-files episode) is not bad considering the price and length of the show. It also contains 4 TV spots.

If you missed this in its first run (and most fans did), this set will not disappoint. And if anyone knows the name of the exec who cancelled this show...

From the first time The Lone Gunmen appeared in The X-Files, I enjoyed them. I thought they should have their own series long before Chris Carter did. However, the series had a couple flaws- introducing a benefactor that was not seen in The X-Files, and trying too hard to be serious. Still it was a great series, with alot of the humour and adventure that I enjoyed about The Lone Gunmen. I just wish that Fox could have kept the series going, so that a fan base could be established (it took The X-Files a couple years to get going, after all).
This series is worth a look for any X-files fan, particularly if you like the episodes with The Lone Gunmen.

After reading the reviews of The Lone Gunmen, I started thinking about buying it. After hearing about the 9/11 connection in the pilot, I bought it.

Although the Pilot did foretell of the tragic day, it did have, like the rest of the series, some laugh-out-loud moments. It was a show that didn't take itself seriously. It was just fun.

The chemistry between Tom Braidwood (Frohike), Bruce Harwood (Byers) and Dean Haglund (Langly) comes through in the series. You could tell they were having a good time.

I would recommend it on the strength of the chilling Pilot alone. If you're looking for the depth of The X-Files, or, my personal favorite: Millennium, you won't find it here. But, if you're just looking for fun, without the excessive violence and gore, check this set out.

Well, my set didn't have any defects like the other folk are talking about here, but I still frown upon the double-sided DVD. This is fine for films with wide and full screen options, but I don't like it for something like this. If you get prints on one side, you run the chance of damaging it. Disc 1 has a tendency to not stay in its tray and falls onto disc 2.

14 episodes could have easily been done with 4 discs, 4 per disc like X-Files and 2 on the last one. The slim cases I don't mind. Maybe a re-release sometime?

Anyway, the picture quality and audio are top notch. Subtitles, commentaries are present. I'm not sure if the Pilot episode was edited. I have a video of it with some different music and the opening theme. The one on the DVD does not have the opening, oddly.

My favorite episodes are "The Cap'n Toby Show", "Like Water for Octane", "The Lying Game", and "Eine Kleine Frohike".

Thus sums up my review. The shows are fun, watchable, just the lousy double sided disc release is where my big gripe is.