- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

This is one amazing movie, different from anything you have ever seen. It is extremely ambitious. It is the first computer generated movie to try not only to be in 3D but to actually represent reality. A few characters, especially Dr. Sid, can fool you into thinking they are human, an incredible achievement. It is a science fiction story wrapped around a spiritual core, a very difficult proposition. It has adventure, aliens, alien war, romance, valor, tragedy, violence and pacifism. This is a conceptually, artistically and technically groundbreaking work. Does it work? Not quite. The graphics may be much more advanced than anything seen to date, including the contemporary Shrek, but they are flawed. Aki Ross, the main character, has a beautiful and soulful face, but her mouth seems chiseled on her chin, her teeth seem to be planted too far out and look like a fish's, her eyes are not wet but rather seem built of a hard plastic, her hair (each of the 60,000 threads individually animated) looks like a synthetic piece. Her body is too long, and her, uhm, bottom seems all wrong. Still she has an intriguing, star-like presence. Other characters, unfortunately are very cartoonish. All suffer from stiff bodies, their limbs attached to rigid torsos, as you see on plastic toys. By the way, the movie is not really computer generated. Rather the computer is used as a very powerful, knowledge based, colored pencil, under the control of human artists. The resulting visual experience reminds one of a very detailed drawing. Live actors were used to help the animators use the computer to render the movie's characters. No wonder, the whole thing cost 100 million dollars to make. The storyline is built around a complex spiritual core, which is revealed little by little in the movie. (If you haven't yet seen the movie you may want to jump to the next paragraph.) It proposes that each life bearing planet holds a spirit in the ground out of which each life form is born from and to which it returns after death. These planetary spirits are formed from some kind of wave, and, significantly, they are incompatible and deadly to each other. A fragment of an alien planet destroyed by nuclear war, has fallen on earth and has disgorged many deceased individual spirits of that planet, which move around like phantoms and lay waste to much of our life sphere. Well, this is a rather complicated background for most of the movie going public, not to say slightly derogatory of the Christian world view. Star War's "the force be with you" was a much simpler proposition. The joy in Final Fantasy is in taking in the beauty of the realistic but completely human-made world it depicts. Less spirituality and more laughs and sexual tension would certainly have made it more successful. This movie takes itself too seriously for its own good. Shrek's creators were smarter in this sense. I understand that Final Fantasy has been a financial flop. This is a great pity. Personally I would love to see Aki Ross again in a few years time, at 10 times better rendering technology. If a movie deserves a sequence, this is one. The movie's creators must realize that they own much more than the first photo realistic picture in human history, they also own the first human-made movie star. Let's hope they will be able to build on top of this amazing achievement.

I'll keep this short. Have you ever cried because a movie you loved was hated or ignored by everyone else? And that movie was obviously a work of art that took teams of artists years to create? Well, that's how I felt when "Final Fantasy TSW" came out and died within a couple of weeks. I went to the premiere of this fine film. The theater was half-empty. I went again two weeks later, just before the movie disappeared from cineplexes. Would you believe I was THE ONLY person in the room?! When the eagle at the end soared away over the mountain range, I had to choke back angry tears. (The beautiful ending itself had caused the first upswell of tears.) Why was nobody else enjoying the show with me? And what a show it was! Great "acting" by the digitally created cast, especially the leads, restrained but believable dialogue, breath-taking visuals, and tight editing of a logical storyline that is so perfectly steamlined and simple it should never cause confusion. So why this tragedy of an empty theater after just two weeks? First, many critics panned it, complained of wooden acting and a convoluted plot. They claimed the story was unoriginal; well, what other movie does it plagiarize? Apart from the stereotyped way the marines sometimes talk, what is unoriginal here? Second, the trailer was misleading; this is a moving love story, set against the spooky, solemn backdrop of a last-ditch attempt to repel an alien invasion and restore the Earth to humanity. The love is between Aki and Gray, who ultimately must love their planet enough to sacrifice their lives to save it. There is also credible caring between Dr. Sid and Aki, and Gray and his Deep-Eyes. But the trailer presented "Final Fantasy TSW" as a kind of juiced-up videogame. A rollercoaster thrill ride, which it is at times, but the human quality of the story is paramount. It's the only reason I would have seen this movie so many times, bought TWO copies on DVD, and now proudly own TWO copies of the Blu-ray release. It's definitely worth it. Unfortunately, that will not bring back Square Pictures (closed up shop after the movie flopped) or reunite the gifted animators who brought the characters to life so memorably. I'm just doing my part to support one of my favourite movies, while thumbing my nose at certain small-minded critics and at the moviegoers who left me all alone in the theater (not that I really minded having the whole place to myself). Lovers of this movie, UNITE! (And if you haven't seen it yet, by all means DO!)

Cameron even admits it, hats off to him. The sound track album for this movie also is grammy quality, with song number 17 being truly astonishing with a kindof sci-fi / Native American blend to the counterpoint. It's available on Amazon here: Final Fantasy - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack . Most composers give Goldenthal 5 of 5 stars for this album, but it is still little recognized by the recording industry! If you pass on this film, and only want to spend a buck, download song 17 from the album, you will NOT be disappointed, guaranteed. By now, everyone knows that this movie failed at the box office (cost, $140 million US, revenue $85 million worldwide). The plot is weak and character development poor. The big BUT: the team assembled over 12 years ago in Hawaii to CG the film is historic for the technology of the time. It literally is, in some ways, technically BETTER than Avatar! If you have any interest in the technology, this is a must have disc. If you're just trying to relax with a "good movie" the plot will probably fail you. The underlying premise is wonderful, as is the game series, of alien spirits as the challenge, but this slice of a story doesn't capture the majesty of that premise, except in the utterly amazing graphics and music. That's the blend and balance. I'm the CTO of shaderjoes dot com, an animation studio, and that's my bias. Library Picks reviews only for the benefit of Amazon shoppers and has nothing to do with Amazon, the authors or publishers of the books and products we review. We always buy the books and products we review for the sake of objectivity, and although we search for gems, are not shy about trashing a title if it's a waste of time or money for Amazon shoppers. If the reviewer identifies herself or her field, it is only for the sake of a point of reference for the skill set viewpoint to help you gauge the bias.

As always happens in cinematic history, a movie idea comes along that sets (and in some cases, even raises) the bar for other movies to follow if possible. "Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within" (Special Edition) is one such movie, following in the footsteps of such science fiction greats as "2001: A Space Odyssey", "King Kong", "Godzilla" and the mother of all the "trapped in space with a pissed off extra-terrestrial" flick, "Alien". "Final Fantasy" takes the science fiction animated movie and places it in class so amazing that it's hard to believe you're watching animation at all. My students tell me this was a video game first which would help my understanding of the plot; that may well be, and with me being "video game challenged", I can vouch for that. But, as an art teacher, I can say that the way in which this movie was put together is truly something to see. Visually, it is stunning, with the CGI images so realistically rendered, that you can see each hair on the characters heads, faces and bodies, not mention how the hair on the female characters swishes so beautifully as they move their heads. I found myself thinking "hmmm...I wonder who does her hair?" Specific physical characteristics aside, the movements of the characters also defy animated logic. While a tad stiff (which may have been done on purpose, since it is a fusion movie of anime', typically stiff anyway, animation, and other techniques), the movie has a flow that overides any "pixelated" movement problems. I mean afterall, if you wanted to see that much realism, why not just see a movie with live humans in it? Eventually you forget that the characters are animated, and lending the very distinctive voices of such eloquent actors as Donald Sutherland, Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames and Michael Ironsides to the mix doesn't hurt either. The story, like the coloring is dark, gritty and a bit confusing (again, those of you who played the video game have a distinct advantage over the rest of us cretins who have no idea what the core of the storyline is really about). The use of space and inter-gallatic war as a backdrop is just stock material, but done well, giving you a familiar point of departure to hang the rest of the story on. The characters are pretty generic; you've got the honery hero (Alec Baldwin), the kindly old scientist/ doctor (Donald Sutherland), the evil-doer (Michael Ironsides), the good ole boy sidekick (Ving Rhames), and the lovely female protaganist, a newcomer, whose name escapes me at the minute. She, however has a secret; she has some connection with these spirit aliens that have the power to take over human bodies and/ or suck-up their spirit energy or something like that...I told you it's confusing. All in all, it's a pretty cool movie for it's genre and one which almost anyone from ages 12 and up can watch and enjoy.

I remember my dad renting this movie for us to watch one weekend when my mom and sister were out of town for whatever reason. And I remember being completely blown away. I had never seen anything like it. Both my dad and I were watching the movie with our jaws hanging down to the floor. Even after all this time the movie looks like it could be a new release, but for back then it was unequaled. To be honest I’ve never really played a Final Fantasy game, nor do I know much of anything about that universe, so my basis for this is simply on the movie itself. Which I find to be an incredibly fun watch even to this day. I have finally broken down and decided to upgrade my copy to blu-ray based on a friends recommendation. I heard it was missing some of the special features that the DVD had, but to be honest I don’t usually take the time to check out any of that stuff anyway, so not a deal breaker for me by any means. I’d recommend this to anyone who is a fan of sci-fi, whether they care for animation or not. The animation of this movie is of such quality that at times you kind of even forget that’s what it is (well maybe that’s a stretch!). Because I saw this movie back when this technology was pretty new, it holds a special place for me. The newer generation would probably still like the movie, but I don’t think they’d be as blown away as I was as a kid.

Touted as first photo-realistic computer generated feature film, Final Fantasy has some amazing eye candy; the life-likeness of the characters held me transfixed. In the year 2065, Earth has been taken over by transparent aliens that crashed onto the Earth and who suck the spirit out of any living thing that they can get their hands on. In order to save mankind, Dr. Aki Ross and her trusting mentor, Dr. Sid, must find the "eighth spirit"--a remaining spirit that has not been taken away by the so-called "phantoms"--who holds the key to salvation. While Dr. Ross and Dr. Sid seek peace, General Hein, who lost his family to the phantoms, has vowed to take out the aliens by his owns violent means. The "eighth spirit" is a powerful entity dwelling in an unknown life form somewhere on the planet. They've already found the first seven, but they need the eighth in order to complete the combination and neutralize these life-sucking phantoms. The mystical themes that I enjoyed in this movie is that the planet is alive and conscious(the Gaia hypothesis), there is energy surging throughout all of life, evil is a matter of perspective, and that one need not look outside for salvation--the Divine has been inside the whole time.

Just the quality of the DVD alone is quite a mind blower. Since this movie was entirely digital, the movie shines brightly in its all digital transfer. The picture is sharp, the sound very good. I am still in awe of the crisp and clear graphics have come accross. Unlike other movies (well computer generated anyway) Final Fantasy--The Spirits Within, is a great addition to your DVD library. If you're a graphic designer like me...ok, ok, ok, let me rephrase that...If you're a computer geek as I am, you can't believe how clear the ALL DIGITAL print is. If you've seen Final Fantasy in the theatres, you'll be very pleased with the DVD. The initial story for me anyway, is alright, but I must admit I am more impressed with the animation and especially how the Dr. Sid character appears to be more life-like than the rest of the virtual cast. The extra features (including a tribute to Micheal Jackson) are great with a lead in to Aki shooting a scene from the movie. Again, I can't get over how crystal clear this movie is on a TV tube. Now if only I can just get myself an HDTV to view it on. If you're into graphics, computers, or just love movies with a great visual appearance--Final Fantasy--The Spirits Within is one you should see.

I love this movie. It’s VERY Final Fantasy franchise (at least till 13 as I stopped playing after that because they weren’t ready making Final Fantasy games anymore, just games that had the name but none of the constants that carry over and none of the feel). I’m not gonna lie and say it’s as good as Advent Children, but it’s a very good watch.

Really good

Love this movie, good to have this on 4k and it was a good price.

TL.DR: Dawn of the dead bluray in Final fantasy spirits within case. The box was good, sealed, however my woes would begin later on... The blu ray has the face of a bald man with several birds covering half his face, I played the movie on a blu-ray player. The title of final fantasy had changed, instead being replaced by dawn of the dead. I never recalled how people were torn apart and eaten, but now I am sure I must have my memories of Final fantasy were and are completely wrong. It is clear to me that final fantasy spirits within is now a zombie movie thus shattering my childhood dreams. In other words if Amazon cares to read this and put pressure on the supplier to give me the correct copy without any effort on my part, Great. Otherwise a disappointed customer in terms of a product sent.

Better buy the original blu-ray version. This 4k upscale doesn't do the movie justice. The picture quality is very dark and the upscaling is poorly done. The Audio is ver low. I use a 75" 4k tv and the original blu-ray is sharper and brighter and has better audio....

DVDは日本語吹き替えがありましたので、英語版で十分です。そんな難しいことは言っていません。 あの時代にここまでのCGと物語の設定というのは凄いことです。おそらく、専門家の間ではこれを参考にCGの映画を作っていると思います。せっかくの映画ですが、やはり映像監督に任せて柵瀬宇すべきだったと思います。そうすれば、平坦な展開ではなかったと思います。盛り上がりもありますし、はらはらしますよ。でも、やはり映像の見せ方、カット割り、CGでもスローモーション、人物の移動と同時にカメラも移動など映画的表現も入れるべきです。日本のアニメがそうじゃないですか。この監督のメッセージ性は映像からいろいろ伝わってきます。人物の描き方も そして自己犠牲 すべて 世界中の人が共感するであろう要素を持っている映画です。本当に おしい。もったいない。もし、データが残っていれば追加するなりして再編集してもいいのではないでしょうか。3時間のものでもいいと思いますよ。