Customer Reviews

Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within [VHS]

5 star:		(201)
4 star:		(107)
3 star:		(88)
2 star:		(59)
1 star:		(38)

 

 

'Final Fantasy' is a computer game that has gone through countless versions and editions. Taken as a whole, this mythos is probably one of the best know games in its genre. It is clear from the beginning of this film that Sony and Hironbu Sakaguchi (producer, director, and writer) were intent on topping an already brilliant history of graphic accomplishments. In a sense, 'The Spirits Within' represents a piece of history in the making. It is the first film that presents a startling approximation of life using only automation.

The plot is simple. An asteroid falling to earth carries within it a host of phantom creatures that seem hell bent on destroying earthly life. Civilization has been reduced to living in shielded enclaves, and it is only a matter of time before the planet becomes a haunted wasteland. Aki Ross and her mentor, Dr. Sid, are working on the creation of a neutralizing 'wave' based on the eight basic phantom life forms. General Hein does not trust Dr. Sid's theories about a Gaia, or planetary spirit, and wants to use a huge orbital laser cannon to destroy the original meteor, possible destroying the earth in the process. The conflict between these points of view and their shattering effects on the planet are the meat of the film.

Captain Gray Edwards, once Aki's lover, crystallizes this struggle between the material world of violent reaction and the spiritual world of growth and synthesis. The film plays a bit like an evolved 'Starship Troopers.' In many ways, it presents the same visual image, and deals with the same issues. The problem for the director and the viewer is to get past the magnificent graphic work to experience the abiding spiritual faith that is its meaning. Ironically, the film itself is a metaphor for the issues it expresses.

It is almost futile to discuss the film's animation and design. They are so far above what we are used to that the required superlatives sound trite. In essence, the animation staff set out to create something that is even more real than life, and to a great extent, they have succeeded. This hyperrealism, combined with an almost ballet like feeling of choreography create a sense of moment that makes this seem far more than an action film. The overall animation is carefully balanced so as to keep the focus on the characters. Even so, this film has such a sensory effect that the viewer is tempted to forget the plot and simply observe the screen.

The primary DVD provides the film and a whole set of commentaries (directing crew, animation and staging, composer, and production staff), plus the usual trailers, etc. In the special edition, a second disk adds an extensive 'Making of...' segment, the entire screenplay and some analysis of character, vehicle, and prop design. Technically, this is an important film, despite its simplistic plot and characters. For the first time, the definition of what is acting and what is animation is being challenged in a thought provoking fashion.

There have been many reviews about this movie that have ranged from excellent to shoddy, but mine will fall in the middle for a couple of reasons I will get to. I'll tell you what I found cool and what I found to be lacking. First off, I saw this movie in a digital projection theater. The colors were mind-blowing to say the least. I was constantly losing track of the story because I couldn't take my focus off the spectacular animation. The animation is so rich and textured...let's just say that you have never seen anything like it-real or fabricated. It truly is amazing. The voice casting is perfect. No slackers anywhere. The idea for the story is very innovative, not just some traditional sci-fi retread. But (and there always is a but), the actual dialogue and character development are lacking. Baldwin sometimes seems like a romantic distraction for Ming Na. Is Woods' character supposed to be a sympathetic bad guy because he talks about his family before he commits his bad deeds? Come on, I know 13-year-olds who don't fall for that. The question I was left with was: "Why invest all this money in voice talent, if you give them nothing to work with?" It's a testament to the actors that they were able to pull so much out of the dialogue considering what they had to work with. I don't want to give too much of the plot away, so I won't say anything else about it. ...I enjoyed all the characters for the most part, but I wish there was more to enjoy. I know sometimes that character development is lost because the studios want to get to the next big action event, but when people don't have anything invested in the characters, it just becomes a lot noise. It's too bad because, like I said, there was plenty of sources to draw upon.

Bottom line: The best animation to date, but sorely lacking character and plot development.

One of the best computer generated films I have ever seen. Final Fantasy - the Spirits Within was a joy to watch.

It was exciting, funny, poignant, exciting, romantic, joyful, future hopeful and totally mesmerising from start to finish.

With great actors voicing the animated heroes, we are treated to a state of the art adventure in which earth has been decimated by alien phantoms and the only hope for the survival of the human race are eight earth bound energy-spirits that can stop what only be described as Armageddon.

The exquisite Dr Aki Ross along with cynical but mostly good hearted Captain Edwards and his band of disparate marines set out to find these spirits before the megalomaniac General Hein can ruin any chance Earth has for survival.

The graphics are absolutely stunning, the animated characters look so life like you find yourself doing a double take all the time. Aki Ross is especially life like and Captain Edwards positively smoulders on screen but then his character is voiced over by the sexy Alec Baldwin who can still make any red blood female go weak at the knees!

The ending is superb as well as being heart breaking; no one can forget the scene when Captain Edwards lays down his life for the woman he loves and not just to save the world. Romance at its best in my opinion, animated or not!

I also just love the combining of philosophy, nature, science and technology together and the musical score gets a ten out of ten too.

I wish I could have seen this film on the big screen but I only got to see it when it came out on DVD.

A much underrated, under appreciated film that is yet again far too intelligent for your average moronic movie goer.

This was one of the best films I have seen in along time. The computer animation is breathtaking, and shows you that it can only get better. The story is a wonderful combination of eastern and western philosophies. This movie never dragged and had a great soundtrack.

It has been six years since thhis movie's release and it still stands as the benchmark for human CG animation. People hate on this movie, but I think it is a work of art, directed by a true genius (Hironobu Sakaguchi) one of the greatest game designers ever. It is sad this film bankrupted Square Pictures, but they did rise from the ashes to produce Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children so all was not lost. Besides the amazing animation, I love the story and characters, and the space sequences (especially the opening scene) are stunning in hi-def. Who knows when this movie will be topped technically, although Beowulf looks like it might give FF a run for its money.

"Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" is the kind of movie that people with either love or hate. It is also considered as a testament to the idea that some films only belong on DVD and not in movie theaters. But while opinions are very mixed about this film, I really enjoyed it, despite its obvious flaws.

The most noticable aspect of "Spirits Within" would undoubtedly be its graphics, and it's probably what this film will be remembered for. The visuals are amazing and stunning, and the characters are absolutely gorgeous, although they do sometimes move a little unnaturally. It was reported that the designers created Aki last so they could use all their experience on her, and it really shows. As Dash of TechTV said, "she's worth every megabyte."

Speaking of characters, "Final Fantasy" game veterans might notice that some of the characters resemble characters from the games. Aki somewhat resembles Rinoa from "FFVIII", General Hein looks eerily like Seifer from "FFVIII", and the black soldier could be a double for Barret from "FFVII". But that's just me...

The story is where the trouble starts. Many have complained that the plot is cliched, stale, and unoriginal, but that's not how I feel about it. While I must admit the story isn't terribly original, it's still an interesting story. It is a little confusing at first, especially at the end, but if you pay attention you will understand it. Some people have also complained that the movie has nothing to do with the games, but I disagree. The movie isn't based upon a particular "FF" game, but it does contain a key element: the Gaia. One of the binding links between all the "FF" games is a unifying force or power that holds the world together, and it's this element that makes sure "Spirits Within" isn't using the "FF" name as a crutch.

The voice acting is another trouble spot. I will admit that Ming-na (Aki) sometimes faltered into a bland and forced mode of acting, as did Donald Sutherland (Doctor Sid), which made me cringe occasionally. But I will also say that James Woods gave an almost solid performance as General Heim and made him my favorite character of the movie. The rest of the voice actors were so-so, alternating between good and not-so-good. All in all, the voice-acting wasn't terrible, but they definately could've improved it. One minor note: occasionally, the voices did speak out of synch with the lips. It doesn't degrade the movie at all, but you can't help but notice it.

To put it simply, "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" isn't for everyone. Some people love simplistic and occasionally cliched sci-fi storylines, while others loathe them and want something original. While this movie does break new ground for computer graphics, it unfortunately falls short in terms of execution. I can't reccommend it to anyone because the appeal of this movie is very difficult to pin down; you will just have to see it for yourself.

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!)

This film looks and sounds simply astonishing.After a while you almost forget you're watching a totally CGI film because the characters are so lifelike.Great stuff.

When I heard when Final Fantasy was released, I wanted to go see it; the animation looked awesome. However, hearing how bad it did at the box office and the scathing critical reviews made me reluctant to spend a lot of money on it, so I decided to wait until I could rent it. Well, after seeing it I can say that it is worth buying.

First off, the animation IS awesome; there's none better. I never quite believed that I wasn't seeing a CGI character, but there were several occasions (mostly involving Dr. Sid) that I came very close. I also feel that, with respect to the story, the animation works because it's somewhere between that level of realism and fantasy; realistic enough to make you feel, but fantastic enough to give a surreality.

Now, for the story. I was impressed, and very glad that the creators decided to stray from the games because if they had tried to cram a story that takes 40 hours to complete into a two hour movie, it would have been a train wreck. The mix of sci-fi and spirituality was a nice touch, and shows the film's origins in the East. And yes, a lot of the elements of the plot were clichéd, but so what? I thought that the way everything was put together worked nicely, so I don't find a problem with that. The story is a little slow going, but not overly so; there are enough action sequences to entertain the audience, if the CGI becomes boring (which won't happen), and it is easily followed it the viewer wishes to think a little. Personally, I found it refreshing to have a story that was more sympathetic with the aliens being lost souls; it may not be entirely original, but much preferred over mindless shooting over a two-hour period. The only part of the story that I found to be disappointing was the ending, which left a few things unexplained and unclear, but this may actually fit with the personality of the film by letting the viewer decide for themselves what has occurred.

Overall, it is a very good movie with a few small flaws. The imagery is incredible and the story is well done. If you're looking for a movie that actually has a plot and you like to think, then give Final Fantasy a try.

The reason this movie bombed is because Americans generally don't know what a good movie is. Time after time I'll see a movie, which is a masterpiece, get trampled over by some brain dead teen horror or comedy (ie. The Scorpion King). The so-called fans of the 'Final Fantasy' games fail to understand that each game is completely different from the other. So what if this movie is set on earth? It's never been done before in a FF game. So what if there's nobody carrying a giant sword? Stop nit-picking and take this movie for what it is and that is a great movie with a very original plot. When's the last time you've seen a movie where aliens destroyed their own planet and crashed landed on earth and their angry spirits haunt all the life on this planet? Never. The animation is wonderful. It's never been done before in a movie and yet NO Academy Award nomination. Where is the justice????