Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within (Special Edition) (2001)

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.

I could say it was all I was expecting and more, but that wouldn't be entirely accurate. The games took 40-50+ hours to complete with a story that had numerous twists to the plot and character developement that went far beyond some bestselling novels. While I think it would be great to see a 6 hour Final Fantasy movie that had such an intricate plot, I realize that would be unrealistic for a feature film. All things considered, I think Square did an outstanding job compressing the story into the time allotted.

The script could have been written a little bit better, but I think it was written the way it was so the average movie-goer would keep up with the plot. I know I didn't have any trouble following Dr. Sid's theories about Gaia and what the Phantom's really were. But that could've been from playing the games.. I saw sort of the concept in FF7, with everyone and everything having a spirit.

The cg was astounding and tte physics were.. well, close. Although I think in 65 years, we may be able to bend the laws of physics a bit more, so this could possibly end up mimicing real life in 2065. I've read some film critics comment about the lack of consistency with the Phantoms, how they can move through walls and suck the life out of someone, yet can be harmed by conventional weapons. Those guns didn't look conventional to me... energy weapons would have the effect they did. Opinion: those film critics who commented about that didn't know what they were talking about.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and I intend to see it a few more times before it leaves theatres. This quite possibly gets my vote for the Best Movie of All time.

Many thanks to Hironobu Sakaguchi and Square for making such wonderful stories and games. I give a hand to Alec Baldwin, Ming-Na, Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames, Donald Sutherland, and all the filmmakers for making a film that I will cherish for a very long time.........just bring it to DVD QUICK!