Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

Directors:

Hironobu Sakaguchi
Moto Sakakibara (co-director)

Writers:

Hironobu Sakaguchi (story)
Al Reinert (written by) ...

Release Date:

11 July 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Unleash a new reality

Plot:

A female scientist makes a last stand on Earth with the help of a ragtag team of soldiers against an invasion of alien phantoms.

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | General | Quest | Spirit | Final Fantasy

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Ming-Na	...	Doctor Aki Ross (voice)
Alec Baldwin	...	Captain Gray Edwards (voice)
Ving Rhames	...	Ryan (voice)
Steve Buscemi	...	Neil (voice)
Peri Gilpin	...	Jane (voice)
Donald Sutherland	...	Dr. Sid (voice)
James Woods	...	General Hein (voice)
Keith David	...	Council Member #1 (voice)
Jean Simmons	...	Council Member #2 (voice)
Matt McKenzie	...	Major Elliot (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Matt Adler	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Steve Alterman	...	Additional Voices (voice)
David Arnott	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Andrea Baker	...	Additional Voices (voice) (as Andrea Taylor)
Cathy Cavadini	...	Additional Voices (voice) (as Catherine Cavadini)
Lanei Chapman	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Vicki Davis	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Judi M. Durand	...	Additional Voices (voice) (as Judi Durand)
Greg Finley	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Jack Fletcher	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Julia Fletcher	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Barbara Harris	...	Additional Voices (voice) (as Barbara Iley)
David McCharen	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Tracy Metro	...	Additional Voices (voice)
David Michie	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Richard Penn	...	Additional Voices (voice)
David Randolph	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Also Known As:

Fainaru fantaji (Japan)
Final Fantasy (USA) (working title)
Final Fantasy: The Movie (USA) (working title)
Gaia: Final Fantasy (USA) (original script title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #37629) | Malaysia:U | Japan:PG-12 | South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:Livre | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Singapore:PG | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG

Company:

Chris Lee Productions

Trivia:

In an earlier version of the script, Cid and Aki were originally grandfather and granddaughter. Aki's last name was also different: she was originally Aki Shishido. The relationship and names were changed late enough into production that many of the animators and staff didn't even know of the modification of the script until the film was nearly finished.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Aki removes the phantom particles from Gray, she picks up a canister that's hovering in the air, when she originally placed it on the table further away.

Quotes:

[after being told to deactivate the laser bars and they deactivate automatically]
Grey: Whoa. Neil, I'm impressed.
Neil: That makes two of us.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in World Trade Center (2006)

Soundtrack:

The Dream Within

Not bad at all....

Wow, I guess there is SOME hope for video game adaptations. While not a direct translation of the Final Fantasy video game franchise, it is written by the series creator, whose name I cannot remember. On top of that, his video game company branched off into a film company (Square Pictures) just to go and make this movie. At least one can't complain about the handling of the material.

But the big question here is: Do these guys know anything about film-making? Maybe. Maybe not. Truth be told, they don't need to. The beauty of this movie is that it does something new. It blends the world of video game technology and storytelling with the art of film-making. It cuts corners on film-making, but its uniqueness makes up for it. I will admit that I'm a gamer, so I appreciate what was attempted here. What we get out of this movie is an impressive display of what animators and video game technology can do together. I know there are other CGI movies out there, but, unless I am mistaken, they have all followed the over-the-top cartoony path. This is where Final Fantasy stands out. The animation is swelling with reality. From a technical standpoint, this is a gem, and a reason at the least to give it a rent.

The storyline is subject to much scrutiny though. It's not for everybody. This IS a film of Japanese origin, so anime fans will be right at home with it. For the mainstream audience, however, that remains to be decided. Although the script was revised to suit North American localization (and done very well might I add), it still is very Japanese in style, albeit with a bit less surrealism. It's fast-paced and a bit abstract at times, but it is coherent.

In the end, I would say that one should rent this just to see the technological achievement at the least. It's safe to say that all would agree with that point. Depending on the person, you may get into the storyline as well. Either way, you'll walk away with at least part of you satisfied.