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:

Box Office Flop | 2060s | Spin Off From Video Game | Computer Animation | Based On Video Game

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Ming-Na	...	Dr. Aki Ross (voice)
Alec Baldwin	...	Capt. Gray Edwards (voice)
Ving Rhames	...	Sgt. Ryan Whitaker (voice)
Steve Buscemi	...	Officer Neil Fleming (voice)
Peri Gilpin	...	Officer Jane Proudfoot (voice)
Donald Sutherland	...	Dr. Cid (voice)
James Woods	...	General Hein (voice)
Keith David	...	Council Member #1 (voice)
Jean Simmons	...	Council Member #2 (voice)
Matt McKenzie	...	Major Elliot (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)
Fantasía final: El espíritu en nosotros (Colombia) [es]
Final Fantasy (Brazil) [pt]
Final Fantasy (Greece) [el]
Final Fantasy (Argentina) [es]
Final Fantasy - Die Mächte in dir (Germany) [de]
Final Fantasy, les créatures de l'esprit (France) [fr]
Final Fantasy: Spiritele ascunse (Romania) [ro]
Final fantasy: La fuerza interior (Spain) [es]
Final fantasy: Les créatures de l'esprit (Canada: French title) [fr]

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:

SDDS (8 channels) | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #37629) | Iceland:12 | Japan:PG-12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Malaysia:U | South Korea:All | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | 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:

When the movie was digitally-projected (Texas Instruments DLP), it became the first ever to include a "genuine" 8-channel Sony SDDS soundtrack. "Prototype" 8-channel soundtracks had been in use by SDDS since 1993, but the one for this movie is considered the first perfected standard of the format.

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:

Alarm voice: Proceed to the nearest evacuation facility, Proceed to the nearest evacuation facility.
Neil: I think we should proceed to the nearest evacuation facility.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in World Trade Center (2006)

Soundtrack:

The Dream Within

Criminally Underrated

Just to clear up a couple of points:-

a) This is a FILM, not a computer game. b) CGI people don't look or move exactly like real people. That stated, Aki Ross is still a more convincing character than ANYONE played by Keanu Reeves.

Final Fantasy is misnamed; there's little about the story that is "final", nor is it especially fantastic, but what it IS is a pretty decent mystical-science fiction (no, NOT "sci-fi" space opera) yarn. Possibly owing to the real inability to successfully portray facial expressions in the CGI characters, the mood throughout is sombre and hard... so rather more like real life than your average Hollywood space-opera swashbuckler. Frankly, because this story actually tries to make a POINT, it probably disappoints the type of viewer who would like a film like "Aliens". The overriding message is simply that brute force is no use without understanding, and that's a timeless message that many cultures would do well to think about.

And, of course, this film is just BEAUTIFUL. Probably best watched while tripping on acid, if the truth be told.

7/10 and a future classic, as far as I'm concerned. This film will be remembered long after things like "Starship Troopers" have been forgotten.