It is the year 2065, and it has been 34 years since a meteorite has stuck the Earth, unleashing a plague upon the world. The Plague is in the form of a group of alien invaders that have been terrorizing all life on the planet. These aliens, which have been come to be called Phantoms, can drain the life force of any living thing, simply by touching them.

Now, it is up to two people to stop this invading force, and free the world from total destruction. Aided by her mentor and companion Dr Sid, a young woman named Aki Ross has been having dreams every night about these aliens. It is her hope that these dreams will hold the key to the origin of these creatures, as well as what can be done to stop them from taking over the Earth.

The format in which I am reviewing is the DVD 2 disk Special Edition.

This movie is the first feature film spawned from the popular video game series “Final Fantasy” published by Squaresoft Inc. It is also the first film created by Square Pictures, which is an offspring of Squaresoft Inc.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, is composed entirely of computer generated animation, just as the cut scenes of many video games. The difference here is that the computer animation is so fantastic, so amazing, that there are many points in the movie where you really cannot tell that you are watching something created on a computer. The graphics are so detailed, that the characters really look like actual people.

Now, I know what you are probably thinking. You are probably thinking, “Great, another cheesy movie derived from a video game.” Well let me tell you something, you could not be more wrong in the case of this movie. There is really nothing “cheesy” about this movie (unless you don’t like any type of Science Fiction film). The plot of the movie is very deep and the characters are very likable. You really get engulfed in what is going on.

Another great highlight of this film, is that there are several famous and talented actors/actresses who provided the voices for the characters. Some of them include:

Ming-Na (the voice of Fa Mulan/Fa Ping in Disney’s Mulan) – Aki Ross
Alec Boldwin (Beetlejuice, Pearl Harbor) – Captain Gray Edwards
Ving Rhames (Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction, Quito Real in UC Undercover) – Ryan
Steve Buscemi (Airheads, Fargo, Con Air, The Wedding Singer) – Neil
Peri Gilpin (Roz on Fraiser) - Jane
Donald Sutherland (M*A*S*H the movie, A Time To Kill) – Dr. Sid
James Woods (The General’s Daughter, The Hard Way, Contact) – General Hein

There were only a few problems I had with this film. One, I felt that there were a few parts in the story that were really not fully explained. I was kind of left wondering about the significance of the “Spirits” that Aki and Dr. Sid were collecting.

Two, there was really nothing about this film that said “Final Fantasy” to me. I am a total Final Fantasy fan, and have played almost all of the games in the series. Now, even though each game has a completely different story line, different characters, and often times are sent in different worlds, there are generally certain things you can count on, Airships, Summoners, Magic, etc. None of those things are present in this film, which means that they could have just called it, “The Spirits Within”, and been just fine.

In fact, it’s really just a great Science fiction film, kind of the same line as “Alien(s)”, or “The Thing”. Full of suspense, action and drama.

Over all, this was a great film, and I would highly recommend it to any Science Fiction fan.

*Now, here is a brief overview of the Special Features contained on disk 2:*

A Documentary on the making of the film which is very interesting

A chance to see all of Aki’s dream sequences back to back

Bio’s on each character, including info on the actors as well as backgrounds on the characters themselves

Detailed Vehicle designs and descriptions

An Alternate Opening Sequence

Amusing Outtakes

And more…

*DVD ROM features include:*

Screensaver

Web Links

Complete Screenplay

Virtual Tour of Square Pictures


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older