Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within [Blu-ray]

Director: Hironobu Sakaguchi, Motonori Sakakibara, Sakakibara Motonori Hironobu Sakaguchi

Overview

The first feature-length motion picture to use computer-generated imagery to create not only effects, props, and environments but also the human cast members themselves, this lavish science-fiction adventure follows closely on the heels of another video game-based film, Tomb Raider (2001). Ming-Na provides the voice of Dr. Aki Ross, a female scientist in the year 2065, a time when Earth has been overrun by extraterrestrial phantoms borne of a crashed meteor. Humans have been pushed back to cities protected by barriers that keep the marauding space monsters away, but time is running out. Fatally infected by one of the ghostly beasts, Ross seeks information about their purpose and physiology, assisted by her mentor Dr. Sid (voice of Donald Sutherland) and the Deep Eyes military squad of courageous Captain Gray Edwards (voice of Alec Baldwin). Tension develops between Aki's quest to stop the alien onslaught through study and the more extreme solution favored by the vengeful, saber-rattling General Hein (voice of James Woods), who would destroy both the aliens and the Earth itself. Aki ultimately comes to realize that the key to unlocking the mystery of the invaders lies within her own dreams.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/07/2007
UPC:	0043396169326
Original Release:	2001
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Sony Pictures
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:46:00
Sales rank:	32,660

Special Features

Commentary With Animation Director, Staging Director, and Editor; Commentary With Co-Director and Crew; Character Profiles; Vehicle Scale Comparison; Interactive Documentary: The Making of Final Fantasy; Trailer Exploration Featurette; Aki's Dream Reconstruction; Original Opening; On the Set With Aki; Compositing Builds Featurette; Joke Outtakes; Matte Art Explorations; The Gray Project.

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ming-Na Wen	Dr. Aki Ross
Alec	Cap. Gray Edwards
Ving Rhames	Sgt. Ryan Whitaker
Steve Buscemi	Off. Neil Fleming
Peri Gilpin	Off. Jane Proudfoot
Donald Sutherland	Dr. Cid
James Wood	General Hein
Keith David	Council Member
Jean Simmons	Council Member
John DeMita	BCR Soldier #1
Matt Adler	Additional Voices
Steve Alterman	Additional Voices
David Arnott	Additional Voices
Cathy Cavadini	Additional Voices
Lanei Chapman	Additional Voices
Vicki Davis	Additional Voices
Judi Durand	Additional Voices
Greg Finley	Additional Voices
Jack Fletcher	Additional Voices,Additional Voices
David McCharen	Additional Voices
Tracy Metro	Additional Voices
David Michie	Additional Voices
Richard Penn	Additional Voices
David Randolph	Additional Voices
Andrea Taylor	Additional Voices
John De Maggio	BFW Soldier #1
Alex Fernandez	Space Station Technician #3
David Rasner	Space Station Technician #1 & 4
Dwight Schultz	Scan Technician
Elliot Goldenthal	Composer
Joel Iwataki	Composer
Dirk Brosse	Composer

Technical Credits

Jeff Vintar

Jack Fletcher

Al Reinert

Hironobu Sakaguchi	Producer,Director
Randy Thom	Sound/Sound Designer
Motonori Sakakibara	Director
Jeff Vintar	Screenwriter
Remington Scott	Producer
Jack Fletcher	Screenwriter
Al Reinert	Screenwriter
Sakakibara Motonori	Director
Jun Aida	Producer
Andrea Gard	Sound Effects
Jim McKee	Sound Effects
Chris Scarabosio	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

This thrilling and visionary fantasy -- with a high budget that included the cost of creating its new motion-capture technology -- was D.O.A. at the box office, proving once again that mainstream America is not ready for what it deems to be video game geekery. But this is hardly a film of limited appeal. While it does recall its more obscure anime roots in some of its spiritual themes, it has the grandiosity of the great sci-fi epics (comparisons have been made as high up the ladder as Star Wars), and the mind-blowing visuals alone are worth the price of admission. Not only are the photo-realistic humans a sight to behold, but the other details of this post-apocalyptic Earth are rendered with a fine-tipped brush, both natural and invitingly dreamy at the same time. The story has its share of underexplained moments, and it requires viewers to accept hokey concepts like "gaia" (the Earth's vital spiritual entity). But to extend the parallel with Star Wars, the Force was never too hard to swallow, and it gave that film the requisite mysticism to rise to the level of classic. Furthermore, Aki Ross is a heroine ten times more intelligent and worthy of worship than Lara Croft, the other prominent video game transplant from the summer of 2001. Ming-Na brings her compassionately to life, and the character's deadly affliction adds an extra gravitas to their earnest mission. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is a romantic adventure that doesn't cheapen either of those categories; in spite of its box-office failure, it can teach a lesson to the star-driven flops that studios churn out with none of the passion of this wondrous ghost story.