Rating: 
Summary: "Two Thumbs Up"
Review: This is a great movie. I have played Final Fantasy 5,7,and 8. And I thought that a Final Fantasy movie would be great! And when I went to see it I was extatic. After the movie I was in awe. I am so glad that the film makers didn't screw it up. It was so astounding. And one of my friends said, (and I completely agree), that after the first hour, it's like the characters are real life actors. This is a must see. I love this movie. And it is on my top 5 favorite movies.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, not Great, but Good
Review: Just got back from seeing it in the theater.
Video: The graphics are wonderful. Good to the point that you almost wonder why they just didn't photograph real people and put them on a generated background. The only point that still really needs work is facial expressions. The faces look really good when not moving much, but look a little mechanical when showing emotion.
Plot: No real complaints here. Some people might say it's a bit touchy-feely, and it is, but really, aren't we all pretty tired of cynical or mindless plots?
Acting: The acting itself was fine, not outstanding, but not bad.
Script: Here's my complaint for the movie. There were too many throw-away one-liners. It made the characters seem shallower than was necessary.
Overall: Not a classic, but something that's definitely worth seeing in the theater. I'll buy it when it comes to DVD, too.
Rating: 
Summary: great movie wont let you down
Review: First of the only reason i didnt give the movie 5 stars was because of its little relations to any of the games. The only thing they had was somebody named sid not even cid like in the games. There were no chocbos moggles biggs and wedge magic casting summons etc. etc. If you go to the theater not looking for a movie with a whole bunch of represations to the game then your in for a surprise. The movie's story alone is great. It ant as involved as the games. If that was true you would be in the theater for a very long time . Thats why i think they made a whole new story do to that fact. And the graphics were just amazing. Aki's hair movement alone amazed me. I thought the actors played well. But i thought bucchime's voice and his charecter (neil) didnt match. Its definetly a movie you have to seeatleast once. I seen it 3 times already.
Rating:
Summary: Captured the game feel....
Review: This movie is by far THE BEST CG animation ever done to date. Toy Story paled in comparison. I don't think anyone who had seen the movie would disagree with me in saying that FF:TSW Movie was an amazing film just by its superb computer generated grphics alone.Now, people may or may not think the story line makes sense or is any good. But I must say, it FEELS like a Final Fantasy story. Many of the elements came from Final Fantasy VII. Having a heroine is a first for Final Fantasy but as every true fan would notice the one constant is still there, Cid! All in all, I was thoroughly entertained. They were true to the Final Fantasy saga and Square had once again out done themselves and taken CG technology into a whole new world.
Rating:
Summary: A Fantasy Come True
Review: This movie is of course very beautifully done and I HAVE SEEN IT! I have spent close to hundereds of hours playing ~10 games in the series including the ... gameboy series and this movie really brought the series to life. The movie itself doesn't have many references to the games but the storyline is very similar to that of Final Fantasy 7. So similar that I knew how it was going to end long before the end. I am not going to go on about how good it looked because I'd just as soon read a book than a movie meaning visuals don't really matter to me. But trust me, the plot is great! It made perfect sense to me since I have played FF7 and because I have at least half a brain to peace together the somewhat confusing storyline. So my final thought is to definitely go see this movie if you are a fan of the final fantasy series, go see this movie if you like an engaging storyline full of emotion and action, and well...just go see it! Its great! Only dissapointment is the tired cliches the voice actors repetedly used and the somewhat dry script. Keep to the story and the movie will make you realize why this is a fantasy come true.
Rating:
Summary: It Hypnotized Me
Review: WOW! This is a visual epic! I heard it was totally developed via computer animation and took my company's webmaster to view it at lunch as a research project. I was mesmerized by the computer graphics. There were moments when I thought the characters were REAL! If the Academy doesn't nominate this for something (special effects, animation, editing, etc.) I'll be shocked. The "spirit" creatures hypnotize you. From start to finish, you don't even want to blink your eyes for fear of missing an effect. The summer has been filled with many special effects films. This one has entertained me more than all of them combined. In a nutshell, this film launches a new era of animation flicks. It almost frightens me to think what is "coming soon" in this genre of movies. Don't miss it. Just let me know when it'll be available on DVD so I can watch it over and over again. This is a true milestone in computer animation film!!!
Rating:
Summary: THE WORLD IS SQUARE
Review: ILM? Disney? Ha! With this movie Squaresoft proves that they are the new masters of the computer graphics world. GRAPHICS: The most convincing character in this movie--BY FAR--is Cid, the bald-headed old guy. He just looked SO real. Also, the lips moved perfectly with the words. The settings were also wonderful eye-candy. Some of the places in this movie are Tucson, Arizona; the Caspian mountains, and New York. Having lived in Tucson I thought it looked really believable (but remember it's post-apocalyptic). The explosions were also a wonder to behold in this movie. Tired of seeing Death Stars blowing up with those silly fire-rings and thousands of particles? Well, Squaresoft KNOWS how to make an explosion. When things blow up, they crumble apart in visible CHUNKS, not atoms. Will you be able to tell that the movie was done with computers? Definitely (unless you're watching Cid). STORYLINE: Unlike lots of movies based off video games, this one had a pretty decent storyline. There were, however, LOTS of loose ends that they needed to tie together better. The characters were all pretty much equal--I didn't find myself liking or hating any particular one. I'd say there were a couple slow parts in the movie, but nothing that was unbearable. At times the movie was predictable, but there was a time or three when I was genuinely surprised at the plot twist (especially the part with the wounded soldier in the vehicle). DIALOGUE: Before seeing this movie, I kept hearing complaints about the storyline and dialogue. I can see what people are saying about the storyline, but I didn't really think the dialogue was THAT terrible. What do you expect, Shakespeare? MUSIC: Didn't notice it that much. I'd say it fit the movie, but it would have been nice if Nobuo Uematsu had done it. OTHER: One of my FAVORITE things about this movie is this: It's rated PG-13 and there are only three bad words in the WHOLE movie! For once it's nice to see some marines that don't talk in four-letter words all the time. THE BOTTOM LINE: If you've played Final Fantasy 7 and 8, this will probably be a 4 star movie for you. You'll understand things much better. But if you haven't played Final Fantasy's 7 and 8, you would probably only give this movie 3 stars. Movie critics don't play video games, that's why they didn't understand it. Irregardless of what category you fall into, you should watch this movie IN THE THEATER. Some of the wow-wonderment is sure to be lost on a VHS or DVD version (unless your living room is a theater). Overall, a GREAT ENTERTAINING film.
Rating:
Summary: A Little Reality
Review: After having actually seen this movie I can tell you that all the hype before it came out was just that, hype. This film is fascinating to watch and a great way to spend an afternoon, but it is not the sign of the next wave of film making (at least not yet). I enjoyed it because it had all the elements of a good science fiction movie; nasty aliens, futuristic space buggies with big guns, and lots of stuff blowing up. As far as the computer animation goes it is spectacular and mesmerizing, I could watch it several times but I enjoy that kind of thing. I think it gets to a point where the average filmgoer won't necessarily appreciate the level of technical achievement. As for the characters, the facial expressions aren't much better than those on Action Man or Starship Troopers Chronicles. The difference is the textures and smoothness. Rifles don't disappear into the persons body and you can see single strands of hair. I loved the scenes of destroyed cities and the domed New York City. It's a very cool looking movie. It's not astoundingly realistic but that's the appeal. Computer graphics won't replace animation or real life, it will just supplement and add to them. As for the actual plot and acting this is as watchable as any other movie out right now. The plot has a Japanese feel to it. It mixes technology and spirituality like a lot of Japanese animé. This isn't my favorite type story but it wasn't as heavy handed as it could have been so I didn't mind. The acting was good and the voices were well cast although it's strange to see (the great but homely) Steve Buscemi's voice matched to a young handsome man's face. The dialog is sometimes B movie quality and James Woods's character, General Heins, is a typical meglo-manic, although a little subplot point kind of shows his motivation and hatred for the phantoms. This was a fun movie to sit and eat popcorn through.
Rating:
Summary: good movie; but cannot match the title
Review: I love Final Fantasy Games a lot. Therefore I would say this movie is a bad port from games to movie. It lost the spirit of FF series. It is more like a combo of "Aliens" and "5th element". Where are those fairy like stories, lovers and songs. I cannot find any clue. For old FF fans, disppointment is highly likely. Yet the movie itself is not too bad. Cool CG and OK story. But compared with the shining title, the movie itself certainly fell far behind.
Rating:
Summary: Squaresoft Meets Hollywood?
Review: This isn't really a Final Fantasy movie. It's the "Final Fantasy Tactics" of the movie world, where the product itself didn't have much to do with FF, but it used its name anyway. Clearly, Hollywood made this movie (Techinically, it was made in Hawaii, but it was made by people who followed the Hollywood system). The characters are likeable, but they are your typical sci-fi crew - the funny guy, the buff athletic girl, the big beefy black bad-*ss, etc. Nothing really new. The plot is mostly standard (But still more original than many sci-fi flicks - I don't want to give away anything), and there's a good handful of cliches tossed throughout the movie. However, despite those shortcomings, it is still a very enjoyable movie. Jaw-dropping animation + fun action scenes + great voice acting + old-school adventure = fun. It's not really ground-breaking in anyway aside from the animation, but it is fantastic to watch. To me, this is the best "Save the world" movie yet made, even if it isn't new. ...FF fans will be SORELY disappointed (Aside from one character being named Cid, the movie carries on no FF traditions), but if you pretend that its title is simply "The Spirits Within," then you'll probably like it. The DVD is a sweet deal - need I bother to list all of the extras? The second DVD of the set shows how much fun the behind-the-scenes crew can have, and nearly everything on it seems to poke fun at the movie itself, showing that the filmmakers had a great sense of humor. The joke outtakes (In the manner of "Toy Story 2" and "A Bug's Life") are actually funny, and there is a parody of the Michael Jackson "Thriller" music video that is nothing short of hilarious. Definitely a must-have for any worthwhile DVD collection, and I have to say it is on my list of favorite movies.
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