Rating: 
Summary: Very Different--A Little Creepy--But Pretty Good
Review: This movie represents a breakthrough in computer graphics. For the first time computer artists have created images that are nearly photo real for an entire motion picture. The question is, of course, whether what is essentially a cartoon can hold the interests and provoke the emotions of an adult audience, the answer (proved indesputably by Final Fantasy) is that it can. Final Fantasy is essentially a science fiction/horror/spiritual journey of a film that, surprisingly, doesn't get bogged down by all the themes it attempts to engage. Its closest relative would be something like Aliens, although Final Fantasy is not nearly as terrifying. Still, there are some scenes that would disturb young children. The film takes place during a war for supremacy of the Earth that has presumably been going on for quite some time. Most of the major cities are in ruins and what is left of humanity can be found collected in the hearts of once proud urban areas under glowing orange "safety shields." These shields are designed to protect the humans from invisible "phantoms" that need only to touch a person to rip away his/her lifeforce (this is done numerous times with spectacular visual effects that never get old). The hope of humanity rests upon the shoulders of one woman and her mentor (a wise old scientist who looks like Obi-Wan Kenobi--the old one--and is voiced to perfection by Donald Sutherland). In opposition to the military leaders of the planet, our two heroes seek to understand the "phantoms" in terms of their mythical link to the legendary planetary and universial lifeforce called the gaya. It is always fun to see a movie so concerend with, what is essentially, a derivative of Hindu philosophy. It is a very unobtrusive idea and it is presented as pure fantasy rather than dogma. In a way, this film serves as an introduction to this type of thinking, just as "Star Wars" and "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" do. Final Fantasy definately keeps your attention. The action scenes are extremely compelling, and, for the most part, the computer generated human faces do a good job with displaying real human emotion (saddness isn't quite nailed to perfection, but what the heck?). It seemed sort of odd to me that this film would be so loaded with recogniziable voices. Recognizable are those of Alec Baldwin, Donald Sutherland, Ving Rhaymes, Steve Buscemi and James Woods. I don't understand why shuch a star-studded cast was assembled because it must have been a tremendous expense and, judging from the spectacular graphics, this film already had a huge budget. Maybe this was intended simply as a symbol that no expense would be spared, and, indeed, the vocal performances are all superb. I couldn't help but wonder if this movie might have been more effective as a live action feature. Certainly the plot was strong enough to carry it and it didn't seem as though the filmakers engaged in a lot of scenes that couldn't have been constructed with live performers. In many ways it looked like a standard movie, I was hoping they would do something radical like have the whole film be one continuous shot, something that couldn't feasibly be done in a standard movie. Although it is a little creepy to see actual human beings be replaced by computer generated images, all in all this movie is very entertaining and definately worth the time.
Rating: 
Summary: Saw it yesterday, watching it again this Friday
Review: Well, I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much. I've played EVERY Final Fantasy (yes, even the 2 for NES that weren't released in america), and I figured that square would have had a worse time coming out with a movie script than a video game script. Boy, I was blown out of the water. I loved it. If you've played all the games for playstation you'll find quite a few similarities. The plot itself was completely indipendant (except for some of the words, which were closely related to FF IX). But a lot of the actual graphics were DEFINATLY derived from the games FMV sequences. The animation was AWESOME. There is this one part where there is a glass of brandy, (I'm assuming...) and if you've ever seen what liquids look like in omputer generated movies, you know that it always looks... too... something, and it doesn't seem real at ALL, but the brandy looks incredibly real, it even has the light refractions on to the glossy hardwood desk. I was in awe. Anyway, the plot was kind of confusing at the end, but if you think about it, you should get it. A definate must see.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie!
Review: I absolutley love this movie. I have seen it 4 times, and will probablt see it even more. The animation is not only SUPERB, but the characters simply draw you in. There is only one drawback which i think is when *SPOILERS!* Neil(my favorite character--Steve Buscemi as the voice) Ryan, Jane, Grey--Hell, ALL the Deep Eyes member dies. That seems to be the only drawback--too many good people died. I get all depressed each time after that... *END SPOILER* But i do recommend this movie to ANYONE, Final Fantasy fan (like myself) or not. Even if you HATE the plot and the charcters, at leats see it for the animation! (i, however, see/saw nothing wrong with the plot, and LOVE the characters, and do not understand WHY everyone has to critize this wonderful movie for the littlest flaws. Appreiate this movie, It's SO good!)
Rating:
Summary: Amazingly Stunning Artwork with an equely Great Story Line!!
Review: First off i will start by saying that everyone that said below that this movie was a ripoff of the alien series is an idiot!!!! They obbiously were either judging based on the commercials or were not paying attention during the movie. I also feel that many people rated the movie apon only its stunning visual effects which i think is just wrong. Many people overlooked the great story line and creativity of the whole idea. In conclusion I feel that this was a great movie and highly recomend it to any fans of the game series.
Rating:
Summary: Best Summer Movie in a long time.
Review: This movie is not a video game movie. I have never played a Final Fantasy game, and I greatly enjoyed this movie. My friend went in thinking he was going to hate it, and came out loving it. It is not based on any of the Final Fantasy games. The only connection that I can see that it has to the games is that it was created by the creator of the Final Fantasy game series. The main attraction to this movie is the animation. It is by far the most incredible animation ever in a fully-animated movie. They have almost created a completely real looking human. The only problem with the aniumation is that early on in the movie the characters mouths move differently than what they are saying. This is only a problem in the first 5-10 minutes, however. Surprisingly, this movie does 1) have a very good story, however weird it may be and 2) it has very good acting. The end of the movie is very moving and it reminded me of crouching tiger, hidden dragon (it isn't exactly a tear-jercker, as others have said, soo you don't have to worry about crying). This is probably the only video game movie that is a must see. This is a monumental step in movie-making, and I hope to see a Final Fantasy II some time soon. From end to beginning, this is a great movie. See it and tell your friends to see it and get this movie a lot of money so we can see a sequel.
Rating: 
Summary: Highly confusing....
Review: Ahhh... Final Fantasy... A movie that bears the name of a famous video game series that has spanned across several platforms. Sadly, this movie has nothing to do with any of those games. As I think it should have. Otherwise, why call it Final Fantasy? You could have just named it something else. Well, this story is VERY confusing. We don't know who or what the aliens are or their origin. And the same can be said for the main characters themselves. Of course, except for Aki. The movie has almost zero character development and while the computer graphics are extremely well done, the computer models do not show enough emotion on their faces. All in all, while it's revolutionary... The story needs more work. I don't like to be thrown into a story without knowing a little background on the characters. Adding to that, the characters seem very uninteresting. Almost generic. The bottom line is, while I enjoyed the visuals immensely, the story is a train wreck. I would have enjoyed a story similar to that of the real Final Fantasy games except #8.
Rating: 
Summary: People were laughing....
Review: First of all, I've never personally played the games, my brother has and I have watched him for many an hour, so I am quite familiar with them. Now that that's out of the way:This was a bad movie. From start to finish. The characters while pretty were unexpressive. Whenever a character was attempting to be heroic, sullen, sad, regretful, passionate, etc, there were snickers and outright laughter from the audience. The villain was hilariously terrible and overblown. The characters all had a pristine doll like appearence that left everyone cold. The plot was thin and obvious, even for an action movie. Speaking of action, it the action in this movie was less than inspiring, lacking the punch of real life pyrotechnics. And what is Square's fascination with REALLY BIG GUNS? It comes down to this though: I went to the movie with 5 friends. Of the 5, 4 hated the movie passionately, the other thought it was very mediocre. He was being kind.
Rating:
Summary: Fun
Review: I don't expect much from the plots of movies like this. Usually I just sit back and enjoy the spectacle of all the visual and special effects. I'm easily entertained that way, and for movies like this, it works great. I had fun watching this movie. So if you're like me, you won't be disappointed in this film. The very life-like characters and graphics are striking. You can see how fast the industry is evolving, and how close they are to achieving graphically generated characters that may soon be indistinguishable from real actors. The visual appeal of this movie is what really makes the film. The backdrops and the ethereal monsters are truly spectacular. I didn't mind the mystical philosophy and fantastic elements too much, since, as I said, I don't expect much from the plots of these movies. Anyway, this is a fun film just to watch and lose yourself in the visual effects. I suppose some people will criticize the simplistic plot and characters, but I think those people are missing the point. If you want philosophically profound movie-making, then you can always rent a Hitchcock or a Fritz Lang film. Me, sometimes I just want to be mindlessly entertained, and there is no better way than a movie like this. ...
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I saw this movie twice...and loved it both times. I was skeptical about the music and plot before entering - their choice not to use Uematsu and go for a movie composer was shocking, but merited. The final fantasy series is not about the music, the chocobos, moogles, cid, wedge and biggs...or anything else that appears in all of the games. It is a series which describes life, love, loss, and betrayal, the growth of a character (or a few). It has a memorable enemy, who does despicable deeds for their own personal gain. (It has stunning graphics...but thats not a "part" of the series, just a bonus). This movie displays all the themes present in the games, but instead of worrying about gameplay it focuses on the deep story. The music was incredible...I purchased the soundtrack a week before the movie came out, it was very nice sounding, and fit very well into the movie. While it definately was not Uematsu, it was more appropriate than his music was for a movie and fit to the events. See this movie...it's great, and definately deserves the name Final Fantasy
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Movie!
Review: I love videogames and I have to say, after seeing both Tomb Raider and FF, FF is a much better movie! The animation sare so real, sometimes you can't tell the characters are animated! The movie is about a girl named Aki that has a creature inside here. She has been saved by things that still have spirits in them. Now here sjield is running out so she needs the 2 other spirits that survived in the world. That is the basic plot. I rated the movie 4 stars because the plot is good and the movie plays well becuase its very unpredictible unlike other movies. The ending was hard to understand and could have been better.
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