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.
Rating: 
Summary: A very well done job
Review: Its not prefect, but what movie is. This movie, totally digital computer graphics, was well done. It has action, a good story, and good voices.AN ambitious way to make a movie, but I think they suceeded. Its not like the games, and I'm glad f it. Even the ending is good. Unexpected but does justice to the movie. I recommend everyone to at least give it a try.
Rating:
Summary: The Spirits Moved Me
Review: I went to see this movie because I love the Final Fantasy games. However, there were others there who had never seen or heard of the games. There's no reason to know about them - this movie stands solidly on its own power. A girl (Dr. Aki Ross) has dreams about the alien invaders who are sucking the life (very literally) out of the earth, caused by what we learn to be an infection of alien nature that is held suspended in her system. With her mentor (Dr. Sid), she is assembling a "spirit wave" to use against the invaders. When a former love (Gray Edwards) enters the picture, he and his troop of "Deep Eyes" are assigned to protect her on her mission, and that's when the real enemy (General Hein) makes his plans known. He's willing to save the world by destroying Gaea (the earth spirit). Can Aki save the world with her spririt wave before Hein can use the Zeus cannon and destroy Gaea and the invaders? The animation was so life-like that I actually FORGOT I was watching animation. The story was very solid and moved very well. This is cutting edge computer animation. This is a magnificent movie. This is a great ensemble of characters. It's also a great adventure and a great romance. The DVD is at the top of my Christmas list (whether it's out before Christmas or not). See this movie! You WON'T regret it!
Rating: 
Summary: Promising Potential for Computer Animated Films
Review: There is no denying that technically, the film is marvelous. The only criticism I have about computer-generated characters is that they often look cross-eyed or as if they are blind. An aimless sort of look. But this film certainly displays how far the technology has come. Conceptially, the story had great potential, but the dialogue undermined it. The Rambo impersonations could have been left out. If there is one glaring limitation of animated films is that good actors can't make up for bad dialogue. Improvisations--one of the strengths of an actor--aren't prevelant due to the limitations of the medium itself. It seems as if the actors never deviated from the script. (I would argue that in animated films in general, good dialogue is necessary to make up for the inability to inject emotion into the character through body-language. The actor is limited to his or her voice as the tool to make the character believable. In computer-animated films, in particular, the characters still retain some of the stiffness that was more problematic in earlier projects.) Regardless, this film broke new ground. And though I wouldn't be inclined to see it again, I applaud the achievements accomplished. At the very least, the technology can be used to enhance live-action films, and take the viewer to new levels of imagination.
Rating:
Summary: Visually Specatular, Story and impact lack
Review: This is one star from being a five star only because of the story's lag. It's not the the story line was bad, it was the parts of the movie were action scenes were supposed to grab you and surprise you, didn't do that. It may be because of the animation, although it was the greatest computer animation ever seen to date, it still lacked the human movement and flow at times. The characters all looked a little stiff at times or their jaws couldn't open or close very well (Toy Story and Shrek were cartoonish, but the characters' movement seem to flow smoother). But besides all the little problems, mostly this movie is visually mind blowing. There are times were you are just baffled by the realism of the characters. Does this movie move? Does it meet Sci-Fi action standers of of movies such as the Matrix, Star Wars, or Aliens? Regretfully no. There are times when think things are getting good, but are let down by the pace and lag. There are times where I was beginning to fall a sleep. Of course, I am not a big japanimation sci-fi fan, and this seems to take notes from many japanimation movies. But as a guy who grew up on American made movies, grasping the artistic flow of what this movie was going for didn't really strike me the way it was intended. This movie is very close to Ghost in the Shell and Akira. When I mean close, it had that same feel: great animation, but dumbfounded by what the movie was going for story-wise. I got the same feeling watching this movie as I did with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. You get that, "okay, that was interesting, now why did that happen?" feel. You may get a feel of non-closure at the end of the movie. Everyone in the movie theater had a hard time getting up from the ending, many blank stares in the audiance. Basically, it has a very foreign (japan) feel to the movie. It's not like a conventional Micheal Bay movie. Just be ready to think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets Aliens meets Starship Troopers meets The Fifth Element meets Akira meets Ghost In The Shell and you have your movie, got it? Plus, look for Ben Affleck in this movie. Ben Affleck with Alec Baldwin's voice (Grey). Most of the audience giggled when this character first graced the screen. The likeness of Grey and Ben Affleck are too uncanny. Which only makes you wonder whether they tried to get Ben to do the voice, but he drops out after hearing that the enemy aliens were refered to as "Phantoms". That after doing his other movie "Phantoms" he didn't want to do any repeats. Because if you have watched Ben Affleck "Phantoms", you may see a similarity in the creatures in this movie to those in that one. But if anything, go to this movie to be wowed by the computer animation. Don't ponder on the plot too much, you may get dissappointed. Many people were mainly complementing the animation. And as for what this has to do with Final Fanasy the game, well I don't think any of the games within the Final Fantasy world have anything to do with their sequels. Every Final Fantasy game is different story-wise from one another. At least, I am pretty sure they are different. To me they should stop calling it Final Fantasy and call each game "Next" Fantasy, seeing how FFX is coming out soon and FFXI is in the works.
Rating:
Summary: Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within
Review: This was an incredible movie. With a plot that was suspensfull and moving this movie was a complete revolution in computer animation. There were times when it was hard to tell that the characters weren't real. I look at this movie and I see the future, in more ways than just the setting.
Rating:
Summary: It's great!- and I HAVE seen the movie
Review: It's the first all 3D computer graphic anime. (note that anime is a specific style of animation ) The story is pretty good (not awesome but pretty good ) The cg humans are state of the art and the most realistic simulation to date. The acting is good. I gave it 4 stars because it's not a blockbuster, but it is well worth seeing in the theater. Remember that this movie represents about 5 years work.
Rating: 
Summary: You can dress it up, you can't take it out
Review: Well I'll just be short, as a technical masterpiece it rocked. As a cinematic work, it left much to be desired. I have seen the movie and other than the speical effects and the lights and bells on this film, it can't make up for a poorly written script. The dramatic cliche's in this movie were astounding and the characters were more stock than a Dickens novel. I know there are people who won't agree with me.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I Think every thing about "The Spirits Within" is brilliant. It's the only game-turned-movie to ever come out that even half decent; that is in no small part due to two key factors:1.) It's not directly based off of any of the games, instead it's kind of a mix between 7 and 8; 2.) The revolutionary animation that that is so real that it's creepy at times, but still manages to have a slight anime edge to it. Unfortunately the plot wasn't as deep as 7, but it's still good. Also a few times the dialouge can get a bit cheesy, but it's hard to avoid it especially in action and horror movies. This movie really manages to play out like a real RPG which is one important thing that makes this movie great.
Rating:
Summary: this movie rules
Review: saw it today, this movie rules over everything!!! great animation!!!!
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