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Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) 6.4
Ratings:
6.4/10 from 56,219 users
Metascore: 49/100
Reviews: 782 user | 164 critic | 28 from Metacritic.com A scientist makes a last stand on Earth with the help of a ragtag team of soldiers against an invasion of alien phantoms. |
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Title: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
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Edit
Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Ming-Na Wen | ... |
Doctor Aki Ross
(voice) (as Ming-Na)
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| Alec Baldwin | ... |
Captain Gray Edwards
(voice)
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| Ving Rhames | ... |
Ryan
(voice)
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| Steve Buscemi | ... |
Neil
(voice)
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| Peri Gilpin | ... |
Jane
(voice)
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| Donald Sutherland | ... |
Dr. Sid
(voice)
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| James Woods | ... |
General Hein
(voice)
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| Keith David | ... |
Council Member #1
(voice)
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| Jean Simmons | ... |
Council Member #2
(voice)
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| Matt McKenzie | ... |
Major Elliot
(voice)
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| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Matt Adler | ... |
Additional Voices
(voice)
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 |
Steve Alterman | ... |
Additional Voices
(voice)
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David Arnott | ... |
Additional Voices
(voice)
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| Andrea Baker | ... |
Additional Voices
(voice) (as Andrea Taylor)
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| Cathy Cavadini | ... |
Additional Voices
(voice) (as Catherine Cavadini)
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Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
In the year 2065, the next great assault against an invading race of phantom-like aliens is about to be launched. Dr. Aki Ross, a brilliant young scientist, races to find the invaders' secrets, not only to save the planet, but herself as well after her body is infected by alien particles. She teams up with the prestigious Deep Eyes military squadron, led by her old friend Grey Edwards. But as Aki, her mentor Dr. Sid, and Grey work toward a peaceful end, the scheming General Hein devises a plot to eradicate the aliens in one swift, destructive blow...even if it destroys the Earth right along with them. Written by H2F
Taglines:
Fantasy Becomes Reality See more »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See full technical specs »
Details
Language:
EnglishRelease Date:
11 July 2001 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Final Fantasy See more »Box Office
Budget:
$137,000,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend:
$721,217 (Italy) (24 August 2001)Gross:
$1,448,087 (Italy) (7 September 2001)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Color:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
Edit
[He tries to open them, but can't]
Neil: Locked, naturally.
See more »
Written by Elliot Goldenthal and Dick Rudolph (as Richard Rudolph)
Produced by Elliot Goldenthal and Matthias Gohl (as Teese Gohl)
Performed by Lara Fabian
Courtesy of Columbia Records
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
When Aki Ross is overlooking Old NYC, the map on her wrist computer is an actual map of Times Square. See more »Goofs
After Aki removes the phantom particles from Gray, she picks up a canister that's hovering in the air, when she originally placed it on the table further away. See more »Quotes
Neil: The controls are located here.[He tries to open them, but can't]
Neil: Locked, naturally.
See more »
Connections
Referenced in Third Rate Gamer Show: Super Mario Bros./Super Mario Bros. 2 NES Review (2010) See more »Soundtracks
"The Dream Within"Written by Elliot Goldenthal and Dick Rudolph (as Richard Rudolph)
Produced by Elliot Goldenthal and Matthias Gohl (as Teese Gohl)
Performed by Lara Fabian
Courtesy of Columbia Records
See more »
For a movie based on a video game, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was very good. Next to such atrocities as Tomb Raider and Street Fighter, it positively shines, and when compared to the complete gibberish known as the Super Mario Bros. Movie...
Having said that, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within could have been A Lot Better.
If you paid attention to the Final Fantasy games, to any of the hype surrounding the movie, or to the CGI industry in general, you already know the computer animation for this movie is far-and-away the best ever done. Back when Square first started producing the movie in 1998, they were progressing at a rate of about one second of film PER DAY, because of the immense quality of the graphics, and none of that quality was lost as technology caught up and time passed. The backdops are jaw-dropping and the CGI actors look more real than some actual actors. Really simply, Square declared itself the current king of CGI animation. Pixar, Dreamworks, move over--the studio that cut its teeth on PlayStation games is in the house.
Unfortunately, having been a fan of the Final Fantasy games since it first sprouted on the original Nintendo, I'm a little jaded towards visual grandeur. And when you take that away, there isn't much left.
The plot is pretty standard--Earth is a wasteland; most of Terra's population has been wiped out by the unexpected invasion of mostly-invisible aliens called Phantoms. The remaining Earthlings struggle to survive. Aki Ross (the main character) and Dr. Cid (there's been a character named Cid in EVERY Final Fantasy production since 1991) have isolated eight Earthborn Spirits--not ghosts, but tangible lifeforms; one of them is a plant, and don't ask me how the plant has a spirit--that, if combined, can wipe the Phantoms off the planet entirely. With the help of Captain Grey Edwards and his crack band of soldiers, the Deep Eyes (Final Fantasy also has a knack for weird names--I mean, who came up with 'Premium Heart'?), Aki sets off to find, capture and use those eight Spirits. And then finally there's General Hein, a megalomaniac fellow who's just trying to blow everything up using a a very large gun.
No problem there. Anyone who plays Final Fantasy is used to Fetch Quests (in which the main characters perform a service to a ruler, generally retrieving a stolen object of enormous power, in return for help from that ruler). What I want to complain about are the characters themselves.
They are FLAT.
A lot of them die, and we don't miss them except that they don't speak any more lines. Grey and Aki (male and female lead) don't really evolve over the course of the story--and Cid is just there to provide technobabble. Oh, and by the way, there's almost no 'fantasy' elements in this movie, with the sole exception of the Spirits.
My two favorite games in the Final Fantasy series are numbers Eight and Ten. They are my favorites because they have unique, interesting, convincing characters. True, most Final Fantasy games take 40 hours or more to play, giving the writers a lot of time to flesh the characters out, but generally within the first five minutes of being introduced to a character (sometimes within the first few SECONDS, as with Zell and Kimahri) you know most or all there is to know about them--they are already convincing, already realized in the player's mind. Square's GOOD at doing that sort of thing.
If Square had bothered to invent real characters for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, the movie would have SOARED. As it is, it just barely limps along under the power of a few snappy lines of dialogue and a lot of pretty vistas.
It's worth seeing once, for the same reason any museum is worth visiting once--you'll get to see things you've never seen before and may not see again. But if you're like me and prefer your movies to have interesting characters and plotlines, be prepared for a disappointment.