Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within [Blu-ray]

Director: Hironobu Sakaguchi, Motonori Sakakibara, Jack Fletcher, Sakakibara Motonori

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:	41,333

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	Dr. Aki Ross
Alec Baldwin	Capt. Gray Edwards
Ving Rhames	Ryan Whittaker
Steve Buscemi	Neil
Peri Gilpin	Jane
Donald Sutherland	Dr. Sid
James Woods	Gen. Hein
Keith David	Council Member No. 1
Jean Simmons	Council Member No. 2
Matt McKenzie	Maj. Elliot
Cathy Cavadini	Actor
David Arnott	Actor
Matt Adler	Actor
Elliot Goldenthal	Composer

Technical Credits

Hironobu Sakaguchi

Al Reinert

Jeff Vintar

Hironobu Sakaguchi	Screenwriter,Producer
Al Reinert	Screenwriter
Jeff Vintar	Screenwriter
Jun Aida	Producer
Remo Balcells	Special Effects
Jack Fletcher	Casting
Chris Lee	Producer
Gary Mundell	Special Effects
Akio Sakai	Producer
Randy Thom	Sound/Sound Designer
Remington Scott	Producer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15
16. Chapter 16

Menu

Disc #1 -- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Play Movie
Languages
Audio Set Up
English PCM 5.1 (Uncompressed)
English 5.1
French 5.1
Subtitles
Subtitles Off
English
English SDH
French
Spanish
Chinese
Korean
Portuguese
Thai
Scene Selections
Special Features
Special Feature Subtitles
Subtitles Off
French
English: Co-Director and Crew Commentary
French: Animation Director, Staging Director and Editor Commentary
French: Co-Director and Crew Commentary
French: Interactive Documentary Linkout - Optional Commentary
Commentary
Animation Director, Staging Director and Editor Commentary: On
Animation Director, Staging Director and Editor Commentary: Off
Co-Director and Crew Commentary: On
Co-Director and Crew Commentary: Off
Featurettes
Aki's Dream Reconstruction
On the Set With Aki
Compositing Builds
Joke Outtakes
Matte Art Explorations
Original Opening
The Gray Project
Interactive Documentary: The Making of Final Fantasy
Character Profiles
Dr. Aki Ross
Gray Edwards
Dr. Sid
General Hein
Ryan
Jane
Neil
Vehicle Scale Comparisons
Bandit
Black Bor
Quartro
Trailer Explorations
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Theatrical Trailer
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Teaser
Previews
Coming to Blu-Ray
Ultraviolet
Ghost Rider

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.