Why the hell does this film have 'Final fantasy' in the title?!

Ok, people will probably hate me for saying this, but I liked the movie. Granted, it's not the best movie in the world, but at least for me it was enjoyable. One thing though: I don't think it should bear the Final Fantasy name because, well, it doesn't have anything to do with Final Fantasy, other than it was made by Square Enix.
 
naw i dont hate you any way it was just kinda wierd hearing alec baldwens voice with ben afflecs face
 
I personally thought this movie sucked, granted the CGI was very good for it's time, shame about the rest. Never
 
I saw this movie twice in theaters, and it was the first DVD I ever owned... it has its flaws, but its a great movie, all in all. Granted, the only relation to FF is that there is a character named Cid (or Sid, rather) and its about the Lifestream... but if you just watch it as a movie... its actually pretty good.

It has a great cast and the action is decent... hell, it even has a better story than Advent Children... in fact, I'm thoroughly convinced that if someone had used a sword in the film, there wouldn't be nearly as much bitching about it as there often seems to be.

But yeah... truth be told, the only reason the film was even made was to capitolize on the popularity of FF that had been created by FF7... but it just wasn't what people were expecting... that doesn't mean it wasn't good, though... jsut not what most were expecting.
 
I didn't even get more than an hour in before I turned it off -_-

The only reason this film has the Final Fantasy title is too make more money from us impressionable fans. I actually wanted to go watch it at the pictures, Im so glad I didn't......I would of walked out i think

*shakes fist*
 
It doesn't just have teh title to bank on the FF fandom, thats the whole reason it was made in teh first place... its not a secret, adn they talk about it breifly in the special features on the DVD... but still... it wasn't that bad.
 
The whole point of the plot was very Final Fantasy-esque in my opinion.

Just because we don't see Aki casting shell on the party or something of the like, isn't a good reason to dismiss the film as not being worthy of the Final Fantasy title.

The whole idea of the plot was Gaia (The Earth's Spirit/Lifestream) fighting off an alien planet's life force that had infected the Earth, with the help of Humans (Gaia's children), is completely similar to the likes of what has been seen in other Final Fantasy titles, both before and after The Spirits Within.

Doesn't that sound very similar to Geostigma in the much loved Advent Children? Also similar to the invading alien Jenova in the original game?

In my opinion it took the best of VII's storyline and made a realistic movie out of it, set on our own planet, only in the future.

I do wonder if they had Aki jumping 2 or 3 kilometers in the air and killing, huge earth shattering monsters in only 3 hits, if it would've been more enjoyed and gotten better reviews :P!

There are some very obvious Final Fantasy elements there and I believe that's enough for it to have the title.
 
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Yeah... if there was someone weilding somesort of techno-sword in the scene where they save Aki from the phantoms, and others using similar weapons later... and mayeb if some cast a spell here or there... everyone would've absolutely loved the movie, it would;ve been a celebrated work of the FF franchise, and they wouldn't have had to ever change the storyline or any of the dialog... which, admittedly... would've made a better movie... but basically what I'm saying is... its still a good movie without that stuff.

Does it quite feel like FF? No... would it with the stuff I mentioned? Yes... does that change the fact that the movie is good or bad? No...it shouldn't change the perception. Becasue a movie is only worth its story... and no one can tell me that this didn't have a good one... or at least a better one than FFVII:AC had... that said... you know what AC had that SW didn't? Swords and magic... so there you go.
 
That's essentially the crux of the matter Takk.

People have placed a huge amount of importance in the presence of alternative weapons such as swords (let's ignore the fact that the main weapon in The Spirits Within, a gun, also features heavily in other Final Fantasy titles - Barret, Vincent, Balthier, Advent Children, X-2 and so on :P).

Couple that with the lack of a magic spell or two and suddenly you have a whole bunch of people who dislike the movie as a whole.

For that matter, how much magic use do we actually see in the likes of Advent Children? Kadaj summons Bahamut, Loz (arguably) equips Haste and we see a case of materia lying in the Sector 7 Church. There is perhaps more examples that I have forgotten but the point is, magic doesn't play a major role in the movie. The majority of combat is swordplay.

By having such a narrow definition of what Final Fantasy should be, that is, it must have magic, summons and perhaps a sword featuring, we really limit any potential that could be achieved.

It also means that if Square had to stick to the formula: Final Fantasy = Swords + Magic then any new productions, be it games or movies, will just be more of the same old thing.

I really thought The Spirits Within threw a good mix of new ideas in and really bringing something refreshingly different to the series.

I think most of the criticism this film faces is from a few die-hards that like the comfort of familiar territory.^_^
 
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I would agree with that completely... in fact, outside of FF fandom, I've noticed that the people who have actually seen this film and AC, like this one a lot more, mainly due to the fact taht it has a coherent story, even for those with no knowledge of anything before it.

One of AC's flaws was that you had to know everything about FF7 before viewing it, and even then, the story telling took a back seat to the action.

That said, the action was amazing, but it still left most non-fanboys in a "WTF?" kinda haze come credits' role. Spirits Within didn't do that, and is often praised by non fans as a great film... and always superior to AC.

Regardless what your opinion, though, there is something that ahs to be said about voice acting... now I'm not exactly knocking on AC's English voice cast (I mean, Steven Blum is one of my favorite voice actors of all time, and he did a great job with Vincent), but anyone with a pair of ears should be able to see that SW had a far superior cast... not just recognizable (with Alec Baldwin, Donald Sutherland, James Woods, Steve Buscemi, and Ming Na), but they just had more emotion in their voice... that lack of emotion, or rather misplaced emotion, in many of the scenes in AC detracted alot from that film, and when you are already wading in a pool of bad story-telling and deliberate fan service... a flawed dubbing simply drops the film a few more pegs.

Now, admittedly, I've kinda brought this down to a comparison with AC... but truth be told, what else is there to compare it to? You can't compare it to the games becasue its a defferent medium... and you can't really compare it with the anime titles... but AC is a full on film, and so is SW... thus comparisons are goign to happen... thus it is.

Anyway... yes... I will give you the fact taht AC had better action and SW could've benifitted from having a more hands on approach to the action, but at least SW's story didn't suffer from it... and its not like its non-existant.

Anyway... I think I'm getting lsot in a ramble... back to the point of why this film is Final Fantasy... well... becasue it is. It has simialr story elements... it has similar emotional elements... it has Cid, and it has the Lifestream... it is Final Fantasy... more so than its not.

Really just comes back down to the same thing... no swords and magic makes FF fanboys cringe... but try watching it again... like its a movie... unrelated to any other FF title... becasue thats what it is... and you'll likely enjoy it much more than you did before... becasue its not a bad movie... its jsut not quite what we fans think about when we think Final Fantasy... but its still good... and thats why I defend it.

Now... where was I? Oh yes... pie...
 
I simply think that they tried too hard, I hated the movie. Scenes and even dialogue were stolen from "Aliens". That still didn't stop me from watching it twice at the cinema and buying the dvd though (im such a fanboy). But really, with the best will in the world, it's dreadful.
 
i really didnt understand this film at all it had nothing to do with final fantasy at all except for its name :S i dont know why but this film reminded me much more of the matrix than final fantasy
 
Takk said:
but its still good... and thats why I defend it.
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Power to the people! Yes I defend it too, often the criticism is unfounded.

vincent_91 said:
i really didnt understand this film at all it had nothing to do with final fantasy at all except for its name :S i dont know why but this film reminded me much more of the matrix than final fantasy
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The only Matrix similarity I could pick out of TSW was that Humans were a trapped minority fighting a seemingly superior enemy, but how many movies have that as a basic plot line:wacky:?
 
I think it was a good movie, and it was worthy of the Final Fantasy name. As Takk said,

Anyway... I think I'm getting lsot in a ramble... back to the point of why this film is Final Fantasy... well... becasue it is. It has simialr story elements... it has similar emotional elements... it has Cid, and it has the Lifestream... it is Final Fantasy... more so than its not.
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Many of the Final Fantasy games themselves had little to do with each other. Similar story elements, lifestream or something similar, similar emotional elements, Cid, swords and magic, and maybe similar creatures.
Spirits Within had many of the elements that make something Final Fantasy.
Don't be blinded by the ignorant fanboy/fangirl in you.
 
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