This movie is definitely not as bad as I previously had heard. Amazing, stunning state-of-the art animation and a definitely enjoyable film, but there are too many character and plot cliches and some of the voice acting is subpar. A decent film, and one I'd recommend to watch just to see how REALLY good the graphics are, but not groundbreaking in plot or character development.

When this movie came out there were a lot of people I knew that felt that because it was SquareSoft making it, it should have have a deep plot. Those that came in expecting a fairy tail were disappointed, but the only way for them to get such depth is with a series of films. I believe for a single film it had a believable environment, likable characters, goals that are usually traditional in SQ games, and a good antagonist. I personally feel they did a good job seeing as they are a game company.… Expand

At last another animated feature that doesn't have a disneyesque stotyline. You cannot compare it to any 'Final Fantasy' game because every game is completely different from the last anyway. Design wise this stands up to any of the previous IX games that came before it. Performance wise it is hard to tell since Final Fantasy has always relied on text narrative rather than spoken dialogue. But the actors seemed to do an good job. The plot is NOT science heavy as some have stated. It's all pretty self explanatory, like the games science takes a back-seat to abstract notions such as magic. The ending will not piss you off. Unless you actually like the sort of endings that plague movies like "Dungeons and Dragons." See this.… Expand

This movie has a visual appeal, rarely seen in movies and a voice acting, i have never seen achieved in 3d animation before, the characters were more alive than i have ever seen before. true, the story was kinda weird but then again, i have seen worse story in many other movies. Definitely worth a watch.

Should of done very well, and could of change how we did film if it had done well. Very easy my favorites

As a lifelong fan of the Final Fantasy series, I'd been waiting in anxious anticipation for this movie since first hearing about the plans for its creation several years ago. Once the official website got up and running, I visited often, clutching at bits and pieces of plot, news, and, of course, the breathtaking images and movies available for download. It was also there that I learned a painful fact: the movie was to be set on Earth, a Final Fantasy no-no as any die-hard fan will tell you. When I finally got to the theater and sat down, I already had a good idea as to what I'd be getting: a very beautifully rendered science fiction adventure; not a Final Fantasy movie. Therefore, I wasn't terribly disappointed when several important Final Fantasy elements were neglected: magic, chocobos and a Nobuo Uematsu score. The plot was clearly wrought by Hironobu Sakaguchi and could have easily fit into a Final Fantasy world, which "The Spirits Within" was not. Nevertheless, I was thoroughly blown away by the amazing visual imagry and kept semi-enthralled by the story. While it fails to stay true to the series, "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" survives by its own virtues.… Expand

Holy Jesus! This movie had better special effects than all of the star wars movies combined! (well maybe) The plot was O.K. and characters were so life-like. The way they sounded corresponded with the way the looked. It was nearly perfect. Too bad the ending was a lull-fest.

This movie was actually sorta creepy. The eyes... were lifeless. The graphics and computer animations WERE amazing... but... the storyline wasn't up to final fantasy standards. I mean sure.. It's unique and new... but it's like an animated version of star trek. No beatiful music like Kingdom hearts or Final Fantasy 7. No compelling backgrounds. No storyline or medival weapons..just star treck space shippedness. Not good.. … Expand

This is a great material and fantastic achievment from makers in both aspects - visual/sonic and plot concepts. Of course there's many mistakes but the overall result is very emotional and "smooth".

I was really ready to go with this one. So visually compelling. But so was Wing Commander. Somebody hit Reset.

The Flaws are 1 way to sad, and 2 slowley paced, but it's gorgous, and is decent overall, but fits more Xenosaga then FF.

Una muy buena y bella pelicula con buenas graficas y escenas de accion.

This has absolutly nothing to do with Final Fantasy, the only reason they called it FF is casue they knew FF was a big franchise and they thought they could make some money out of it. i gave it 4 points because of the graphics and the secret Michal Jackson Thriller spoof.

I simply loved this movie, it had everything I could possibly want in a such a great sci-fi movie Ming-Na(Dr. Aki Ross) did such a superb job on the acting and it is a same there will be no sequel seeing as Square cut the funding to Square Pictures, the DVD comes out 10-23-01 so go out and support this movie buying the dvd which includes an extra bonus dvd with awesome features like edit a scene, I first fell in love with Final Fantasy when back in 1997 Final Fantasy VII came out for the original Playstation I simply loved it, rated #8 as it was too difficult, but I loved IX it was great, so ll in all I gave the movie a perfect 10 out of 10. I saw it on the firs showing on opening day, and I do not regret spending $4 to see it.… Expand

I thought the movie was remarkably well put together and the visual effects were amazing. But on another note who the hell is muzak what the hell is trite.

A truly amazing movie. Though, a bit more "out there" for your average movie goer, it was a superb movie. A very unique storyline. Unique meaning that almost all of the charachters that you get attached to during the movie, end up dying at the end. Oh well. The only thing that this movie really needs is a sequel, where somehow all of grey's crew (and Grey) come back. Unfortunately this will probably not happen due to Square's major loss on the movie. This movie is superb, if you have any doubts about this movie forget them, it's excellent.… Expand

Visually stunning. Mentally numbing. One of the most beautiful films ever. One of the most derivative plots in all of SciFi. Why not just put "Aliens" in the title?

Great technical feat! A true follow-up to the FF tradition...but you've got to see this one twice, to glue all those small missing details drowned in amazing action.

Well, she's not Terra or Cloud, but Aki Ross is so visually stunning you forget you are watching an entirely pixilated character. Square Soft has done here exactly what they needed to do. Although this movie was somewhat dry on plot, Square has gotten their foot in the door and wet the mouths of the entire world. This step marks the evolution and convergence of video games and movies; pretty soon we will get to chose the action. And I'm sure, just like this movie, Square Soft will be on the leading edge.… Expand

Great computer animation, but the story was a little disappointing! But still worth watching.

Unbelievable graphics- a new start to computer-generated movies. The plot is great and unique. The book explains it better and put together it's great!

Bad storyline, bad suggestions and a bad movie. I won't try to let anybody put me into this.

Two words I cried:( But this isn't a good movie. Go spend your money on FF7 AC.

This movie was unpredictable in that it was not very "Final Fantasy" and it did not have the feel that the video games have. Extremely contrare to Advent Children, but just as awesome in its own way.

Sad, beautiful, and KICK-ASS. I thought the action was great, but the high point is its beauty, but play the games, they're superior in every way (then again, like Tidus said, it's more like the amazing Xenosaga).

I feel I have to give credit where it is due. The smartest person on this board so far seems to be Mike M. Absolutely correct. Stunning graphics and... everthing else was S..T. Some moron said this was mentaly numbing. This only thing mentaly numbing is the stupidity of the thing!!!!!

You can't knock its beautiful computer graphics. Shrek, Incredibles and Monster House have nothing on this movie's realistic designs and textures. Unfortunately all that computer power went into a generic science fiction plot. Fans of the videogame series will be disappointed to see this film has very little in common with any plot from the games, nor does its world fit with the Final Fantasy cosmos. The voice acting is fine, if hammy, though there isn't much in the script for them to work off of.… Expand

This movie sucks. I really like the game, but this movie is a bunch of crap. This movie has nothing to do with the game. The game is so much better, and don't be deceived by this movie. If it wasn't for the graphics I would have given it a 0.

A disturbingly affectless film, though not due to the use of synthespians. What this film lacked was a professional director of photography and a good editor. Supposed action sequences are lazily framed and poorly edited; it is incapable of evoking an emotional response. I really, really wanted to like this film, but it got me to the point where I just didn't care anymore.

Two of the things that I REALLY liked about this movie (and that no one says anything about) is the fact that 1) despite its PG-13 rating, this movie is CLEAN content-wise and 2) they avoid the cliché of busty and beautiful females. Bad dialogue? What-are-you-talking-about? Excessive bad language = bad dialogue. And remember this: every time these characters SAY something, they have to move their lips and make the words and movements match--no easy feat. Despite some wrinkles in the storyline, this movie was very satisfying. … Expand

Great graphics; although the character animation was just not 'quite' right. Story was just OK. I've seen a lot worse at the theaters lately!

Visually stunning and ground-breaking, but as far as story-telling ability - quite dull. It's more like watching a product demo than a movie. Voice acting and writing was pretty weak, story was clichéd and boring, and the ending was anti-climatic (FFVII anyone?). Could have been so much better...

Incredible animation, but a shoestring plot...almost as bad as the ending for the "5th Element."

I was unsure of this film since I had never played the game on Playstation. However, when viewing The Spirits Within, it doesn?t matter whether you?ve played the game or never heard of it, the film is a big heap of mumbo-jumbo and it has nothing to do with the game. I never thought I would have to say this about a movie, but the plot is in desperate need of being simpler. Sure, I like a good complex plot that makes you think after viewing. With Final Fantasy the plot is just so hard to understand that you?ll need to force a scientist to come with you. It doesn?t leave you thinking after viewing, and if it did, your head would probably burst thinking about all the options the plot had. I didn?t care about the characters, the romance was cheese on a huge stick and I was frankly bored through most of the movie. Okay, I?ll admit like everyone else that I thought the computer generated people and sets were pretty amazing, most of the action scenes were entertaining (except the final reel ? sheesh, what when on there?) and the character Aki was very believable, determined and voiced well by Ming-Na. This movie just didn?t please me in the rest of the areas in filmmaking unfortunately. In this review, I?ll go out on saying a similar thing to what I said at the start. The Spirits Within is a big disappointment not only for people who?ve never played the game, but also for people who have. When I came out of the cinema, I heard loud and clear ?That movie was ****ing horrible. The game was so much better.? There goes proof: fans and non-fans of the game are most likely to be upset by the films utter silliness. … Expand

It's the best 3D graphic film ever. Revolutionary.

One of the best films for the past several years - superb storyline, visuals and characters. You'd hate it though if you're fan of no brainer processed junk from Hollywood. PS. As far as the game references go - I have never played it and have no intetion to.

This is the best film ever made. the story line is superb, and the graphics are just the best!!! this film is even better than the godfather: part 2!!!

What the hell?

Wow. It's a shame they wasted all those good graphics on such a shitty movie. Why did they even call it Final Fantasy? It had nothing to do with any of the games, or even the plots. Advent Children kicks this things ass, and I'm sorry to all you FF fans who got your hopes up because you thought that this movie might have been alright.

It was a pretty entertaining, definitely very cool looking sci-fi futuristic adventure that's fun, and always interesting...yet forgettable the moment you turn the movie off. The characters just don't leave much of an impact and the plot was actually not nearly as impressive as the plot featured in most FF games. That said, it's a pretty good movie that's DEFINITELY not great...but pretty good. I liked Dr. Sid, and the little homage to FF7 at the end was pretty cool, but ...I don't know. Not worth a purchase but maybe at least a rental.… Expand

complete and utter crap. now im a fan of the FF games played them all but this doesnt resemble any thing to the game peroid . now i wasnt expecting them to remake one of the games in movie form but i was expecting them to capture the feel of the games like swords , magic , summong monsters , with a interesting villian . well all that was tossed out in the crapper for some kind of millitary shooting at ghost aliens which was boring as hell. the voice acting was bad the story was terriable. the CGI did look nice but it was so coverd in all the **** that this film was . with in 10 minuites i was getting bored and i actaully walked out of the movie in the last 15 minuites it was that bad and ive never done that when seeing a movie at the theaters and ive sat through crap like judge dread , Aliens reserection , and last action hero . this film was so bad that when the good charicters where dieng i was happy because i knew i wouldnt have to see them again. this film is definitly on my top 10 list of worst films ive ever seen.… Expand

Even being a huge fan of the video game series, I feel like this movie is best remembered as being forgotten. Not only was it not as technologically revolutionary as it promised, it's just a plain horrible movie.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is a movie made by people who dont know anything about movies or story telling. The creators are clearly only skilled in creating 3 minute video cut scenes and not feature length films. The visuals are only impressive in a technical sense and lack memorable creativity. There is nothing to care about with its heroes nor villains, and the story drags through pain and agony to a complete void, a waste of time. Everyone is entitled to enjoy what they choose but that does not make it good and anyone who says this movie is good is an uncritically minded blithering idiot. This movie is only worth your time if you were studying bad movies and wasted film opporunities.…… Expand

Stuck between a rock and a hard place; Final Fantasy neither resembles the games of its namesake nor provides solid narrative to quiet the harshest critic. Both camps hate the film for what it isn't; it isn't related to the games at all and it isn't 2001: A Space Odyssey. As far as visuals go, The Spirits Within looks amazing ten years after its original release, which is not to say it's overbalanced with style over substance ... well, it is, really. This came out when I was studying for a computer animation degree and I will always love it (even if most of it is motion captured) because it blew my eyes out of its sockets. The story is standard Science Fiction fare that often breaks down into shoot 'em up action but underneath is something deeper that's there if you decide look for it.… Expand