DailyTech - A Retrospective – "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" Seven Years Later

Submit News

Blog: Software A Retrospective – "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" Seven Years Later
Marcus Yam (Blog) - February 17, 2008 8:38 AM

E-mail

del.icio.us

27 comment(s) - last by DASQ.. on Feb 19 at 3:29 PM

Square Picture's Aki Ross was named by Maxim as one of the hottest women of 2001

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within movie offered only a glimpse of what Square Pictures could have been

I spent the better part of last evening watching Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within movie on Blu-ray Disc, which I grabbed from Amazon.com several weeks ago for $15. As much of a fan I am for the Final Fantasy series, there really is no argument that the CG movie was a disappointment. (FF VII: Advent Childen, on the other hand, was totally kick ass.)

Nevertheless, nearly seven years after release, FF: TSW still feels like a remarkable achievement. Only now are high-quality CG getting to the level set by Square Picture in 2001.

FF:TSW is incomparable to any of Pixar’s work, because the Disney-owned studio takes a specific artistic direction that is unique in every movie. Square Pictures went the other way by trying to replicate the look of a big-budget, live action sci-fi movie – and that was part of its failing.

Even without taking the “kiddy-appeal” factor into consideration, Pixar’s movies are instantly more alluring because they all deal with subjects that couldn’t otherwise be accomplished with live actors. FF:TSW could have worked nearly as well with the voice actors (the likes of Ming-Na, Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Donald Sutherland, James Woods, et al), but then in the end it would have ended up as an incoherent sci-fi picture.

As it is, FF:TSW’s only real saving grace is its technical accomplishment in animation. The failure of Square Pictures was that it tackled too large of a risky project far too early. If it had started with animated shorts (like the way Pixar did), then the studio could have gone through its growing pains on less critical and expensive endeavours. Even though it came after FF:TSW, the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris demonstrates exactly what Square Pictures should have been doing in the beginning rather than a feature.

Viewing it for only the third time, but first in stunning 1080p, the animation and attention to character detail is still in a class of its own. Sadly, losses of over $124 million from FF:TSW sunk Square Pictures, leaving us only to imagine what the studio could do it if existed today.

Comments

Threshold

Username
Password
remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

CG movies to be redeemed...maybe

By NullSubroutine on 2/17/2008 9:55:51 AM , Rating: 1

I have heard plenty of rumors of a CG - Warcraft movie.

While I am still unsure what to think of WoW in the end (havent played it for a while and it was kinda awesome and boring at the same time), I have always loved Blizzard's CG movies, some of the best around I would have to say.

The only question is can they make a full length movie with the same 'o hell yah' factor their short clips have?

RE: CG movies to be redeemed...maybe

By AshenPhoenix on 2/17/2008 12:54:38 PM , Rating: 2

As far as I know the Warcraft movie isn't a rumor. Blizzard has allied with Legendary Pictures to make it real.

General info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warcraft_(series)#Fil...

And here's an interview with a Blizzard Executive:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2006/05/16/news_61513...

Parent

RE: CG movies to be redeemed...maybe

By TheBaker on 2/17/2008 10:44:15 PM , Rating: 2

Last I saw, it was going to be live action with CG effects, not fully CG. Think Lord of the Rings.

Parent

RE: CG movies to be redeemed...maybe

By AshenPhoenix on 2/18/2008 4:34:37 AM , Rating: 2

Yes, it will most likely be live-action with CG effects. And it has been hinted that they won't be using any famous actors.

An interview with Legendary Pictures' Thomas Tull:
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/48296

Parent

RE: CG movies to be redeemed...maybe

By encryptkeeper on 2/19/2008 12:11:01 PM , Rating: 2

Was Beowulf any good?

Parent

MEh...

By Vim on 2/17/2008 7:38:50 PM , Rating: 2

I found Final Fantasy to be a good movie, mainly because of the CGI and not the actual story.

I recently saw Beowulf and I considered it's CGI to be quite breathtaking. I would like to see more CGI movies, actually... However, when I think CGI, I think of "Blizzard type" CGI, which I consider to be the very best. In fact, I find it extremely odd that entities like Blizzard don't cash in on a thing with such potential as CGI.

Hell, most game companies, not only Blizzard, have enough know-how and "skill" to pull off great teasers/trailers for their games. For example, the Warhammer Online trailers are fantastic, but to name some older ones... The Everquest 2 trailers we're great as well. I can watch all those aforementioned trailers hundreds of times and never get tired... Am I the only one that feels this way about it? Cause I'd also find it odd if I was...

Any takers?

EDIT: After writing all this I noticed, do the actual game companies produce these CGI trailers? I heard Blizzard does their stuff in house, but do other game companies do it?

RE: MEh...

By Vim on 2/17/2008 7:41:36 PM , Rating: 1

Oh and I almost forgot... If they pull off the Warcraft movie as they have done with the World of Warcraft trailers, I don't see why the movie would be an instant hit to all, fans and non fans of Blizzard/Warcraft...

He'll why stop their? Starcraft movie can be done in CGI also, no problem! So much potential, so little...

Parent

RE: MEh...

By ksherman on 2/18/2008 4:52:40 PM , Rating: 2

Woah, you thought the CGI in Beowulf was breathtaking? Maybe I saw a different movie. I found it to be lame and very unrealistic.

I personally didn't mind TSW that much at all. Maybe the story was a little lacking, but it wasn't THAT bad. Not to mention the CGI still gives modern attempts at CGI movies a run for its money.

Parent

RE: MEh...

By Sazar on 2/18/2008 5:52:11 PM , Rating: 2

It was actually pretty nifty if viewed in a 3-D theatre. If seen in a standard theatre, I agree with you, it was actually not that great.

However, if seen in it's preferred medium, it is a step above most other items out there.

Parent

RE: MEh...

By DASQ on 2/19/2008 3:25:37 PM , Rating: 2

There are companies around that actually specialize in creating intro movies, FMV's, etc. for games.

I think Dawn of War: 40k was one recent one I recall, not sure who made it though.

Parent

Why the Final Fantasy movie failed

By dluther on 2/18/2008 7:32:31 AM , Rating: 2

The movie itself was a groundbreaking CGI movie. I remember seeing the trailer at something I took the kids to see and I still remember saying "Oh my God" to that.

The problem with this movie was that it really didn't have anything to do with the "Final Fantasy" games. As far as the story goes, "The Spirits Within" was a very good Japanese sci-fi story, and probably would have done much better if there were some 3D game series developed and marketed around it instead of the other way around. However, this movie did not have the support of the built-in Final Fantasy gaming community; it was a fine story, it just wasn't "Final Fantasy"

RE: Why the Final Fantasy movie failed

By CuiBono on 2/18/2008 2:18:20 PM , Rating: 1

I totally agree that THE ONLY reason this movie sunked is because Square Pictures made a HUMONGOUS mistake (that costed them a TOTAL failure) when it tied it to Final Fantasy universe by its misleading TITLE. Otherwise it's a pretty good sci-fi flick w/groundbreaking CGI for those times. My god, if they would just name it something else, I believe, it would fare so much better than it did. But because they did put "Final Fantasy" into its name gazillions of fans of the real series got so upset that they blasted the shit out of it and the movie became THE final fantasy of Square Pictures! ;) I'm no fan of Final Fantasy as I'm not an RPG-type but I understand their feelings. As the story and character-wise I'd have to disagree w/most ppl who watched it. I LIKED it ALL! Story is not too deep but ain't shallow either, definitely not stupid as most (American & Japanese) would say, whilst characters are a spectrum to enjoy, especially the comic ones. To all the "Final Fantasy" fans: don't EVEN think it relates to your universe and then look at it again. To the publisher of this fine sci-fi: god damn it, just rename it, already!!
P.S. Of course, I watched the "Final Fantasy: Advent Children" but WAS disappointed cause it's just too kiddish for my tastes, personally, -all characters act and relate to each other as 10-year olds do. Otherwise it's fine by me - cool art and all.

Parent

RE: Why the Final Fantasy movie failed

By Aikouka on 2/18/2008 3:55:40 PM , Rating: 2

Personally, I found the story just really, really boring. I also remember watching it in the theater and not really following it too well. I don't know if that's because of it being boring that I chose not to follow it or if some aspects were not explained well... it's been awhile.

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children was a bit more popular because it has a tie-in with what I'm sure everyone would agree to is Square's biggest cult-following game. Although some didn't care for the movie, others seemed to simply enjoy the fact that it was finally Final Fantasy.

Parent

RE: Why the Final Fantasy movie failed

By Belard on 2/19/2008 12:39:16 AM , Rating: 2

I agree with that as well.

It had nothing to do with "Final Fantasy" - which didn't bother me at all. I enjoyed the movie movie even thou the story was typical Sci-Fi, the visuals looked great. One of the "issues" of live action is blending real-life people with blue-screen objects. Many of the sets in Star Wars were actually small with CG to make them vast - but they still looked a bit "fake". About halfway through the movie, I forgot the characters were CG and enjoyed the movie.

Advent Children was a shock, it was playing in a store before it came out in the USA. But I knew it was developed by Square... so perhaps they are back in their own way? Just like they did an EXCELLENT job with AniMatrix - FF:AC was great to watch. But I do see some areas where its abit cheaper and not quite as nicely down as FF:TSW, an example is the hair effects which is quite a bit of work.

But Pixar designed software around 2003 for Monster's Inc that calculated the hair-movement automaticly. While for FF in 2001, that was a LOT of work to make hair move... so 3D animation today should be easier, faster and cheaper.

I would like to see MORE movies from Square Soft, or shorts... With Advent Children, shouldn't they "be back".

Parent

Disagree

By B3an on 2/18/2008 7:34:39 AM , Rating: 3

I mostly disagree with this blog. By far the main reason FF:TSW failed was because of the story-line, plain and simple, it didn't get you involved or give you much reason to care what happened to the people.

And i hated the main male lead, he was just so... typical. A very standard looking modelled body and head, even with his voice, it had no character or anything. Hard to explain really.

RE: Disagree

By jtdwab on 2/18/2008 12:57:28 PM , Rating: 2

I agree that the story needed a little in that they pushed an enviromental issue ahead of time and pushed a side of enviromentalism that few care to follow.

I also agree with an article a read somewhere about CGI characters and the issue with belivablitiy. The article stipulated that as animation closes on realism the empathy (emotional by in for the charaters) decreases. This is because the mind see the charaters as not quite right. On the other had the CG characters in say Pixar's The Incredibles, which are cartoonish, the mind turns off that realism check and allows the emotions to run with it. In the article they specifcally menstioned FF:TSW as suffering by this issue. When you watch the movie you never really empathize with the plite of any of the charaters, you are just watching them go through a situation instead of feeling it in your heart. Did anybody shead a tear in the end when the main character sacrificed herself?

It becomes easier when you animate characters that don't have much in the way of human features because the mind does not have a frame of reference.

Parent

RE: Disagree

By DASQ on 2/19/2008 3:29:01 PM , Rating: 2

I agree the story sucked. Every other character but the Dr. Ross lead was boring and very two dimensional.

Parent

Definitely should have been a short

By amanojaku on 2/17/2008 12:34:49 PM , Rating: 3

This movie's failing had little to do with the CG, in my opinion. I went to see it with my friends and at no point did we complain about the admittedly stiff animation. What did you expect in 2001? Square Pictures did as good a job as one could expect in that regard, and the level of detail was amazing.

The problem was the $h1t story. I don't remember much about it now, but we all thought it was stupid. No movie, whether live or animated, can succeed without a decent story.

quote:
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Withing movie offered only a glimpse of what Square Pictures could have been

Should be " Within ."

RE: Definitely should have been a short

By someguy123 on 2/17/2008 6:54:22 PM , Rating: 2

Indeed. It reminded me of a TV special instead of an epic movie. The CG was absolutely ground breaking though. Even now it looks better than a lot of CG in movies today.

Really I think the problem was not only going for a fully sci-fi movie (instead of the sort of half sci-fi half fantasy like they did with their more popular, although not necessarily better FF7~8 games) but also that they thought their game writers could write and storyboard a coherent movie compared to the hours of story they usually have with video games.

Parent

I liked it...

By 3v1lkr0w on 2/19/2008 5:34:07 AM , Rating: 4

I think i am one of the 5 people who actually like this movie, sure it wasnt what anyone expected (most people I know expected a FF VII movie) but i liked it...it cuold have been better...but at least it was still good.

Hmm..

By gradoman on 2/17/2008 12:38:17 PM , Rating: 2

In my opinion, completely cg movies shouldn't try to replicate what actual people can do better -- being human -- what's the point, really? It's a waste of cash for the animation & the hiring of voice talent.

Now if you're aiming to do something really stylized or something a person/people can't do easily, ie: preternatural, like the cast of FF:AC, by all means, go right ahead.

RE: Hmm..

By someguy123 on 2/17/2008 7:26:11 PM , Rating: 1

well, I don't think thats the idea. I think the idea is to be able to create believably realistic characters and putting them in impossible scenarios and locations. I mean you could just put them into a CG world but doing that causes them to stand out because the differences between the CG and real people will be too obvious and will draw away the believability of the characters actually being in a different world or setting.

Parent

I like one of the rumors about this movie,lol

By ralahinn1 on 2/17/2008 1:53:28 PM , Rating: 2

I don't know where it started, and I don't know if it is true, but I understand that the falling out between Hironobu Sakaguchi and Square began with the making of this movie. I heard that with all of the revisions to the script, and the adding on of all the extra "assistant" producers/ directors, that at one meeting he finally threw up his hands and said" Make the MF movie anyway you feel like it" and walked out.

Huge blunder by Squaresoft / Square-Enix

By TerranMagistrate on 2/17/2008 2:48:21 PM , Rating: 2

Luckily for the then struggling company, a certain hugely successful game called Final Fantasy X debuted and kept them in the black.

Final Fantasy VII: AC ironically cost much less and turned out to be very awesome and successful.

Is It If I Want It Is?

By murphyslabrat on 2/18/2008 4:59:45 PM , Rating: 2

Last paragraph:
"it if" should be "if it"

Could have been better.

By Icehearted on 2/18/2008 7:37:49 PM , Rating: 2

While I agree that this movies is a spectacular feat of cg, if not for the fact that it's got Final Fantasy in the title or that it had such a terrific cast it would have been a really horrible film. The story was awful, the dialogue was worse ("What have I done?" scowling "What have they done?"), the end was predictable, and it was a movie that tries to be thought provoking but ends up being long-winded and boring.

Movies usually tank for a reason, and the reasons for why this film tanked are fairly obvious... lack of actual Final Fantasy connections notwithstanding.