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Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is a science fiction movie by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series of video games. It was released on July 11, 2001 in the United States and was the first movie to feature realistic computer-generated humans.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is set on an alien-infested Earth in the year 2065. The remaining humans live in "barrier cities" all over the world and attempt to free their planet from the Phantoms, an alien race. The only hope for the planet comes from the scientist Aki Ross and her mentor Dr. Sid, who have a plan to destroy the Phantoms without damaging the planet, but a general named Hein is determined to use the Zeus space cannon to destroy the Phantoms -- even if it means destroying the Earth in the process.
The film was neither a critical nor a popular success. Its plot was typically Japanese and did not appeal to mainstream Western audiences, although it seemed to be better received by regular viewers of anime, who had more experience with Eastern conventions of storytelling. (In some respects Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was no more and no less than a big-budget anime.) Poor box office, combined with the astronomical cost of production, essentially bankrupted Square Pictures, the Squaresoft spin-off that produced it, although Square did survive long enough to produce an animated tie-in to The Matrix, Final Flight of the Osiris. This short film showed additional refinements to Square's virtual actors.
While the film does carry the name Final Fantasy, it in fact was not linked to any of the popular Final Fantasy games that square makes. The plot, characters, and storyline, were all created solely for the movie and not taken from any of the previous games. However, those looking for a movie that will follow one of the Final Fantasy games should check out information on the upcoming, summer '04 release of Final Fantasy Advent Children, which will be a sequel of sorts to the popular Final Fantasy VII. It will take place a few years after the ending of the game.
Voice actors include:
- Aki Ross: Ming Na
- Dr. Sid: Donald Sutherland
- Gray Edwards: Alec Baldwin
- Ryan Whittaker: Ving Rhames
- Jane Proudfoot: Peri Gilpin
- Neil Fleming: Steve Buscemi
- General Hein: James Woods
