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Final Fantasy : The Spirits Within, a review by KinkyCyborg

Final Fantasy : The Spirits Within



Title:Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Year: 2001
Director: Hironobu Sakaguchi, Moto Sakakibara
Rating: PG-13
Length: 106 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French, Commentary

Stars:
Ming-Na
Alec Baldwin
Ving Rhames
Steve Buscemi
Peri Gilpin

Plot:
The year is 2065 AD. The Earth is infested with alien spirits, and mankind faces total extinction. Led by a strange dream and guided by her mentor, Dr. Sid, scientist Aki Ross struggles to collect the eight spirits in the hope of creating a force powerful enough to destroy the alien presence and pure enough to protect the planet. With the aid of the Deep Eyes Squadron, Aki must save the Earth from its darkest hate and unleash the spirits within. FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN is the groundbreaking new CGI film from the creators of the Final Fantasy Video Game Franchise.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Gallery
Production Notes
Multi-angle
Music Videos
Storyboard Comparisons
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned
Scene Editing Workshop


Film adaptation of the immensely popular gaming series, I did not see much of a resemblance between the two either in characters or story. It is however cutting edge CGI animation and it is stunning to behold.

I've never been a fan of the anime genre. Actually I shouldn't say that... I've never really given it a chance. If all anime were like this, life like in appearance with characters that look like real people I would likely watch more of it. I have no interest in watching the anime where all the 'toons' have big saucer moon eyes and triangular heads.    Just not my thing.

I found the story of this confusing, even when it was being explained to me near the end I still wasn't entirely sure what was happening. Something to do with indigenous earth Spirits clashing with alien 'phantom' Spirits with the solution being to collect 8 roaming spirits and channel them through the lead female in order to dissolve the alien 'ghosts'. Again very confusing but the spectacular imagery more than makes up for it.

I always have fun trying to identify the voice talent in animated movies. I was able to pick out Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Donald Sutherland, James Woods and Keith David. It was bugging me who was doing the voice of Aki Ross and was surprised that it was Ming-Na and not a more recognizable actress.

Had they stuck with a less complicated plot I think they could have hit a home run with this but if you leave the viewer puzzled it can detract from planned sequels (Advent Children).

I still haven't watched Titan A.E. and I'm curious to see how it stacks up to this.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on December 10th, 2010)

Teen Wolf, a review by addicted2dvd

Teen Wolf
What's a high school kid got to do to be popular? Just let down his hair and howl! Starring Michael J. Fox ('Back to the Future') 'Teen Wolf' is an outrageous comedy about a shy teenager with more than a changing voice to contend with... he's a budding young werewolf! And when his new-found powers help him score at basketball - and with the popular girls - he has some pretty hairy decisions to make.

My Thoughts:
OK... lets face it... Teen Wolf is far from award winning entertainment. But what it is... is good cheesy fun. Something to watch when you just want to sit back and enjoy. It is a real twist on the coming of age story. I think the whole werewolf idea is why I enjoy it so much... I definitely enjoy the monster movies... whether you can classify them as horror or not.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: 2/6 - 2/8 on February 8th, 2009)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

ER
I first wrote ER back in 1974 as a record of my experiernces as a medical student in a hospital emergency room. But it was not until the fall of 1994, 20 years later, that these stories appeared as a new television series. That must surely be the longest creative gestation in modern television, but it was worth it. Audiences found the show to be fast-paced, fresh and real, and it drew a loyal following from it's very first episode. But if past was remarkable, the future was even more so: none of us in those early days of ER could have anticipated it's long and remarkable run as one of the best and most popular television shows in the history of the medium. From it's early days to the the exciting present, it's been one long thrill for me, and I think for audiences as well. Enjoy!

Micheal Crichton, June 2003

Pilot
Everything is an emergency and every emergency is business as usual as we first meet the young residents and interns at Chicago's County General teaching hospital. Among the events. Greene receives a tempting offer from a prestigious private practice, Benton risks unauthorized surgery in order to save a life, and inexperienced Carter must contend with several unorthodox emergencies on his first day in the ER.

My Thoughts:
This pilot is a double length episode. I have found that I really enjoy medical dramas. ER and Grey's Anatomy are my two favorite medical dramas to date. If there is any others that you would recommend I would love to hear some suggestions. This series really grabs me when I watch it. Now that I watched the pilot I could continue on with the series very easily!

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on January 25th, 2010)