As DVD technologies have
developed, navigating through their menu systems has felt more and more like playing a
video game. The line seems even more blurred on the Final Fantasy DVD. Based on the Fanal
Fantasy gaming franchise, Square Pictures and Columbia entertainment have produced a DVD
that pushes the boundaries of the technology and is guaranteed to satisfy fans of the film
everywhere. Most critics ravaged the film when it was released. Too often we judge a film
on its failures rather than its successes. Admittedly, there are a lot of faults with the
film, but there is a lot to admire about this film both in terms of technology and story.In
the not too distant future, the earth has been ravaged by a horde of phantom aliens. Life
is struggling to survive, and unless our crew of intrepid heros can find all of the eight
spirits, the world may be doomed. The premise of the film is intriguing. So much of
science fiction deals with the spiritual in an allegorical way that its unusual to
see a film struggling with spiritual issues between spectacular chases and shoot-outs.
Part of me cant help but admire the filmmakers for shooting so high. It would have
been very easy for them to remake Aliens or Star Wars yet again. The film tries to balance
spiritual introspection with all out action and comes up a little short. It was as if the
filmmakers were trying to combine the philosophy of 2001: A Space Odyssey with the
non-stop action of Starship Troopers. I think the film is richer for asking some
interesting questions, but all of the explosions and gunfire tend to be a little
distracting.
Watching
the film, I cant help but feel that somewhere along the line the script got away
from them. It was a great concept to start with, but, judging from the commentary, most of
the filmmakers concerns dealt with getting the effects right. When the story serves
the technology, youve got a problem. The visuals are nothing short of spectacular,
but they are not enough to save the movie from B-grade dialogue. Listening to the
commentaries provided some real insights into the creative processes for this film. Nearly
all the filmmakers discuss the technological issues and none talk about the narrative
difficulties. In contrast, listening to John Lasseter on any of the Pixar discs, you get
the clear idea that the technology is always second to the story and characters. That is
why people will come back to Toy Story for decades to come in spite of its already dated
visuals.
As far as supplements are concerned, this is one of the most comprehensive discs
Ive ever watched. Everything that you could want to know about this film is found on
the two disc set. Weve got youre standard commentaries by the director and
production crew. One commentary with the Japanese crew in Japanese with optional subtitles
and another commentary with the American team. Both of the commentaries were recorded
almost immeadiately after the completion of the film and you can hear the fatigue in the
filmmakers voices. The participants on the Japanese track are almost giddy from
exhaustion. These are interesting commentaries that deal mainly with the technical hurdles
they had to overcome in the production of this film. Youve also got an isolated
music score with commentary.
Also on the first disc is an extra called the
storyboard-playblast. This is essentially the entire film portrayed in selected
storyboards, early renderings and the final product all edited together. Ive never
seen anything quite like it. This feature also contained optional subtitled factoids which
gave some background to the characters, settings, and filmmaking process. Great film
student stuff.
On the second disc, youve got more extras than you can shake a stick at. Anything
you could possibly want to know about this movie is there. Theres a great
documentary on the filmmaking process that allows you to branch off in certain sections
when an icon appears at the bottom of the screen. The coverage is almost exhaustive. A lot
of documentaries are little more than exercises in PR, but the Final Fantasy documentary
was genuinely interested in providing insights into the process. It got pretty technical
at times, but I never felt that it ever went over my head.
Also
on the second disc is an editing feature that lets you edit certain shots from a pivotal
scene in the film. I first saw this on the MIB special edition disc. Its features
like this that further blurr the line between film and interactive entertainment.
Youve also got character profiles, vehicle profiles, an alternate opening scene to
the film, a bloopers reel, and an interesting piece on developing the trailers for the
film. On top of this, youve got a bevy of DVD-Rom content as well. This disc has one
of my favorite easter eggs of all time. I dont want to spoil it for anyone, but
think great mid-eighties choreography. At $29.95 youre getting much more for your
money than youre likely to find on higher priced discs.
The "Wow" factor on this disc is incredible. People will be using scenes from
this movie to demo their home theater equipment for months to come. It has a spectacular
Dolby Digital soundtrack and the picture mastered directly from their digital source is
simply flawless. If youre trying to sell any of your friends on DVD, this movie will
do it for you.
Let there be no mistake, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is a milestone in digital
filmmaking. It was an entertaining and interesting experience. There are scenes in this
film where the visuals will take your breath away. My favorite moments occured when the
technology became transparent; when I forgot that everything I was watching was programmed
on a computer. This is a film that deserved to do better than it did, but its also a
film that deserved to be better than it was. If you feel like you need some great demo
equipment, buy this disc. You wont regret it. Knowing that the technologies in this
film are only going to get more and more sophisticated as time goes on I have to admit
that Im a little scared and a lot excited.