In another effort to distract viewers from the actual movie with an overwhelming number
of goodies, Columbia Tristar has announced that Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
will arrive on store shelves October 23rd. After a "dont blink or
youll miss it" theatrical run, Final Fantasy will show up on DVD just three
short months after it premiered. You could almost get whiplash from such a short
theatrical to video release window.
Despite the negative reviews and box office failure, this looks like its going to
be a pretty incredible piece of work. Any questions you may have about the film are sure
to be answered by one of the multiple commentaries or documentaries. I just wish someone
would give the same type of attention to films like Casablanca or Princess Mononoke.
PS2 owners may want to hold off on purchasing this edition of the movie. There is a
rumor that a future edition of the movie is planned where certain scenes will be rendered
in real-time allowing the viewer control over angle and perspective. However, due to the
box office failure, I wouldnt be surprised if the producers minimized any further
investment in the project.
Final Fantasy is the story of a future earth at war with funky aliens. I could probably
go into more detail, but I really dont see the point. Well post more details
on the disc as they become available.
October looks to be the month of critically panned but visually spectacular sci-fi
movies. Episode I will be premiering the week before. Although Im looking forward to
giving the Final Fantasy Disc a spin, I have to admit that the disc Im really
looking forward to is Disneys complete Davey Crockett. Can it get any better than
that hat?
SPECIAL DVD FEATURES
DISC ONE
* Two feature-length commentaries:
- Co-director (Motonori Sakakibara), sequence supervisor (Hiroyuki Hayashida), sets
& props lead artist (Tatsuro Maruyama), Phantom supervisor (Takao Noguchi)
- Animation director (Andy Jones), editor (Chris S. Capp), staging director (Tani
Kunitake)
* Isolated score with commentary by composer Elliot Goldenthal
* Storyboard/Playblast selects of the film with optional filmmaker commentary or
subtitled factoids
* Theatrical trailers
* Interactive animated menus, featuring CGI introductions created by Square
Pictures
* Scene selections with motion images
* Production notes
DISC TWO:
* Original interactive documentary - The Making of Final Fantasy: The Spirits
Within. Dig deeper and link-out to information pods which spotlight:
- Final Fantasy Thriller Music Video
- Alternate opening sequence
- Mini-movie: Aki's Dream
- Trailer exploration
* Multiple workshops including:
- Seven in-depth character files
- Three vehicle scale comparisons (Bandit, Quatro, Black Boa)
- Two face wraps (Aki, Dr. Sid)
- Character morphs
- Compositing builds
- Matte art exploration
- Sets and props
* Final Fantasy Shuffler: Become the filmmaker by re-editing a pivotal scene from
the film. Complete the edit and play back your final cut.
* Interactive animated menus
* DVD-ROM exclusive interactive film exploration
- Includes complete screenplay
- Virtual tour of Square Pictures
- Screensaver
- Weblinks
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
DVD SPECIFICATIONS
- Digitally Mastered Audio & Video
- 1.85:1 Widescreen Film Presentation (enhanced for 16x9 TVs)
- Dolby Digital 5.1 (English) and Dolby Surround 2.0 (French)
- English and French subtitles
- Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence
- Color
- Closed-Captioned
- 106 minutes
Jason
Frank