Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children (Limited Edition Collector's Set)
By: SAKURAI,TAKAHIRO Average Rating: 4.5 Total Reviews: 681
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 On: 2009-10-04
Very good animation, decent story-line, not the best movie ever but its worth it if your at all a fan of the prior FF series. If you liked it when it came out your going to love it now. It looks amazing in blu-ray and would strongly advise purchasing it. Only problem was there is nothing but the movie. Would have liked something to come with it...anything for that matter besides the disk. If you looking for a blu-ray version to pop in with you collectors edition though its perfect.
 On: 2009-10-03
I have seen Advent Children a countless number of times and I have to say that the Blu-ray version is worth the extra purchase. Not only does the extra content help the storyline make more sense (the original story almost doesnt make sense), the higher image resolution takes it up a notch further. The "Complete" in the title makes sense for this film and it does leave the viewer feeling like the story is resolved. Plus, though the extra content isnt as good as the Japanese version (no FFXIII demo), there is still a really beautiful trailer of Final Fantasy XIII that re-kindled my desire for that game. Overall, a great purchase and worth the extra trip through the world of Advent Children.
On: 2009-10-03
I cannot praise this Blu-ray release enough. They went above and beyond to not only clean up an already awesome movie to look gorgeous in its full HD glory, but they added so much to each scene. Seriously, they added around 30 minutes to the feature film and enhanced pre-existing shots with around 1,000 edits. Again, if you enjoyed the DVD, sell it and buy the Blu-ray. You wont be disappointed.
On: 2009-10-03
This is probably one of the best movies from japan. If your a fan of Final Fantasy then youll love the movie. Its worth the money.
On: 2009-09-30
I remember waiting in anticipation as I waited for Advent Children to release in the US a few years ago. When I finally had a chance to watch it, I was extremely happy. The Universe of Final Fantasy VII is one that many gamers in the US cherish and love to revisit. That said, over the past 2 years, the DVD hasnt aged all that well. When watching the DVD on a Blu-Ray player that upscales, the picture is noticeably fuzzy. However, I was once again happy when I heard that there would be a Blu-Ray release of Advent Children that hopefully would satiate my desire for a higher-res version of this fantastic movie.
Picture - 9
Oh the glory of Blu-Ray. The images during Advent Children are fantastic. The texture of the fabrics and the crispness of the vistas visited during the movie, even during quick-moving sequences, look incredible. There really isnt a better example of a realistically animated move that I have come across. And in the Blu-Ray version, the visuals are made even better by adding things that wouldnt originally fit on the DVD copy. Now the world looks even more realistic with dirty children and items and clothing that gradually become more and more worn and deteriorated throughout the film.
Sound - 8
Well, its honestly about the same. The voice acting is fantastic, though I insist on only watching the film with subtitles, since I cant stand English dubbing. However, for those familiar with the franchise, there are some great variations on some of the main FFVII themes that many will enjoy. Dont assume that since the sound hasnt changed that it is bad. It was great to begin with, and still is.
Blu-Ray -9
Ah, what a good Blu-Ray. I have to say that I am delighted to see that Sony has decided to implement the idea of the onscreen menu. So many Blu-Rays hurt themselves by not including this feature. Being able to pull up the menu while watching the movie at the same time is a little feature that goes a long way. There are several inclusions on this disc that make it fun. For those who are interested, there is a nice expose about Final Fantasy XIII that comes along with the Blu-Ray that provides a nice intro to the upcoming game. There is also a short animated film about Denzel that some might find interesting, though it is probably one of the weaker elements on the Blu-Ray.
Deleted Footage - 10
I gave this facet of the release its own section because in all honesty, most of the people who re-buy the movie on Blu-Ray are purchasing it for this reason, and also because the deleted footage goes a long way in making Advent Children much more accessible to those who arent familiar with the Final Fantasy VII universe. Ive longed to show Advent Children to family and friends to showcase the incredible animation and motion-capturing that went into this movie, but found that when they attempted to watch the film, they were confused and left in the dark about the storyline. I eventually stopped trying to show the film to those unfamiliar with the franchise, because the movie doesnt offer much explanation as to who the characters are, what the backstory is, etc. However, the additional 26 minutes included in Advent Children bridges the gap between a fan film and a feature film that most people can enjoy. Much more is explained, and the overall experience, though a few minutes longer, feels much better overall and more thorough.
Final Thoughts
If you have never seen Advent Children and are interested in either the Final Fantasy VII universe, or you are simply interested in some of the best realistic-looking animation yet to hit film, Advent Children will be right up your alley. This film provides not only an amazing update to an already great production, but now also presents a complete film to the public that is no longer limited to a niche audience.
On: 2009-07-24
Watching this for the first time on blu-ray met my every expectation: friggin sweet!
1)Resolution - The screen resolution was amazinging with crisp contour
lining for picture capturing and backdrop color scheming.
2)Contrast - Just the right amount of lighting for the color. Not too
bright; not too dark. You dont have to necessarily turn out the light
to watch it unless youre into optimization.
3)Extras - The added scenes added, I believe, are explanitory to the
addition of the original and it, of course, makes the movie (which is
already a great anime) friggin sweeter!
 On: 2009-07-24
Do not listen to fan boys of the ff series, half of them probably havent even played the game. New characters are unoriginal and look like girls. All Previous characters fail to make a decent appearance in the movie. It was short and unexciting. Unfaithful to the game. The beginning tells about the game yet the whole movie leaves unanswered questions to both people who played the game and who havent. The whole movie is based around Cloud and and a new character Kadaj. Obviously and expectedly he got the movie was about him but he was practicly the only character in the whole movie. This movie is the greatest upset to Final Fantasy. JUST PLEASE LET THE SERIES DIE HERE AND MOVE ON WITH FF. Final Fantasy seven was a great game but please let the ff7 series die off and continue with future ff titles and let final fantasy 7 be FINAL.l
On: 2009-07-16
I ordered Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children (for PSP) for my son and was charged for it, but never received it. I am very unhappy with the service I never got from Amazon. I will no longer purchase from this site again.
On: 2009-07-14
Great movie. Visual masterpiece. Complete and utter fanservice at its finest. I really appreciate all the little touches they made to the original script and the way the scenes play out. It definitely feels more fleshed out and connected to the original story than before.
On: 2009-07-13
Advent Children Complete does a really good job recapping everything. However if you are not a final fantasy fan, you will most likely sleep through this movie.
On: 2009-07-12
First of all: Im a big fan of Final Fantasy VII and just the fact of knowing that "Advent Children" was coming on Blu-Ray made me really happy. I ordered it even though I already own a DVD copy, cause they said it will have a few extra minutes of new material. It is true and I enjoyed every single minute of the film with the Hi-Def plus!
This movie is a must have for every Final Fantasy fanatic (not just FFVII fans) and also I recommend it for those who want a different story or just to enjoy amazing visuals and quality animation.
10 out of 10. Greetings from Mexico.
On: 2009-07-12
Incredible on blu-ray high definition. Extra movie scenes were well worth it; and can tell that some of the old scenes were slightly changed to accomodate modified edits. Sound quality ended up so-so, but still a stunner. Much of the chain-of-events make more sense now.
On: 2009-07-11
The story makes way more sense, the character Denzel actually feels like hes important with the extra scenes. This is the way the movie should have been originally. 5 stars
On: 2009-07-10
It arrived much earlier then expected in great condition, product works beautifully and the price was great. Well worth it :)
On: 2009-07-10
Huge fan of FFVII and this bluray edition of Advent Children was well worth the price.
On: 2009-07-09
this is the most amazing movie i have ever seen on blu ray. i am a huge fan of the FF series and was totally in awe while watching this...absolutely fantastic!!!!
On: 2009-07-09
This is a must have for all Final Fantasy fanatics such as myself! The action is amazing, especially when Cloud faces off against Kadaj/Sephiroth and the music during that sequence is absolutely riveting! Would recommend this a million times over!
On: 2009-07-09
The original Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children was a feast for the eyes. Its set two years after the end of the original game, and can be best categorized as fan-service, a 90 minute cutscene with a convoluted script. For all its flaws I still liked it.
Advent Children Complete is a movie. The script has been overhauled; where the original had plot details that even fans had a bit of trouble understanding, and dialogue that didnt seem to flow well in english, Completes script rewrites the dialogue and speeches, giving much better explanations and making all the dialogue sound much more fluid to the American ear.
Of course those arent the only improvements. The extra 30 minutes of footage add a layer of depth to the story, and the action scenes that were redone or changed are even better than before. The changes in the fight between Sephiroth and Cloud in particular stand out in my mind. It goes without saying that the entire movie looks better on Blu-Ray, as a CG film it benefits from being redone in HD.
I believe that this version of the film should replace any previous version in anyones BRD/DVD/Movie collection.
On: 2009-07-07
Looks fantastic in HD. Preview for FF XIII is the longest preview Ive seen to date. Extras are all fantastic. Any die hard fan will enjoy adding this to their collection.
On: 2009-07-06
This movie will be the new way you demonstrate your new HD-TV theater system, filled with high resolution shoots and high clarity on the audio that makes u say "wow O_O". This version of Advent Children defiantly told a much better in-depth story than its predecessor,with extra small scenes where it simply explains the characters motives to longer fighting scenes that makes the action just way more intense.The ending of the movie was much better,& more brutal,than the simple "stabbing in the shoulder" from the last one. A+ movie :)
On: 2009-07-06
This edition of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children fills in the blanks of the original DVD release. Plus, violence is not removed in this version. Blood takes its place in this film, and the final Sephiroth battle is downright brutal, yet awesome. I recommend this movie instead of the first release. Plus, the Blu-Ray transfer is awesome to say the least.
On: 2009-07-05
Definitely worth it for bluray! Picture looks incredible, but the sound could have been better. Plus theres 30 extra minutes of additional footage. To be honest I dont think it helps nor helps the movie, but its a nice bonus. If you like Final Fantasy VII, this is a no brainer.
On: 2009-07-04
Suffice it to say, this is how this film shouldve been all along. The story has been made more coherent and appealing. The original film did little justice to the characters of the legendary FFVII, wherease this one successful tethers them emotionally to the audience. For more depth, see any of the other reviews on this site. If you werent satisfied with the original release of Advent Children, this completed film is worth a second chance.
On: 2009-07-02
I have owned every American itteration of this movie and I love it. Im a gigantic fan of FFVII and the movie pleases me most because it touches me with the characters and the feeling behind the story.
This movie has taken much flak, which I would like to say I fully understand if taken from the perspective of one without working knowledge of the videogame, and this version does so much to fix many of these issues. If you dont like videogames or have never played FFVII then I doubt youll like this movie very much. I leant it to a friend who is a bigger movie buff than me(who loves some of the worst films of all-time) thinking he would at least appreciatte the action sequences and animation. He called it garbage, lol. I watched again after I leant it to him and the story really is disjointed at best if you know nothing of the game.
That said, this version should have been the initial release. Its criminal how many vital scenes were cut and/or shortened. The effect of these scenes being editing for the US audience actually makes a somewhat large impact on the potential to understand the story. Now that FF: Crisis Core is out and we all know the origins of FFVII the scenes with flashes of Zack are needed even more. This is now a trilogy of events and small tidbits that need to be fleshed out in a two hour period. Much of the additional content is also extended battle sections that(in one case with Rude and Reno) actually explains how the scene gets from one point to another where the original version left a magnificient gap.
The most important thing to realize with this, other than what Ive said about not playing the game, is that its a movie about a videogame guys. People "flying around" and "surviving what no one on earth could" doesnt matter. The laws of our world dont apply in the world of FFVII folks, sorry, so just let it go. Ive seen so much worse things done in films that try to appear realistic and yet a movie about a game series gets slammed for doing things we couldnt in real life. Thats why its animated.
As far as the actual movie goes...its just jaw-dropping if you look at it in a way such as I do. Ive come to love it more and more with each viewing and its starting to grow on me even more as I write this. It is simply beautiful. The animation is the best you will see outside of Disney Pixar and the japanese crew/director really understand how to use camerawork to improve the feel and aesthetics of the scenes. So many times I find myself just looking at the hair on the characters heads and being impressed. The score is also somethign for everyone. It is so well done and reminds me of something like the first Star Wars movies in that it has that quality that adds to the overall tone and direction of the scenes. A great example is the final bout with Sephiroth. There is a part *SPOILER ALERT*(I guess) where the music starts to change tempo, Cloud enters a stance and prepares for what he knows is going be one heck of an attack on the part of Sephiroth and the Shin-ra headquarters starts to come down upon him, literally. The music then rushes in and I just cant explain the feeling you get watching it if you invest yourself in the experience.
For anyone who has always wanted to watch this, but didnt want to buy it yet, this is the ultimate and finite version. For anyone who watched the original and disliked it due to the lack of coherence in the story I strongly urge you to reconsider and at least borrow/rent it and give it one more chance. I feel its worth every penny and minute I spent waiting for it to come to the States.
On: 2009-07-02
WOW!!! This was one great movie. To this day, Im still a huge fan of the game and Im also a huge fan of this movie when I first came out. Since I dont have a Hi-Def tv yet, I cant make much comment on how great the resolution is. What I can say is that I do think the the visuals are beautiful and on a regular tv, they look fantastic. Thanks to the reediting and addition of scenes, the movie is alot more easier to follow with depth given to characters such as Denzel. I recall hearing that when creating this movie, the creaters werent fully happy with the results. This is probably what they were really looking for in the end. One of the things I like best about the Blu-Ray version is a feature that basically gives you a run down of the events in the games. Overall, its a great improvement over the original and a must have to anyone whos a fan of the original game.
On: 2009-07-01
I have always been a huge fan of the Final Fantasy franchise. Final Fantasy VII was amongst my favorite of the games, so I was very excited to hear that Square was going to release the FFVII film. After watching the original movie, I thought it was awesome. But after watching it a few times and thinking it over about the plot and other elements of the film, I realized that I was being blinded by my previous love for the game that I was not able to see the many flaws of the original version of this film. Sure the graphics were superb and the fight scenes were amazing (even better than fight scenes of the Matrix trilogy in my opinion), but that wasnt enough to make a good movie. There was no plot development and the motives of the characters (mainly the villains) were not obvious enough or explained very well. Not only that, previous main characters with the exception of Tifa and Cloud did not play a large role or "any" role in the movie at all. Characters like Yuffie, Barret, Cid, etc. were just there (and literally appeared out of nowhere) in the movie for fan-service. I was rather disappointed with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
And then, the new release: FFVII: AC Complete. I was not excited to see this film, but I thought, "What the heck. Ill just add this movie to my collection." After watching the Complete version, I was thoroughly impressed. Even though it did not fix some of the major problems I had with the original, the story were explained much better. The new added scenes tied everything together, making concepts such as Geostigma more significant and relevent to the story. Geostigma did not seem very threatening in the original version, but the new scenes showed the importance and madness that came about after the Meteor as well as the threatening affects of the new illness, Geostigma, on the planet and its people. And then, Denzels role and background were explanded on, making him a lot more relevent to the story. Not only that, the fight scenes even showed some blood! This makes the fights a bit more realistic and much cooler.
I watched this movie three times and never got tired of it. It was such an improvement to the original film that I could not stop wanting to see it again. I wished all "directors cut" of other films had this much improvement to the original.
Now what did I think of the English dubbed? I thought it was amazing. There were even some voices that I thought were superior to the original Japanese cast. (Just my opinion). I was surprised that the English dub company was able to gather the english cast together in order to dub the extra scenes. The voice acting was simply amazing. The only voice I was uncomfortable with was Mena Suvaris Aeris. Could have been a bit better in my opinion.
So overall, I give the original a 6/10 and the Blu-Ray "Complete" version a 9/10.
I recommend this movie to any Final Fantasy fan or even people who just like a lot of cool fights and action.
On: 2009-07-01
Advent Children in a nutshell is the sequel CG movie to the 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII. Advent Children Complete is a directors cut that includes an extra 30 minutes of scenes that really help make story more understandable, enjoyable and a better viewing experience overall. This movie overall is light on story and more focused on action and if that is what you are looking for then you will probably enjoy this film. If your a FFVII fan then you probably already watched it or have it on DVD and depending on how big of a FFVII fan you are may want to get this directors cut of Advent Children.
Visually this CG film still looks great after a few years with the new scenes having noticeably better lighting then the original footage.
There are extras like an overview of the 1997 video game as well as the compilation of games surrounding the franchise. There are trailers as well as packed onto the disc.
On: 2009-06-30
...and Im reviewing as such. Im biased in favor of the source material, and given the nature of the movie, I assume that either you or someone youre shopping for already knows what Final Fantasy is. So this is really a "Why should you buy this over the original edition?" review.
My roommate owns the first release of Advent Children and I love it, but since we just got a PS3 in the house, I figured Id pony up and go for the revised Complete edition.
Now, if you dont know or care about FFVII (though in that case, why are you here?), there are better movies for your money. But the amazing thing is that they reworked Advent Children enough in this edition that if you watch it anyway, you can probably follow along and enjoy yourself regardless. But if you do care, then even if youve seen or own Advent Children, this is worth it!
The colors are richer, much more vibrant (a friends quote: "Okay, now I understand the fuss about HD."). Its a more beautiful movie. The action is easier to follow. Fast-moving scenes that were blurry before are now clear and detailed. Dark scenes have been saturated so that the action isnt lost in shadow.
But most importantly, and probably the reason youre looking at this: EXTRA FOOTAGE! And boy oh boy is there a lot of it. This movie is now 33% longer--thats an extra half hour, and its not all dumped in one place. The first release of Advent Children was pretty much "Guys who look like Sephiroth show up. Cloud wusses for a while then gets over it. Lots of cool fight scenes ensue." Here, there is more dialogue, more plot, more Turks, more fighting, more color, more everything! The movie proves to contain an actual plot (though lets be realistic: its not real sophisticated). Clouds got some purpose to his actions. Vincent has an actual explanation (Rufus does too, but its not like hes going to tell the truth--still, you get more of Rufus lying!).
And, yes, I said even more fighting. Lots more to the motorcycle chase (remember I said more Turks), and some bits were totally reworked--such as the ending battle, which was so much more brutal (and WAY easier to follow) that we were actually making shocked noises as we watched.
In short, if you love FFVII, TOTALLY WORTH IT. If you dont, then at least its now a coherent, potentially enjoyable movie-going experience. If you buy this version for your FF-obsessed loved one, you may not completely regret sitting through it five times! :D
On: 2009-06-30
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete is such a fantastic film. The additional 26 minutes of footage clears up so many questions I had from the original release. The opening scene with Kadaj and Rufus is perfect. Anyway, the plot itself takes on more substance, and the big question marks are answered.
For the special features, the long preview of Final Fantasy XIII is nice. The problem, however, comes with the fact that the U.S. version did not come with the Final Fantasy XIII demo (thanks Microsoft). Nonetheless, the game video was very impressive.
Anyway, if you already own the dvd version, you may not want to put out another 20-30$ on this blu-ray. But for me, it was totally worth it. I was very impressed with the end result.
On: 2009-06-29
this is a must have for any Final Fantasy fan and add the picture and sound quality of blue ray and you have a great combo if your looking at this movie get it now you wont be disappointed.
On: 2009-06-28
this is a great product, a very cool video, high quality and
come on anything that it is from final fantasy its great
On: 2009-06-28
I recommened for anyone who likes or loves anime to buy this movie. We love anything dealing with Final Fantasy. We have the games n movie. Very awesome prices, sweet shipping and perfect condition. So please check it out. Thank You.
On: 2009-06-26
Once again, with the new blu-ray version of Advent Children, Square Enix has out-done themselves again. The animation is absolutely beautiful, and the special features are just as amazing.
For any FF fans, with a blu-ray player or ps3, this is a must buy.
5 stars.
On: 2009-06-24
I was at a Sony premiere the other week where they showed a screening of the blu-ray version of this movie. Everyone in the audience was just absolutely amazed by the quality of the visuals. If you have a blu-ray player and a hi-def tv, this is a must add to your collection.
On: 2009-06-21
Wow, the Complete version makes a hell of a lot more sense. I loved Advent Children because, and Ill admit it, I am a FF7 fanboy. However, I agree that at some points in the non-complete version of the movie I was like "WTF is going on? Oh well it sure does look pretty". The Complete version does a lot to alleviate that feeling for me. Great film in this Complete version and this is format (Blu-ray) that this movie was meant for in the first place. It simply looks amazing.
On: 2009-06-20
For now Im not gonna bore you to death with the awesome details of how good the original DVD release was and the story and how it was the best sequel to the video game masterpiece ever and yadda yadda yadda. If youve seen the first, get this one also because the extra footage is interspersed all throughout the film to create a much more fluid story. The plot line is explained better and the transfer for Blu-Ray is freakin spectacular. Even if youve never seen this movie and dont care for sci-fi that much, get it anyway. Its just an awesome experience. Thats it for now. Hope you enjoy it ;-)
 On: 2009-06-20
The animation and graphics were fine, but the story had little connection with the actual game. My father actually fell alseep during the movie, which was kinda embarassing because i hope he didnt think that thats what the video game is about(hes never play FF games).
during the fighting parts, you can barely tell whats happening because they are always moving too quickly for you to understand whos punching who or whos flipping over who. its just constantly body movement and its hard for the eyes to adjust. Anything thats related to japanese anime seems to have this bad habit of moving as quick as lightning. doesnt make sense at all.
but like i said....no connection. at least i wait to buy it when it was down to only 7 bucks.
On: 2009-06-16
I am really happy after watching the Blu-ray version of Advent Children complete, it was totally worth what I paid, regardless of already owning the original version.
Now it is a full movie on its own, doesnt feel like a featurette for eye candy anymore.It vastly benefits from the other elements of compilation of final fantasy vii released after it, in particular Crisis Core, which if you have played it you will know has a storyline full of emotion that really adds up when giving context to many of the extra scenes featuring zack.
But even if the almost half an hour of extra scenes is not enough for you, you will get also a full animated feature of the first volume of on a way to a smile. (the small booklet that came with the second release as a small novel) telling the story of Denzel, a pretty sad story. The animated feature does a great job of capturing the feelings written in the small tale, and gives a lot of context for the main film.
Finally, the review of compilation of final fantasy vii, is mindblowing, really!. It contains short clips of all the compilation, even before crisis that was never released in the US. Even better they do a great job at combining them in cronological order giving you very strong scenes such as the arrival of zack, cloud and sephiroth to nibelheim from the ff7, crisis core and before crisis perspective, it is just awesome.
The video quality is really really good, and I am watching this on a high def plasma with pretty good contrast and black levels. The new scenes in particular are significantly more detailed than the ones rendered for the original movie, which even though it makes the movie feel slightly uneven looks quite good.
You will also get to hear new arranged music of ff7 themes during the movie, of particular attention are the highwind and aeris themes, and even for a few moments anxious heart.
It is true that square enix has released this film many many times, in many different editions, but even if you dont want to buy it, at the very least you really have to see it if you played ff7, it is totally worth it.
On: 2009-06-16
Seen the DVD version before, thought it was very good... But watching it again on Blu-Ray... Its amazing... This version has an additional 26 minutes and over 100 revised scenes.... make the storyline feels more complete making it even better than the DVD copy.
In terms of picture quality, as a whole, most part of the show is a bit grainy, probably due to the upscaling from DVD version, but the newer and revised scenes are freaking sharp and nicely done. I could tell right away its newly rendered just for this Blu-ray.
I dont have a nice set of speakers, so I couldnt tell much about the Audio Quality. But I am a big fan of Nobuo Uematsu and Final Fantasy Soundtrack, so listening to it again with the movie, brings back memory of the FF7 game years ago.
For those of you still thinking whether this is a good buy, I say just get it... This is a fantastic version of FF7:AC and its a must have for any Final Fantasy fan or any Blu-Ray movie collector!
On: 2009-06-15
Like Advent Children (incomplete?), this is a good movie. It adds much new footage to the original, much of which is very, very good. Unfortunately, it fails in some areas that the previous version did not.
For starters, the previous version led you on Clouds path of discovery - as he discovered what, exactly, the Remnants were up to, so did you. In this version, Rufus spills the beans almost immediately.
Which brings me to another point. Uninterrupted monologues can be fine in books, but they become rather tedious in movies; and, unfortunately, not only is Rufus now King of Destroying-the-Suspense, hes also King of Nonstop-Monologues. ;) Seriously, Rufus is one of my favorite characters in the movie, so, theoretically, more talking from him is a good thing. But Rufus is also a very concise, calculating talker; he doesnt give away anything less than absolutely necessary. This came across perfectly in the first film; not so in the second.
Now, arguably, the audience already knows what happens, so spilling the beans early on isnt a big deal; I dont mean to imply that the movie is ruined (or anything of the sort) by it. I do think it lacks a sense of intrigue that the first maintained, though. The tension that the characters quest for answers created helped to make the movie interesting each time; now they know, almost immediately. Also, some of the added scenes (at least for me) didnt add much to the movie. Theres a fine line, I know, between enhancing the FF saga and making a great movie; I think a lot of the additional scenes were aimed at continuing and enhancing the saga rather than making a spectacular movie. Which, again, is not to say that they were bad; they were good, but I view them as someone coming from the FF7 saga.
Finally, on the visual level, the Blu Ray version is awesome, and AC Complete generally looks fantastic. The only exception to that would be the heavy-handed application of dirt smudges during fight scenes, etc. While the idea of adding realism through dust, rumpled clothes, etc., is a great one, I think they went a little overboard at times; dumping dirt on the characters is just as bad as having none.
Now, all of this said, keep in mind that I am highlighting the problems with the movie, and saying little about the good parts of the movie. I do this in large part because most of what the original had going for it, this has going for it. It IS a good movie, despite its flaws, with an interesting story line, fun characters, and lots of action. AC Complete has enough additional footage and new touches that it is well worth seeing at least (personally, I added it to my library; if youre a FF7 fan, youll likely do the same). I may not see it as often as Ill see the original, but is a very enjoyable movie. 4/5 stars
On: 2009-06-15
First Ill comment on is the visual quality. WIth HD, the CGI looks better than ever, especially many of the landscape, the ruins, the details of the model and texture. If youre into 3d art you will appreciate the amount of the detail it delivers. One thing I have is that now the image is so sharp, it somehow makes the model looks less realistic. Also the camera treatment in my opinion can be improve, (like how Pixar did with Wall-E, which makes the film looks more believable.)
The extended scenes are nice, in my opinion gave some more depth of the characters (only a bit more though) I dont want to be a spoiler, so Ill just say that some of the added scenes are rather frightening to see, I was a bit shocked the first time I saw it, but this version is unrated, so keep in mind for that, as far as I consider this version is NOT for kid, dont watch it with your kid!
The story Ill say is much better than Spirit Within, but only fans will understand and appreciate it. For people who never played or know the story of FFVII, they are just watching a nice CGI movie presentation and thats it.
Over all a nice CG film and Ill say as a FFVII fan I enjoyed it. It doesnt touch me emotionally, but at least visually.
On: 2009-06-15
First off, Im a huge fan of FFVII and consider it among the best of the series (the top spot still belongs to 3/6, however). The original movie expands on Clouds story and shows us whats become of the world of FFVII after the events of the games climax. But what it did was leave a lot of questions unanswered with a somewhat shaky plot, despite the jaw-dropping visual effects and CGI.
This movie was made for fans, pure and simple. And if one has never played the game, its not going to make much sense to you. That said, the graphics still hold up very well despite the original film being nearly 4 years old. The added scenes are a welcome addition, particularly the highway chase scene and the final fight between Cloud and Sephiroth. Even some of the soundtrack pieces have been remixed and rearranged, with some new additions as well. The new music is relatively minor, but sharp-eared fans may recognize some familiar tunes taken from the game. Nobuo Uematsu does great work.
The plot has been expanded to include more background on Denzel (whom I wondered what was the point of in the original film) and Clouds activities prior to the main events of the movie. The debilitating effects of the geostigma are seen more clearly as well, and it helps the viewer identify more with the victims desperation in going along with the villains in the hope of a cure. Extended scenes with supporting characters like the Turks are a nice touch.
Cloud, to his credit, hasnt just been moping around all this time being all emo, as some have complained about, but has been searching for a cure (though without success). And to those who do complain; the whole point of his character here is that he still blames himself for Aeriss death and that hes afraid to let anyone get too close to him for fear that he wont be able to save them in the end like he failed to save Aeris.
Still, there are some problems with this directors cut. Some scenes drag on too long (particularly the dialogues with Rufus and Tifa), or are poorly edited (inter-spliced with other scenes for a jarring chronology). The pacing of the middle of the movie becomes bogged down by these scenes, and the angst of our hero does become rather tiresome even to diehard fans (even if Cloud gets over it at the end). The action, while crazy and over the top, can be enjoyable if chaotic and eye-twitch inducing, requiring additional viewings to catch whats happening.
All in all, this film is what the original movie should have been. If director Nomura can work on his editing and dialogue, Im sure his future films will be much improved over this effort. On a final note, the choice of song during the Cloud motorcycle scenes at the end credits was fairly blah as far as J-pop goes. Im not sure why they decided to change it as the song Calling from the original was much better suited to those scenes (it sounded much more to me like an open road song rather than that new J-pop song).
On: 2009-06-14
This is a visually jaw-dropping movie, but for non-FFVII people, the fun ends there, especially if you already sat through regular FF VII: AC. But if you liked the regular version, then youll love this! Some of the changes/additions made simply explain/develop characters more completely, and some of the changes/additions make the action more believable (adding dirt smudges to characters faces, adding blood, adding more realistic sound effects, etc.)
On: 2009-06-11
Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children Complete,is a lush ,eye candy of a confection.The wonderous Images wash over you,The extra scenes are a joy to watch. This is the Blu Ray to own,for visuals alone,I know some have quibbles with the plot(ya bunch of grumps)
This is for us Fans,Embace it.
On: 2009-06-09
Advent Children is masterfully crafted fan service. Although it wont make much sense to those who didnt trek through the great Final Fantasy 7, it will bring tears to the eyes of those that did! Fantastic story, visuals and sound, now even better on Blu-Ray.
On: 2009-06-08
Square has been working for the past 2 years to redo this film as a "directors cut", adding new detail to scenes, completely revamping the composition of some shots, as well as adding new scenes, so you think one of the worlds premiere CG production studios would produce a flawless hi-def transfer, right? Not so fast. Unlike studios such as Pixar, Square seems to believe adding imperfections to an otherwise flawless source somehow enhances the viewer experience. The same thing was done in "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" where dirt and film grain was added to an entirely digital picture source. I actually prefer the blu-ray release of that film to this one. Add on top of that most of the DVD features for Advent Children have been changed or completely left out, forcing completists to own both versions of this movie to have all the bonus content, a film that is not worth that much trouble in my opinion. Overall, Square really dropped the ball on this one, the picture is soft, fuzzy and washed out in most scenes where it could have been brilliantly vibrant and clear. There are obviously artistic differences between Japanese and American animation houses, and I dont see those being rectified anytime soon.
On: 2009-06-05
I wont waste too much of your time peddling the legacy of Final Fantasy VII to you. If you appreciated the game then the likelihood that you ran out and purchased Advent Children back in 2006 is pretty high. While I enjoyed the romp that the sequel became, I found myself wondering whether or not I really needed Advent Children Complete.
After viewing the movie last night, I can only say how this should have been what I watched back in 2006. Fluid, sensible, and more meaningful than it was three years ago, Advent Children Complete is a high quality and stirring Directors Cut.
Emotionally gripping, visually enthralling, and as magical as the game was--Advent Children Complete is worthy of a 5 star review.
On: 2009-06-04
As a fan, I dont get it. When one looks at the video transfer of Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within, youd expect Advent Children to look stunning in HiDef, and it doesnt. Not entirely. To its credit, the additional 28 minutes that have been restored to the film look to have been mastered in particular for 1080p (you really notice skin texture and edges of things, and theres some pop), but when the scenes shift back to the original film, the overall sharpness drops, and occasionally its downright blurry, and theres weird blocky edges, especially in scenes with high contrast.
It feels like the original cut of the film had its image deliberately softened, and now for this video release theyve just cranked up the gamma and noise reduction. Resident Evil:Degeneration had a better picture than this.
Other than that, the new material fleshes out the film better than ever.. some of the music has been changed for the better as well (fans will note the Nibelheim Theme gets used during the church montage), the bonus features, including a sneak peek at FF XIII are most welcome, in whats otherwise kindof an average BluRay presentation.
A mixed bag. You wont find a better print of this film, tho.
On: 2009-06-04
Marking its debut as the second entry in the "Final Fantasy VII" compilation, Advent Children is a CGI film that continues the story where the game left off. Released directly to DVD in Japan during 2005, the North American release was delayed several times before finally hitting store shelves in the middle of 2006.
The original runtime of Advent Children was 100 minutes, but the folks over at Square-Enix felt they wanted to flesh out the story to a greater extent, and began work on an updated version of the film titled Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete. Running 26 minutes longer than the original, the "complete" version of the film is presented on this Blu-ray edition and represents a considerable improvement over the initial cut.
Advent Children picks up two years after the events that transpired in the original game, with the inhabitants of the planet stricken by a disease known as Geostigma.
That is about as much as Im going to say about the story of the movie as I dont want to spoil it for anyone who hasnt seen it yet.
So on to the reason for this review the Blu-Ray version itself.
Advent Children Complete has every element necessary to create an engaging experience from beginning to end. The plot is emotionally dense, the action is explosively over-the-top, and the world in which the story enfolds is rich with creativity. I enjoyed the DVD version of Advent Children a lot, but this version surpasses the original in every way.
One of the extras on the disc mentions that the new cut contains over 1000 new edits in the additional 26 minute runtime. Id say every minute of added content is well-placed in furthering the plot of the film. Long-time fans should feel comfortable that this is the definitive version of the Advent Children tale.
Video 5/5
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 20Mbps). Detail through the majority of the film is impeccable, with the finest details becoming noticeable due to the increased resolution. Theres still some occasional softness that creeps up from time to time, but it appears to be related to an intentional use of visual effects (such as increased brightness from the large windows of the church, or sand blown by the wind in several outdoor sequences) and didnt diminish my viewing experience.
In addition to the reference level of detail, colors appeared bold and vibrant when appropriate (flowers in the church and the crimson of Vincents cape), or muted and drab in scenes of the desolate landscape. Contrast was as good as Ive seen on a Blu-ray release, with Kadajs wooded lair standing as one of many showcase sequences in the film. The deep blacks of the background help elevate the three-dimensional nature of the glowing trees in the forest, and created a wonderful lighting effect that would not have been possible without perfect black levels and contrast.
Overall, this is a reference-worthy transfer with pristine animation and beautifully incorporated action. If you have a friend who loves anime, and questions the validity of stepping up to 1080p resolution, pop in this disc and welcome him or her to the world of Blu-ray.
Audio 4.5/5
A perfect audio track offers a blend of spatial effects, music and dialogue to create a viewing experience that completely immerses the listener in the world of the film. Ive rarely had the opportunity to hear such a track, but Im pleased to report the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Japanese track for this film is one of the most incredible audio tracks Ive had the pleasure of listening to. Dialogue exhibits an immaculate level of detail in any range or pitch, but I was most impressed with the deep voices of several male characters.
The music is equally crisp and efficiently incorporated in a non-obtrusive way next to the on-screen action. On a film that runs the emotional gamut, it has to be difficult to create a musical score that always seems appropriate, and Advent Children contains some truly inspired musical numbers. Lastly, the use of spatial separation and environmental effects were handled with precision across the entire sound field of my home theater.
From the subtlety of a ringing bell, to the explosion of a building, youll notice the tiniest sounds and details in the audio mix, while marveling at the wealth of sounds hitting your ears. I especially enjoyed the battles that took place on the massive bikes in the desert and on the freeway.
For those who are interested in the English track (also offered in Dolby TrueHD 5.1), the track is nearly as proficient as the Japanese mix, but I detected a slight drop in non-dialogue volume next to the original language offering. Its not extremely noticeable, and wouldnt have been an issue if I werent switching back and forth on the fly, but those that prefer the English dub (which is actually quite good) should be aware theres a slight difference between the two tracks.
Supplements 3.5/5
The supplements on this release are fairly solid, but dont incorporate all of the extras from prior releases. The nicely-packaged Limited Edition DVD release had a making-of feature thats absent here, and also included the anime OVA "Last Order". It would have been nice to have a more complete package if this is truly considered the "Complete" version. The list of supplements are as follows:
Legacy of Final Fantasy VII: This brief feature is narrated in Japanese with English subtitles. Naturally, the main focus is the 7th video game release and the subsequent series of Final Fantasy VII related games that were created beginning in 2004. The film is briefly touched on, but the discussion of Advent Children is limited to a summary of screening invitations and critical reception.
Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII: this interesting feature is a wonderful re-introduction to the game. It contains cut-scenes and in-game dialogue from several key portions of the game, set to beautiful orchestra music from the Final Fantasy universe. Its a little comical to see how far video game graphics have come since the games initial release, but theres still a lot of charm on display here.
Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII Compilation: Similar to the prior extra, this feature contains footage from the follow-up FF7 games that were released to multiple platforms from 2004 to present. I havent played any of these games, I was a bit lost throughout the cutscenes and in-game sequences of dialogue, but at least it provides the viewer with a better idea of what theyve been missing out on by not playing these games.
On the Way to a Smile-Episode: Denzel: Im very excited about the inclusion of this anime OVA that focuses on the character Denzel and takes place between the events of the game and the plot of Advent Children. Considering the wealth of stories that could be told in the FF7 universe, Id love to see the production of an entire anime series to fill in the gaps.
Sneak Peek at Final Fantasy XIII: Featuring cut-scenes and in-game footage from the upcoming Final Fantasy video game release, this supplement is truly a sight to behold.
Lastly, theres a collection of five trailers for Advent Children Complete that were shown at various functions between 2007 and 2009.
Final words 4.5/5
If you couldnt tell by now, I have nothing but praise for Advent Children Complete. The new version is a nice improvement on an entertaining film, and I doubt anyone will be upset by the extended runtime on this Blu-ray release. If youre a fan of the "Final Fantasy VII" video game, this should be a day-one purchase and has likely been on your Blu-ray radar for some time now.
If youve never seen Advent Children, you may elect to go the rental route first, but Id remind you to consider the near-perfect audio/video quality and perhaps take a leap of faith in adding the disc to your collection. If anything, youll have an eye-popping example of the capabilities high-definition has to offer, with the added value of over-the-top animated action. As a long time anime fan, I feel that this version is a must have even if you have the DVD version already.
On: 2009-06-03
Simply amazing it is! Sure it doesnt come with the FFXIII demo like the japanese verson but the quality and new added scenes in the movie make this REALLY complete.
Im not left hanging like the original Advent Children when it came out back in 05.
STUNNING in 1080p! A must have for any FFVII fan!
It even comes with a 30 minute anime feature of Denzels past.
On: 2009-06-03
Well, Ive played Crisis Core and now Im playing FFVII in my PSP, and this movie helped me to feel all the drama. Its well done, but not for beginners or people who doesnt know the FF universe.
On: 2009-06-03
In 2005, fans of the Square Enix Sony PlayStation video game "Final Fantasy VII" were excited when a new CG film was released and that video games based on the characters would follow. The film was well received by fans of the video game but was not received well by critics who were not well versed with "Final Fantasy VII" or the games that have come out afterward.
The DVD release in 2006 was successful as it became the first direct-to-DVD film to sell over a million copies, in fact worldwide sales were over 2.4 million copies.
But a lot has chanced since 2005. In fact, more backstory to "Final Fantasy VII" has been fleshed out with the release with an anime OAV series titled "Last Order", of a mobile game (not released in the US) titled "Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII", "Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII" for the PS2, "Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII" for the Sony PSP.
Here we are with "Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete". Despite being announced at the Tokyo Game Show in 2006 for a Blu-ray release, Square Enix postponed the release until 2009. The main difference is that this film would feature 26 minutes of new footage and over 1,000 revised scenes. Although the Blu-ray scene in Japan has been slow compared to other countries in terms of copies sold, the release of FF7:ACC sold over 100,000 copies in its first day, the highest selling Blu-ray in Japan was "Macross F" which sold over 34,000 in 2008.
For the fans who played the video games that came after 2005, especially the Sony PSP video game "Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII", it furthers the fans appreciation of this film. In fact, the new footage actually makes the film much more coherent and enjoyable. But like the original release of "Advent Children", if one had no interest in the video game to begin with, nor have they had a vested interest in the "Final Fantasy VII" video game series, they probably still wont get it. But as a person who has played the games (with the exception of "Before Crisis"), I felt that "FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN COMPLETE" was much more enjoyable this time around.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN COMPLETE" is featured in 1080p High Definition (aspect ratio of 1:78:1). When the film was released in 2005, the animation was realistic and just awesome to look at. The animation still holds up four years later but part of the problem is that the video is upconverted. The extra 30 minutes is pretty much all throughout the film but for those with a keen eye, you can tell which piece looks upconverted and which doesnt. The newer scenes are much crisper and sharper. But for the most part, depending on your TV, many people probably will not know the difference on the Blu-ray but comparing to the DVD, the image quality is of course, much, much better.
There are a lot of details in the newer scenes from books, papers scattered on the shelves. You will now see dirt and grime on the people getting into the fights. You will also see more footage of people around Midgar, more to the buildings and destruction around the city and just more additional footage that made the film much better. Scenes and backgrounds come out quite clearly on the video that even scenes where characters are looking out windows, you can see the backgrounds through the windows much clearer.
I also want to add that there were certain scenes that displayed white speckles. Although I didnt see compression artifacts, I was surprised to see this a few times in the video but very few times. Overall, picture quality was very good.
The audio features a lossless track with an English, Japanese and French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track (note: The Japanese version does not have the French audio track nor does it contain the English subtitles). To be truthful, I was hoping the sound would be much immersive and that there would be full utilization of audio throughout all channels but FF7:ACC was more front channel heavy with occasional panning of sound but I didnt hear any low level frequency bass coming out of my subwoofer, nor did I really hear anything coming out throughout my rear surrounds. But the dialogue, the awesome music and action scenes with swords clanging and destruction of buildings do come out quite clearly through your front and center channel speakers.
Also, when it comes to voice acting both Japanese and English are well done. Square Enix really went all out by having actresses Mena Suvari and Rachael Leigh Cook to lend their voices to the characters but overall, both audio tracks were well done. If anything, I tend to prefer the Tifa "tsuru tsuru tsuru tsuru" than the "dilly dally shilly shally" but overall, I enjoyed both. I did not watch the film with the French dub track though.
As for subtitles, the Blu-ray features English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Thai, Arabic and Dutch. The Japanese version only features Japanese subtitles.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN COMPLETE" includes a good number of special features. Included are:
* Legacy of Final Fantasy - (6:37) This featurette features a quick history of the "Final Fantasy" video games and then leads up to the screening at the Venice International Film Festival, discussion of how the DVD sold over a million copies in Japan, 3.6 worldwide which is unprecedented for a direct-to-video release. And also the release of this latest Blu-ray release which features nearly 30 minutes of extra footage and 1,000 revised scenes.
* Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII - (23:55) A featurette/digest that features the replaying of the story of "Final Fantasy VII" from the Sony PlayStation. For those who havent played the video game or it has been too many years that has passed by since you did play the game, this is a good refresher on the original video game.
* Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII Compilation - (29:43) Where the original digest featured "Final Fantasy VII", this time the stories from "Beginning Crisis", "Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII" and "Dirge of Cerberus" are featured. So, if you never played any of these three video games, you can watch this featurette and learn about the Turks, the relation between Zack and Cloud and also how the FF7 group especially Vincent have started assisting the World Regenesis Organization (WRO).
* On the Way to a Smile - Episode: Denzel - (28:04) The following anime OAV takes place right after "Advent Children" and focuses on the orphan Denzel who is inspired by Cloud and his friends to be a member of the WRO. Denzel shares his story about his family and then living in the slums but most importantly information on how the disease Geostigma started to affect the people of Midgar and how quickly it spread and how people started to die.
* Exclusive Sneak Peak at Final Fantasy XIII - (7:12) A sneak peak of the upcoming "Final Fantasy" PlayStation 3/XBOX 360 video game.
* Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete Trailers - A total of five trailers. The original teaser trailers for Advent Children and the teaser trailer for "Advent Children Complete".
In Japan, a playable demo for "Final Fantasy XIII" was offered. Also, the Blu-ray came in a black Blu-ray case. In the US, the version comes with a slip case and in the standard blue Blu-ray case. Since "Final Fantasy" games in the US tend to come out nearly a year and more later after the Japanese release, it was expected that there would not be a playable demo of the game with this release. Both the Japanese and the US release do not contain the 2005 anime OAV "Last Order: Final Fantasy VII" which was included in the "Ultimate Edition" DVD release for "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" back in the Fall of 2005.
JUDGMENT CALL:
When "ADVENT CRISIS" was released, I truly found the release to be action-packed and visually, incredible. From the facial mannerisms of each character, to the details of each character model including the buildings and the roads. So, much went into this project of creating a side of realism with the character models. It was amazing what "Final Fantasy: Spirits Within" was able to achieve in CG back then but to see how far it has evolved with "Advent Children" and the fact that unlike the previous "Final Fantasy" film, there was now an emotional attachment previously from the FF7 video game and now to this film.
But where the original film seemed like eye candy and action-packed sequences that were a definite nod to the fans who enjoyed the series, the release of "FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN COMPLETE" is much more satisfying as the storyline seems much more coherent now than before. Also, since the release of the original Advent Children, there have been additional FF7 video games that gave us more storyline of things behind-the-scenes with the SOLDIER program and most of all, the relationship between Sephiroth, Cloud and Zack.
After finishing "Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII", the video game gave me a stronger understanding of why Sephiroth became this madman bent on destruction but most of all, why Cloud kept thinking about his old friend and why he fights with his sword. Many questions answered in these last three years from the video games that makes things much more easier this time around when watching "Advent Children Complete".
With the release of "FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN COMPLETE", with how much time I have invested in the "Final Fantasy" video games but specifically the FF7 releases, I found watching the film this time around, much more enjoyable. I found myself noticing mannerisms in the face of Tifa and the children, Clouds conflicted emotions with having the Geostigma disease and just small details which I never took noticed before until now.
This is more than a re-release to Blu-ray but an enhancement of the original release. Many of you are wondering if you own it on DVD, is it worth the double dip. The answer is YES! It really is worth purchasing on Blu-ray. Newer storyline, newer features but its not going to change non-FF7 fans or those not at all familiar with the series to enjoy it. But for those who truly enjoy "Final Fantasy VII", have played the recent releases and want a much better version of the film than what we bought back in 2006, then "FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN COMPLETE" is highly recommended!
On: 2009-06-03
A manga style film. The archetype is there. The world in ruins. A society reduced to some erratic mass movements of fear or violence. Some young people, men and women, identified as the children of a mythic father and mother are divided between the group of those who control the masses and this ruinous world, and on the other hand the group of those who are rebelling and claiming to conquer some kind of future. And thats where the archetype comes into play. This future is identified to going back to what the past splendor of this world was, to rebuilding the city that history has destroyed. It is systematically the nostalgic rebuilding of a past glory that used to be the realm of the parents, or maybe grand parents, ancestors for sure. But we are obliged to doubt all that nostalgic back tripping good intentional apocalypse. It is a myth to believe history can move back. It is a myth to believe the younger generation who has hardly known the past will want to go back to it. It is a myth to believe a world of advanced technology, cell phones among many others, will be able to regress to an ancient time when there could not be any of these brilliant inventions. It is a myth to believe these brilliant inventions could only be associated with ruins, chaos, apocalyptic events and results. No, cell phones and portable Internet-connected computers are not the lipstick and the make-up of Babylon, that lost woman dressed in blood red cloth that Saint John executes in his Book of Revelation, along with the Dragon and then the Beast. Too Judeo Christian to be serious.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines, CEGID
On: 2009-05-21
AWESOME, is the only word to discribe this movie. The animation is beautiful, the fight seens are action packed. If your a fan of the Final Fantasy series or an anime fan-GET THIS MOVIE!
On: 2009-05-08
There are already lots of great reviews here for Advent Children, so let me add my review for the half-hour OVA "Last Order," which is bundled in as an extra in this release and makes it more than worth buying:
Let me start by saying this OVA... was perfect. Tetsuya Nomura has proved himself fifty times over as a fantastic director with this brief, poignant, and unbelievably powerful little 30-minute OVA. No overt sappiness, no slow-motion tears flying about, none of that. Cloud doesnt even comprehend what has happened. Nothing but grim reality with its edge of grittiness--and it is utterly devastating. Im sitting here typing in tears and I think, even if I hadnt had the special fascination for this obscure, long-dead side character that I have had since playing FFVII, I still would have been moved to tears by this OVAs plaintive look at the last few hours of this mans life.
It would have been so much easier for Zack to escape on his own; slowed down and strength sapped from carrying the nearly comatose Cloud, Zack could have traveled so much faster and less-conspicuously if hed just abandoned him. With his strength and wits, he would have made it. Its a mark of what a wonderful person he is that he went so far as to shield Cloud with his own body---Cloud, this random, low-ranking soldier who was probably only an acquaintance before the Nibelheim incident, if at all (SOLDIER first class, the highest of the high, and Cloud, a common, faceless foot soldier!). He didnt owe him a thing, but he still valued this poor kids life enough to protect him all the way to the end. Thats why Im so happy we have this OVA touching on the truly tragic and unfair fate dealt to such a wonderful person. Zack is such a minor character in the grand scheme of the original game (hes even dead long before it begins!), but still---if youre watching closely---you see, little by little, how much his deeds have effected the story.
He starts out just as shock factor--you see the photo taken at Nibelheim the day Tifa led Sephiroths party up to the Mako Reactor, and instead of our familiar, blonde-haired Cloud standing there as we expect, it is a taller, dark-haired stranger. From here, little by little, Zacks influence grows and discover slowly, rather painfully since you know of his sad fate, what sort of person it was who lost his life (and even identity) so that Cloud could take it. You discover that he was the wonderful boyfriend of Aeriths whom Cloud reminded her of, that he was the elite SOLDIER 1st class who was friendly even with the foot soldiers, that he went on his own to try to stop Sephiroth during the Nibelheim massacre, that he suffered side by side with Cloud in Hojos laboratory for those five, long years of their imprisonment, and it was he, alone, who managed to break free and literally CARRIED Cloud back across two continents and was finally killed defending him when he fought alone against an entire squadron of Shinra soldiers. It hurts, doesnt it? And he did all that never knowing that his actions would give Cloud the strength, motivation, and will to save the world someday.
Thats why I love this OVA so much. Just like the cool, unassuming guy that Zack was, it doesnt come at you with this, "look at me, this is such a tragedy!!!" sort of "tragic epic" attitude. Its just "there was this cool guy, and this is what he did. He fought simply for a chance to live in freely, and died trying." Its just the way Zack wouldve wanted it, I think.
Directiorally, it was very nice how the movie begins with Cloud (as we expect, Cloud being our cherished hero of FFVII). But all we see is his clouded, green, mako-tinged vision, and all we hear is his gasping breath. He doesnt actually speak a coherent line until much later in the story. In this way, we make the transition from Cloud, who IS FFVII, to Zack, who is (just as in the original game) our "hidden" hero. You realize long after the fact that Zack is the one were actually focusing on (every time he enters a scene, its in a rather unassuming way--the opening, and in the Nibelheim flashback, when he wanders in from the background in the midst of the disaster). All the things you wanted to see most happen--from some of the most AMAZING animated fight scenes I have ever seen (when Sephiroth elegantly slashed away Zacks sword strike, did your heart stop for a moment? Mine did...), to that beautiful moment when Tifa discovered that Cloud did keep his promise (though she later thinks she just hallucinated it... ^^; ), to the perfection that is animated Sephiroth whispering "Mother, come with me," to Clouds truly incredible moment in the fight against Sephiroth. Wow, the power of this animation! (I love you, Mad House!!!!!) And lets not forget that quiet, last scene. Our esteem and affection for Zack is just growing and growing as he cheerfully (and somehow, fatalistically) expounds on the fortunes and adventures hell have hereafter and then, his famous and haunting line, "Were friends, right?" to the man who will steal his entire life and identity later on... wow.
Ah, the Turks. Now that was a truly clever touch! I love how they become a sort of sympathetic third party. Tsengs quiet sadness and contemplation of the pitiful fate that Zack and Cloud were dealt, even as he hunts them down, gives the audience solace. We know (as the Turks know) that their escape is futile, but the fact that the people who are actually tracking them down feel sorry for them as well is somehow soothing for us. I love how Tsengs sympathy, and his order to try to take them alive, gave me this wild, completely irrational hope that maybe--just maybe--they would make it through this impossible situation alive. In particular, that last scene when the Turks helicopter is right there, rushing toward the scene and offering some sort of salvation (at least for their lives) for Zack and Cloud just at their fateful hour. But of course, they dont make it in time. History has already laid down its cold order, hasnt it? And anyway, Zack says it all in that one line--"I dont want assurances that my life will be spared. All I want is FREEDOM!" I guess for him, it was better to have died fighting of his own will than to return to Hojos lab of horrors to live as a test subject to the end of his days, ne? But still... ;__;
I love that we see the last moments of Zacks life back in Clouds point of view. It is satisfying to know that, whatever he forgets or blocks out of his memory later on, he did bear witness to Zacks final sacrifice for him. But that grieving is for later. For now, I love that Cloud has no reaction, no sappy screaming, etc. Just silence and the haunting echo of the gunshot that ends it all. That shot is so devastating, so inevitable... just as we know from the moment we began watching this OVA that Zack would soon die despite all his efforts, that shot is so inevitable and heavy, and we (like Cloud) are so helpless to stop it. We dont even get to see it happen--just the sound signalling that it has been done somewhere beyond our reach and we are only hearing the declaration of its completion after the fact. Its wonderful and SO painful.
Really, truly, hats off to Nomura-sensei and his entire crew. This OVA was everything I had hoped for. Thank you so much for it and for this incredibly well-deserved tribute to that nameless soldier who gave Cloud his life, his sword, and even his memories--and gave us one of the most memorable video game stories of all time.
On: 2009-05-03
This is another good animated movie. Not quite as good an the first Final Fantasy movie, but close. It helps if youve ever played the Final Fantasy games, but even if you havent, you should like this movie.
On: 2009-04-30
As a rabid fan of FF7 I had eagerly awaited the release of Advent Children in theaters and when that didnt happen (except for a single screening in Hollywood) I eagerly awaited the DVD. When it finally was released I tore open the packaging and started the disc spinning and to my disappointment I was only mildly diverted. There was something missing. Yeah my favorite characters were there, the battle scenes (while difficult to follow) were dynamic and epic, and it all looked pretty. But the soul of my FF7 experience was missing. So I shrugged, chalked it up to over-anticipation, and played through the game again to get my fix.
Then Final Fantasy Advent Children Complete was announced. Skeptical but hopeful at the idea of 30 extra minutes I sought out more information. There wasnt much to be had except the odd trailer here and there. Then I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the April 16 Japanese release.
I was blown away.
Advent Children Complete is everything the original cut should have been and so much more. The 30 additional minutes not only add depth and soul to the story but improve the pacing and the structure overall. The characters have room to breathe, the humor is well timed, the action is breathtaking, and the 1080p resolution must be seen to be believed.
Ladies and Gentlemen, because of this release Im buying a PS3 so that I can purchase the American Version when it is released this summer (plus of course FF13!).
This is the Final Fantasy movie we all have been waiting for!
On: 2009-04-20
I live in Japan so bought this the day it was released.
Watching it on my High-Def 37" TV, I can say it does look and sound very nice, but to be honest, not THAT much better than the DVD release which I watched on the same TV. It in all honesty looks roughly the same.
But I didnt buy it for the movie which is so-so (I love the game).
The FFXIII demo is real the reason to get this bundle. The game is simply gorgeous, fluid, minimal loading times, and has an evident epic storyline. Honestly it is like playing a CG version of say, FFX on the PS2. The demo takes roughly an hour to play too, and gives you a good idea of something much bigger to come.
The movie is well, alright quality wise. I guess if I had not seen it on DVD I would have been more blown away by it.
On: 2009-04-20
About the Film:
I followed Advent Children closely from the first time it was announced some time in 2004. I am a die-hard Final Fantasy fan, and although I would have preferred the sequel to one of the greatest games of all time (Final Fantasy VII) to be, well, a game, I was delighted to see the story continued in a medium with slightly more widespread appeal. Although the writers made an effort to allow this movie to stand on its own, people who have played the game (and remember the plot and characters) will certainly get considerably more out of it.
About This Release:
In production since about 2006, this version of the film, subtitled "Complete" is the Japanese equivalent of a directors cut. In addition to a new high-definition transfer of the film several scenes have been extended or reworked and new scenes have been added to further round out the story and provide more visual flash. It may not seem like much while watching it, but in total the film has been extended by fully a third taking it from 90 minutes to 2 hours running time.
Visuals:
Although excellent, I have to say I was expecting more from the High-Definition release of this movie. My first misgiving is with the inconsistent visual quality. The newly added scenes are generally presented with the kind of sharp visual detail that HD enthsiasts have come to expect. The older scenes, while clearly providing more detail than the DVD release, are missing the clarity that true HD material is capable of, often appearing fuzzy or out of focus. It is not generally noticeable, but it does become an obvious annoyance in a couple of scenes. Arguably this could have been done on purpose, adding a "fuzzy" filter for ambiance, but I doubt they would have intentionally added upscaling artifacts which are present in this film. The most notable instance I can recall is during Tifas scenes, particularly in the church; the aliasing on her hair is more reminiscent of a DVD being upscaled to 1080p than of a new render done in 1080p.
Little touches have been added to further "sell" the quasi-realism that this film is striving to achieve. During battles characters faces get dirty, during one scene flecks of dust in the air created little shimmers.
Story:
While the same story is being told, the added/extended scenes and to an extent the visual enhancements do add a different slant on the plot of Advent Children. While the main points of the story remain unchanged, the plot is made clearer and certain elements which seemed random or unimportant take on new meaning.
[Spoiler alert!]
For example, during a scene a girl carrying a stuffed moogle comes up to Denzel and holds out her hand for him to follow. In the original DVD release, this is really all we see of her, but in the "Complete" release we get to see an earlier scene that reveals she is really trying to make an apology to Denzel for being rude before.
Denzel plays a much more prominent role in this version. It was never clear to me what it was that Cloud was so busy doing before I saw this release, but in this version it is revealed that he was out looking for a cure to the Geostigma so he could help Denzel.
In the DVD release, the Geostigma seemed like little more than a charcoal colored rash that slowly killed people. In this version it is much more sinister, causing sores that ooze sticky black sludge and induces violent convulsions and vomiting of the same black sludge.
[End spoilers]
Ill leave the spoilers at that, but Ive only revealed a couple of the dozen or so plot augmentations that this version of the film brings to the table. Most of them gave me that "Ooooh thats what they meant. I get it now." feeling. Maybe Im just slow, but a lot of these things werent obvious to me in the films original presentation.
Sound:
This film really benefits from the expanded HD audio - more so if you have the equipment to properly decode the newer HD audio formats, but even when down sampled to Dolby Digital, the sound is richer and has much fewer compression artifacts. Some of the music has been remixed slightly and it seems like I heard one or two additional compositions. Many of the songs were written to lock in with certain scenes, and when the scenes were extended, so was the music. I was very impressed with how seamless it all seemed.
Voice acting is one of those things, like pizza toppings, that nobody seems to be able to agree on. I have never been terribly picky about voice acting, but since everyone is different Ill attempt to provide some frame of reference for my opinion. My idea of poor voice acting is the Devil May Cry anime, and my idea of good voice acting is Cowboy Bebop. I think the voice acting is superb in Advent Children. I was particularly delighted to hear the voices chosen for the ancillary characters like Barret, Cait Sith, Red XIII, Yufie, Vincent and Cid. But the actors chosen for main characters Cloud, and Tifa were very good matches for what I imagined the characters from the game would sound.
Extras:
This review is of the Japanese release, and frankly I did not really care enough about the extras to check them out. I watched them once when the DVD release came out and cant be bothered to do it again. This does come with an additional animated "episode" about Denzel. For those of you who want to know absolutely everything there is to know about how a movie was made, you will not be disappointed with the depth.
For me the real attraction in the extras was the inclusion of the Final Fantasy XIII playable demo. Since the PS3 is region free, the Japanese release is very import friendly. (If you dont mind that it is all in Japanese) The U.S. release mentions a Final Fantasy XIII "preview". I dont know if that means that it will be a demo, or an extended trailer. It would be a shame if it was the latter.
Final Thoughts:
I wish all "directors cut" releases could enhance the original presentation as well as Advent Children Complete does. The extra footage catapulted this already great movie firmly into the category of awesome. If you didnt enjoy the first release because you just didnt "get it" then this release may be just what you need to put the pieces together as many of the more vague areas of the plot are clarified. If you loved the first one, then youll love this one even more. About the only thing it is missing is the ability to watch the original release version of the film. Personally that isnt an issue for me but it would have been a nice addition.
Although this review is for the Japanese release, I doubt much will change in the final U.S. version. My reasoning is that the the DVD release was nearly identical for the two territories, and there are only two months between Blu-ray releases.
On: 2009-04-17
I own exactly three copies of Final Fantasy Advent Children: The Limited Collectors edition on DVD, the standard DVD, and this UMD, and the reason for that is because this movie is the best animated movie I have ever seen in my life!
It doesnt matter if youve never heard of Final Fantasy VII or even played the game before. The animation is so ground-breaking, unreal and utterly AWESOME that you wont care about stuff like that.
What youll love is the amazing amount of detail put into the characters and backgrounds, the wicked-cool battle scenes and the fitting, if not unique musical score accompanying all of the "eye candy" overload.
Buy it now. You wont regret it.
On: 2009-04-09
What i want to know if this is the the one that comes with the FFXIII Demo. They said that the japanese version would have a demo and I really want a demo. I hope this is bc i would totally buy it.. :)
On: 2009-04-04
I have read that the June 2nd release date IS for the Complete Edition. Just a little FYI.
On: 2009-04-01
The DVD was in great shape it just took really long to receive it. I understand that I received it within the dates specified. I have purchased quite a few items from Amazon.com and this has got to be the one that took the longest to receive. You can say that I was a bit disappointed. But like I said the DVD was in great shape.
On: 2009-03-28
"Final Fantasy VII" is one of the most groundbreaking, most popular video games of all time -- the adventures of flawed hero Cloud Strife and his companions, struggling to save a very self-aware planet.
Turns out that the battle isnt QUITE over. "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" picks up a couple years later with new threats to the planet and new silver-haired foes (plus one old one). Its an absolutely stunning piece of work -- though the plot takes awhile to fully sink in, its awash in beautifully precise, slightly luminous animation, slam-bang action scenes, and some beautifully complex characters,
People are falling ill with a mysterious disease called Geostigma. And while Cloud is tooling around in the desert, hes suddenly attacked by a trio of silver-haired youths (Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo) who demand to know where "Mother" is. Weirdly enough, they also call him "brother." Plagued by guilt and geostigma, Cloud isnt terribly interested in finding out about the trio or their connection to Jenovas missing head.
But then Loz savagely beats up Tifa in the cathedral, and kidnaps Marlene -- along with all the geostigma-riddled children in Midgar. Unfortunately, Clouds attempt to get back the kids meets with more failure. And as the brother lay waste to Midgar with materia-generated beasts, Clouds friends reunite to stop them. And when Kadaj gets his hands on the head, it resurrects an old enemy who may be able to destroy the entire planet...
"Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" is one of those movies that takes awhile to sink in, and which (at first glance) seems much more complex than it actually is. Its actually a pretty straightforward tale of a hero overcoming his doubts and trying to save the world. But that story is swathed in a heavy dose of symbolism, and many reflections about how you should live for your friends, not mope about the dead.
The writing generally tends toward meditative and slightly poetic ("What I want, Cloud, is to sail the darkness of the cosmos with this planet as my vessel..."), wit a sprinkling of dry humor ("Where can I buy a phone?"). And its crammed with top-notch action scenes -- treetop sword fights, acrobatic motorcycle chases, and a citywide attack from the monstrous Bahamut Sin. The climactic fight is the best: the city is enveloped in a vast cloud of dust and crumbling ruins, as Cloud battles physically and emotionally with his old nemesis Sephiroth.
And the animation is a thing of pure beauty. Square Enix outdid themselves with the clarity and vibrancy of the CGI -- luminous flowers and trees, a grey sky, a ruined city, and eerie smoky monsters that rise up and attack. Even the tiny details -- like the texture of Kadajs leather coat -- are rendered in beautiful detail.
Cloud is a likable tortured hero, who works up from despair to quiet strength -- partly from his friends needing him, and partly from Aeriths occasional admonitions from beyond the grave ("I think... I want to be forgiven... More than anything..."). Most of his friends are cameos in the fight against Bahamut Sin, but the strong-willed Tifa and the mysterious Vincent take strong stands in dragging Cloud back to real life.
But the best characterization is in Kadaj and his brothers -- they have the minds of small children, but the knowledge and bodies of grown men. And to their minds, everything they do is perfectly reasonable. They want their mommy, dangit!
"Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" takes a little while to warm up, but the exquisite animation, good writing and likable heroes keep it moving.
On: 2009-03-22
"Final Fantasy VII" is one of the most groundbreaking, most popular video games of all time -- the adventures of flawed hero Cloud Strife and his companions, struggling to save a very self-aware planet.
Turns out that the battle isnt QUITE over. "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" picks up a couple years later with new threats to the planet and new silver-haired foes (plus one old one). Its an absolutely stunning piece of work -- though the plot takes awhile to fully sink in, its awash in beautifully precise, slightly luminous animation, slam-bang action scenes, and some beautifully complex characters,
People are falling ill with a mysterious disease called Geostigma. And while Cloud is tooling around in the desert, hes suddenly attacked by a trio of silver-haired youths (Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo) who demand to know where "Mother" is. Weirdly enough, they also call him "brother." Plagued by guilt and geostigma, Cloud isnt terribly interested in finding out about the trio or their connection to Jenovas missing head.
But then Loz savagely beats up Tifa in the cathedral, and kidnaps Marlene -- along with all the geostigma-riddled children in Midgar. Unfortunately, Clouds attempt to get back the kids meets with more failure. And as the brother lay waste to Midgar with materia-generated beasts, Clouds friends reunite to stop them. And when Kadaj gets his hands on the head, it resurrects an old enemy who may be able to destroy the entire planet...
"Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" is one of those movies that takes awhile to sink in, and which (at first glance) seems much more complex than it actually is. Its actually a pretty straightforward tale of a hero overcoming his doubts and trying to save the world. But that story is swathed in a heavy dose of symbolism, and many reflections about how you should live for your friends, not mope about the dead.
The writing generally tends toward meditative and slightly poetic ("What I want, Cloud, is to sail the darkness of the cosmos with this planet as my vessel..."), wit a sprinkling of dry humor ("Where can I buy a phone?"). And its crammed with top-notch action scenes -- treetop sword fights, acrobatic motorcycle chases, and a citywide attack from the monstrous Bahamut Sin. The climactic fight is the best: the city is enveloped in a vast cloud of dust and crumbling ruins, as Cloud battles physically and emotionally with his old nemesis Sephiroth.
And the animation is a thing of pure beauty. Square Enix outdid themselves with the clarity and vibrancy of the CGI -- luminous flowers and trees, a grey sky, a ruined city, and eerie smoky monsters that rise up and attack. Even the tiny details -- like the texture of Kadajs leather coat -- are rendered in beautiful detail.
Cloud is a likable tortured hero, who works up from despair to quiet strength -- partly from his friends needing him, and partly from Aeriths occasional admonitions from beyond the grave ("I think... I want to be forgiven... More than anything..."). Most of his friends are cameos in the fight against Bahamut Sin, but the strong-willed Tifa and the mysterious Vincent take strong stands in dragging Cloud back to real life.
But the best characterization is in Kadaj and his brothers -- they have the minds of small children, but the knowledge and bodies of grown men. And to their minds, everything they do is perfectly reasonable. They want their mommy, dangit!
The blu-ray edition promises to be a stunner, if nothing else because the crystal-clear format should be great for the already-gorgeous visuals. The extras for the deluxe Complete edition include trailers, sneak peaks at "Final Fantasy Versus XIII" and "Agito XIII," half hour animated film "Case of Denzel", a "legacy" featurette and a pair of story digests.
"Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" takes a little while to warm up, but the exquisite animation, good writing and likable heroes keep it moving.
On: 2009-01-31
Even tough your not a fan of Final Fantasy VII series, you can still enjoy this movie alot. Good voice Acting, famous characters known around the world, nice action/ fighting scenes, great music, about the storyline, ti may be sonfusing for some who have not played Final Fantasy VII series, but still it is worth it.
On: 2009-01-31
This was a superb movie in all respects. I enjoyed it fully even though I have never played final fantasy 7 (but I own and have played all the other games, except before crisis), but I wholeheartedly am trying to do so. I found some things to be slightly confusing but aside from a couple of lines that were easily understood by reading a plot summary of FF7 it was fairly easy to follow. The impressive animations of the Final Fantasy series is still continuing to amaze me (particularly the animation of the hair). I consider this to be a really great movie, standalone or part of the series.
On: 2009-01-18
I have to say this is one of the most bizarre films Ive ever seen, it utterly makes no sense. You cant just substitute awesome CG action for a coherent story that is uninteresting and has no continuity to it whatsoever. Dont even bother with this movie unless you have played multiple FF games in the past as it will make no sense at all if you have not and is full of the weird sensibilities that the japanese creators of the games have as well as the strange modern japanese sensibilities in general.
The previous FF CG film was great, it had a coherent story that didnt require a detailed knowledge of the FF world and had normal people in it as well as a focused story, this has none of that. Its all over the map with some planet life force and these new age ninja slacker japanese types asking about mother, whatever that means. This film is only good for showing just how beautiful you can make a CG film, like something they play on a huge LCD at a game convention for hours, its not by any means entertainment that most people in the USA would get anything out of.
On: 2009-01-02
The Final Fantasy VII story line has been fleshed out so much since its original release that it seems new all over again with each release. Advent Children is the jumping point from which all the new Final Fantasy VII titles seem to have been launched, even those that are meant to be prequels. Cloud wears his new look well, as does Tifa, although I do miss the original costumes. Aerith is so beautiful in this movie, shes always really inspired me. I like that so many of the original characters reappeared here and that the mythology of the game remains essentially the same as it had been. If youve played Final Fantasy VII and you havent seen this yet, by all means, pick it up.
On: 2008-12-24
Advent Children is simple a piece of art.
I love how the staff of this videogame keeps on taking new stuff and ideas of a futuristic setting and of their unique lovable characters.
A MUST have for Final Fantasy fans, either videogames, anime or manga.
I want more of this kind of stuff and of this same high quality!
On: 2008-12-16
i already have it on dvd but i had to have it in a more convent form, so i go it on umd for my psp. I LOVE THIS MOVIE. recommend this format for anyone that needs a more "portable" version of this movie, if you love it as much as i do. xP
On: 2008-12-15
When I saw this movie, I liked it almost right away. In fact, this is what caused me to become an FF7 fan in the first place. I wasnt clear with the story because I hadnt played Final Fantasy 7 before. Fortunatly, it has an option to watch a type of overview of Final Fantasy 7. Its about twenty five minutes long, but at least I had something go by. Anyhow, the music is excellent, the graphics are really good, and the story is really good. My advice to those who havent played Final Fantasy 7 is to pay close attention to whats happening, and what the characters are talking about.
On: 2008-11-30
overall the movie was great..the action and cg sequences were awesome...its by far one of the better cg movies ive seen and is about equal to Final Fantasy:The Spirits Within...my only complaint was the fact that it was animated with the Japanese language as the characters original language and then translated to English with voice-over..its more of an annoyance when u see the characters mouths speaking japanese..but you hear english...other than that it was well worth the money, and worth watching over and over....especially if you are a Final Fantasy fan..
On: 2008-11-11
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is the best movie ever made by Square Enix I cant tell you how good it is you have to see for your self best hour in a half of your day no questions asked.
On: 2008-10-27
Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children (Two-Disc Special Edition)
This movie is awesome and worth watching. It is completely computer animated and is very Japanese Style. The movie is based off of the Game, Final Fantasy VII and so is rather confusing with out some Final Fantasy background. However, it is still a great, exciting watch.
On: 2008-10-22
Best movie ever, the only movies that come close are Lord of the Rings and Narnia... anyways, I want to start by saying the description is wrong, the movie starts in the city of Edge near midgar... Midgar is toxic and no one lives there any more (not since Meteorfall) except Cloud, who is hiding from his former friends and allies (and some enemies who have changed to the good side), because he is sick with Geostigma. Working as a delivery boy, former enemy Rufus Shinra and two turks Reno and Rude try to hire him as muscle. Remnants of his old enemy Sephiroth are attempting to bring him back, and Rufus is trying to prevent that from happening by keeping the still-living head of Sephiroths alien mother, Jenova, from the remnants. Although shinra and Clouds gang enter an uneasy alliance, they find themselves fighting side by side as the remnants attempt to receive cells from their mother,
therefore becoming sephiroth. The story is lax compared to the game, but the last half of the movie is not-stop action and the first half does have some plot points mixed in with action. i look forward to the blu ray version.
On: 2008-10-20
Note: This review is only for Last Order, the 20 minute extra that comes on the second DVD of the limited edition. The score is not far the average main feature, Advent Children.
-------------------
The first thing that needs to be said is that Last Order, a mere extra created to sell more copies of the limited edition release of Advent Children, is actually vastly superior to what it was designed to help sell. It doesnt say a lot good about Advent Children when it isnt even good enough to better an extra, but Last Order did do what Square Enix wanted and helped sell lots of copies of the limited edition release.
Last Order was one of the very first things I watched on my then brand new 19" monitor, and it was a wonderful experience. Up until that point Id only had a 17" CRT monitor; one that had such bad brightness levels that it was near impossible to see what was going when watching anything remotely dark. The difference between the two monitors was staggering. But what impressed me more than my new monitor was this surprisingly high quality extra that I had discovered at complete random. The art, animation, pacing, music...everything about it impressed me. Watching it made me want to own it, even if it meant paying a daft amount just for 20 minutes due to it only being available with Advent Children.
The story is short and sweet since it wasnt possible for Madhouse to fit too much story into 20 minutes and make it flashy and fast-paced enough to do what Square wanted.
Sephiroth, the best member of SOLDIER (the elite of Shinra) has gone insane, killing nearly everyone in the village he was staying in to complete a mission. This leaves Zack, another SOLDIER member who had gone with Sephiroth to learn from the best and help complete the mission, with the unenviable job of attempting to stop Sephiroth before his insanity causes even more deaths.
Unlike Advent Children, which did an awful job of continuing the story of the most famous game (FFVII) Square have created, Last Order briefly covers the best part of the games story - the Nibelheim disaster. In the game the true story of what happened wasnt revealed in full until near the end, with a flashback near the start having mixed up the events prior to the big reveal. Last Order, however, gets right into what really happened, telling the story from the perspective of Zack; a character key to the main character of the game, and a character who barely featured in the game. The story in Last Order skips the build-up to what led to Nibelheim turning into an inferno because of time constraints, the focus instead being on what happened right after it started at the nearby Mako Reactor. The story also constantly switches from the Nibelheim events to whats happening in the present (of the Last Order story), showing Zack trying to flee from a small army of Shinra troops and the infamous Turks; the Shinra department that deals with the more dirty side of their business.
Aside from selling more copies of the Advent Children limited edition, the other objective was clearly to flesh out the character of Zack in preparation for his lead role in Crisis Core (the prequel to FFVII), and that was accomplished excellently by adding filler that showed him to be the sort of guy whod laugh in the face of death and protect a friend no matter what. The game did give you an idea what type of guy Zack was by including an optional truck scene (FFVII players will understand what Im referring to) that briefly showed Zack chatting away about the future shortly before the fitting and tragic end to his story, but watching the same scene in animated form, after having seen lots of filler flesh out his character, made it much more powerful.
Moving onto the fluff side, the OVA was as high budget as youd expect an animation that only lasts 20 minutes to have been. The art is excellent throughout, the dark/gloomy colours set the mood perfectly, the animation flows without issue and the music is brilliant. Watching this really made me wish that Madhouse had been allowed to create an OVA with more than one episode - it wouldve been brilliant to see Madhouse cover more of the Nibelheim story.
Speaking of looks, the main attraction for FFVII fans is the Zack vs. Sephiroth fight and Madhouse didnt disappoint in creating an exciting fight with very little source material to work with. The fight, which lasted under a minute, put the sleep inducing sword contests in Advent Children to shame. It was paced perfectly, with no needless sword waving/building throwing occurring, and it even had a nice little extra on show for fans of the game - a low level limit break that any fan of the game would recognise. And its also worth mentioning the music that plays during the fight and the end credits - the music, combined with the animation, made my cheeks tingle when I first watched the fight sequence.
All in all, Last Order is a very satisfying and highly enjoyable piece of animation for any fan of the game, or even anyone simply interested in seeing the best part of the game story without going through the game. If you want to watch something FFVII related, make sure its this and not the flashy yet empty main feature.
Rating: 9/10
On: 2008-10-09
this is a great movie. good action and comedy. if u love the game u love the movie. i am big fan of ff7. really good graphics as well.
On: 2008-10-02
this DVD is great~~ I cant believe it has Chinese subtitle on there~~ Its so cool!!!
On: 2008-09-29
The only thing that would be better is, if the movie were on a BlueRay-Disc and not on a DVD.
 On: 2008-09-16
Sigh. I loved FF7. I still play it even today. Its one of my most cherished games. Imagine my excitement when I first heard about a movie sequel to one of my favorite games. I kept my eye on the forums for every scrap of information about the movie before it came out. I was excited. So, why the 2-star review? Well, that would be because of the major dissapointment that this movie really is. When I first watched it I thought it was a great movie, I loved it; it was awesome, then I watched it a second time and actually felt bored and disinterested. I could barely sit through it. Then it dawned on me; if this movie were actually good, I wouldnt be having such a hard time sitting through it.
WARNING! Spoilers be ahead!!!!!
First of all, the plot is a mess. Ive overplayed FF7 (as you should know from what I said earlier), I understand what the references in the movie meant. I dont need to be told who "mother" is or the significant of Sephiroths return. I understand these things. So, my dislike of the plot is not based on my ignorance of in-game references, its based on the fact that the plot stinks. I mean why would there suddenly be all these new Sephiroth clones? Didnt the resurrection of Sephiroth seem forced? Rufus really shouldve stayed dead. Speaking of which, did anyone notice that Aeris (who shouldve been completely dead and returned to the planet) became a sort of Deus ex Machina that completely resolved all plot problems at the end? Overall, the entire movie ended with me feeling that nothing significant took place at all. I dont really feel that this movie added to the story of the game; it feels more like a tacked-on money-making excuse to exploit FF7 fans. Shouldve called it "Final Fantasy VII: Advent of the Money-Making Sequel".
Furthermore, what happened to all my beloved characters?! Cloud is strangely guilty about Aeriss death when he gave no indication of this feeling in the game. He was sad (appropriately) but not guilty. Also, they turned Tifa into a nagging wench. Why? I used to like her (still do in the game). All she does the entire movie is nag Cloud about this and that--youd think that saving the world ought to merit you some free time, but no, Tifa demands he do all the things she wants. As for the other characters, you barely see them at all. Not to mention, that ridiculous scene where they all take turns throwing each other upward is laughable. Speaking of which, the battle scenes are riduculously full of slow-motion and gravity-defying nonsense. I can stand a couple unrealistically high jumps, but the only one who should be able to fly is Vincent.
The only real high point to this movie is the beautiful graphics (thats what earns this 2 stars). They are stunning, and lend themselves to making excellent computer wallpapers. But honestly, given the quality of the rest of this movie, Square-Enix really should have just released a software bundle of some fancy wallpapers and screensavers for all the FF7 fans out there.
On: 2008-08-29
It comes with some freebies which is not bad...and the little novel that came with was one of the reason I like it...even though its not the complete novel
On: 2008-08-28
Ive been a Final Fantasy fan all the way back when my older brothers used to let me "play" the original NES Final Fantasy with an unplugged controller...i was 5 but even then i was in awe with each story told by a legion of warriors trying to save the world.
That was until i played my first pc game in 3d, Final Fantasy 7. I had grown with that mystique around me, with those out of this world moments that you just can see in your mind but cant explain with words. And if i ever had a glimpse of a vision of what those moments would look like, i can honestly say they never looked this good.
Advent Children is by far the best CG Motion Picture created from a game, its the way a sequel is meant to be when put into a film and taking the whole world of Final Fantasy as the canvas to your story telling. Its a complex movie that tries to push the envelope real hard but that in the end sums up what every Final Fantasy game had and involved everyone of us when we played it, a story about honor, courage, valor, ultimately unveiling the power that makes this world survive and keeping a wish to retain all hope and saving it within a fantasy we all have seen.
Great movie
On: 2008-08-18
Loved it! The Limited Edition comes with Last Order, which is a 30 min. anime of Cloud and Zack running from Shinra, FF7 Advent Children script, FF7 Advent Children Novel (it tells about what the gang has been up to in between FF7 the game and FF7 Advent Children. Specifically Barret, Tifa, and Denzel), and some sweet scans of some of the main characters. Super awesome!
On: 2008-07-09
I saw Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within a long, long time ago. I dont remember much about it but I do remember that I enjoyed it and was particularly blown away by the beauty of the CGI. There was no need to play the game and I thought that this would be pretty much the same.
The only place I was wrong was that this movie would have made a lot more sense, and had a lot more meaning, if I had actually played the games or followed the storyline. Because I hadnt there were a lot of references that I missed and I had a tough time following who the good guys and the bad guys were. But by the middle of the movie I seemed to be following things pretty well with an occasional shock here and there.
So if you havent played the game, take it from me, this movie is still worth picking up. The action is pretty intense, the voice characters are pretty good, and the graphics could not be done any better. The storyline seems epic in proportion but if you pay attention I think anybody can get a basic understanding of the overall storyline and plot.
It makes me want to pick up the game and storyline sometime.
On: 2008-07-08
Absolutely amazing. Beautiful graphics and and even better storyline. If you are a HUGE FF7 fan like me, youll love it! c:
On: 2008-06-27
Great movie if youre a fan of FFVII saga. I picked this up to supplement my Crisis Core experience. Loved em both. Good service too.
On: 2008-06-19
Final Fantasy 7:Advent Children looks very good. Better than The Spirits Within, and thats saying something. Its got action, vast cityscapes, and people with hair that moves. And its got monsters and motorbikes, and more action...and yet more action. In fact, theres so much action everything else falls by the wayside, and here lies one of the films biggest failings.
First, it has to be said that if you havent seen Final Fantasy 7 and know a far bit about the world that this adventure takes place in, youre going to be totally lost here, because the movie is a direct sequel to that video game. So, as far as the movie going public goes, thats got to be a pretty small audience, even for a game like this, which was a massive world seller. But thats still not going to get as many bums on seats as your usual futuristic blockbuster. Still, lets assume that youre a bit of an FF fan and youve taken your chances and sat down, looking forward to seeing all your favourite characters come to life, so lets see what you get.
Well, heres what the game gets pretty much right. There they all are, Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, Barrett, etc and they look fantastic. The animation is superb, everyone moves, walks and gestures like a real person. The city (Midgar?) looks authentic and the feeling of familiarity is spot on. This was definitely a labour of love. Theyve even included some of the same musical themes.
Now that youve got over the thrill of the characters coming to life, we can move onto the plot. Oh dear...Erm...well, three silver-haired punks turn up claiming that they want to reunite with Mother and take revenge on the planet. To do that they need to find some left-over cells from the original Jenova project that was behind the trouble in the game. Can our heroes stop them? Well yes, of course, is the answer, and to do so, the film starts with jaw dropping action sequences, and never takes a breath for 90 minutes. Now that might sound great but without any character or plot development in between, the action seems to have as much depth as a vintage side scrolling beat `em up. All that happens in this film, is fight after fight, after fight, after fight! The silver haired baddies come to town and our heroes fight them. And that really is it. Oh they also summon some big bug-like monsters, but just the one type - how cheap is that? I wanted to see classic FF creatures, especially a few summons like Ifrit or Shiva but these generic beasts are nothing I recognised, and they dont even do much. Anyway, Cloud and the gang rip through everything anyway, just pausing momentarily to utter deep and meaningful platitudes about life, destiny and friendship before they get back to leaping on motorbikes or dashing vertically up the outside of tall buildings (like you do) to have a go at the baddies. The action is so outrageously over the top that in a few places you might actually be laughing, but I think such a reaction would not upset the makers, as it is not called "fantasy" for nothing. Theres one standout sequence of a battle against a particularly large flying dragon type thing (the only different monster to the previously mentioned bug things) which has some quite breathtaking shots (if only we could really jump upwards with enough momentum to go that high!), but the rest of the film badly needs some time out from all the excitement to make you care about whats going on.
The film is SO unavoidably for fans only that its impossible for anyone new to the story to get anything out of it. And even someone who knows the original like I do needs a bit more meat on the story than this. I played it twice but still get lost when I try and unravel the plot, and this movie just glosses over everything, which, when you are referencing a game that had about 100 hours of interactive detail, thats a lot of glossing!! You couldnt just walk into this and get it, because the hugely important plot details about Mako, Materia, Jenova, Lifestream, Soldier, Sephiroth and Aeris are not explained in detail at all. All in all, the film is a fans dream, but an under developed one, because its all your favourite characters in one very long and drawn out fight from beginning to end, and all in the same place and at the same breakneck speed. Its also seemingly shot in a palette of mostly grey, black and silver, which doesnt lend much to variety either. Quite exhausting, but ultimately very throwaway.
On: 2008-06-19
This is a goog movie for fans of the Final Fantasy video game series. I wouldnt recomend it for those who are not a fan of the series. The quallity of the animation is great.
On: 2008-06-06
This was a great movie, the picture quality was amazing the intense action and the characters. I have a HDTV and when i watch this on it its amazing the picture is awsome and the surround sound. This was continuen from FF7 the game where it takes you futher into the story, i really like how much action and intensity was in this movie it was so cool, sword fighting, gun action, mid air combat, fast speed explosions, and fun fighting sequences to. This is how i like animation to be, iam really into action like this is its more fun and exiting. This was like so cool its amazing how the creators designed it and made it look so intense, and made the picture hi quality and its even better watching it on a HDTV cause of the effects and picture quality, so this was a awsome movie.
On: 2008-06-05
I love the final fantasy series. ESPECIALLY final fantasy 7. it was a game that truly changed my life. I didnt see the movie when it first came out because I was very bitter that it wasnt a PS3 remake of 7. But I bought it a while ago and had a chance to watch it. The story is very simple to understand if youre a fan of the game. It begins about 2-3 years after the events of the first game (i think, I cant remember the time for sure).
Its filled with brilliant CGI action with traditional anime themes. I enjoyed it, but I realized that it just made me miss playing 7. So I fired up my PSX and played 7 for a few weeks until my fix was fixed.
If you loved FF7 and care about the characters you will like this film. Casual fans of action movies might not appreciate this as much as the die hard constituency of FF fans.
Worth a view, but not a buy. Rent it.
On: 2008-05-16
I absolutely love this movie and when I saw how cheap it was I knew I had to get it before everyone else bought it up. The images that came in the box were nice and the script and novel were also a bonus that I wasnt expecting. This is a must buy for any Final Fantasy collector out there. You wont be disappointed, I sure wasnt! :)
On: 2008-05-09
This is a very cool edition. Finally Last Order has been released in the US. The only bummer is that its not dubbed, only subbed. The additional stories are good. And its fun to see how they write up the story for production. A must have for any fan. ^_^
On: 2008-05-07
I dont know why, but I cannot stop watching this film. Granted I think I like the Japanese with English subs version better, it is simply a breathtaking film. It truly does justice to the franchise. The extra goodies in this box set are awesome, especially the script. The extras on the DVDs are great too. Buy it!
On: 2008-05-05
I`ve seen both the English and Japanese version. And I highly recommend that you watch the Japanese version. The English version is an insult to your ability to hear.
The graphics are what you may expect from the creators of FF.
The Story lacks a real plot, but nonetheless it should keep you entertained througout the movie.
On: 2008-04-25
If you want a beautifully animated movie with no sensical plot whatsoever, then this is for you. Dont get me wrong: Im a huge Final Fantasy fan, and have been awaiting this with bated breath. However, it was a sorry disappointment. The plot was awful. I dont want to go into detail for fear of ruining it for those who havent seen it, but they rarely discussed the plot with any detail and barely brushed the surface of it, which caused a lot of confusion for me and the others who watched it with me. By the end of the movie, I still didnt quite understand what had happened.
All in all, I dont think it was very well thought out. It just seemed like an excuse for cheesy battle scenes and to grab a bit of cash from Final Fantasy VII fans. If youre still interested, I suggest renting it first, because I feel like I totally wasted my money.
On: 2008-04-16
This is the sequel for Final Fantasy VII video game. Its made for fans so if you didnt play the game or dont know some of the game plot then youre probably gonna get confused and bored. You can catch up with the story with the Final Fantasy VII review included on the DVD.
Excellent for those who love CGI animation, this movie is extremelly well done even the reflects on the bike are great.
This edition includes a bit for everybody, it gets the movie and previews for new games for the Final Fantasy VII Saga. The pictures included are grate, they seem as actor pictures. Even the novel and the script covers for those who love read.
Enjoy!
On: 2008-04-14
For me this is the best 3D animation movie of all time.
I highly recommend this movie to everyone.
This Final fantasy(Advent Children) makes the first final fantasy(spirits within) look like Garbage. hehehe...
On: 2008-04-12
First off, let me just say I know nothing at all about the Final Fantasy series (although I did see "Spirits Within") and hate anime. In all fairness, that could be exactly why I thought this movie was such sweet sauce. Im sure the die-hard fans believe the film did an injustice to the franchise.
Watching this flick is the equivallent of watching some really hot chick dance at the bar. You just cant look away.
The CGI is absolutely the best I have ever seen in a movie or on a video game. The creators must have put countless hours in perfecting every detail down to the characters hair. I mean Im talking serious perfection here, when the wind blows you can see individual hairs on the characters head move in the breeze. Flippin amazing.
One of the complaints Ive heard is the lack of a cohesive plot. I never felt lost and I cant think of one animated movie Ive ever seen expecting a compelling and complex plotline. What I do hope for is to see a flick that is mindless entertainment. That is where "Advent Children" more then succeeds.
I assure you, coming from someone who knows nothing regarding Final Fantasy and dislikes anime, this flick will rock your socks.
On: 2008-04-07
This movie is incredible , the plot actually fits in with FF7 and the fight scenes never dissapoint , not too much talking and not too much fighting, this movie can get boring after watching it a few times but its still well written and played out.
On: 2008-04-07
I was really surprised at how inexpensive this was and what fantastic quality. This is one video my teens have watched every single day for the past month.
On: 2008-03-29
I got this for my son and he seemed to like it alot. I havent watched it so all I can say is that 13 year old boys seem to like it
On: 2008-03-28
The entire FF series pisses me off. The one thing i hate most is the timeless timeline. they have guns and swords, horses and motorcycles. and now to the film. No story, No character styling and the only thing, the only thing it has going for ir are the stolen graphics from Spirits Within.
On: 2008-03-28
I loved this movie, as a fan of ff7 this movie was great. The action scenes were amazing and the way it looked was breathe taking. I would recommend this movie to anyone who liked the ff7 game or any Final Fantasy products. This movie is definitely worth the money.
On: 2008-03-04
This collectors edition is well worth the money. I played Final Fantasy VII and this movie presents a interesting story about what happened several years after the game. The plot is interesting and the computer generated details are exquisite. The extras are nice as well. There are 10 postcards , the script in English, and a short novel. The novel acts as a bridge between the game and the movie; it has short stories about Barret, Denzel, Tifa, and Cloud. These short stories are OK, but they only really cover the people I mentioned. The extras on the DVD are nice, they include scenes from Final Fantasy VII, interviews with the people who created Advent Children, and the anime Last Order. I would recommend this set if you really enjoyed Final Fantasy VII.
On: 2008-02-27
Okay, for those who dont already know, this is a CGI sequel to the popular Playstation RPG Final Fantasy VII. If you want a plot summary, look it up on Wikipedia, but dont expect to understand it fully without experiencing the game yourself. Essentially, two years after the games close, Cloud and the gang find themselves confronted with a trio of whiny, yet surprisingly tough, silverhaired crazies with a plot that involves the children of Midgar, the ever-present Lifestream, and their search for "Mother"--or at least, whats left of her.
Now, this is an entertaining film. Theres a massive amount of action, an interesting storyline (for FFVII veterans, not so much for newbies; see below), and some really, really good animation. I couldnt leave my seat for the duration of the film. Theres a good bit of humor (both intentional and otherwise; half of the trios dialogue revolves around "Mother," and about two-thirds through the film, I spontaneously shouted "MOMMY!" It actually fit perfectly with the scene...), plenty of drama, and fight scenes galore. The music is great as well, though a good deal of it is ripped from the FFVII Piano Collection.
The major problem is the films inaccessibility to newcomers to the story. Things get very confusing if youve never played the game, and while scanning a Wikipedia article helps, I worry it might become too much for an FFVII virgin to understand.
Still, Id definitely reccomend buying the film. Its a good hour and a halfs worth of entertainment, and hell, the cost is now down to $8 USD. Its worth it.
On: 2008-02-23
Wish the movie was longer (the rest of the FF7 cast make cameos at the end of the movie) to fight a creature their attacks seem useless
against (except Clouds). Id have liked to have seen more of them through out
the film (but it was mostly about Cloud). The second disk was junk. Could have had a second movie/all kinds of goodies. Instead, bits & piece like a few deleted scenes etc. Well at least it was "Final Fantasy," unlike that crappy Spirits Within. A.C. just left me wanting more, but the visuals/action/voice acting were A+.
On: 2008-02-19
This film is amazing. Usually japanese anime is silly and ridiculous, but this movie was very beautiful and poetic. Ive always had some interest in playing FF7 but never got around to it. Im glad they made this movie because now I feel like I have enjoyed FF7 without actually slogging through the primitive game for 60 hours. They made the male characters super beautiful. In fact they looked better than the females. At first all the CGI characters seemed like strange, innocent androids who had replaced the real humans, but by the end of the movie I was thinking of them as humans. I hope there are other great Japanese CGI movies like this one and that they will make many more. I think this is definitely the direction they should go with anime from now on. It is so much better than traditional hand-drawn anime. Oh and I really liked that their eyes were normal size instead of huge.
On: 2008-02-14
This film is undoubtedly one of the best animated films in history.
However, AMAZON
When I received my item with my four books, I found that the shrinkwrap around the whole 5 items was too tight, and created unsightly white wear marks on the edges of this beautiful collection. It made the set look very used. The cover is BLACK, not that crimsonish red color (just for those obsessed with appearances).
TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, I think this set is overpriced. The DVDs themselves are the SAME as the two-disk special edition (which, btw, is just over 10 dollars). You get 10 pictures that are the size of the box (which you can easily download online...) and has 2 very thin books (one is the script, and the other is the novel). Each book is printed on very glossy, high-end paper, but they are only 1/4" in thickness. Overall, the 10 pieces of artwork + script + novel = 17 dollars. I think that is NOT such a great deal CONSIDERING AMAZON DAMAGED THE PRETTY BOX IT ALL CAME IN.
Also, if you live in cold weather, be sure to take the set in right away. The delivery people left mine out 4 hours before I went to get it (it was around 10 degrees out there... snow was fresh on the ground).
Overall, the film is EXCELLENT (just read the other reviews), but the packaging done by Amazon was horrendous. Ive ordered from Amazon 50 some times and this is the first time that I have EVER been so disappointed. I cannot return it now because the shrinkwrap around the box is gone. Just be careful if you are ordering, and consider buying the 2-disk edition if youre tight on money. This isnt a VERY special edition.
On: 2008-02-08
This is a great great great movie. It is for fans of Final Fantasy 7 (FF7). Yes, you should have played it, or seen someone play it before watching this or it wont make sense. This movie provides a resolution to the story that started in FF7. The animation is spectacular, it has fight scenes similar to the fighting scheme in the game, which I think is the best part, and the characters remain true to the game. The only problem with this movie was the story, it was somewhat confusing and a little farfetched (in that it didnt make much sense). Otherwise, this is exactly the kind of movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Should have been.
On: 2008-02-07
Dont let anyone tell you otherwise. If youre a final fantasy fan, you should love this, unless you are among the most devoute of those fans...then you may be used to learning about your characters though 50+ hours of a videogame instead of in a 1.5 hour movie.
You will not find some deep seeded and incredibly passionate story. There is a story and its not hard to follow, but you dont get much time to develop it in this film.
The CGI is amoung the best Ive seen. Though the "spirits within" movie might have been more convincing that its characters were actual people, this movie was designed to look more like the game characters.
The colors are amazing and the fight choreography-mind blowing. thought the script has minimal complexities and has many one liners that youd think are child worthy.
Personally, I give it 5 starts for being everyhting I thought it would be: non linear at times, happy-go-lucky with some of its humor, drastically tragic...and remember, final fantasy, be it tactical, strategy or whatever you wish to call it, is a fighting game. And in this movie, the fights have never impressed me more.
Do not watch this for the story that you grow to love in any final fantasy game. Watch this for a very simple final fantasy feel and a whole lot of action.
On: 2008-01-20
No matter if you are an FF series player or by the contrary never in your entire life had the chance to introduce yourself to the genere. This movie will simply get you seat down on your sofa from title to credits.
On: 2008-01-18
I am in awe of doing business through Amazon and their affiliate shops. My service has always been better than cut rate providers off of the net. I definitely have learned to love i-net shopping. I ordered several gifts for my daughter around Christmas and they came on the 24th as promised. The dvd I ordered was beautiful, absolutely beautiful with no scratches or scuffs on the case or cd. I had gotten a bargain and will continue to shop here.
On: 2008-01-18
Ive been so excited to get this. Ever since it was first announced, a good 3ish years before it was released.
I love the movie, and the bonus materials rock too. Lots of good back/side-story.
On: 2008-01-15
My husband is a Final Fantasy fanatic so he LOVES this. The box & contents are really high quality (which is not common, even in limited editions!). The postcards are very good quality printing and my husband said that the content on the DVDs is great.
On: 2008-01-12
This is an excellent movie. its a direct continuation of the Final Fantasy VII story. It is set 2 years after the end of the game. The filmmakers made sure to include all the main characters of the video game, and introduce new characters well.
The special features are cool. There is a nice behind the scenes look at the film making process. They also include the trailers that were shown at the Venice Film Festival. Plus, there are previews of Final Fantasy VII games.
This movie is a must have for any FF7 fan. If you loved the game, you will love the movie. If you didnt play the game, you will still love the movie.
On: 2008-01-11
Ive been a huge fan of the Final Fantasy line for many years now, so when this release came out I rushed to buy my own copy. When it came to the graphics, I was more than impressed. They were remarkable in every way, which made me glad for purchasing this selection. As for the story plot, I was slightly disappointed because it really didnt expand much on the characters. Still, to think that a 1 1/2 - 2 hour movie could compete with the original game, which consisted of hours upon hours of game play, would be ridiculous. I wouldnt neccessarily suggest this one to anybody who isnt familiar with FF7 just because itd be confusing trying to figure out who the characters are and their significance (mostly when they all show up on Cids airship). Otherwise, if you played the game and liked it, then dont hesitate. Buy it.
On: 2008-01-08
WOW grapphics are just wow! it was so great that they finally got to make a movie! it was a little bit short but very interesting to watch. it has two disc because you have to understand a bit where final fantasy comes from for those who never played the game. but dont worry you will catch up with what they made for you.
Delivery very quick and factory sealed. brand new
On: 2008-01-07
Well if you havent already seen the movie then definitely watch it if you played the Play Station game. If you already have, this box set has some pretty nifty extras. The script isnt really too interesting, but the post cards can be nice collectibles. Looks great on the shelf.
On: 2008-01-02
AT FIRST I HAD NO IDEA WHAT THEIS MOVIE WAS ABOUT AND I ONLY BOUGHT IT BECAUSE OF THE GAMES. AFTER WATCHING IT I WAS COMPLETLY PULLED IN BY THE CATION AND THE PLOT. ITS AN EXCELLENT MOVIE FOR KIDS, WITHOUT VULGAR LANGUAGE AND NO NUDITY. BY FAR THE BEST ANIMATED MOVIE I HAVE SEEN IN A WHILE.
On: 2007-12-23
Im gonna ask you a guestion, have you ever seen one of those obscure films that supposedly has a deeper meaning? Well this is kinda like one of those, except one problem, it has no meaning at all. In fact, it doesnt even attempt to have a meaning, a reason for its own existence even. Thats just the thing, its doesnt need too. You see, it has cool CGI, and thats all it needed to keep its target audience enthralled.
The point of this film, is about "mother". From the beginning to finale, all that anybody talks about is "mother". Now you never really understand what the existance of "mother" has to do with the rest of the plot (which constists of this sickness infecting children), but all in all it does.
Now, the creators of the film expect people to be enthralled in finding out what mother is, whats gonna happen to the characters and such. They expect to achieve this with no backround to the story, no character development, and no sense of pacing at all. The film is so sure of itself, so blatantly arrogant of the powers it believes it posesses, it doesnt even bother to make sure the viewer is interested, or even has some sense of caring for the character at all. Its like watching the second half of a movie.
Now some of you are probably saying, hey man, this was intended for FF fans only. Hear me out, part of the art of making a sequel (or continuation) is giving people who are new to the story a chance to jump into the story by explaining it, and this film does an awful job at it, it doesnt even attempt to care about new audience.
In the end, I have to get down to what Im trying to say. This movie sucked, not even its cliche, overdone action sequences could save it. It was a good looking mess. A good looking visual effects extravaganza, but even more so, a huge, steaming, piled up mess. Now the question is, whos gonna clean it up?
On: 2007-12-09
This moview was amazing, any action fan and ANY Final Fantasy fan will love this move.
On: 2007-12-05
To be honest, I was disappointed by this "collectors edition" and shouldve stayed happy with the original I got. I will not comment on the movie because it is decent; however, all the extra stuff that come with this edition are a big disappointment.
Why do people love anime and japanese RPGs? In my opinion, fantastic artworks gotta be the answer. However, the two booklets (novel and script) contain page after page of text, and the only "artwork" in these are the FFVII logos on the cover.
Then these postcards. I dont know about you, but the character that I like the most is Aerith, and Red XIII is cool as well. But no sire, there is no Aerith!!!! (WTF???) Nor is there Red XIII on the postcards. Its all about cloud, sephiroth, barret, and those shinra weirdos whose names I dont even care to remember... who gives a damn about them??? What about Tifa, you ask? Well, yes, she has her postcard alright, but she looks so depressed, as if she were the evil twin of the Tifa from FF7 the game.
There goes my $30+...
On: 2007-11-27
Im very pleased with my selction that I made, even though postal workers could be a little more careful with the packages that they handle. Thee edges on the item that i purchased where banged up. Thank you though its the item that I wanted
On: 2007-11-02
The animation is great but the film has no story. I purchased this to view the graphic beauty but came away empty. It is not too deep to understand, just disjointed sort of like a group of clips put together as outtakes and assembled to make a sort of story. It may make a good rental if youre really into animation but dont expect to see Final Fantasy The Spirit Within which has a superior story and voice acting but not quite as realistic an animation style. I would give Final Fantasy VII Advent Children five stars for animation and just about zero for story. That equaly a one star movie to me.
On: 2007-11-01
The animation is great but the film has no story. I purchased this to view the graphic beauty but came away empty. It is not too deep to understand, just disjointed sort of like a group of clips put together as outtakes and assembled to make a sort of story. It may make a good rental if youre really into animation but dont expect to see Final Fantasy The Spirit Within which has a superior story and voice acting but not quite as realistic an animation style. I would give Final Fantasy VII Advent Children five stars for animation and just about zero for story. That equaly a one star movie to me.
On: 2007-10-22
Well, I would say there are so many things to tell you about this amazing DVD collection, but I hate to be spoiled and dont want to do the same to you, so...
Well, its an absolutely impressive masterpiece and tells the tale of what happened after you - or at least most of you - finished FF VII on PS one.
If you are a fan there is only one thing left to say:
BUY THIS PIECE OF HEAVEN FOR YOUR COLLECTION!!!
On: 2007-10-18
This movie was full of characters from most of the popular FF games, but lacked a true story line. Was easy on the eyes but heavy on the wallet. Will wait until a real full feature movie of FF flair comes to air and proves to be worth purchasing.
On: 2007-10-04
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is something unique. Most of the time stories are watered down so that viewers who are not familer with the mythos can still get into the story, if you are not a Final Fantasy VII fan you will not get this story! You need at the very least a passing famileraity with the game. And if your a fan of the game and this movie theres no point in wasting time and money with the standerd edition you can find anywhere. The Limited Edition Collectors Set has a whole slew of goodies for die hard fans making it a real collecters edition and not just a more expensive one. To me the best although brifest was the Last Order anime.
Now for the bad news I hear theres going to be a Hi-Def and/or Blue Ray version with even more goodies... Square-Enixs apperently dosent mind jerking our chians to find out how much cash we got in our pockets.
On: 2007-09-29
Great movie, it made me feel dizzy the first time I watched it. Thigs were moving too fast.
by: wiredweird On: 2007-09-28
This leaves little room for criticism in the quality of animation. Human and animal motion are quite convincing, and cloth and hair effects have never been better. The gray grunge of a crumbling urban world comes through well - sometimes the subdued palette tells the story better than brighter colors could. The only disappointment in the animation came towards the end, when peoples hair and clothes were immersed in water. I was waiting to see how the animators would present it. Apparently, the characters all use a shampoo based on Scotch-Guard, so their locks remained loose and wispy even after complete immersion. Likewise, clothes soaked in water never took on the waterlogged look I hoped for. Still, the animation stands at the peak of current technology.
On top of that, I applaud the ecological consciousness of this movie. It uses 100% recycled plot elements; no new ideas were harmed in the making of it. Big cool motorcyles, oddly oversized and elaborate weaponry, flying-swordsman fight scenes, earth at risk from mans greed, super-secret government lab creating the ultimate warrior - you get the idea.
I enjoyed watching this once. I cant think of any reason to see it again.
-- wiredweird
On: 2007-09-27
This leaves little room for criticism in the quality of animation. Human and animal motion are quite convincing, and cloth and hair effects have never been better. The gray grunge of a crumbling urban world comes through well - sometimes the subdued palette tells the story better than brighter colors could. The only disappointment in the animation came towards the end, when peoples hair and clothes were immersed in water. I was waiting to see how the animators would present it. Apparently, the characters all use a shampoo based on Scotch-Guard, so their locks remained loose and wispy even after complete immersion. Likewise, clothes soaked in water never took on the waterlogged look I hoped for. Still, the animation stands at the peak of current technology.
On top of that, I applaud the ecological consciousness of this movie. It uses 100% recycled plot elements; no new ideas were harmed in the making of it. Big cool motorcyles, oddly oversized and elaborate weaponry, flying-swordsman fight scenes, earth at risk from mans greed, super-secret government lab creating the ultimate warrior - you get the idea.
I enjoyed watching this once. I cant think of any reason to see it again.
-- wiredweird
On: 2007-09-25
Best DVD purchase Ive made for myself...downloading this one for free will only get you hooked into wanting to buy it feverishly!
On: 2007-09-12
You should probably be a fan of F.F. VII to fully enjoy this I spent over 100 hours on the game so I loved it you must watch the japanese version (they leave some sound effects out of the dubbed version)
On: 2007-09-07
Bought for my son as a gift. He loves it and has watched it several times by himself and with his friends. They tell me it is way cool!!!
On: 2007-08-11
Anything to fulfill the constant craving for all things Final Fantasy (especially VII) is always welcome. A fantastic movie in all senses. Recommended to movie lovers and video game lovers alike.
On: 2007-08-10
This is a movie targeted at FF7 lovers. You will see your favorite heroes come back from retirement and battle an old evil.
The storytelling is not particularly elaborated, and casual fans might get completely lost on the plot. It, however, has some 5 minute, fast-track, mind-refresher video of the important events in the original FF7 game.
On: 2007-08-02
This is the latest special limited edition released in the US. Beautifully crafted, designed and packed as a collectors box-set. There are loads of extras in these 2 DVDs set. Scripts, books and exclusive postcards available only for this edition. The recording is in high-defination resolution. A must for all Final Fantasy and CG Animation fans. A value-for-money package.
On: 2007-07-31
Final Fantasy VII is back. This is high anima action. any FF7 Must have this DVD!!!!!!!!!!!
On: 2007-07-25
This movie will have you more confused than an old guy in a computer store. The graphics are good (though nothing in comparison to the spirits within) and the fighting scenes are impressive. overall decent, but between advent children and spirits, spirits wins hands down
On: 2007-07-19
If you are a fan of the Final Fantasy titles from the Playstation 1 days, youre going to watch this sometime. If you felt confused and empty about FFVIIs ending, you are defintely going to watch this.
The best CGI made movie I have ever seen. It is great to see these characters that you used to level up, equip, and actually gave a damn about be revamped from the deformed pixle polygons that kept you busy for many hours into very life like CGI. My favorite scene and also one that I always wanted to see, was Cloud vs Sephiroth. "Oh %&$#!" was the only thing I could say as I stared at my two favorite characters duke it out once again. Some of my friends thought the flying around bit was kinda cheesey. I just simply said, theyre at maxed out levels. (insert haha)
But, thats when the story and plot come in. It... kinda sucked, and made not much sense. If they worked on it to be a satisfactory plot, it probably would end up as a 4 hour movie,...or another game. This did have a better ending than FFVIIs original one though.
The big bonus I thought about this dvd, was the FFVII story recolection feature. It sort of helps people new to this game understand it, but not really. Hoever, I loved it because of the memorable recap.
On: 2007-07-18
One of the best choices ive ever made. The set includes cards with various photos of characters from the movie and art. Also included is the script and the novel about the movie. One of the best jobs ive seen done yet and ive never really seen anything less when it comes to the Final Fantasy guyz. If this is your thing pick it up, you wont regret it.
On: 2007-07-12
Any fan who spent HOURS on FF VII will definitely find this enjoyable. Even if you have stopped playing a long time ago and forgot some of the story (shame on you) the disc has you covered with the reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII. Im not going to go into the plot, but lets just say the characters are beautiful and just as you remember (because cussing out Cloud for being the wishy-washy Charlie Brown of Final Fantasy is part of our love) Dont look for too much depth, but great graphics, great action, wonderful voice acting (Sakurai-san is awesome) and enough story for you to rekindle your love for the series and characters. I watch it obsessively, and once you see it, youll know why. A true best buy for any SQUARE junkie.
On: 2007-07-11
Any fan who spent HOURS on FF VII will definitely find this enjoyable. Even if you have stopped playing a long time ago and forgot some of the story (shame on you) the disc has you covered with the reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII. Im not going to go into the plot, but lets just say the characters are beautiful and just as you remember (because cussing out Cloud for being the wishy-washy Charlie Brown of Final Fantasy is part of our love) Dont look for too much depth, but great graphics, great action, wonderful voice acting (Sakurai-san is awesome) and enough story for you to rekindle your love for the series and characters. I watch it obsessively, and once you see it, youll know why. A true best buy for any SQUARE junkie.
On: 2007-07-09
I love this movie, I love watching it. its great to see all the characters in FF VII in FMV!
On: 2007-07-04
First of all let me just say that my expectations were not too high for this movie. I, as we all should, have considered that this movie is a sequel to one of the most renowned games of our time - Final Fantasy 7 - and as such I didnt expect it to surpass any such kind of sparkling record.
However, even with my lenient expectations for this film, I found that I was thoroughly disappointed with it. And anyone should be, because the simple movie fundamentals that we all would normally expect to see in a film (i.e. feasible plot, character development, sensible dialogue, ...) were not to be found here. It should always raise a red flag when the dialogue seems to be more about getting to the next fight sequence than about the actual plot or related to the plot. And when the preceding plotline of Final Fantasy 7, which this film is supposed to follow, is taken into consideration the more complex, series-related inconsistencies add a deeper confusion to the already fundamentally underdeveloped film.
As I feared would happen, this movie most seems like a final attempt by Square to squeeze all the money from the Final Fantasy 7 fanbase for all its worth while riding off the fame Final Fantasy 7 the game has brought them. In other words, this film resembles the infamous "filler" episodes that we all fear, but even worse since it is a poorly developed filler.
As you will see, this film captures its audience purely with its magnificent graphics. While I too agree that the graphics used to render this film are absolutely astounding, I am inclined to remind the human race that there is more to life than the "shiny shiny!"
Additionally, I expected at the least to enjoy some original, and generally absolutely beautiful, masterpieces of music from famed Final Fantasy 7 game composer Nobuo Uematsu. But even here I found that I was disappointed and thoroughly surprised at the same time. The music in this film, again composed majorly by Nobuo Uematsu, did not reach or even get near the quality of the classic compositions from the Final Fantasy 7 game. An entirely new sort of emotional quality was present in the Advent Children soundtrack - one which resembles a typical poor quality action movie.
Folks, Im sorry to break it to you, but this is why Nobuo Uematsu is leaving Square. In his own words, Mr. Uematsu has revealed that the company is moving too quickly for his taste. And to that, I salute you Nobuo Uematsu. Always revel in quality, not quantity.
On: 2007-07-03
First of all let me just say that my expectations were not too high for this movie. I, as we all should, have considered that this movie is a sequel to one of the most renowned games of our time - Final Fantasy 7 - and as such I didnt expect it to surpass any such kind of sparkling record.
However, even with my lenient expectations for this film, I found that I was thoroughly disappointed with it. And anyone should be, because the simple movie fundamentals that we all would normally expect to see in a film (i.e. feasible plot, character development, sensible dialogue, ...) were not to be found here. One should always be concerned when the dialogue seems to be more about getting to the next fight sequence than about the actual plot or related to the plot. And when the preceding plotline of Final Fantasy 7, which this film is supposed to follow, is taken into consideration the more complex, series-related inconsistencies add a deeper confusion to the already fundamentally underdeveloped film.
The combat, which this movie prides itself, is uninventive and unstylistic. Usually the camera will be flipping around the battle so quickly and without any dramatic direction that you wont really be too sure what exactly just happened other than combat took place. Everything else weve seen again and again - a mixture of combat styles taken from certain films like the Matrix and applied to a completely irrelevant story/world, creating a world lacking in style and uniqueness of its own.
As I feared would happen, this movie most seems like a final attempt by Square to squeeze all the money from the Final Fantasy 7 fanbase. In other words, this film resembles the infamous "filler" episodes that we all fear, but even worse since it is a poorly developed filler. This is because this film neither develops or builds upon the characters or world. And even worse, this film doesnt provide any new perspective on any themes or ideas. In fact, the only theme that really exists in this film is good versus evil. This may have been a satisfactory theme back when I was determining my personal values (Say... age 6) but now, as a mature adult, they feel more and more infantile each day.
As you will see, this film captures its audience purely with its magnificent graphics. While I too agree that the graphics used to render this film are very well done, I am inclined to remind the human race that there is more to life than the shiny shiny. Might I also remind that Square already released a movie with this quality of graphics - "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within." With this in consideration, this movie needs to offer more substance than graphics simply alone. Weve seen this already!
Additionally, I expected at the least to enjoy some original, and generally absolutely beautiful, masterpieces of music from famed Final Fantasy 7 game composer Nobuo Uematsu. But even here I was surprised to find such a disappointment. The music in this film, again composed majorly by Nobuo Uematsu, did not reach or even resemble the quality of the classic compositions from the Final Fantasy 7 game. An entirely new sort of emotional quality was present in the Advent Children soundtrack - one which resembles a typical poor quality action movie. In this I mean that it is void of artistic quality, emotional presence, and dramatic significance. Even worse, select tones in the soundtrack are hardly even varied, creating a sort of dull, monotone feel to the whole lot. The only tracks that actually show creativity and artistry are too poorly placed in the film to evoke any emotional connectivity with the plot.
Folks, Im sorry to break it to you, but this is why Nobuo Uematsu is leaving Square. In his own words, Mr. Uematsu has revealed that the company is moving too quickly for his taste. And to that, I salute you Nobuo Uematsu. Always revel in quality, not quantity.
On: 2007-06-28
This is the kind of movie that you will want to watch more than once - at times, the action goes by quickly, and people that played through the Playstation game will probably pick up on more than other viewers ... there is so much incredible detail that was put into this movie that its hard to appreciate it, or even pick up on all of it with just one viewing
I disagree that watchers who havent played the game wont necessarily be interested in this - I agree that there are plenty of tie-ins to the game, but its not that difficult for viewers to figure out whats going on, and the complex relationships between the characters become obvious as the movie plays out ... this movie is so well made and complete that its easy to become attached to the characters without knowing them from the game
The sound track is superb - the use of heavy metal all the way to opera and how its all used together in ways is just amazing ... and the clever use of a few FFVII game sound effects at perfectly placed times was hilarious in one scene, (for those who havent played the game, listen for one of the main characters cell phone ring tone)
I cant say enough good things about the story line and the `acting - the voiceovers are second to none ... the action sequences are just breathtaking and the plot progresses evenly, quickly and with a lot of detail (knowing the back story isnt necessary, but is helpful to fully understand the relationships)
Ive watched this in both the English and Japanese versions, and both are excellent - once you see it a few times in English, give the Japanese a try
I would highly recommend this to anyone ... and like another reviewer of this movie, I also downloaded it before it came to the US - but, I also suggest anyone who DLs this to buy the DVD to support Square-Enix - this is revolutionary movie making, and we need to show our support so they continue to produce titles like this ... plus, the original DVD has deleted scenes and trailers that are well worth the small price
So, as stated earlier, even if you downloaded this, BUY THE DVD!
On: 2007-06-27
products from amazon are always topnoych quality. Its just like walking into a department store.
On: 2007-06-18
If you have ever played the game, you probably had a few questions at the end. This box set contains some of the answers...a must for any fan.
On: 2007-06-08
I just ordered this set and cant wait to get it. Anyway, this is a great set for those who love Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy VII in particular as this is part of that series. I already have the game, Dirge of Cerberus, a figurine, now this and the set. Its a great series for fans and the movie itself is great. I have the standard one of the movie and watch it all the time. I highly recommend this to Final Fantasy or just FFVII fans or those who like action movies...though I highly recommend playing the game first so you know whats going on or read about the events of the game.
On: 2007-05-31
One of the only movies i have watched 3 times in a row after getting it. When i look for good movies i look for the little things you dont notice at first, AC is full of this and a worthy addition to anybodys collection.
On: 2007-05-17
I was needlessly "hyped" over the Final Fantasy VII movie. I was a fan of the first game, and a movie version seemed to be a dream come true. However, there was little new in the movie, and even so it seemed fan service. Only a dedicated fan would appreciate it. Other passerby would only stop, curious, just to see the graphics. However, there is little else to recommend it.
On: 2007-05-17
If you are a ffvii fan you will love this
On: 2007-05-14
The history of the movie is excellent, the quality, definition, graphics, efect and songs are incredible, square - enix was showing are the number one in the used of technology CGI, the graphics are amazing, really the movie is incredible with a history of fantasy ingenious and an use of technology that never nobody would be able to imagine
On: 2007-05-14
This movie is an awesome addition to any video game/anime fanatics collection. I bought the original movie when it came out in Japan, and also have the US domestic version (for the sake of having all versions), and recently purchased this item a few weeks ago due to it having "Last Order" and novel. My only complaint is that the postcards included are not the best pictures, and I would have preferred more of the main team, rather than Kadajs gang. However, for the sale price I purchased it for, I will not sulk about it for too long. I support anything FF7 and would encourage others to do so. This could mean more prequels, sequels, side stories!
On: 2007-05-09
Great conditions! Have the regular U.S. Version and Japanese Version but this one takes the cake in all . . . TWO THUMBS UP!
On: 2007-05-07
I have been a fan of the FF series and love the CG anime. This one blows my mind. The graphics were better on "The Sprits Within", but the story lacked. This one has almost on par with graphics but has a good story with a lot of good action scenes. A thunderball from the start.
On: 2007-04-25
I have been a fan of final fantasy since the NES games all the way to the online and the lastest installment. I even download emulators to play the japanese verisons that did not came to the u.s. I actually found the movie to be too long... like other reviewers mentioned, it would have been better to make a movie based on the game and not a sequel. The story is not too deep and many parts I actually found boring.
Good graphics, they did have something to work with but didnt manage it right.
On: 2007-04-13
Fans of any of the Final Fantasy games will likely enjoy this movie, as will fans of the realistic computer-generated films, including this ones predecessor, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. I never played the games, and I had no major problems understanding the plot of the movie, as there is a fairly helpful voice-over intro that explains the basic world and the current problem and nemesis. For those who need more background, watch the Special Features Disk first; it has an overview of most of the games, done in sprite format (seems to be cut and pasted from the different major cut scenes). It will fill in a lot of gaps, for those who want to know whats going on in more detail before they watch the film. The character designs are lovely, and the plot is engaging. I am generally a fan of subtitles, but in this case, both the Japanese and English language versions are equally pleasant and in-character for lack of a better word, with the exception of Sephiroth in the English (he sounds sick). Overall the movie is visually stunning, with a detailed enough plot and interesting enough characters to make it worth watching over and over.
On: 2007-04-12
The Limited Edition is worth the money for any FF fan. The extras you get are nice as well as you get a little more background info on the characters between the game and movie. In my opinion it was worth spending more for the LE set over the regular 2 disc set. I would recomend the LE set to any collector or FF fan.
On: 2007-04-10
I purchased this product since I do love all things Final Fantasy. Yes, the Movie remains the same but the extras are things that most serious colectors should not do without. The anime feature "Last Order" is one of the main reasons that I picked this up as it explains a lot about Clouds past. The overall presentation of the box set is beautiful. 5 stars for the FF fanatic and 3 for the casual fan.
On: 2007-04-01
Bit the bullet and went ahead and got this. Id already seen Advent Children but didnt own it. Im glad I got this because its got great extra features such as interviews and Last Order. I really like the extra features but I dont think Id get this if I already owned Advent Children DVD but if you dont got the original and you still want the DVD like I did, Get This. Cool Stuff.
On: 2007-04-01
I owned the first DVD of Advent Children and I can tell you that buying this Limited Edition is well worth the price of admission. The extras in the box are of superb quality and the english script is a great addition for those who like to put on their own "Fan Fiction" plays.
Of course anyone reading these reviews want to know one thing... is it really worth it to pay the price just for 2 books and some pictures? well thats not the only thing you get with this set, the DVDs themselves have been remastered (or at least from what I can tell). The bonus disk in this set now has the "Last Order" anime movie that helps as a quick refresher to the story of Zack, but lack of an english language track and just having subtitles might leave a few in the cold (though if you watch anime on a regular basis you know its the only way to watch it).
The Movie itself will go down as a technical marvel. The story a non Final Fantasy Fan might not get without some research. However a seasoned vet will have already bought this set even without reading the review. The quality of the movie is amazing, I owned the set before this and it looked like any other DVD... no better and not less. This set however I instantly noticed a more richer color and more defined areas, on my DVD player of choice it looks like an HD movie.
In conclusion, if you are a Pixar / Shreck / Happy Feet fan, you might be in for a shock for what this movie has.
The Graphics: Blow anything any other movie has done to this point.
The Action: Defy the bounds of reality but at the same time is slick, smooth, and in a grand kick booty fashion.
The Story: If you have never heard nor played Final Fantasy VII then you might need to do some research before purchasing as far as the story goes, this is a sequel meant mostly for those who played the game.
Regional Language: Probably the only and most annoying part of the whole disk is that the English language track seems as though it is a second off from the lip movement of the characters. The English cast did a good job, just seems out of sync. You might want to go into Otaku Mode on this one (Japanese Audio with Subtitles)
For me, it was well worth the buy and if you buy it for a fan or if you are a fan, youll enjoy it too.
On: 2007-03-31
Solo para quienes han seguido esta serie, van a poder disfrutar completamente este empaque, ya que que la pelicula se desarrolla muy rapido y sin explicaciones algunas sobre la trama, movimientos o hasta del vestuario y epoca, incluso poder vincular a los personajes relacionados con los video juegos de esta serie. Adicionalmente podran disfrutar del empaque, postales de coleccion y material adicional sobre la pelicula que como ya indique solo aquellos amantes de la serie disfrutaran, para el resto me cansare de escuchar que no entiende la pelicula.
On: 2007-03-27
This is a beautifully-done movie, with interesting connections with (and continuations of) characters from Final Fantasy VII. And the story of this DVD is definitely interesting, with pretty good acting generally. But youll also find extended fight scenes that at least for me were not particularly interesting (even though I recognized some of the moves/abilities/summons from playing the game as a kid). So I admit Im surprised this has nearly a 5 star rating - it just wasnt that good to me.
In summary, if youre an FF fan, you will probably enjoy renting the movie. But personally, I didnt like it enough to own it.
On: 2007-03-27
A great movie that any game of the game will love. Even if you havent played the game, the extras on the dvd will give you enough of the backstory to help you keep up. Stunning visuals, great story, great action, and heart. This is one movie that any fan of final fantasy or anime should not miss.
On: 2007-03-25
I was a bit disappointed with this purchase. The "script" wasnt what I expected and seems to have no real rhyme or reason. I cant follow it nearly as well as its Japanese counterpart which I already have. The postcards are cool and even though I already have the DVD, I dont mind a backup copy for gifts or such. Im still thinking about the "story" about Tifa and Denzel and Barret though. It seems like a pourly written fanfiction explaining these characters actions just before Advent Children begins. I must confess, I would have liked more on Cloud dealing with his geostigma instead.
On: 2007-03-24
The DVD is basically the same as the first release except the 20min anime OVA that Japan got is included. Buying it for the anime episode is worth the money. If you are a true fan then you already have it!
On: 2007-03-23
If you already bought the DVD, then youre not actually missing that much. But if you still have your money inside your pockets (or if youre a hardcore fan of Final Fantasy VII), then you definitely want to go with this one.
The 2 DVDs at their core, are essentially the exact same thing as the normal DVD edition, with the exception that the 2nd DVD includes Final Fantasy VII: Last Order this time around. If you havent heard of Last Order, its an animé short movie that happens before the events of the PlayStation hit, right before Zack and Cloud reach Midgar. The short movie mainly focuses on Zack, who was Clouds best friend during his days in SOLDIER. This clip serves as the prelude to Square Enixs upcoming PSP title, Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. I mean, even the art style is THE SAME as Crisis Cores, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The only bad thing in Last Order is Last Order itself. The story is complete and utter garbage. It exagerates the events that actually DID take place in Final Fantasy VII (namely, the fight that happened between Cloud and Sephiroth in Nibelheim, after Sephiroth discovers the true origin of his super-human strength). The result of this exageration of events is a clip that looks not only stupid, but actually INSULTS the magnificence of the beloved PlayStation classic. But hey, a crappy bonus is better than no bonus at all!
Moving on, this package includes 10 very nice postcards, some which were designed exclusively for these postcards. Thats a great bonus!
It also includes the actual script of the movie, but what really will catch your attention is the book that comes besides the script. Its a 72 page long booklet that contains side-stories on some of the characters. These short stories happen before the events of Advent Children, and one thing that really caught my eye, is that it explains how Denzel came to be with Cloud and Tifa. Really neat stuff, fellas. Even the box in which all this stuff comes is especially cool and it makes it look all artsy and classy, hehe.
So the bottomline is, if you havent bought Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children already, buy this one. If youre a hardcore Final Fantasy VII fan, buy this one. And if you already bought FFVII: AC already, then sell your normal edition copy, and buy this one.
On: 2007-03-22
Its really a good colelctors edition. Im only slightly irked, that this was not done earlier and that there are now two collectors editons. But the postcards are of really good quality, the script and the book are intersting and most of all, we get the "Last Order" which until now only lucky few could ever see, a story featuring Zacks and Clouds escape.
A must have, if You dont already have the previous limited edition. Enjoyable too, if you do.
On: 2007-03-17
If youre wondering if you should buy this movie AGAIN. I say go for it. The DVD is a limited edition version with a few new added features including a menu change and Last Order with is a pretty good anime movie. Not to mention that when you get the box in your hands you just have that urge that its too perfect to mess up. Well worth the price.
On: 2007-03-17
Anything in the FFVII Seires will make money no matter what, but what people dont realize is that they are dedicated on creating great quality of content for anything they put out in the market.
On: 2007-03-12
Final Fantasy VII was the very first Final Fantasy game I ever played, all the way back to when Squaresoft released an American demo disk for it. So, as it stands, FFVII has a very dear and special place in my heart, and I bought FFVII:AC on the day it came out.
Im going to compare and contrast the two movies Square has made so far.
I disliked Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within when it came out, as I think several fans did. It felt nothing like a Final Fantasy game. It was too sci-fi oriented and not the more traditional swords-and-sorcery Id come to expect. But after watching it several times I realized that at its core, FF:SW is a movie, not a Final Fantasy game, and a pretty good one at that. Is has a good story, a great world, and decent characters, with enough Final Fantasy "in jokes" to put an extra smile on the faces of fans.
I liked Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, but only because I knew the characters and their backstories. In all honesty, FFVII:AC was an excuse to test the waters about making more stories based on FFVII. For years fans had been clammoring for a remake or sequal, and Square had been reluctant to give them one because theyd rather not risk ruining FFVIIs legacy. FFVII:AC is really about having fun with the fans of the series, generating awesome battle sequences, and taking CGI animation in the opposite direction of, say, a Pixar film.
The plot of FFVII:AC is weak. Theres no getting around that. The cause of Geostigma is hardly addressed, as are important topics to understanding it and the game world- such as the Lifestream. Its simply disappointing compared to the story of the game. Several characters I grew to know playing through the game get only brief cameos and around five lines apiece. And its not that FFVII:AC is too short for it to have a proper storyline. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within clocks in at only five minutes longer, but is vastly superior as a well-developed story. Again, the focus of FF:AC was on having fun, and perhaps a deep and involved plot might have gotten in the way of that.
Bottom line: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is a fast-paced action movie, with wonderful CGI animation and cool characters. If youre a fan of the series, buy it. If youre the friend or loved one of a fan, watch it. But if youre looking for something a little less passive and a little more engaging, check out Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.
On: 2007-03-10
I just dont get it. You take the greatest selling Final Fantasy game... Probably the gratest game ever, and make a B movie from it. I mean first the spirits within and now this. They could have just made the movie off of The Final Fantasy VII game itself. It was great that all of the characters were there, but maybe it should have been the original and not the sequel.
On: 2007-03-09
For all you Final Fantasy fanatics, this is the ultimate fanboy/girls dream! Although Ive only played 2 Final Fantasy games, this movie was somewhat exhilirating, but for most of the movie, I was bored to tears. (Most likely because Ive never played FF7; not knowing what the background story is). The CG is amazing, and fight scenes are spectacular. However, what I really loved about this movie was the theme of friendship and standing up to those who threaten your happiness. But otherwise, everything else about it was quite boring.
On: 2007-03-07
First of all, let me make clear where I stand/my pov. Im a female college student who DID play FFVII not when it came out. I played it a year or two ago. I really liked FFVII.
I did not like this film, however. Like I wrote in my blog, this film is about 100 minutes long and approximately 70 minutes are action sequences, 20 minutes are flashbacks and 10 minutes are plot related. There was almost NO plot what-so-ever. (Lol because of this negative response, watch the "helpfulness" meter above become very low... that always seems to happen with people who dont like something.) Final Fantasy is always known for its great character interactions and story and I think the FF team tried to make up for FF Spirits Within by doing the complete opposite. FFSW was all plot, FFVII is all action, no plot.
The action, however, was very good. I loved how they translated the gameplay into action sequences. I really enjoyed how they got past the jumping high in the air by doing throws for the limit break (I forgot what it is called in FFVII).
*Possible Spoiler Here*
But the plot was terrible. I REALLY wish they could have gotten equal parts plot and action. The only thing I got out of the plot (besides Kadaj and what he was doing, etc) was that Cloud says "Im weak" at one point and then says "Im strong" at another, and Im thinking "WHAT? When did the transition take place? During the flashbacks which were almost carbon copies of the scenes in the game?" He just SAYS "Im weak/strong" and as a watcher youre supposed to believe it immediately.
*End Possible Spoiler*
There were so many action sequences, believe it or not, I GOT BORED of them. While they were really cool in themselves, its like watching Die Hard a billion times in a row. Seeing the same thing for a LONG time makes you bored.--Lol though I must admit Seph was a sexy beast hahhaa!
The only thing that is really worth watching other than playing the game is Final Fantasy VII: The Last Order... Clears things up about the game. Dont think its on this US copy, I thought it might be on the Japanese one... but this new Limited Edition set might have it. If not, search around online.
On: 2007-03-07
Just so you know, Ive never played any of the FF games.
Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children was quite enjoyable. Ive, of course, heard of many of the characters, so it was good to get some idea of what theyre about.
The plot of the movie revolves around an attempt to recover the Jenova virus and to bring back Sephiroth. I found the plot to be covered quite well.
Clouds an interesting character, and he is presented as a lone wolf who is trying to deal with becoming part of the society as a whole.
The action sequences are stunning. OK...all of the animation is stunning. While being aware that the movie was CGI, it felt as fluid as a live action flick. I was very happy with what I saw.
I really enjoyed the extras disk, because I find it interesting to hear the Japanese mindset as far as film making, and gaming, etc., goes.
All-in-all, this was a surprising and enjoyable find.
5 stars
On: 2007-03-06
I just received my copy of the Limited Edition Collectors Set this Saturday and watched it last night with my girlfriend and we both loved it. Her only complaint was the fight scenes were a little fast for her. Anyway, I loved the effects and just the way that the whole movie was done, it was amazing. The fight scenes were incredible, I loved each and every scene.
And honestly, I dont see how people can complain about the story. I am very new to the world of Final Fantasy, I saw the first movie, I played FFTA for GBA and I still was able to understand just about everyone and everything that was going on in the movie. I need to go out and play the video games now, Im hooked.
Anyway, I know that there are tons of reviews giving out a summary of the movie or at least the basic plot, so Ill just keep this review to my opinions. In my opinion, this is an awesome movie, I loved all of the visual effects, I loved the characters (though Id like to know a little bit of a background about them but I guess I need to play FF: VII).
On to the collectibles that come with the Limited Edition set. The 10 postcards that come with it are masterfully done, the animation on the cards is flawless and looks amazing. The script of the movie is pretty cool since it shows who said what in the movie and pretty much at what time that they said it on the DVD. And finally, with the book that gives the "background info" on some of the characters, well I have yet to read it, but flipping through it, it looks like a story about each character.
Thats just my two cents, except Id like to say once again how much I loved this movie.
On: 2007-03-01
It was about 9 years ago when Final Fantasy 7 came out, and it is still the best game I have ever played. It was also one of the first games I have ever played so that could be a good reason why. Needless to say I was excited when I heard about this movie, I couldnt wait to see those great characters again. I have to say I was not disappointed but felt rather giddy, like I did 9 years ago as a little kid, when I saw Cloud and Sephiroth together again. Anyone who played through and enjoyed the game will enjoy this movie as well. It continues the story consistent with the attitude of the characters in the game and leaves nothing unexplained in the end. It was the conclusion I have been waiting for all these years ever since I finished the game and desperately wished there could be more.
On: 2007-03-01
Not too many spoilers, as any of OMGWTF moments are taken care of pretty quickly, you dont have to worry about this review spoiling the film too much, but if youre still worried about that, read no further, watch the film first.
I bet those who never even heard about an FFVII movie were surprised when they actually saw this on the shelves, and were either exhilarated or skeptical. But thats not the focus of this review!
Two weeks after I got it (the special 2-disc set) for Christmas, I finally watched it. I didnt like it at first, but then again, I was watching it in the middle of the afternoon, and on the English voice track, at that. I watched it again, same night, two hours later, using the Japanese voice track and subtitles, and WOOOOW...
Advent Children is a CGI, Final Fantasy VII-themed, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-caliber martial arts action/drama movie.
I never expected the FF characters to be capable of such martial arts feats, but then again, Im forgetting their Limit Breaks and backgrounds. Cloud is an Ex-SOLDIER, Tifa is a trained fighter, Barrets a rebel, Red XIII is still partially feral, Yuffies a ninja, Vincents an ex-secret agent, and Cids a rough neck.
Theres a good five-or-so real fight scenes. We see them pull some pretty crazy stunts, such as flying or otherwise gliding through the air in some parts, and opponents being hit away, only to skid on the ground or fly through the air for what seems like miles (it looks rather improbable in instances, as some of the hits dont seem that strong, but in other instances, works just right). Then theres all the motorcycle acrobatics, such cyclesaults (somersaulting the motorcycle youre riding), and throwing it at someone with your legs while you were riding it.
Theres a good three-four instances in which Cloud shouldve died right away: 1) Getting shot in the head after an enemy tries a cyclesault (the shot only took of Clouds goggles and left a scratch), 2 & 3) Being run through with a sword, 4) Being shot in the back. Truly a testament to Clouds superhuman physique, or the suspense of disbelief employed by most kung-fu movies.
This time around, Cloud has SIX swords, and knows how to wield two at a time! Not only that, but all six of them can connect into one sword, or detach into the separate swords they REALLY are! Best stunt pulled in the movie is definitely when Cloud punks Sephiroth with all six at once. The design of each sword, is of course, awexome, and I think replicas are available on the internet, somewhere. P.S., that weird sling on Clouds back is actually a set of 4-6 sheathes for each of his interconnecting swords, should he want to be able to pull one out quicker than having to disconnect from the one sword.
The Turks, at least, Rude and Reno, were made out to be far more comedic than originally; at the least, I never saw Rude as being comedic at all. We get to see Cloud slam the door on Reno, we get to see Rude and Reno thrown for miles, and Rude stumble around in a daze after being thrown, only to get punked on the head with a large street sign, and we get to see them fall off the tarp, when trying to climb up it to rescue someone. All those comedic moments, while left me laughing, saying, "This is so stupid!" or on the other side, "Not right now, guys. Clouds trying to take care of the villains!" And lets not forget the fireworks they pull, without blowing themselves up.
After that, the only lame thing there is, is how Kadaj somehow transforms into Sephiroth, katana, clothes, and all. Sure, there was that thing with Jenovas head, but, meh.
Alot of the character cameos were pretty obligatory; they couldve told the story with just Cloud, Rufus, the Turks, Tifa, Aeris, and Kadaj/Sephiroth, but youd probably be asking where the other characters were. Red XIII has only one line during the whole thing, Yuffie has little more than her shouts of "Sexist!" when Cait Sith tells here to shut up, and, why does Cait Sith have an Irish accent?
All in all, the FFVII atmosphere was still there. The same, dark, grey atmosphere is still there. But they still manage to give it a happy, conclusive ending this time around.
...
Only questions left, is why Kadaj wanted the Geostimga infected children, or how that spring in the church cured them of the Geostigma; what special properties did it have? It couldve been Mako, when Cloud was infected by Mako when he fell into the Lifestream.
by: Anonymous On: 2007-02-28
If you missed playing Final Fantasy VII (like me), pass this movie up. Or think about renting it if youre really curious (also like me). I was confused through the entire movie because of my lack of knowledge. Even so, the storyline was very bland. Instead of being two hours, it could have been cut to one. There were so many battles I felt like I was watching myself play a game instead of watching a "movie".
That said, the animation is extremely beautiful. It was eye-candy, at the very least. Couldnt say its the best Ive seen Square Enix do, but overall it was great.
Then we move on to the voice-acting. This is where the film takes a real nose-dive. I recognized Sephiroth, Cloud, Tifa, and Renos voices from another Square Enix game (Kingdom Hearts II, whoo hoo!), but the voice-acting was a poorly done disgrace. The voices didnt even come close to matching the animation! Its a dubbed-over Japanese movie, and it shows horribly.
I also felt that the music was odd for the movie. It was also really hard to hear the people because it was so loud! Thought this could have used a major improvement...
Okay, so I had my moment on the soapbox, but despite my ranting, Im glad I saw it. Im not a fan of Final Fantasy, but I wanted to check it out and see what everyone was talking about. I rented, I saw, I returned... *shrugs* Overall, I thought it was okay, maybe a little odd, and quite...erm...interesting.
On: 2007-02-28
1 SUPPo5e iF +H3Y C@n M4K3 4 "n3V3R3nd1N9 $T0Ry 11," +hey C@N m4k3 A "Ph1NAl f4n+45y Vi1."
On: 2007-02-27
1 SUPPo5e iF +H3Y C@n M4K3 4 "n3V3R3nd1N9 $T0Ry 11," +hey C@N m4k3 A "Ph1NAl f4n+45y Vi1."
On: 2007-02-26
You will never have this original item sold in my country, and thanks to Amazon for shipping! its a great collection that worth the money!
its more than just the movie. A must for FF7 fans!
On: 2007-02-26
The visuals in this film are astounding. Everything else is awful. The plot is pretty much nonsense and full of holes, the script is terrible and cheesey all the way through. The acting is just as bad. There are a few tiny redeeming features but the badness of this film by far exceeds everything else. The characters couldnt be any more self-involved unless they were in a soap opera.
Dont even try to show it to people who havent played the game, they wont get any of the in-jokes and will only understand 1% of the film.
The biggest wasted opportunity of recent times.
On: 2007-02-25
The visuals in this film are astounding. Everything else is awful. The plot is pretty much nonsense and full of holes, the script is terrible and cheesey all the way through. The acting is just as bad. There are a few tiny redeeming features but the badness of this film by far exceeds everything else. The characters couldnt be any more self-involved unless they were in a soap opera.
Dont even try to show it to people who havent played the game, they wont get any of the in-jokes and will only understand 1% of the film.
The biggest wasted opportunity of recent times.
On: 2007-02-22
Its easy to say that this is a waste of time and money, but for true fans it truly is worth it. The novel, the script, and even nice little postcards are a nice edition, but if you have the special edition version, dont drop 40 bucks for a few extra trinkets. You see, i never seen Advent Children(i know right)so this was a natural choice to make. Now to those saying its not worth the money period, get this. Square are saying the technical demo for FFVII wasnt intended to make people think a remake in the works(but never said they WOULDNT EVER make it) and now this nice little DVD set comes out, and a LOT of people buy it. Square sees the potential profit off of making FFVII ANYTHING as you might of noticed. But if hardly anybody buys this stuff, whats to make them believe that after they pour millions upon millions on a remake, that it can get them that profit back and then some...Think about it
On: 2007-02-21
Its easy to say that this is a waste of time and money, but for true fans it truly is worth it. The novel, the script, and even nice little postcards are a nice edition, but if you have the special edition version, dont drop 40 bucks for a few extra trinkets. You see, i never seen Advent Children(i know right)so this was a natural choice to make. Now to those saying its not worth the money period, get this. Square are saying the technical demo for FFVII wasnt intended to make people think a remake in the works(but never said they WOULDNT EVER make it) and now this nice little DVD set comes out, and a LOT of people buy it. Square sees the potential profit off of making FFVII ANYTHING as you might of noticed. But if hardly anybody buys this stuff, whats to make them believe that after they pour millions upon millions on a remake, that it can get them that profit back and then some...Think about it
On: 2007-02-20
Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant, what more can I say. I love the new graphic, and wow can Cloud get any hotter?
On: 2007-02-16
If you are a diehard FF7 fan such as myself, its just too hard to say no. The differences arent very big, but the inclusions of Last Order and the "Novels" for Denzel and Tifa which up until now were released in Japanese only, plus an all-new novel based on Barrett just for North America are just too much for the FF fan to resist.
On: 2007-02-15
I guess Im biased cause I thought the game sucked. But from the people saying that they liked the game but hated the movie, well... Maybe theres something to that.
Anyway, how am I supposed to like this movie if not by the special effects? I mean, woo, you can make things on the screen look real pretty. Way to go. Thats not why I watch movies.
Like I said before, I hated the game, but I watched it with people who didnt hate the game. One fanboy thought it was really good! The rest thought it was okay. I thought it was just bad.
Lets review here, for the people who played it.
Characters: Forget the fun ones. Barrett went anorexic, Red XIII was underused, Cid had a one-liner comic relief entrance, AERIS IS NOT AN INTERESTING NOR AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER, Sephiroths too broody, Clouds too whiny, AERIS IS NOT AN INTERESTING NOR AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER, Vincent seemed to just be trying to be more angsty than Cloud (okay, note here. Anyone catch the angst-off Cloud and Vincent have for a second there? "My life sucks..." "My life sucks /more./" "No, MINE." "Nuh-uh!" I thought that was amusing, almost as amusing as the incredibly dumb Cloud-tossing sequence). By the way, AERIS WAS NOT AN INTERESTING NOR AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER IN THE GAME. A bunch of hormone driven fanboys freaked out over her in the game (Fenix downs suddenly dont work, I guess) even though she had no development, was worthless as a character, and generally could have been taken out of the game completely with no effect. Cloud was a whiny loser before he met her, and was only marginally more of a whiny loser after she dies.
Why all this ado about Aeris? Because apparently, shes freakin GOD in this movie.
F Minus Minus, Square. F. Minus. Minus.
[What] Plot[?]:
Animation: It was good. Ida been more impressed if they couldve synched the special effects into a live action movie, but the animation was really good.
Voice acting: I watched it with subtitles, and the Japanese voice acting was pretty decent, nailing the personalities of the characters right on the head. The voice fit the new Barrett, but Barrett is, in my mind, the guy thats twice the size of Cloud, not some Hot Topic pseudo-goth clothing model.
Ending: The biggest tease in the world. I hate Cloud, so the folk whove seen this movie know.
Its got all the flaws of the game; predictability and flat characters at the front of the pack, and it has an underuse of the good parts of the game, which were the quality side characters (Cid, Barrett, Red, Reno, etc.). I just couldnt bring myself to care about anything going on on screen. Whatever.
Blah.
On: 2007-02-14
I guess Im biased cause I thought the game sucked. But from the people saying that they liked the game but hated the movie, well... Maybe theres something to that.
Anyway, how am I supposed to like this movie if not by the special effects? I mean, woo, you can make things on the screen look real pretty. Way to go. Thats not why I watch movies.
Like I said before, I hated the game, but I watched it with people who didnt hate the game. One fanboy thought it was really good! The rest thought it was okay. I thought it was just bad.
Lets review here, for the people who played it.
Characters: Forget the fun ones. Barrett went anorexic, Red XIII was underused, Cid had a one-liner comic relief entrance, AERIS IS NOT AN INTERESTING NOR AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER, Sephiroths too broody, Clouds too whiny, AERIS IS NOT AN INTERESTING NOR AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER, Vincent seemed to just be trying to be more angsty than Cloud (okay, note here. Anyone catch the angst-off Cloud and Vincent have for a second there? "My life sucks..." "My life sucks /more./" "No, MINE." "Nuh-uh!" I thought that was amusing, almost as amusing as the incredibly dumb Cloud-tossing sequence). By the way, AERIS WAS NOT AN INTERESTING NOR AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER IN THE GAME. A bunch of hormone driven fanboys freaked out over her in the game (Fenix downs suddenly dont work, I guess) even though she had no development, was worthless as a character, and generally could have been taken out of the game completely with no effect. Cloud was a whiny loser before he met her, and was only marginally more of a whiny loser after she dies.
Why all this ado about Aeris? Because apparently, shes freakin GOD in this movie.
F Minus Minus, Square. F. Minus. Minus.
[What] Plot[?]:
Animation: It was good. Ida been more impressed if they couldve synched the special effects into a live action movie, but the animation was really good.
Voice acting: I watched it with subtitles, and the Japanese voice acting was pretty decent, nailing the personalities of the characters right on the head. The voice fit the new Barrett, but Barrett is, in my mind, the guy thats twice the size of Cloud, not some Hot Topic pseudo-goth clothing model.
Ending: The biggest tease in the world. I hate Cloud, so the folk whove seen this movie know.
Its got all the flaws of the game; predictability and flat characters at the front of the pack, and it has an underuse of the good parts of the game, which were the quality side characters (Cid, Barrett, Red, Reno, etc.). I just couldnt bring myself to care about anything going on on screen. Whatever.
Blah.
by: Anonymous On: 2007-02-10
Not being a huge fan of anime or the Final Fantasy saga, I was reluctant in seeing this film for the first time, but as I had nothing better to do, I thought what the hell.
This film blew me away. The first thing I noticed was the incredible CGI graphics. The production team worked long and hard to refine and bring out the best visuals possible, which took them a massive amount of time: and it really does show.
Although I havnt played through any of the games, just mere snippets of friends games, I must say I really got into the story, even though I didnt quite understand it! I like my films to be dark, deceptive, mysterious, action-induced and with the odd bit of romance thrown in. This movie has all those qualities... and yet it still had more to give.
This is one of the rare few films Ive watched that actually made me feel adrenaline-filled and actually feeling what the characters did.
I cant stress how much Ive enjoyed this film, and I cant say that fans of the FF series games will like it at all... but what I can say is that its one cracker of a movie for those who arent entirely focused on realism and just want a mysterious story, implemented so well. Buy/Rent with confidence!!!
On: 2007-02-06
Amazon forgot to include. THEY PUT IN "LAST ORDER FINAL FANTASY VII"! FINALLY! YAY! All we Americans need now is AC Complete and KH2FM+ AND WE ARE ALL SET!
On: 2007-01-29
this movie is awesome its the best one yet i love it its such a trip
the animation is awesome
On: 2007-01-28
I got the product within a month of my order (though I live in Japan)!
It was very carefully packed. And the DVD was the greatest.
Shipping and the product itself were both excellent! :)
On: 2007-01-22
I have waited for this since the movie came out in America. I had bought the Japanese boxset (370$ mind you) and have refused to buy the American release until a boxset came out here as well.
Though you dont get nearly as much as the Japanese boxset this is something a TRUE Final Fantasy VII fan should have. Granted last year they came out with a "Special Edition" and most fans have this, but if youre a true FF7 collector this boxset should be added to your collection.
After this comes out now I just wait for FF7:AC-COMPLETE-, The Japanese Special edition that has more scenes, more battle sequences and better graphics.
On: 2007-01-21
This is just bad as a movie and you cant play it like a game. (Im a big fan of the games.)
Is there a plot here somewhere? It seems like the Final Fantasy games have more plot.
There are lots of battles and chase scenes, but they are just fluff.
It seems like the big draw of this is supposed to be remembering the game and the characters from it.
On: 2007-01-21
I have waited for this since the movie came out in America. I had bought the Japanese boxset (370$ mind you) and have refused to buy the American release until a boxset came out here as well.
Though you dont get nearly as much as the Japanese boxset this is something a TRUE Final Fantasy VII fan should have. Granted last year they came out with a "Special Edition" and most fans have this, but if youre a true FF7 collector this boxset should be added to your collection.
After this comes out now I just wait for FF7:AC-COMPLETE-, The Japanese Special edition that has more scenes, more battle sequences and better graphics.
On: 2007-01-20
...........thats really all i can say about this. it hasnt even been a year since the special edition came out and they are already trying to milk it for all its worth. from reading the item description all your getting is a new cover and a couple of cheap little bonus items, like postcards, amazing. im a big ff fan, but i just cant recommend this. just save some money and buy the special edition. you can probably buy it for about $10 and get the exact same experience.
On: 2007-01-20
This is just bad as a movie and you cant play it like a game. (Im a big fan of the games.)
Is there a plot here somewhere? It seems like the Final Fantasy games have more plot.
There are lots of battles and chase scenes, but they are just fluff.
It seems like the big draw of this is supposed to be remembering the game and the characters from it.
On: 2007-01-12
This movie is awesome! Its got some of the great 3D graphics ever (as usual with Square), the plot is great and very entertaining. Highly recommended, specially for the Final Fantasy fans (superspecially FFVII fans).
On: 2007-01-10
if youre a fan of the series, or a fan of FF7 especially, check out this movie. the action scenes are great, voice acting is well done, and the music is perfect.
by: Anonymous On: 2007-01-10
I Love this movie. It is so real and life like that I find myself watching it so much that my children complains, (smile) no matter, this is one movie I recommend to anyone who is looking for action and a good story line to make the action make sense. Cloud is my favorite character and his crew if off the hook. I say go to your computer right now and go to amazon.com and place your order right away. its a good buy.
On: 2007-01-09
The DVD I ordered for my grandson arrived promptly and in perfect condition. I would gladly order from this vendor in the future. Thank you.
AB
On: 2007-01-04
The cinematography in this movie was excellent, but the story was very brief and did not do a good job of telling you who was who. Unless you had played the game within the last two years or so, you probably would be guessing just what was going on the whole time. If you were familiar enough with the game to remember the backstory and the characters, it made for an interesting little aside, but nothing you cant live without having seen.
On: 2007-01-04
VERYYY beautiful movie! The CG is breath-taking and the Japanese cast was perfect for the characters. Well done and a perfect closing to the FFVII story.
On: 2007-01-03
Definatly my fav. movie. The animation was beautiful and the soundtrack was great too. you dont need to play ffvii to know wuts going on and the ending was great. Its definatly worth more than what its priced and can easily be watched over and over and over again.
BUY IT. You wont regret it. Trust me
On: 2007-01-03
The cinematography in this movie was excellent, but the story was very brief and did not do a good job of telling you who was who. Unless you had played the game within the last two years or so, you probably would be guessing just what was going on the whole time. If you were familiar enough with the game to remember the backstory and the characters, it made for an interesting little aside, but nothing you cant live without having seen.
On: 2007-01-03
VERYYY beautiful movie! The CG is breath-taking and the Japanese cast was perfect for the characters. Well done and a perfect closing to the FFVII story.
On: 2007-01-02
instead of using a PSP emulator on the PC... no
instead of remaking the game on a new console or PC with added values ,no
its all ridiculous, thats my opinion...
more consoles then games i always say...
On: 2006-12-30
This attempt of a new Final Fantasy movie is very good..but odd thats for sure. However, i like this movie than i did the older one, however, the only fault with this movie is that the story line is confusing and some what boring at times. The only good parts is the graphics which are truly amazing in my view...however, this is only a rental movie.
On: 2006-12-23
As a juior high school student I spent hours and hours playing FFVII and loved it. In my opinion it is and will remain one of the greatest games of all time. This movie does a good job sticking to the storyline and the characters look better then they ever did on the PlayStation. The thing that drove me crazy was that there was very little focus on the characters outside of cloud and tifa. I also feel like they misrepresented the characters of Reno and Rude. The worst part though was the horrible dubbing. Maybe I was more upset because it didnt meet the high expectations I had, but if this had been my introduction to FFVII I would have never played the game.
On: 2006-12-20
"Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" is a follow up film to the original Final Fantasy VII game, taking place two years after the events of the ending. I havent played any games in the series, though Ive seen enough of my brothers playing it here and there to get the gist of it. Theres also a recap of the plot points of the game on the DVD as a special feature, which helped too. Its a watchable blend of action, drama and graphics, which have an ambience to them thats pretty interesting.
Worth a look for fans of the game, and fans of computer animation, I think.
On: 2006-12-16
The long awaited "sequel" film to the Playstation game of the same name is, overall, a disappointment. There IS some sort of storyline about Sephiroth being reborn through Jenova cells, or something, but its hard to follow. There are some nice in jokes that only hardcore Final Fantasy fans will get (listen to a particular ringtone), but overall this is more about the visuals and awesome action sequences than the film itself.
It has some nice extra features, but everything youve heard about the film itself is true. Its nothing special, its confusing, but its wonderfully animated.
Recommended for hardcore fans only.
On: 2006-12-16
Amazing visual experience, and I dont even have an HDTV. The details are immaculate and gorgeous, and the fight scenes are insane... but thats about it. Unless you are a die hard fan of the series, this movie will completely fail to carry itself in terms of story and character development. Dialogue is bland, and it is very unlikely that youll care about whats going on and why. Disappointed :(
On: 2006-12-15
Amazing visual experience, and I dont even have an HDTV. The details are immaculate and gorgeous, and the fight scenes are insane... but thats about it. Unless you are a die hard fan of the series, this movie will completely fail to carry itself in terms of story and character development. Dialogue is bland, and it is very unlikely that youll care about whats going on and why. Disappointed :(
On: 2006-12-13
I am a big fan of all the Final Fantasy series. I like this movie. I enjoyed watching it and liked the fact that it had a English version unlike the earlier copy of the DVD. If your a fan of Final Fantasy VII you will like this movie.
On: 2006-12-12
Visually speaking, _FF VII: AC_ is stunning. The animation is amazing, the character design is impressive, and you can stare at the landscapes for hours on end and never see the same thing twice. The plot of _Advent Children_, however is sorely lacking. If youre already familiar forwards and backwards with the plot and nuances of the video game youll pick up on a lot of things immediately and probably not care too much about the lack of characterization, the requisite "heros friends coming out of nowhere to save the day", and the appearances of some old favorite characters for no other reason than to make the watcher squee with delight.
Beyond that, however, there isnt a whole lot that youre going to take with you from this movie unless you buy the published directors notes (or read the translation online, because that particular book wasnt published in the states, or at least it hasnt been yet). Its pretty. Its amazingly pretty. Its as close as cinema has come so far to a perfect marriage of animes surrealistic style with characters that are close enough approximations to real people that some friends I showed the trailer to thought it was a live-action movie. But this movies lots of pretty battle scenes and not a lot else.
If you look, there might be something here for you, but on the whole this isnt the end-all-be-all of movies or anime.
On: 2006-12-11
Visually speaking, _FF VII: AC_ is stunning. The animation is amazing, the character design is impressive, and you can stare at the landscapes for hours on end and never see the same thing twice. The plot of _Advent Children_, however is sorely lacking. If youre already familiar forwards and backwards with the plot and nuances of the video game youll pick up on a lot of things immediately and probably not care too much about the lack of characterization, the requisite "heros friends coming out of nowhere to save the day", and the appearances of some old favorite characters for no other reason than to make the watcher squee with delight.
Beyond that, however, there isnt a whole lot that youre going to take with you from this movie unless you buy the published directors notes (or read the translation online, because that particular book wasnt published in the states, or at least it hasnt been yet). Its pretty. Its amazingly pretty. Its as close as cinema has come so far to a perfect marriage of animes surrealistic style with characters that are close enough approximations to real people that some friends I showed the trailer to thought it was a live-action movie. But this movies lots of pretty battle scenes and not a lot else.
If you look, there might be something here for you, but on the whole this isnt the end-all-be-all of movies or anime.
On: 2006-12-07
I am a fan of the Final Fantasy series and this film brought me back to the time I played the Final Fantasy 7 game. It is better than the first Final Fantasy film launched in North America and it was a good move on the part of Square Enix to release this film.
On: 2006-11-28
I loved it as I watched it! It has one of the most, I dare say, sophisticated graphics ever made. The story is rather complicated but not to make it hard to think.. by all means somehow it kinda represents Japanese way of showing their true beauty. Honestly, Japanese people really concern much about CG arts, which is quite understandable why most anime refers to Japan. Anyway, It`s a must have movie for everyone.
On: 2006-11-27
Bringing back the wonderful set of characters that were so fondly remembered from Final Fantasy VII game on the Playstation. This movie sets a wonderful backdrop of beautiful visuals that at times are very lifelike. The musical score and voice acting are excellent for an English translation. Watching this movie trully sets a tone for the environmental movement. The message is clear. The Earth will strike on those who harm it so. This tale is set in a futristic world in the Final Fantasy Universe. The place is very similar to Earth but has noticable differences. Mainly being the use of magic. Although these individuals have had much of their world destroyed from the battles of the past. They live in a dreary dark place where people are being taken over by a mutant virus that will eventually kill them. Their are subtle but strong spiritual overtones. With a cathedral being home to flowers and the only rays of sunlight that pierce thru the holes in the roof.
Overall I would say this is a wonderful movie to watch whether you are a Final Fantasy fan or just enjoy excellent animation and storyline.
On: 2006-11-22
I am a huge Final Fantasy fan. I have played through every single U.S.-released single-player Final Fantasy game (except for FF III a.k.a. FF VI, but I own it and Ill get around to playing it some day). I even was one of the dozen or so people that went to see the first Final Fantasy movie in the theater (The Spirits Within). I own a bunch of Nobuos music CDs. Ive played through Final Fantasy VII itself three times, on both the PC and the PlayStation, searching every tiny corner for secrets, until finally succumbing to the lure of playing through it a fourth time with a walkthrough. I am a FAN of this series.
I was disappointed in this film.
I watched it three times. The first time, I wasnt really paying attention, and I didnt quite get what was going on. So, the second time, I watched it in English, with English subtitles, to make sure I could get every word. I still didnt quite get it. So, I watched it in Japanese with English subtitles. That was better, because I wasnt distracted by how the lips didnt match up with the words (and the acting was far better), but even then, the plot just didnt make any sense. Id rather not go into spoilers, but lets just say, I couldnt figure out what was supposed to be happening at the end, and how it was supposed to solve everyones problems; it just didnt make logical sense. Seemed like a deus ex machina to me. Maybe someone can comment on this and fill me in.
Yes, its great visually, and it was wonderful to hear some orchestrated versions of my favorite Nobuo tracks, and it was a lot of fun to see some of my favorite characters come back to life, but I just kept thinking... they could have done better with this. They needed a real screen-writer to tell them how to structure it so that an audience can follow it.
I still think you should buy it, as its an astounding piece of art, but just dont expect too much from it.
On: 2006-11-21
What can I say that hasnt been said already? Final Fantasy 7 is a gorgeous work of art. The voice acting (which wasnt implemented into the game, unfortuantly) was superb. Tifa sounded a little off, the voice didnt match the body, but it was good none-the-less.
The CG graphics were awesome and absolutley flawless.
This is the single best animated movie, ever.
On: 2006-11-10
Im a big fan of the Final Fantasy games and FF7 in my view is the zenith of the series. No doubt I was looking forward to the release of the FF7 movie and anxiously pondering just what could the artists at Square possibly do to beat and at best match the achievements of the games storyline. My conclusion was that the movie would just be an opportunity for Squre to show off their CG skill just like they did with the other FF movie The Spirits Within, which I would describe as visually awesome but written by retarded pre-schoolers. Indeed, I was worried the movie would be shallow and lack any real substance in dialogue and story. Well, Ill be brief in my review and state that this movie was a complete success. However, this movie is a gift to the fans of the FF7 game more than anything else. It does justice to the main characters of FF7 by bringing them to life as never could have been done almost a decade ago on the Playstation. I will not get into the details of the story (no spoilers) but I want to stress that it is perfectly setup in the beginning as the events in the game are summarized and connected to the present. The story is not rushed and real effort was made by Square to build the tension between characters leading to an unimaginable climax and battle at the end. The only negative is that those viewers who have not played the game will feel lost, but I think ten minutes in they wont care about that and will just want to enjoy the ride. If you want to see a movie like never before then Advent Children is a must see. Again, this movie was made especially for the fans. Thank You very much Square.
On: 2006-11-10
based on the complex story line of the final fantasy 7 role playing game, this movie pics up from a few years after the game ends.
in terms of visuals, this movie is awesome. this movie pushes the boundries of "fantasy" to the limits-the characters are beautiful, the scenes are breath taking, and the battle scenes properly incorporate all aspects of physics, but at the same time is continually breaking every single law. unbelievably beautiful. from the single drop of water, to the dematerilization of the body, this movie doesnt disappoint.
as for the story line, im all about the inner termoil. and of course, this story revolves around mr. blond haired dude whos all about that. but its an interesting resolution as he realizes not every battle is won with skill, strength, and determination.
this movie was worth every penny for me-but then again, im a sci-fi loving kind of guy who has a love for the ff games of the past (i stopped playing at ff10).
i appreciated every aspect of the movie, especially the very few tidbits that were taken from the games and cleverly incorporated to the game.
and as for the characters, everyones back. and although i wished certain characters were in the movie longer, i think that purposely limiting their presence in the movie brought a lot more weight to them for when they appeared.
and the japanese-style thug humor? very funny. although certain parts illustrate cultural differences that an american would not typically understand, if you observe their actions, i think it offers a tidbit of insight to the traditional japanese sempai/kohai relationship. (but that stuff was minor)
only bad point i can think of was that some of the scenes were too fast. i mean, crap, it was like you were following a bullet in real time. sheesh. i mean, i like action, but when it happens, id like to actually have it register in my brain before jumping to the next sequence. (but i have to admit, theres no time to complain about it-if you do, you miss the next thing, which they slow down....lol) i guess they didnt want to play-out the slow motion thing. (that made me appreciate those sequences even more).
so all in all, it was a great movie. although im biased for playing every single ff game until ff10, and for being a huge sci-fi fan, id have to say that if you appreciate art, you would appreciate this film (if not for the story) for what the makers were able to do with cgi. and honestly, i think this movie did a great job of blurring the lines between reality (as in physics) and fantasy (characters, storyline, and fantastic action sequences).
hope this helps-
On: 2006-11-10
It is a must for fans of the video-game "Fainal Fantasy VII".
Come on and get it!
There is nothing more about to say.
On: 2006-11-10
Was an aswome movie, the english trasnlation made it easyer to follow and the extras were impressive. Some of the vioces were lost in translation, but the new voices used in place of them was fitting enoughf that unless you watched the jap version too many times youd never notice. I strongly sudgest this movie for anyone who has even a spark of intrest in FFVII.
On: 2006-11-04
It is the ultima of CGI video game movies. I must buy for Final Fantasy addicts.
On: 2006-11-03
If you played Final Fantasy VII and loved it, you will love this movie too.
I wish it could have been released in theaters, but I understand why it wasnt since it is in a niche market. Still, the fact that Square made the movie at all is great. A must have for any fan of the game or anime.
On: 2006-10-12
Mainly, the movie follows the aftermath of the very successful video game, Final Fantasy 7. If you havent played the game, the movie will probably not make as much sense.
After the destruction of Jenova, there are still followers of Sephiroth. They make attempts to resurrect this classical villain. Cloud and his friends again step in to save the world.
There is some good voice acting, and the action sequences are amazing! There is a scene while Cloud is fighting on a motorcycle with his big sword, fighting two guys at once. It is really something.
If you liked the video game and enjoy action sequences, then I would recommend this to you. If you have not played the game and do not like action sequences, then you might not like it. Hope you find this helpful.
On: 2006-10-11
I bought this on a whim and was pleasantly surprised at how good it is. The graphics are incredible and the story is true to the FFVII game - its a far cry from the FF: Spirits Within movie all the Final Fantasy gaming fans were duped into watching.
Contrary to another reviewer though, I think its probably incredibly helpful to have played the game to understand the movie. However, since there is a special feature recapping the game, those who havent had the pleasure of playing yet (and I highly recommend it - the graphics of FFVII may be outdated but it is one of the best RPGs ever made) will still get the gist of what happened.
On: 2006-09-26
ONE MORE movie PLAGUIARISING THE MATRIX.
Hence, its again mainly Matrix fight scenes. Mimicing MATRIX, trying to be THE MATRIX.
Dooming what should be a most original cinema experience to the worst FAILURE of STUDIO dumbing-down for commercialism.
As soon as I watched the FF7 game scenes, Reminiscence, I took a breath and said: Thats it, where was it?
by: lapin_mage On: 2006-09-25
Set two years after the conclusion of the FF VII console game, this story picks up when a new disease, Geostigma, seems to be infecting the world. Most believe that it is further proof that the world has rejected humanity. Cloud Strife, the conflicted hero of the original game has chosen to live a solitary life, unwilling to take action because of his part in the tragic events of the game. But an attack as he returns to Midgard, and pressure from such disparate folks as Tifa Lockhart and Rufus Shinra, begins to draw him out of his shell. Three brothers Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz are searching for mother, the remains of Jenova, the alien life form that nearly destroyed the planet, in order to resurrect Sephiroth. When they kidnap the children of Midgard to further their aims, Cloud goes into action. Still fighting his own internal battles the ex-SOLDIER pitches in with a vengeance, sensing that this is his last opportunity for healing.
That, and about an hour of running battles is the plot of the film. More than enough, by the way, to give every Final Fantasy fan in the universe a hundred minutes of fun, thrills, and even a few carefully hidden tears. I would never have expected that a CGI recreation of what was one of the best of the games to be even better than the game it was modeled upon. Directors Tetsuya Nomura and Takeshi Nozue are geniuses, plain and simple. The graphics are pure Final Fantasy, but rather than push for hyper-detailed style that CGI often uses, the film maintains a slightly soft focus and pays great care to the naturalness and expressiveness of the characters. Except when they are leaping and racing about during fights. In the latter case prepare yourself from some truly delightful choreography. So what, after all, if Cloud gets boosted a couple thousand feet in the air in a blazing example of teamwork, its great to watch him take a the monster apart.
A big surprise is the acting. Both the Japanese version and the English dubbing are excellent. I experienced no disconnect whatever between what I expected the characters to sound like and what they did sound like. This, coupled with the fluid animation, creates an unusual level of realism. The music was good enough but not up to the par of the rest of the production. For an interesting insight in how far animation has come take a look at the excerpts from the original game. FF VII was the first games to start setting the bar for console games, but there is still a long way to go before FF X or the soon to be released FF XII. Yet its impossible to deny the playability of the game itsel, and this film proves that even an old story can wear new clothes.
On: 2006-09-18
I played Final Fantasy VII many years ago, when I was still single and living in my dads house. Im now married with two children and so you can just imagine how long ago that was. I still know my party members -- Cloud, Tifa, Aeris, Barret, Vincent, Yuffie, Cid, and Red XII, but the other characters? With the exception of Jenova and Sephiroth, my mind was a complete blank. In terms of game events, the only thing I remember vividly is Aeris death. Since I dont have the time nor inclination to replay FFVII, a chunk of the films plot connections with the game was lost on me. Of course thats probably what the FFVII Digest included in the DVD release is for, but any gamer will attest that nothing can replace the experience of actually beating the game before watching the movie.
But thats the beauty of Advent Children. Its so straightforward and spectacular that one can get blown away purely because of the visuals. As Ive said earlier, two years have passed since Cloud and friends defeated Sephiroth. A band of silver-haired and green-eyed Jenova fanatics led by a guy named Kadaj has emerged. They will do anything to retrieve Jenovas head and whatever materia (gem-like spheres with powers) they can get their hands on in order to bring about the "reunion" (a.k.a. the resurrection of Sephiroth). Cloud returns to Tifa after wandering around by himself, and one by one his old comrades show up in order to help him stop Kadaj and company. Its a very simple RPG-esque plot, but its the journey that makes the movie. Eye-popping action sequences take up about 80% of screentime. Just about everyone is given the chance to show off their awesome fighting moves, weapons, and limit breaks. I was totally immersed in Advent Children, which is really all about Cloud finding himself behind the context of saving the world.
Advent Childrens art and animation surpass all the Final Fantasy games visuals that precede it. The character designs remain faithful to the games, only this time the blocky 3D renditions are replaced with very realistic models that could very well pass for human at a glance. The texture of the skin, the luminosity of the eyes, the movement of the hair... its all too perfect. You wont be able to take your eyes off them especially when they start to fight. The furious yet impossibly smooth action sequences are just too mesmerizing. You can spend the next hour just watching these guys (and gals) take on each other. The settings and locales such as mountains, forests, and cityscapes are also as superbly detailed as the characters.
I must admit, I felt a bit cheated after watching Advent Children. My memory of the game is no longer what it was, and I felt I was not able to get the full effect that was intended by the creators. It is, however, undeniably a visual feast thats worth treating yourself to player or not. Just watch it. Go oooh and aaah over it. After all, this is what a real Final Fantasy film is (not the totally un-Final Fantasy The Spirits Within).
On: 2006-09-16
I just saw this movie last night, having NEVER played a Final Fantasy game in my life.
Now mind you, we were late getting dinner and I was starving--but I almost forgot to eat, this thing was so captivating. Between trying to figure out what the heck was going on, alternately asking my friends questions and then telling them to hush so they wouldnt spoil it for me, and simply WATCHING the amazing animation, I couldnt tear my eyes from the screen as my dinner sat cooling, unheeded, on my lap.
Ill admit, some of the action scenes are a bit too frenetic, or suffer from a complete lack of respect for physics. And there are a couple odd bits--mostly involving the spiritual connection between the former SOLDIERs, I think--that are just nigh incomprehensible. And yeah, the movies going to have more emotional impact for someone whos played through FF7 and already knows the characters.
Thing is, though, even though I wasnt familiar with the game or anyone in it, the movie in general totally hooked me, and the bits leading up to the ending just floored me. I cant stress enough how incredible the animation is. Its my opinion that the subject matter was better served by the videogame-like CGI than it would have been by either anime or live action. From the character renderings to the incredibly detailed backgrounds, the movie was just BEAUTIFUL. And wow, Sephiroth. I understand all the fuss over him a bit better, now!
Today, I went to Wikipedia and looked up the series and did some reading, and am considering getting hold of the game (my only reason for not doing so at this point being that I dont actually own a Playstation!).
Not a bad accomplishment for a movie made from a game Ive never seen, eh?
On: 2006-09-11
My husband and I watched this the other day, and as the movie started, our eyes nearly popped out. Wow, the animation!! Brilliant!! Ive been saying there should be movies like this for years! And the music...wow again! Epic and amazing and full of atmosphere. As we watched, however, we felt like we were getting left behind. We knew this movie was a furthering of the FFVII game when we bought it, and I dont want to down-rate this movie because of my own lack of knowledge of the FFVII universe. Bottom line is that its beautiful and entertaining and well definitely watch it again, but for us novices to the plot behind FFVII, the characters felt light, and we never even knew some of their names. A lot of them seemed to come out of nowhere for no particular reason in the middle of the movie, but we just accepted it and enjoyed it for what it was. We would have LOVED to see the whole story of FFVII, video game and this extension, as a multi-disc anime series done in this style of animation. Now that would have been WOW-tastic. This CGI-type animation would work for any anime series...imagine Gundam Wing or Escaflowne... That would be breathtaking!
On: 2006-09-07
In my opinion, I loved it. It came with excellent compositions, and the graphics are amazingly beautiful. Almost looked real.
Although it focuses more on action than plot, I still gave it a 10, or a 5, as you call it.
I havent played the game, but I was so intrigued, I went online, and now I know alot about it!
This is the reason why I became such a FINAL FANTASY VII fanatic!
On: 2006-09-01
Anyone whos played Final Fantasy 7 (a PSX rpg) should watch this movie. Its the ultimate fan service, letting us once again share in the adventures of, quite possibly, the greatest cast of FF characters in the history of the series. Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Barret, Red X, Cath Sith, Vincent, Yuffie, Cid.
The movie itself showcases the talents of SquareEnix CG artists, and shows you why they are still the CG kings (IMO). The characters are beautifully rendered with vivid detail - this is the ultimate eye candy.
Many will not understand the story (especially if you never played the game), but you can still enjoy some of the best fight scenes ever (the Tifa fight scene in particular).
Maybe someday, SquareEnix will remake FF7 with graphics like these....one can always dream, cant they?
On: 2006-09-01
when i first heard about this movie i was skeptical at best. The fact that VII had been milked so hard for so many years led me to believe that this was just some poor excuse to beat the dead horse but i was quickly proven wrong. Within the first half hour of the movie i was calling friends to tell them to buy it. The action sequences are so intense that i found myself rewinding and slow-motioning every 5 seconds in order to see every single detail of what was happening.
as far as the story goes, I was impressed that it actually tied together what happened to Cloud after VII. VII left me with a feeling of "wtf happened to the character that a just spent 50 hours playing as?" but Advent CHildren closes the huge hole and explains how Cloud dealt with Aeriss death.
Overall, I recommend this to anyone who wants closure for their time spent playing VII because it will be well worth the couple dollars you spend. And by the way, the ending credits are the coolest of any movie i have ever seen in my 20+ years of watching movies
On: 2006-08-31
i saw the other final fantasy movie- spirits within and for some reason i didnt like that movie at all. ive heard of final fantasy games but i never played any of them. recently i saw the final fantasy VII movie and i thought that it was a brilliant movie. i never played any of the final fantasy VII games but i think that anybody who had never played the games before would be able to understand the movie...i did at least. i thought the cg thing was really cool. they went beyond what other company were afraid to do. they didnt care if it was impossible for people to stay airborne for that long or if it was possible that a 5ft8 120 lb male could hold a 5ft sword or not. they wanted the movie to look cool and the more impossible things looked, the better it was. im sick of seeing movies that look so real and everything has to be so real..movies and games have no room for reality. i think more companies need to let their creative imagination take over. overall the movie was really great! i loved it!
On: 2006-08-31
The movie is good. It is not as great as I was hoping it to be. But after watching it a couple of times, I enjoyed it. It is much better than the first Final Fantasy movie though.
I have been a Final Fantasy fan ever since I played the first one on NES. This one brought back many nostalgic moments for me from the video game. It is NOT required for you to have played the FF7 game to enjoy the movie. However, some extras will be in there that you wont really understand or laugh at but I see it as the same way as adult humor in the Pixar kids movies. It goes right past the kiddies, but they still enjoy the movie.
Im glad that they added in the little summary of the actual video game. I was amazed at how much I forgot or missed after playing that game a few times. I was happy for the recap. Although, Im still worried that if you did not play the game, you may still not get it even after watching that recap. They did their best to sum up it up in a Cliffs Notes version.
As for the movie, the story was pretty light. I thought it was very similar to the Star Trek, Next Generation movies where they did not advance the characters that much except for the main ones (in FF7 - Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Sephiroth, in STTNG, Captain Piccard and Data). All of the other characters in there were just for nostalgia. I liked to see them all again in their graphical glory. I thought I had a tear develop every now and then... ;-)
As for the action and wonderful, beautiful, CG that this movie had - absolutely awesome! I would recommend spending the $15 just for that. The movie truly is an art piece in the computer animation realm. The leather, the hair, the facial expressions (although Cloud still didnt have that many... he might have smiled at the end...), the city architecture - bravo to Square-Enix for their attention to detail. Sure, the action may be way too unbelievable, but it still was an absolute rush.
In summary, I must say that this one was for the fans. It still is light enough for others to enjoy, but it was meant for the legions of fans that this game has. I must thank Square for bringing these characters and this story back (along with more games). Sure, they may have done it for the money, but Im glad that they took another chance after how the first movie did not do well. I honestly think they did it for the fans, and being one of them, Im glad they did!
And it was good to see Aerith and Zack again. Thanks for the memories.
On: 2006-08-31
This movie sucked. It did nothing to enhance the story line of 7. It had no purpose to be made other than to make money. No character developement, no engaging plot, no feeling at all. It was all replaced by the most ridiculous action scenes I have ever seen. Seriously think to yourself, could you picture any of that crap ever happening in the game? I sure couldnt. If they really cared about the game and wanted to do it justice, they wouldnt have waited ten years later and all the sudden try to shove 30 side stories down our throat that have reason to be made. All they wanted to do was show us they can make pretty graphics. They obviously hold nothing sacred anymore. I bet theyre laughing at us all for throwing our money at them just because of a simple name and number being attatched to something. I dont consider any of this new stuff part of 7 in my book. It ended with the game for me. They should have kept milking 10, it was crap anyway. I just hope they leave 8 and 9 alone.
On: 2006-08-30
This movie sucked. It did nothing to enhance the story line of 7. It had no purpose to be made other than to make money. No character developement, no engaging plot, no feeling at all. It was all replaced by the most ridiculous action scenes I have ever seen. Seriously think to yourself, could you picture any of that crap ever happening in the game? I sure couldnt. If they really cared about the game and wanted to do it justice, they wouldnt have waited ten years later and all the sudden try to shove 30 side stories down our throat that have reason to be made. All they wanted to do was show us they can make pretty graphics. They obviously hold nothing sacred anymore. I bet theyre laughing at us all for throwing our money at them just because of a simple name and number being attatched to something. I dont consider any of this new stuff part of 7 in my book. It ended with the game for me. They should have kept milking 10, it was crap anyway. I just hope they leave 8 and 9 alone.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-08-27
Ok, this movie is awesome! its not as well thought-out as people imagined, there are way too many plot holes.
The thing that knocked off a star for me was i had HUGE expectations that this movie would be the best movie in the world, but i was wrong. No No, dont get me wrong, i still think this movie is awesome, and worth every penney, its just its not as good as i thought it could be.
also, i thought this movie would be better if they made the game into a movie, but sadly, it was set 2 years after the game.
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Now, you know what would be THE COOLEST THING EVER????
if they re-made Final Fantasy 7 into a game with graphics like the movie! and if they made a movie with the same plot as the game! The movie could be like 3 hours!!
yeah, so all in all, buy this movie if you were a fan of FF7, or liked anything in the game because its still entertaining, and action packed!
On: 2006-08-27
I was so looking forward to this film. After all, its a movie sequel based off a game! Even if I didnt care for FF: The Spirits Within, I figured...hey, if theyre using characters and canon from an existing game, surely theyll have more material to build with and will produce a good movie!
I was wrong.
I gave it two stars because the graphics were absolutely stunning. Theyre beautiful and amazing and THAT alone is what was able to get me through the movie. Everything else? Painful and uninspired. The plot is basically non-existent, and what plot there is serves only as a weak excuse to move the characters from one long, Matrix-style battle scene to the next. There is very little actual interaction between the characters--unless, of course, you count fighting as interaction.
Because that is all the movie is.
Im a big fan of the games! I loved FFVII--it was a moving game with actual depth and wonderful characterization. I remember actually getting teary playing that game, and pissed off at the villains. There were plot twists and surprises that I never saw coming. This movie? I couldnt care less for the characters because they all acted the same and had absolutely no personality--unless you want to count Reno. There was no sense of danger or suspense, and the film severely lacked the sense of camaraderie that existed between the characters in the game.
And as for suspense? Hah. It was all very easy to predict.
I kind of wished I rented it.
Great graphics, but very poor content. Thats pretty much what describes this.
On: 2006-08-25
This movie was great for anyone who played FF7. I am a huge fan of the game and the movie was the cou de gra for me. Dazzling cg movie with great action and plot line. I recommend this to anyone who has played the game or for any final fantasy fanatic
On: 2006-08-24
If you have never played the video game, or never seen the anime (horrible) or bascially dont know much about final fantasy, this movie you can still watch if you are intrested in it. Its easy to understand, and if you get a bit confused, go online and research the story a bit. Its a great movie, I loved it, the fighting scenes are awesome. I feel in love with the characters. Watch the movie, you will like it. If you are a Final fantasy fan then you should love the movie even more!!
On: 2006-08-23
Wow, did this "film" stink! Talk about dissapointing. Sure as sheer otaku self-gratification material Im sure it does its job; a sort of computer-generated, Japanese, "Girls Gone Wild" with swords and motorcycles. Unfortunately, the plot is just about as nonexistant as those videos are known for as well.
The entire thing plays like a series of in-game cinema cut-scenes that were roughly spliced together in an attempt to make a movie. Too bad story and character development usually happen between such cut-scenes, as woefully, there is no character to be found at all. Aside from maybe 2 minutes of (utterly senseless) exposition here and there, the entire thing is almost non-stop over-the-top action.
And I dont mean in a good way, it actually got to a point where I was getting so bored during the action sequences that I considered just shutting the damn thing off to see what was on the Sci-Fi channel. Now THATs bad.
Now Im a diehard fan. Im the films target audience. I spent the entire first week after the games stateside release practiclly without nourishment, rest, or bladder relief, and loved every minute of it. Why? Because it was a beautifully inspiring work of art, with heart and character and tragedy, and above all, emotion.
FF: The Spirits Within had more depth than this film, and I would gladly watch it again, Advent children on the other hand... damn, Im glad it was a rental.
On: 2006-08-21
The quality is perfect, I couldnt be happier. The extras are nice, and quite long so its not a waste of money in any regard. I havent watched the movie yet, but I know its high quality from what I have seen. This is a must have for any anime fan, as well as any Final Fantasy fan.
On: 2006-08-20
This anime/movie certainly has the right to follow the game of the same title. It has the action and character involvement with one another to make it great. For those that have not played the game, it still plays out without having to know the background, but it certainly can help. The only disappointment I had was there wasnt enough character involvement from the other "main" characters from the game, it heavily focused on Cloud and Tifa. Other than that, the graphics, storyline and everything else needed to make a good movie were awsome!
On: 2006-08-17
I bought this for my 11-year old grand daughter who is a tremendous Final Fantasy fan. She absolutely loved this movie! For anyone who is into the Final Fantasy realm, this movie is for you.
On: 2006-08-16
I have to admit, when I saw FFVII AC graphics the first time, I was amazed. I thought it might just be a tech demo similar to the ones they did for previous entries (ex: 6 demo for PS1 and FF: Spirits Within for X). Then I heard about this movie and thought, "hmm.. Maybe they could pull it off, if they use the great storyline and implement the characters well, I wouldnt mind it at all."
Then we got FF:X-2 which was not at all what I thought it would be. After seeing how they screwed up that game, I felt more reluctant about this film. I picked up a copy after it came out since Blockbuster didnt carry it and thought it would be a disaster.
Starting up the movie was nice because they redid some of the classic scenes in the game. After that we get thrown into Midgard after the big crisis in the first game. Which brings up an important question, how is Midgard in good shape after all the damage was done in the first game and the fact that no one uses Mako anymore and people are sick from Geostigma?
Okay, so I tried to give the movie a decent chance and I didnt enjoy it. I thought the Tifas battle scene was cool but everything else in the movie was highly overused. For example: the motorcycle battle would have been great if they would have used it once, but no we have 3 of them 2 of which are almost identical. The three bad guys in this film are idiotic and unoriginal. I mean they all look like Sephiroth and they all want to finish what Sephiroth started--its very unoriginal. Oh, I should also mention the overkill, they over use Aerith. Lets see, I liked how in the game you have this feeling that shes watching over you and controlling the forces of the Planet. In this, she is in flashbacks, appears in way too many of Clouds daydreams and thoughts. If this was done once, I might have been okay, but when you overuse it like this its just plain annoying. None of the characters are as cool as they were in the game. I mean they get one entrance in one battle but its so rushed and Cloud gets all the glory even though he shows up last minute. I was hoping that it would be alright, that I would be wrong about the plot being as dumb as the bad guys and the Turks. But it didnt and it is probably the worst sequel the game couldve had.
The music in the game is one of the major points of it, but of course some of it was reused. The graphics are better but if you look at Squares other movie, Spirits Within, youll see that that ones a lot better and its older.
I loved FFVII but this is not what it deserves. I think it should have been left alone to be what it was, a great, stand alone game with no sequels and continue the tradition of Final Fantasy games. Really I think this is just a great way to earn the company money, make any game and place the name FFVII on it and itll be a seller. So far its working perfectly, look at how crappy Dirge of Cerberus looks and how many people still want to buy it for Vincent Valentine and the FFVII appeal. FFVII was unique, there is not an offspin that will be better than that game.
On: 2006-08-14
This movie is the most awesomely bad movie in history. Ive never laughed so hard before from a movie. I was in so much pain because I could literally not stop laughing at how bad this movie is. The dialog is awful, (need i repeat the Dilly Dally line?), the action is so fast you cant tell whats going on, the voice acting is terrible, the plot is extremely silly. Some might say that you cant understand the plot unless you beat the game, but unless the game explains why so many explosions can happen and not a single person gets a scratch, or how nobodys hair ever gets ruined by anything, (what ever gel they use is water, wind, flame, bomb, fighting, and even getting hit over the head resistant!). Maybe the game will also explain why Tifa is so worthless. She fights one time and loses, then she basically just stands their whenever something happens. Also in one part, the city is being destroyed and she is cracking jokes to a little kid like as if nothing is happening. Maybe the game will explain why when that monster is summoned and blows up half the city, nobody gets hurt, not even the regular people, and then when it sees all the side fights happen, it takes a nap until they are all done before it starts destroying the city again. Maybe the game will also explain how one of the characters glasses are bomb resistant but not step-on proof. Or how one minute Cloud cant fly but the next minute he can. Or how that water just happens to be under his house. Or how everyone has so many expensive things even though they are in the middle of a great depression. Or maybe it explains how the dead girl can leave Cloud a message on his cell phones answering machine. Or maybe it explains why the bad guys have Britney Spears hair. Im not even going to start my rant on the whole Mother situation. The only reason I gave this movie 2 stars is because the graphics are amazing. Thats it. Even if they made this movie about Final Fantasy X, which I beat both and love the characters, I would still be disappointed because the only utilized character in the movie is Cloud. Everyone else just stands their. If this was a FFX movie I would be mad because I hated Tidus and liked everyone else. This movie is so awesomely bad that I could watch it over and over again. Its just that bad.
On: 2006-08-13
This movie was outstanding. It takes place a little after Final Fantasy 7, where the game ends. Im glad this movie came out because it was meant to put a conclusion to the game. If youve played and beat the game it leaves some stuff in question. After I beat it I wanted to know more about what happend to the characters, well this answers that.
We here in the beginning of the movie a battle going on in crater between the Turks, and 3 unknown young men. Next we see Cloud driving a motor bike, hes now a deliverer. The same unknown 3 reveal themselves and attack Cloud on the way. Cloud meets up with a few of the Turks and someone who I wont mention that was from the FF7 game. Clould learns a little about the 3 from them, the main leader of the 3 is called Kadaj. Cloud is asked to help stop them for everyones sake.
Later we learn that their true intention, is to find the one they call Mother, quite a lot through the whole movie. The one who they call Mother. The first former comrade and child hood friend Tifa is the first one Cloud meets again. Tifa too has some trouble with Kadajs group. There are other appearences by Clouds former party members helping out.
Cloud not only contends with Kadaj but also his own guilt still about what happend to Aeris in the game. So he has his own inner battle going on at the same time. The movie makes the main character Cloud even more interesting in this way. The story may seem somewhat short, but the game was close to 70 hours, with many mini-quests along the way, not just battling Sephiroth, but many monsters, and Shinras Empire. This of course will seem like a much story.
The grahpics of the movie are superb. They look like the game characters, the design of them has been redone though, they are more real types. Not as anime looking as the game characters looked. The environments of the city, to the rain effects really set the mood. A fantastic battle scene towards the end with a well known FF monster was terrific, and my favorite battle. There will be lots of battles in this movie. Some people felt they had to many battles, I felt it was just right.
There were enough story points in the movie to tell everything they had to. Also Ill mention again this is only a 2 hour movie here. They had a lot of time to put out focus on all the characters, including a lot on Shinra. Not much of Shinra as an evil force here, lots more on Kadaj and company. And there was alot of action in the game too remember.
Ive watched the Japanese and the Dubbed. I like them both, from what some people were saying I was expecting the worst from the dubbed. The voices fit well, I did not feel the need to have to switch to Japanese again, since I saw that first already.
Thats about it. So remember this is meant as a conclusion to the events of FF7 mainly, with a new side story mixed in. This movie was a wonderful experience to watch. FF AC made up for the movie Final Fantasy Spirits Within, yes, I did not like that movie. This is much more entertaining in every way, and is actually based on one of the games.
On: 2006-08-10
This movie was rather disappointing. In fact I found myself enjoying the begining where they replayed major scenes from the game more than much of the film. The plot was very predictable and the dialogue and voice acting were very bad; scratch that, incredibly bad. The one thing that is worthwhile is the animation. The animation was indeed very impressive, but the other elements were so unbearable that the film was still hard to finish. With this installment of Final Fantasy you get a visual feast and excrement for plot. If you only care about visuals then this movie is great; if you care about plot, dialogue, character development, acting (voice acting in this case), or any of the other elements that it takes to make a great film you might want to skip this release.
On: 2006-08-10
I cantt tell you how is this product because Im still waiting
On: 2006-08-09
This movie was rather disappointing. In fact I found myself enjoying the begining where they replayed major scenes from the game more than much of the film. The plot was very predictable and the dialogue and voice acting were very bad; scratch that, incredibly bad. The one thing that is worthwhile is the animation. The animation was indeed very impressive, but the other elements were so unbearable that the film was still hard to finish. With this installment of Final Fantasy you get a visual feast and excrement for plot. If you only care about visuals then this movie is great; if you care about plot, dialogue, character development, acting (voice acting in this case), or any of the other elements that it takes to make a great film you might want to skip this release.
On: 2006-08-09
i waited so long to get this movie, it wasnt disappointing. Except for the fact that the game lasted many sleeples night and days of playing and the movie lasted one evening. Also for those who are wondering, yes its in english.
On: 2006-08-09
Has some awesome fight scenes, and a good story. Has the sense of humor you expect from Final Fantasy, and great imagination.
On: 2006-08-07
I love this movie, but Id have to say you should play the game first, but the graphics are astonishing, I think they could have done a better job with the english dubbing though, but asides from that, its a fantastic movie
On: 2006-08-04
If you loved FFVII and you want to add on to the story line this is a great way to do it. For those people that say this isnt a great movie I have no clue why you dont think it is.
A little warning: The first time you watch it, make sure it is in Japanese. The first time I watched it in english and The voices were just not picked right at all for the villans, they all sound like little girls. They also sound like they are wineing all the time. I was a little diapointed watching it in english. Then I watched it in Japanese and it was much, much better and less distracting.
The story line is quick and the movie is short about 1 hour 10 min. But it is great watch it for your self and you will understand.
On: 2006-08-03
Liked the DVD. Only recommend for fans. A couple of my friends watched it who hadnt played the game and enjoyed the action but didnt really understand anything else going on. I was disappointed that the English DVD didnt have the bonus anime that the Japanese had.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-08-03
This movie is awesome, but it relys heavily on back knowledge of the game. The featurette about the games story is pretty good, but it doesnt really describe everything, so its recommended that you play through the game (A huge task) before watching the movie.
As for the movie itself, the animation is top notch and the textures and detail on everything is literally astounding. The subtitles are often hilarious and the lip syncing is sometimes wierd, but the voice acting is top-notch and the story is amazing, the greatest movie Ive seen in a long time.
On: 2006-08-02
I...am...blown away... This movie is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I dont know anything about the Final Fantasy games other than the fact that they exist. So, having very limited knowledge I was really surprised that I understood the movie.
The graphics are incredible--in fact I dont think theres a word thatll give the graphics the justice it deserves. I bow down to the creators of this masterpiece. Seriously, the characters might as well be real people; theres little difference. When the movie started I said, "thats so awesome" and "thats so cool" so many times I had to tell myself to shut up haha
Theres a lot of action in this movie but the whole thing wasnt constant action. There was more to it----there was actually a storyline--not constant warfare like some action movies. In fact I didnt feel once that an action scene was put there just to fill time or live up to standards. This movie pretty much waved at the standards as it flew by on its mega cool motorcycle, surpassing it at warp speed, and laughing at the standards pathetic ways.
I must admit that the reason I chose to watch this was a shallow one; I thought the character Cloud was cute. So I found the movie trailer, watched it and thought "This looks pretty interesting..." and now that Ive watched this movie I am absolutely floored at how good it was. You must see this for yourself. I went in expecting something that was just `alright and just got so much more out of it---way more.
On: 2006-07-30
Keeping true to the series, Advent Children delivers the same characters, quality, and great special effects you would come to expect from the original FF7 game. Great job and well done!
On: 2006-07-30
Like too many modern animated features, this one puts all its creative energy into visuals, which are stunning, while not bothering to have even a semidecent plot or characters.
On: 2006-07-28
This movie is so GREAT!! I loved every minute of it. It brought back so many memories. I may have to go buy the game again. The fight scenes are fast paced and exciting to watch. The voices are just right for the characters. The only small glitch it between the voiceovers and lip movement. But that is to be expected. If you loved the game youll love the movie. No fan should be without it.
On: 2006-07-27
I havent played the game FFVII but the movie was still understandable... Plus, I had a friend help me fill in the gaps. Friends that play FFVII FTW ^.^
On: 2006-07-26
This movie was wonderfully written (Kazushige Nojima) and directed (Tetsuya Nomura, Takeshi Nozue). The music score was incredible (Nobuo Uematsu, see my review of the soundtrack), and the animation is the best ever seen... yet still something is missing that doesnt give this movie the edge to get a five. Its probably the story, and the characters. The plot isnt very complex, and the characters arent very deep. I never actually felt for any of the characters, making the movie less dramatic. But, it was great in all other regards.
The battle scenes are my favorite part. Five movements happen in one second, people leap about and fight in mid-air (just a warning: the action is anime-style, a.k.a. physics-defying), and motorcycles fly through the air in a flury of amazing CG animation; absolutely incredible. Especially the final battle; Cloud, the main character, against Sephiroth, the coolest villain ever. Since Sephiroth can soar about effortlessly, and has so many other powers, it makes the battle the best Ive ever seen. Just watch it and behold its greatness.
The story does deserve some complements, but its not that great. I love the use of old elements of Final Fantasy VII that werent covered much in the game. Of course, if you havent played the game, you wouldnt know what these are. Speaking of that, you dont need to have played the game to understand the story. It is explained in the movie.
This movie is definitely a must-see, but could also definitely be better. Personally, it is my second favorite movie.
On: 2006-07-26
Then again, longer would have cost more money. So... it was OK. The action was unbelievable. I love it. Sephiroth is and will always be the best villain ever.
On: 2006-07-25
I remember playing Final Fantasy VII when it first came out in 1997. I was eleven years old. The game was one of the greatest I ever played. I am now nineteen going on twenty and I still play through it constantly. The storyline was divine (albeit, didnt completely come together in the end), the characters memorable, and it still has one of the most memorable video game moments in history. When one of your main characters is killed off permanently with no way to revive said character. Final Fantasy VII set the bar.
Years later, a sequel is announced and now we have Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. A movie which was countlessly downloaded on file sharing services such as bit torrent before actually being released in the US. Many fans saw the movie long before it came out in the US. I was one of those who decided to wait, as Final Fantasy VII was a game that could easily have a unsatisfactory sequel. After watching the movie, Im glad I did.
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children has a good "cool" factor going for it. It looks really beautiful. Almost lifelike in its graphical capacity. As far as CGI animated films go, this is the best looking ever released. The characters hair moves in the wind in separate lines, even. Even the little things get some good detail. So if youre looking for a movie that really looks good, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children delivers.
The fight scenes arent so bad, but theyre not great either. The camera pans around and shifts too much. The fight scenes also look cool. They look startling unrealistic, even for Final Fantasy. Characters flying around and doing things they otherwise couldnt do in the game. A lot of it pans out in either bullet time slow motion like the Matrix, or really fast as if youve pressed fast-forward on a VCR. Sometimes it gets annoying, but often this really doesnt. However, it doesnt separate from the fact that theres really no depth to the fight scenes. They seem to be there to further enhance the eye candy of the movie. The good news, however, is that it manages to give the viewer the feel of a video game.
The storyline is what really hurts Advent Children, however. Theres a virus going around called Geostigma. The movie makes you think that this is a horrible virus thats a huge threat. We never see just how this virus is a threat, however. No one actually succumbs to Geostigma, and the origin of Geostigma gets very little, if any, attention at all. It just sort of popped up out of nowhere. Along those lines, three new villians are looking for "mother" who happens to be Jenova. The storyline couldve really molded into something special. I was hoping the movie would follow the formula of the game. Take a very basic thing, and turn it into something complex, original, and inspiring. Advent Children doesnt do that. The story also ends with a Deus Ex Machina.
Along those lines, the characters receive little, if any, development at all. The only character who seems to get any is Cloud Strife. When all the other major characters from Final Fantasy VII show up, they have maybe one or two lines and then theyre tossed aside like yesterdays newspaper. It feels like these characters were just thrown in there to fulfill fanboy and fangirl fantasies. Theres little emotion from these characters as well. None of them express any worry or hope for Cloud when he goes into the final battle.
Some characters have also come back and are a little different than what they were in the game. The humor of this movie mostly comes from the Turks. In the game they were not really the ones who provided humor. In fact, in the game they were rather suave and cool. They dont take that cool and suave attitude into the movie, though. But it did provide the movie with some much needed humor.
A lot of the movie feels rather emotionless. The poor dialogue mixed with bad English voice overs doesnt help either (the most common line people bring up is Tifas "Dilly dally shilly shally").
The music score redeems some of it. A lot of the tracks from the game have been remixed. While I like the more orchestrated versions of them, the rock music theme for these tracks isnt bad. No where near as good as the orchestrated masterpiece of the game, but good nonetheless.
I suppose if I were a few years younger Id have been taken in by the sheer cool factor of this movie and the simple fact that it has the name Final Fantasy on it. When I viewed this movie, though, it seemed to have forgotten what Final Fantasy is. Final Fantasy always put an emphasis on storyline, this movie does not. The games look beautiful but they at least maintain their story and character development while theyre at it. Advent Children seems to toss its characters and storyline aside.
In the end it depends on what youre looking for. If youre looking for a lot of action, beautiful cinematics and dont give a rip about story, characters or plot development, then Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is for you. If, however, youre looking for a well written script, story and plot development, as well as character development, Advent Children isnt for you.
On: 2006-07-25
This movies is a true next-generation CG movie. You simply cannot compare it to the dreck Pixar and Dreamworks are releasing. The character design and scenery have about 1000x the detail. They physics are actually consistent.
Even if you dont know anything about Final Fantasy, check out this film for a lesson on what state-of-the-art computer graphics are capable of.
by: ccumbrowski On: 2006-07-25
I dont understand why this movie was not even considered to be shown in American movie theaters. Same in Europe. It only hit the Big Screen in Asia. In America and Europe did it go right onto DVD this April (2006). Did they fear that the movie will do bad in the Box Office as "Final Fantasy: The Spirits within" did in 2001?
The Spirits within became a big success on DVD and the "flop" in the Box Office can only be explained by bad marketing. The same is true for the latest FF Movie, Advent Children. I didnt even know it existed until July 2006.
I bought the DVD on the spot without thinking. I played several of the FF Games on the PC and PS2 and know the previous Movie. I loved all of them and know I couldnt do anything wrong. Of course I was right.
FF7 - Advent Children is a great movie, very fast paste and not for everybody. If you dont like Final Fantasy or Fantasy (the genre) in General, this Movie is probably NOT FOR YOU. If you are a FF Player and like the Game Series, this Movie is a MUST buy.
On: 2006-07-22
This movie is amazing. First off if youre thinking of buying this product youre probably a fan of Final Fantasy VII. If youre not, Ill say two things. One theyve kindly added a little video of the game giving you the important parts of the story. Two, umm you probably still wont understand the story. Even if youve PLAYED Final Fantasy VII, the stories there, but ummm its a Final Fantasy story. I love Final Fantasy dont get me wrong, but theres loop holes and weirdness to contend with. So why a 5, because this movie is exactly what it sets out to be. A Final Fantasy story in the world of Final Fantasy VII with effects that will amaze you. Not only during the fights, theyll just be sitting around and youll be wondering how the freak did they do that??? Then you watch the fights and youre mouth is on the floor for a couple of weeks!! If youre a fan of Final Fantasy BUY THIS!! If youre not, whats wrong with you!!?? Play the game, then BUY THIS!!
On: 2006-07-19
If u are really a ff fan, then u will love this item, is the best CG movie I ever seen, and its simply fantastic the details and the magic it contains.
On: 2006-07-18
I tell you what. FINAL FANTASY VII- ADVENT CHILDREN is animation at its finest. The images are beautiful and swift. The animation is so good, you sometimes get lost in its quality, forgetting youre watching a simulated camera sweep through DRAWINGS. I could talk all day about the animation. Its tremendous! Even flawless.
My problem with the movie comes from the most basic of movie criticisms. The emotions and characters are hollow and empty. Yeah, were watching motorcycle riders attack the hero CLOUD, but WHO CARES? Why? Why do we care? There is absolutely ZERO EMOTIONAL BUILD UP.
We watch these TREMENDOUSLY COOL scenes. Battles. Magic. But there is no emotional involvement achieved. The main character CLOUD speaks in his same, downbeat depressed tone throughout. Never once giving us any emotion other than... like a young KEANU REEVES on downers.
I couldnt help watching the film and thinking that this was an animation tutorial. This is what can be done with the future of animation. Yet, the creators werent too concerned with story arc, emotional involvement or achieving any other emotion than... "that was cool."
Despite all the tremendously cool scenes, clanging metal, roaring motorcycles and magic waves of blue, FINAL FANTASY 7 falls flat with boring characters. They spent no time focusing on achieving an emotional contact with their audience and it shows.
FINAL FANTASY VII isnt without merit. The animation is worth seeing. I just hope that somebody someday will take this animation and its possibilities and ACTUALLY PUT A STORY THAT GRABS AN AUDIENCE with it.
On: 2006-07-18
this is a real nice special edition dvd, with nice extras and a great quality. its a real cool dvd. two thumbs ups!
also came with the original japanese audio track. even cooler!
On: 2006-07-16
This is an awesome movie, major fan or not. It does pick up a little about what happens 2 years ago to help the people who have never played the game or heard of Final Fantasy. The Japanese and English voice actors are fantastic, though there are moments where the words wont match the mouth movement. The CG is just the best, hands down. Something we all expect from Square Enix. This movie will satisfy anybody, with their crazy camera angles and awesome fighting scenes. Youll be wanting watch this movie over and over.
On: 2006-07-13
This DVD is awesome! The CG is amazing, the story is incredible, and the music is just phenomenal. Advent Children brings new life to the characters of Final Fantasy VII as their lives after Crisis Core are revealed. Definitely one of the greatest movies ever.
On: 2006-07-11
THe animation in FF7 Advent Children is simply gorgeous. It is the best I have ever seen point blank. It starts where the game stopped, and the dvd even has an extra feature to refresh those who havent played the game in awhile or not at all, so everyone can enjoy it. Unfortunately, that is where the good ends. The story focuses way too much on Cloud and Tifas relationship and the other characters we came to love get the back burner and appear as cameos for a big battle, and thats it. Plus, for a truly good companion movie to the epic game, it really needed to be about two or three hours longer than it was. The whole thing felt rushed, and leaves the viewer wishing for more. Save your money and rent this one before you go out and buy it, it was a nice try but it is just lacking in too many ways. The only reason I give it three stars is because I loved the game so much.
On: 2006-07-11
Hello! I dont reguarly write reviews, but I decided to start since I purchase so many items from Amazon!
In my opinion this movie is great for anyone who enjoys the Final Fantasy video game series. It is visually beautiful, the storyline is decent, the music is enchanting (I bought the soundtrack as well), and its great to see all the characters from FFVII brought to life. If you loved the video game its sort of a reminicent travel back in time as well, with a few scenes staring Aerith.
If you havent played FFVII and/or not a FF fan in general you might not get as excited as I was about this. My fiance sort of likes some FF games, but hasnt played VII himself, and Im not sure he would enjoy this DVD as much as I. Some knowledge of the game is helpful in understanding the movie - lifestream, materia, who Sephiroth is, etc. etc.
Overall, very beautiful visually and aurally.
On: 2006-07-10
For anyone who has played FF7 the game you will probably agree that is one of (if not the) best games you have every played. You felt like it was real and you were part of a family. I cried when Aires died.
The only good parts to this film are excellent CG, getting to see your old friends again, and in stunning detail. and the remakes of all the wonderful music from FF7. It was great how they started the movie right where the game left off. Other than that, this movie was practically a mockery of the epic game.
There was ZERO character development so if you havent played the game I wouldnt even bother watching the movie. My wife watched it with me and I spent countless times pausing the film and explaining what things were. Even the new characters were difficult to figure for motives and things. There was practically no plot and even when there was it wasnt explained well. Most of the scenes had nothing to do with each other, they were just static displays of CG for no reason. The fight scenes were impossibly stupid. it was weird watching these characters that were so painstakingly created to be as human looking as possible climb on walls like a spider and launch 100s of feet in the air. Picture real people acting out a Dragonball Z episode (CORNEY!) I could go on and on about how dumb these fight scenes were and they accounted for 1/2 the movie. One other part about the fights that was so annoying was the way they sped up and slowed down the filming. They sped it up when they made contact with each other so fast that you couldnt tell who hit who or what happened. and then they slowed it down when nothing was happening so you get these long slowmo shots of them stareing at each other!
The end scene where theyre all launching Cloud into the air was just the stupidest thing ever. Might as well watch the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, thats more realistic!
They made very poor use of materia and magic. There was only 1 scene where they showed someone "adding" materia and he doesnt even put it into a weapon or armor like the game, he shoves it into his arm (like into the skin) It was so stupid.
DUMB DUMB DUMB STUPID and DISAPOINTING!
On: 2006-07-10
This is just a CGI display of anime cliches and pointless fan service. FF7 is one of the most overrated things, ever. The story is about as captivating as the lyrics of a Helloween song. The characters are soulless, cardboard-like creatures, masquerading in hideous costumes and spikey hair to influence thousands of cosplayers to further fail at life. There was this scene where the characters were throwing Cloud in the air to hit some flying monster or something, as they issued him sunny encouragement like "no giving up!" I just sat there in awe of the stupidity on display, wondering how this cinematic jello inspired its own subculture.
On: 2006-07-10
I have played final fantasy 7 for hundreds of hours, loved it and consider it one of the greatest story driven games ever. Final Fantasy 7 stands taller than any other turn-based RPG. So, I had high expectations for the movie. It was a huge letdown. The characters seem to have far less personality and dimension than the games characters. The events seem to have no cohesiveness - even understanding who the characters were it wasnt clear what their motivation was. The CG was superb technically but it seemed like some of the environments were inspired by later Final Fantasy games (too heavily doused in Japanese pop culture). In the end it just seemed like the director tried to generate interest by blasting the screen with ridiculous fight scenes where no one cares of the outcome.
On: 2006-07-09
This is just a CGI display of anime cliches and pointless fan service. FF7 is one of the most overrated things, ever. The story is about as captivating as the lyrics of a Helloween song. The characters are soulless, cardboard-like creatures, masquerading in hideous costumes and spikey hair to influence thousands of cosplayers to further fail at life. There was this scene where the characters were throwing Cloud in the air to hit some flying monster or something, as they issued him sunny encouragement like "no giving up!" I just sat there in awe of the stupidity on display, wondering how this cinematic jello inspired its own subculture.
On: 2006-07-09
I have never played the games. I didnt think Id be too impressed after watching the preview. Boy was I wrong! I was as excited by this as Fellowship of the Ring.
It manages to be fantastical in a science-fiction way. It has breathtaking battles, realistic artwork, deep angsty characters that you love to watch, and realistic problems.
I love watching the long clothing they wear swirl with their complex fight moves. My eyes have trouble keeping up with them in a fight.
Some scenes I would have sworn came from the matrix.
The music was both invigorating and stunning. I love listening to it.
Some characters were mostly for comic relief, and they had my family laughing so hard we cried.
The world is in choas, and might just get worse just as it was rebuilding itself. A deadly virus slowly kills mostly children and a some adults. Three men seek the creature responsible, wanting to create a new future. An eccentric cast of tragic characters fight to prevent them from finding it.
The people who made this include little details like hair, raindrop shadows, and movement under clothing. The english voice actors manage to make most of their lines match the mouths. Both the english and japanese voice actors voices match their characters very well (though I think some of the english voice actors were better)
The first disc holds the movie and a special.
The second isnt very interesting. It has things on the games, some background material, and the film clips in japanese with different lines.
Buy this movie. You wont regret it.
On: 2006-07-06
Could have been a little better, but overall not too bad. This was one of my favorite video games of all time. It was nice to see the story continued.
On: 2006-07-06
Ive been waiting, well let me rephrase that, I think every FF7 fan has been waiting for this movie. With the years weve waited, I think we got what we wanted. Great visual effects, great voice-acting (japanese), and story. NICE. HAVE TO BUY THIS!!!!!!!
by: Anonymous On: 2006-07-06
This movie has all the main characters from Final Fantasy 7 like: Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Vincint, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Red XIII, Marline, it even had Aeris at times!! and some new charaters!! the animation is AWESOME! theres nothing like it ((at the moment)).
Plot: 8/10 there are some down points worth questioning. but still very interesting! also very origanal!! i dont want to give away anything!!
Animation: 10/10 BEAUTIFUL! LIFE-LIKE!! everything seems so real!
Music: 9/10 GREAT JOB WITH THE MUSIC! there is some very good new music, some old ((from the video game!)) and also some remixed ones like "One Winged Angel" from the part where you battle Sephiroth in the game-- only this time the battle is in the movie!
English Dubbed version: 10/10 there are usually down points in the dubbed versions, but not this one!! the mouths actually FIT THE WORDS BEING SAID! and the lines arent stupid!!
Overall: 10/10 This movie is SOOOOOO GOOD! it keeps you going with plot turning points, cool music, people dying, GREAT ACTION! also wondering if Cloud is going to survive, etc...!!
I love this movie, and it is a MUST BUY for every Final Fantasy fan out there! even if you dont like the Final Fantasy 7, or any of the games, i still think you would LOVE THIS AWESOME MOVIE!
On: 2006-07-06
As an avid FFVII player & fan, I could easily dribble 5000 words on the beautiful animation and incredible fight sequences. However, most (if not in all probability all) of those who have never even heard of Cloud and Sephiroth are going to have trouble following along. I really wanted my girlfriend to watch it with me so I took about 40 minutes to prep her for what she finally understood to be the sequel to the game (this was extremely tough considering the game can easily take about 99 hours of thorough playing to finish). And alas!, even with the summary and endless answering to a barrage of questions like "What is mako?", "What is Jenova?", "Sephiroths will?", she still didnt quite understand what the movie was about. In the end, my desperate and equally futile attempt in proving her time wasnt wasted sounded something like, "Well the fighting was cool wasnt it?".
My own personal disappointment was that the English dialogue differed so greatly from the Japanese version. While neither were great in and of themselves, the Japanese dialogue was superior to the cheesier and sometimes dorky English version. (The only improvement, in my opinion, in the Japanese to English voiceover was the actor who spoke for Vincent. Good voice for dark character.)
All in all, this is a movie exclusively for FFVII aficionados (like me), CGI fans, and anyone who really appreciates excellent fantasy fight sequences--and for good reason, the creators didnt attempt to pander to any other target audience.
Conclusion. If you fit one of the people groups above, have at it. Otherwise, sidestep what you probably couldnt appreciate.
On: 2006-07-05
This was a much anticipated movie. A long time coming but worth the weight. From the FF7 flashbacks to the follow up. A Great Movie I recommend this to anyone especially those who have enjoyed the game itself.
On: 2006-07-03
I loved this movie and would recomend it to any Final Fantasy enthusiast
On: 2006-07-03
Already had seen this movie before i purchased, and was looking forward to seeing it in english and with added features. The previews are quite enticing, and the behind the scenes etc are also quite cool, worth the purchase. English voices were also very well done, as youd expect on a title this large. definite buy for any FF7 fan, and id also recommend it to any scifi/fantasy/cinematic fans out there too even if they know nothing of ff7.
On: 2006-07-02
Its utterly awesome. The one thing you have to remember... no physics are visibly apparrent.
On: 2006-07-01
FFVII - Advent Children was a great opportunity to look into the life of Cloud after the battle with Sephiroth. The story was well written and there was no stretch in making the connection from game to movie(except for Barrets hair). There was even a bonus section that showed actual screenshots from the game, to help bring back fond memories.
The only down side to this story is if Cloud was not your favorite character from the game. Although all the main characters, Barret, Tifa, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Red, Vincent, Cid, and even Aerith, make brief appearances, the main story focuses on Cloud.
All in all this is a must have for any Final Fantasy fan, be it casual or fanatic!
On: 2006-06-30
Dont get me wrong, Advent Children is an exceptional film, its just not for everyone. If you appreciate 3D animation, youll get something out of this film. If you love impossible action sequences ala "The Matrix" and the far east legacy that inspired it, youll get something out of this film. If you are a fan of the original PlayStation game, Final Fantasy VII, youll really appreciate this film. If you enjoy all three of these elements, then you will be tickled with this offering.
However, for those of you who arent interested in any of the above, Im afraid that you may find this film rather disjunct and strange.
There are unquestionably scenes that will be virtually meaningless to anyone who doesnt have a background with the original story from the game. Yet, that doesnt invalidate the whole film for this group - it just means that it wont have the same impact. Also, as an effort to give the viewer some context, the DVD includes a collection of scenes from the game that attempts to outline the plot of the original story. This could have been re-rendered in such a fashion to provide a good reference that would be intriguing and refreshing to all (even those who played the game). However, instead we have video capture of the Japanese game sequences with English subtitles. This too is a little disjunct, but at least its an effort.
I gave the film 4 stars because the true fan in me would give it a 5 and the responsible reviewer in me would want it to have a 3 for the average viewer.
If you have a chance to see it, do so. If nothing else, it has some truly remarkable 3D animation and some breathtaking scenes. But if you are unfamiliar with the original story from the game, set aside the time and view the "Reminiscence of "Final Fantasy VII" to give you some background.
Enjoy!
On: 2006-06-29
In advance I want to let everyone know Im not an expert on this film but I enjoyed it nevertheless. "Advent Childen" is one of those movies that caters more to the devoted followers of the "Final Fantasy" series, and even more so to those in love with "Final Fantasy VII". They will know all the details and everything like its nobodies business, and good for them. To me the film is eye candy, spectacular action, polished CGI, complete with gravity defying stunts. The movie assumes you are somewhat familiar with everyone and familiar with that world. The point of my review is that even if you arent, its still a fun movie to look at.
On: 2006-06-28
I am surprised that such anime genre bring up CC which is very rare in that type of genre. I loved the picture and it is very stunning graphic. This movie is good for fans who played the game Final Fantasy 7. It bring some of fond memories. You will get to see all characters, but not all will have a lot roles played in. The movie is all about Cloud.
Bonus Features is subtitled but not CC so it may be hard from time to time to see who was talking.
But other than that, I am happy to have it in my collection.
On: 2006-06-27
A visual feist.
Ive never played any of the games and had no idea what the backstory was supposed to be, but nevertheless, I was amazed. The visual effects were stunning; I dont think Ive ever been so engrossed with completely ficticious battle scene, and doubt that I ever will be again. The texturing was so detailed that you could pick up on ever nuance of the characters movement or emotion, or even count the hairs on Clouds head.
I did feel as though I was missing certain aspects of the plot, having never played the game, but the special features filled in most of the holes, and I dont feel as though the storyline was lacking in any specific field or aspect. The characters were original and engaging, and were developed well in the short time alloted between fight scenes.
For that matter, who cares about characterization? The battles were that good. This is a definite must buy for any anime and foriegn film fan, or anyone whod like to try something a little different.
On: 2006-06-27
This has got to be the finest follow up to FF VII. I would suggest anyone who enjoyed FF VII to buy this ASAP.
On: 2006-06-26
I wouldnt expect anything less. The shipment was executed just as it should and in a timely manner. Thank you.
On: 2006-06-26
While film looks and sounds amazing, the plot is mediocre at best. Fun to watch, but would be boring for those not familiar with Final Fantasy VII.
On: 2006-06-26
This movie plays like a bunch of cut scenes strung together. MINDLESS. it rehashes the game and doesnt really come up with anything of its own. No real surprises no mind blowing revelations. But there are some awesome action scenes. But wait, its animated. Stupidly ridiculous action scenes in an animated movie really dont do it for me. Oh WOW he can jump high. oh wow his sword is big. OH wow its just like the game. Just like the game, I thought that would be enough but no its all hype.
On: 2006-06-26
This is one film that I have been looking forward to for a very long time, an without hesitation I can honestly say that this is exactly what I have been hoping for.
First of all, we will think back during the release of Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within. Before its release, this was a big excitement for Final Fantasy fans at the time, but the result was a huge disappointment. To be honest, if you think about it, it wasnt actually a Final Fantasy film. Sure it had great CGI throughout but the story lead to nothing but a so-so, pointless sci-fi.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, however, is a much greater achievement for a Final Fantasy film. The story takes place two years after the events of Final Fantasy VII on the Playstation. The ruins of Midgar stand as a testament to the sacrifices made in order to bring peace. The world faces a new menace. A mysterious disease known as Geostigma is spreading through the children around Midgar. Three new enemies, Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz, intend to start another reunion: to revive Sephiroth and unleash a total destruction.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is an action packed fantasy experience and the action is spectacular, with probably some of the best battles Ive ever seen in a movie, I couldnt take my eyes off it for a second. The animation is superb, while taking the characters from a video game into a film of CGI has been done exceedingly well. And the CGI visuals itself, throughout, are quite simply beautiful, containing absolutely breathtaking scenery. And also as a great fan of the Final Fantasy soundtrack, Advent Children really lived up to the highest standards. Really gets you into the Final Fantasy atmosphere, bringing back old memories of the FFVII experience.
Another thing id like to mention is that, "is this just for the fans?" Well it definitely will be more respected by them and understanding.. But you cant actually say that this is a fans film only. Think about it....This is a top-notch entertaining film, not a turn-based RPG. Non-FF fans should at least check it out. Even though this is a sequel to something non-FF fans may not have experienced, but there is definetly something here that you will find deeply impressive.
Within a beautiful world of Final Fantasy through CGI, containing absolutely stunning scenes of sword battles, magical scenery and the stunning event of Behemoth-Sin, this was an incredibly magnificent Final Fantasy experience throughout, and without a doubt one of THE greatest animated movies I have ever seen. A stunning achievement for the continuation of Final Fantasy VII. Absolutely Breathtaking.
On: 2006-06-25
i really loved it! the effects ruled....and to me the story line is biblical. its for all ages! i didnt think it was a waste at all. so i recomend it to any1! enjoy~
On: 2006-06-25
This movie is a serious thank you to the fans of FF7. There are lots of inside jokes that are there just for us. I really loved this movie. I have watched it 3 times since I bought it and I dont tend to watch movies over again so soon.
All the characters are here. Plenty of fighting action. Loads of fun. Great animation too. If you are a fan, check this movie out. If your not a fan, become one.
On: 2006-06-20
All right, I love this movie as much as the next person, and I have just one thing I want to say here.
Dont believe the people insisting that the dub sucks (mostly in all caps, no less, just to get your attention). Most, if not all, of these people are the kind who automatically assume that a dub is awful, even when they havent heard word one of the English vocal track, and so set themselves up to have no other possible opinion of it once they actually have taken the time to see it. I watched it with no preset opinion of what it "should" be like, even though I really liked the Japanese cast, and I thought the English cast was amazing. Everyone I know who has seen the dub watched it with an open mind, as well. We all had high hopes for it, and we all really liked it. A lot of people who I dont know but have heard the opinions of also think its great.
Actually, I have to take back the statement that everyone I know watched the dub with an open mind. I know a few people who started out expecting it to suck but ended up really liking it once all was said and done.
Its true that the English version has some stumbles, but the Japanese version isnt perfect, either. There are plenty of cases in this movie where I prefer the English voice for a character, in fact.
So, if you havent seen the dub yet, give it a shot. Watch it without deciding beforehand what you think it will be like. Then, if you do end up disliking it, you can say its because you actually dislike it, not because you convinced yourself that you should.
On: 2006-06-20
I am a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series and have had to of played at least 500 hours of final fantasy all together, and I have to say that FFVII was by far my favorite. It had everything a gamer could ever want. So naturally I was excited about Advent children....When I saw the japanese version the hype kind of overjumped the lack of depth in plot and I said I loved it...but after watching it a few more times, I realized that the storyline was stupid...one of the few good things about it (besides animation which is a given) was the voices....the voices, even though I didnt understand them, were able to capture the correct emotion of each individual character.....I knew for the english version that the acting for each character had to make up for the lack of story...I was hugely disappointed to found that the english acting was horrible....I think the only voice that was casted right was sephiroths....and that the worst voice was clouds. His voice came out nothing like his personality. It was after I had watched the whole english version that I realized that there was nearly nothing good about this movie, besides the animation.....I waited two years in suspense and excitement getting to see the crappy FFVII animation to come to life and see all the characters back again, but I ended up coming close to hating it.....If you really want to see this movie I recomend borrowing it from a friend before you decide to use your money on a piece of garbage....
On: 2006-06-19
I am a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series and have had to of played at least 500 hours of final fantasy all together, and I have to say that FFVII was by far my favorite. It had everything a gamer could ever want. So naturally I was excited about Advent children....When I saw the japanese version the hype kind of overjumped the lack of depth in plot and I said I loved it...but after watching it a few more times, I realized that the storyline was stupid...one of the few good things about it (besides animation which is a given) was the voices....the voices, even though I didnt understand them, were able to capture the correct emotion of each individual character.....I knew for the english version that the acting for each character had to make up for the lack of story...I was hugely disappointed to found that the english acting was horrible....I think the only voice that was casted right was sephiroths....and that the worst voice was clouds. His voice came out nothing like his personality. It was after I had watched the whole english version that I realized that there was nearly nothing good about this movie, besides the animation.....I waited two years in suspense and excitement getting to see the crappy FFVII animation to come to life and see all the characters back again, but I ended up coming close to hating it.....If you really want to see this movie I recomend borrowing it from a friend before you decide to use your money on a piece of garbage....
On: 2006-06-16
Pros:
- A continuation of the FFVII storyline
- Amazing animation and good Japanese voice acting
- Action-packed and keeps you thinking "what will they do next?"
- Decent plot, a few holes but nothing serious
- Even having not played the game, still excellent
Cons:
- Can be confusing for those new to Final Fantasy
- Easy to miss things
- English voice acting is abysmal. ABYSMAL.
- Plot can be a little lacking in some spots
All in all, however, this movie is amazing. My only unimportant nitpick is that Reno looks too young. ;) Otherwise, very few faults - an excellent movie for all.
On: 2006-06-12
Demasiado extremadamente buena esta pelicula.
Con audio en Japones e ingles (Aunque la quisiera con audio español tambien) y subtitulos en muchos idiomas (en español tambien claro).
Mi gran sorpresa fue ver los menus de los dvd en español (que es muy raro porque el es region1) en el 1 y el 2 traen subtitulos en español.. hasta los documentales de como se hizo.. esa fue otra sorpresa.. :-) Fue un momento muy Feliz.. Se lo recomiendo a Todos.. ;-)
On: 2006-06-12
Several years ago, I was in love with everything that bore even a passing resemblence to Final Fantasy VII. Im not sure if its that Ive grown out of that stuff or if this movie just sucked, but either way, I didnt enjoy it. The way I remember it, FFVII had a convincing story line which, while fantasy oriented, drew the player in and created a thoroughly textured world to operate in. Advent Children, on the other hand, has a story full of holes, and relies on strange occurances which have no background information to support them. This makes the movie seem like a childrens game; it is as if the writers were making up rules as they went along, rather than working in the framework of the world they had already created. The plot twists were so ridiculous, I found myself unable to keep a straight face as they transpired. Ive noticed this to be a problem in alot of Japanese anime, so while I was dissapointed by Advent Children, I wasnt entirely surprised. To its credit, the animation and action sequences are incredible, and everything is very fast paced. I just didnt feel what I felt when I played FFVII... maybe its just me.
On: 2006-06-12
Good:
Probably the best CGI i have ever seen
Some of the best fight seens in existence
Japanese voice acting is quite good
Sound effects rivaling (if not surpassing) great movies
Most of the special features are included in the SE US release
Bad:
Story lacks depth
For people who have never played FFVII the story will be confusing
English voice acting is HORRIBLE.. not the re-animation we were promised.. instead they just gave us bad voice overs
Ugly yellow subtitles
What happened to Final Fantasy - Lost Order? Lost in translation?
On: 2006-06-07
To be honest, im NOT a fan of the Final Fantasy games and I HATE Final Fantasy 10. The only Final Fantasy games that I thought were OK, were FF8 & FF9. I didnt play much of FF7 as I lost interest too quickly. However, Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children I thought was really good. With beautiful images with vibrant colours and attention to detail, I was impressed.
What I didnt like about this film was the story and voice acting. The story is very bland and hard to follow with questions of "whats going on now?" and "what the hell is that thing?". A lot of strange things happen in this film that are impossible, but the film does have Fantasy in the title so thats acceptable. The voice acting is quite bad making the characters a little bland, while villians sound less threatening.
What I did like about this film was the fantastic visuals and blink-and-youll-miss-it action. The action is so fast and so furious that you just cant take your eyes off the screen in case you miss something.
Since I found the story bad and the voice acting bad, this still is a great film, with lightning speed action thats impossible to accomplish in real time. Advent Children is a great, fun and very enjoyable film that I would recommend to anyone whos a fan or not a fan of the Final Fantasy series.
On: 2006-06-07
I am a longtime fan of the Final Fantasy series. As a kid, I played and beat the very first one they made and have kept track ever since. Its hard to say exactly why these things fascinate me. But they do.
Of all the reasons I can think of it probably boils down to the fact that when they make these things, its not just about making a buck on cheap entertainment. Final Fantasy is something that grips you, both in the way that an excellent book can or a great movie sometimes does. One, it makes you think and two, you interact with it. The best ones of all are generally agreed to be: FF4, FF6, FF7, FF10 and the online epic, FF11. Seven was a turning point in many ways, it was vastly different from the previous versions. It was the first time they really made an effort to make it less like a game... and more like a truly interactive movie. Seven changed the entire video game industry forever in the late 90s, just like how Nintendos The Legend of Zelda changed everything in the 1980s. One other thing worth mentioning is that FF7 was one of the first games to feature a Black Man ("African American") in one of the key starring hero roles. This might have had an influence on the spectacular sales of Seven (featuring a cast with a wide variety of racial backgrounds as they team up to prevent a planet wide crisis).
So, the question is, how does non-interactive Final Fantasy measure up? In this case I can say, pretty darned good. The CG animation is amazing, particularly in the textured surfaces, like the look they created to simulate woven fabric ... incredible. The voice acting is a godsend for us American and UK folks - they got it as good to perfect as they possibly could. They also include a much appreciated recap of Sevens story to bring us up to speed (complete with stirring orchestrated music - prepare for a literal trip down memory lane). FYI the main antagonist is named Sephiroth he is Clouds former leader who at the end of Seven tried to become some sort of false divinity (A "One-Winged Angel" suggesting his lack of some critical quality that only a real angel would possess). Oh yeah and some clarification of the whole "mother" theme and why the bad guys constantly say it. It is connected to the planet and the environmental crisis. The planet is "mother earth" a life giving source of energy. Jenova is the "mother" which the bad guys talk about (cells from a Jenova sample were grafted into Sephiroth and others DNA thus they call Jenova their mother) ... an alien lifeform that crashed into their planet in a huge meteor long ago. Jenova thus rivals and tries to replace the planet as the "mother" figure.
Its not a cinema classic (yet, it certainly could be a cult classic) but it is a very well thought out, visually stunning motion picture that anyone can watch and enjoy. The action sequences have a touch of the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" syndrome to them (i.e. they fly around a lot), but in a world where magic and materia are the norm, you dont really mind it. Once again I would like to underscore that the CG graphic animation is mind blowing. They also got certain characters down absolutely perfect - it was a joy to see old characters like Yuffie, Rufus and Reno still around! So sit back, open those eyes and take in the final chapter of Seven. Very much worth the price of admission!
On: 2006-06-07
This movie was made for the millions of fans out there that beleive that the game left them hanging.
-To see it is to believe it
The animation is simply breathtaking. I must admit that there is a flaw with the character movement (Cloud sheathing his sword while riding his bike). The fight scenes are just oustanding. Some people might complain that it defies the laws of physics - this is an ANIME people, where anything beyond reality can happen. The character move pretty much flawlessly. Character design is beautiful they could have made Aerith prettier).the texture, facial expressions, background were done to perfection.
-Story
I have to agree with some people, that you have to already know the game story to fully comprehend this movie(like I said before this movie was meant for the fans of the series and he game). For the "new" poeple, it still has a good story line. The plot of the story, as I see it is, the search to complete ones-self. Cloud - to be forgiven(peace of mind and heart), the villains - longing for a mothers love (the villains, no matter how powerful they are, are still children hence the title).
Even I, a big fan of FFVII, did get a litttle confuse when I watched it the first time (Japanese release), but after a couple of more time I finally understood it. Note that the American release has been dumbed done, its done everytime an anime is released here in the states (to the companies that do this - Americans are not dumb), to make it easier to understand. Between the Japanese and American release; the American release bluntly tells you whats going on on the other hand the Japanese release makes you think on what is exactly is going on (I prefer this).
The game left everyone hanging, the movie does a good job closing the Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa story line, well almost (watch the movie and dont forget to watch the all the credits aswell). Personally as a fan of Clerith(Cloud+Aerith), I would have preferred a different ending, like near the end when Cloud got...... oops almost gave out a spoiler. Character development: must I repeat myself, already developed in the game, but the movie did a great job capturing these characters personalities.
-Voice over
Japanese voices are much, much, much better than the english dub.
Where the heck do this people get voice actors, they are very monotone. Some english voice over were decent like Reno, Rufus, Tifa (a little too sweet, not enough toughness or confidence).
WATCH THE MOVIE WITH JAPANESE AUDIO.
-EXTRAS
The extras were pretty good. The interviews with the created team. Reminesence(flashback to the game storyline). Trailers of upcoming release. I wished they added more though; for example, the original 20 minute story line for the movie and the animated short that was released with the Japanese version (this short film would have added more to the story line for people who are not Final Fantsy fans).
-MUSIC
As always Nubuo Uematsu has done an outstanding job combining new compositions with the classic game music. Rock, piano, orchestra.
The timing of the music was perfect, what else can you expect from one of the worlds top composers.
-OVERALL
For fans of the series and game, you wont be disappointed.
For casual fans or new viewers, you might get a confused at first but you will get eventually understand and love or atleast like this movie. IF YOU DONT MIND READING SUBTITLES, TRY TO GET A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE RELEASE INSTEAD OF THE DUMBED DOWN, POORLY DUBBED AMERICAN RELEASE. IF YOU CANT, JUST WATCH THE US RELEASE IN JAPANESE AUDIO AND ENGLISH SUBTITLES.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-06-07
okay. i love the ff series, but this was a major let down. ill give it to em, the computer animation was great, as were MOST of the action sequences, but really. i heard lots of people say beforehand that this movie was SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD. but it isnt. the animation was nice and smooth, but the dubbung was TERRIBLE! the story was way to hard too follow for those non-final-fantasy-seven-players. and there was way too many cool fight scenes and not enough story or character development. quite a few of the characters were totally flat in thier personalities. and the MUSIC! did they TRY to choose the worst possible songs for the fights!!!!???? theres one part where cloud is fighting this guy (whose name would be a spoiler) and he gets stabbed. the music changes from intense fighting music to jingly christmas happy music!!!!!!!!! that was okay though because i laughed really hard then, which made me remain awake the rest of the film. waaaaayy to short too. if they had given more time for story and character interactions ,(other than physical contact) this movie could live up to its 4 or 5 star potential.
by: erikld On: 2006-06-07
Final Fantasy VII. The name alone brings back memories of the arguably best of the Final Fantasy series. You cant say Final Fantasy VII without thinking about Cloud, Marlene, Barret, and all the rest.
Two years after the events of the game, Advent Children follows the adventures of Cloud, who is in deep mourning over the death of Aerith still after two years. Meanwhile, 3 men are looking for thier mother -- Jenova. Along the way, Cloud runs into his friends, including Vincent.
The movie is action-packed, much like The Matrix movies. Theres hardly a slow moment in Advent Children, which hurts it just a little. Nobody who ever played Final Fantasy VII wont be too interested in the movie...because the film visits much of the locations of the game. Still, its a good movie to an excellent game.
On: 2006-06-06
I watched the movie today. And I felt really cheated having waited for something like this after so long, but getting so little. The movie itself, CGI, was attractively done. Almost like watching a real movie. Almost like watching real people acting and reacting to surroundings. It would be interesting to see if the PS3 brings back FFVII and use these sorts of graphics. In fact I hope that they do. And yes, before you attack, thinking I know nothing about the original game, I am a big fan of VII, I still have it and still play it when the desire strikes. And yet behind all this beautiful artwork, I felt like I was wanting more. This wanting more comes in three bullets.
One. The villains were only "eh," in the sense that they did not have the all important background given that would have made them more dangerous, more intriguing, more hateful by we the movie audience. The villains were nothing more than three Sephiroths with different hairstyle per character. Yes they were exciting in the battles, but CGI can only go so far, if there isnt a cemented background, I can only shrug and say "ok...what else?" I would have loved to have had the movie get more involved into what was going on in the villains mind beside wanting them to go find their "mom." I did not care for how the villains affected the main characters. I wanted to, but couldnt.
Two. We only get to see a little bit of the other characters I myself grew to love in the original video game. Id love to have seen the others moving about, acting and interacting, but we dont see this. We only get them "somewhat" in the final portions of the end battle. The video game was not only about Cloud, though he was the main character. What about Yuffie? Barret? The others? What all has happened to them after the ending of the original game? How did they grow between the original game and the Advent Children movie? What sort of demons did they go through due to what was happening to the children?
Three. The epic feeling was gone, though the children had been stained, you didnt really get involved in what they were going through, what they were feeling, they were just there to move the story along, not real people having real damage. The original game was epic, you didnt just go around one city or some ruins, you went throughout the entire world intimately, powerfully, and there was an epic feeling to how each place was a portion of the greater story. This was not there in the movie. I got the feeling that the background was just that, background for another battle. The background could have been a Chocobo farm for all the lack of importance.
Sadly, what I suggest is this. Rent the movie. Thats it. It isnt worth the money unless you truly wish to have it, I have it, but, I dont know if I will see it again anytime soon...CGI can only go so far, I want substance and I want story and I want these indepth and intricate and passionate, just like the original game.
On: 2006-06-06
If You have never played the game Dont bother watching the movie The Reminiscence of "Final Fantasy VII" featurette sucks it tells you the story but shows no boss battles The battles I wanted to see were the battles with Bizarro Sephiroth and the One Winged angel Safer Sephiroth. Im also a little disapointed they Didnt show Bizarro and Safer in CGI either but other than that its a great movie So Go get some popcorn and take a ride down memory lane with Cloud and His Friends
this movie is great for teens too!
On: 2006-06-06
If you dont know anything about Final Fantasy, if you have never heard of Cloud Strife in your entire existence, if someone says "Sephiroth" and you say "Who?", you will enjoy this DVD anyway. It is total eye candy for the unversed FF viewer like myself. I saw it once and had to watch it again, then again, then again. At this writing, Ive lost count of how many times Ive seen the film. It grows on you, and if you are lucky enough to hook up with someone who is a radical FF fan of old (my nephew, in this case), they can fill you in on enough of the recent past (two years in the case of Advent Children) so that the film makes entire sense and you somehow slip past the screen into the lives of the characters on that screen and share in all that they are experiencing. The action sequences are breathtaking, and the filmakers have captured in CGI the full range of human emotions in their characters. Of course, you have to deal with the obstacle of seeing a Japanese movie with English voice-overs, but you will become so engrossed with what is unfolding on the screen, that the voice-overs become a minor distraction at most. The soundtrack is an interesting mix of majestic, hard driving metal (for the action scenes), and wistful/mellow for scenes where memories for the characters are invoked. If some of the action seems a bit "far out", remember that this movie is based on a video game. You know how far out some of the action scenes are in those video games, right? So dont knock it, just enjoy it. Soar right along with the characters.
My advice: Pop up the corn, ice up the soda, invite friends and neighbors. Then get ready to be wowed. Definitely worth your time - many times over.
On: 2006-06-06
okay. i love the ff series, but this was a major let down. ill give it to em, the computer animation was great, as were MOST of the action sequences, but really. i heard lots of people say beforehand that this movie was SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD. but it isnt. the animation was nice and smooth, but the dubbung was TERRIBLE! the story was way to hard too follow for those non-final-fantasy-seven-players. and there was way too many cool fight scenes and not enough story or character development. quite a few of the characters were totally flat in thier personalities. and the MUSIC! did they TRY to choose the worst possible songs for the fights!!!!???? theres one part where cloud is fighting this guy (whose name would be a spoiler) and he gets stabbed. the music changes from intense fighting music to jingly christmas happy music!!!!!!!!! that was okay though because i laughed really hard then, which made me remain awake the rest of the film. waaaaayy to short too. if they had given more time for story and character interactions ,(other than physical contact) this movie could live up to its 4 or 5 star potential.
On: 2006-06-05
Ill go ahead and echo what a lot of reviewers have already stated: whether you like this movie or not is probably dependent on your experience with the game. The plot of the movie is actually pretty straightforward-- but following it absolutely requires a working knowledge of the games characters, locations, and events.
If nothing else, seeing these beloved characters move and fight in stunningly lifelike CGI is thrilling, and the film is littered with visual and musical nods to the game that fans will love. The fights are amazing, showing a clear "Matrix" influence but taking it in a unique direction.
Its too bad that the writers could not have come up with something that would have pleased devoted fans and newcomers alike, but speaking as a fan, this movie is definitely a satisfying continuation of the Final Fantasy VII story.
Be sure to listen to the Japanese language track; the English dub is a monotonous mess that really sucks the life out of the movie.
On: 2006-06-05
I have the Japanese edition of this movie as well and I have to agree that it needs some heavy editing. I played the game and I still found its obvious lack of proper editing more than a little annoying.
Now, obviously, this movie is targeted at a niche market, otherwise there would be better back-story build-up. So, on the one hand, if youre a fan of the videogames, by all means, pick this up.
On the other hand, if youre a casual fan, youll find this to be mediocre at best. You may find the artwork to be alright but its not even the best of its genre -- to put it in perpsective, the original Ghost in the Shells artwork was better.
On: 2006-06-05
I watched the movie today. And I felt really cheated having waited for something like this after so long, but getting so little. The movie itself, CGI, was attractively done. Almost like watching a real movie. Almost like watching real people acting and reacting to surroundings. It would be interesting to see if the PS3 brings back FFVII and use these sorts of graphics. In fact I hope that they do. And yes, before you attack, thinking I know nothing about the original game, I am a big fan of VII, I still have it and still play it when the desire strikes. And yet behind all this beautiful artwork, I felt like I was wanting more. This wanting more comes in three bullets.
One. The villains were only "eh," in the sense that they did not have the all important background given that would have made them more dangerous, more intriguing, more hateful by we the movie audience. The villains were nothing more than three Sephiroths with different hairstyle per character. Yes they were exciting in the battles, but CGI can only go so far, if there isnt a cemented background, I can only shrug and say "ok...what else?" I would have loved to have had the movie get more involved into what was going on in the villains mind beside wanting them to go find their "mom." I did not care for how the villains affected the main characters. I wanted to, but couldnt.
Two. We only get to see a little bit of the other characters I myself grew to love in the original video game. Id love to have seen the others moving about, acting and interacting, but we dont see this. We only get them "somewhat" in the final portions of the end battle. The video game was not only about Cloud, though he was the main character. What about Yuffie? Barret? The others? What all has happened to them after the ending of the original game? How did they grow between the original game and the Advent Children movie? What sort of demons did they go through due to what was happening to the children?
Three. The epic feeling was gone, though the children had been stained, you didnt really get involved in what they were going through, what they were feeling, they were just there to move the story along, not real people having real damage. The original game was epic, you didnt just go around one city or some ruins, you went throughout the entire world intimately, powerfully, and there was an epic feeling to how each place was a portion of the greater story. This was not there in the movie. I got the feeling that the background was just that, background for another battle. The background could have been a Chocobo farm for all the lack of importance.
Sadly, what I suggest is this. Rent the movie. Thats it. It isnt worth the money unless you truly wish to have it, I have it, but, I dont know if I will see it again anytime soon...CGI can only go so far, I want substance and I want story and I want these indepth and intricate and passionate, just like the original game.
On: 2006-06-04
Its annoying listening to all these guys calling for "mom." Mom, mom, mom.. Couldnt they come up with something more mature, and perhaps cooler name for something that all these guys are fighting for? (They are just referring some cell as mom..) Although I have great respect for final fantasy makers, including song-writers and charater designers, the major flaw of final fantasy movies is their lack of creativity - like many other Japanese movies. Perhaps I watched too many good movies lately. This movie where all these charaters repeating mom is somewhat disappointing at best. I was hoping to see much improvements from "The Spirit Within," a disasterous movie. It was a going comment that Square Soft - now Square Enix - could only make great games, but not great movies. Well, they still cant.
But the action is undoubtedly great. Not only that, you get to see Tifa in action! Her voice is not what I had expected, nor did I see her action often enough (she had a brief 2 min combat with yet another helpless, abandoned guy searching for mom), but hey, not bad for $15+ movie!
On: 2006-06-03
Like my title says, this movie is spectacular. The graphics are purely amazing, the voice acting was done terifically, the music was awesome although kind of weird in some places, and the fight scenes are some of the best Ive ever seen. The only thing that I had a problem with was the story. I couldnt follow it at all. But, I think that the graphics, voice acting, music, and awesome fight scenes make up for it.
In all, I think that Square Enix did a amazing job on Advent Children and I Congratulate them for it. If they make another Final Fantasy movie I will most certanly buy it without question. But, until then Advent children will just have to do.
On: 2006-06-02
I can sum up this anime in word: disappointment, but I highly doubt that alone would be very useful to anyone so I will go a bit more in depth.
First a little background, Im a huge fan of the Final Fantasy franchise and see Final Fantasy VII as the best title in that franchise. So it is with a great deal of sadness that I actually feel that this movie warrants such a low rating, but I couldnt rate it any higher based on its merits.
Ill start with the strengths, and this should be the obvious one, and that is the graphic quality and animation. The detail on the character models especially is virtually unsurpassed, some truly impressive CGI on Squares part. Unfortunately, I still dont see it as perfect even in this regard, a lot of the scenery felt generic and the character movements often lacked an organic or natural feel to them.
The music was pretty well done and the voice acting wasnt too bad for the most part although I honestly wouldnt rate many of the performances as great or truly stellar in either English or Japanese.
The story is where it all really falls apart though, or rather the lack of a story. For starters it backpedals the story of the game itself, pretty much defeating the whole accomplishment of the game in a matter of minutes, recycling the same old villain and sticking Cloud back into his bubble of self-pity that he works his way out of through the course of the game.
Now throw in a lot of meaningless action which revolves around fights that basically just drag on and on until someone losing is convenient for the story. The blows exchanged in the battles are pretty severe from start to finish but the only time it really shows anyone tired or losing is when the story requires it, otherwise its just a meaningless and flashy exhibition of action. Pretty much every fight revolves around Cloud as well, the major characters from the game have disappointingly minor roles, the one real fight they are involved in their presence really makes no difference aside from providing Cloud with a ridiculous and cheesy boost.
Theres no real gravity to their situation, despite the intended evil theyre facing no one really falls or dies or even gets injured. Nothing really carries the weight a story of this magnitude should and even the ridiculously over the top action only manages to further make it feel so artificial you cant take what little story there is seriously.
As an exhibition of CG and action this movie is decent enough, but in all other areas it is either mediocre or fails outright. When you get other titles out there like Karas that actually manage a story and are visually stunning themselves theres little reason to purchase this aside from attachment to the game in which it is based. My bet is that Square was depending on that to make this cash-in of theirs, and why not? It worked, unfortunately even I gave them my money for this.
Now lets see how many "not helpful" votes this gets for daring to give a bad review.
On: 2006-06-02
Like my title says, this movie is spectacular. The graphics are purely amazing, the voice acting was done terifically, the music was awesome although kind of weird in some places, and the fight scenes are some of the best Ive ever seen. The only thing that I had a problem with was the story. I couldnt follow it at all. But, I think that the graphics, voice acting, music, and awesome fight scenes make up for it.
In all, I think that Square Enix did a amazing job on Advent Children and I Congratulate them for it. If they make another Final Fantasy movie I will most certanly buy it without question. But, until then Advent children will just have to do.
On: 2006-06-02
Let me start off by saying I own Akira, Appleseed, many of the Miyazaki movies, and even Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within...you know, all the beginner anime. While the previous Final Fantasy movie made it seem like there was some background I was missing, it was very watchable. But man I had no idea what was going on in this movie. Stuff happens, lots of stuff. I even read up on some of the reviews beforehand to familiarize myself with what the background was. Let me tell you that if youre not intimately familiar with the background, youre gonna be confused. I would have to summarize this movie as the next installment of the video game series...but you cant play it...you have to watch it.
On a technical level, I dont get why everybody is so ga-ga over its "beauty" (although I didnt read all 345 reviews!). The CGI is subpar as far it goes today. Ive seen homemade stuff these days that looks only slightly worse. The most noticeable problem is in the rendering of the characters hair. On a realism level, the laws of physics are all but thrown out the door (one character wields a sword that might as well be a Buick on a stick, but does it look like it has any weight? Heck no, he swings it like a billy club). The sound is also rather weak. While the LFE channel is used, its used modestly. Most of the action has no weight.
In general, if youre not a fan of the Final Fantasy series of games, I suggest avoiding this movie. The subpar CGI and audio in this movie does nothing to make the jumbled plot more tolerable.
On: 2006-06-02
Okay, so I was never introduced to the Final Fantasy games properly. My first game I played was Final Fantasy VIII. Boohoo. Thanks to a co-worker who was so stoked about this video game movie, he explained everything to me. So I knew what I was getting into and what was going on. Ive seen this movie a few times and Ive grown to really like it. Watch the Reminnisence of Final Fantasy to get the heads up! The more you watch this movie the more understanding youll get.
Not recommended for those who never liked the video games. For those who love the games, youll love the movie even if the plot itself can be confusing. It rocks!
On: 2006-06-01
Its been a long, long, LOOOOOONG time coming, but finally the years of endless waiting have paid off. The REAL Final Fantasy movie is released! Of course, the real question burning in everyones poor brains is, was it worth the insanely long wait? Beyond the hype (if there can be such a thing for a creature of this kind) does there lurk a GOOD movie? Yes. Oh yes.
Children Laughing? Is this the end?!
Okay, more than a few people (in fact probably most) who played Final Fantasy VII through to the end were massively disappointed by the ending. Like the terrible ending for KOTOR II: The Sith Lords, there was no closure whatsoever. So epilogue, no explanations of how everything ultimately ended, nada. Ouch. Every saga needs a good ending that wraps things up. The sequel is not really a stand-alone feature so much as an oh-so-necessary wrap-up that everyone was entitled to in the first place. What does this mean?
First of all, it means this movie will not make a whole lot of sense if youve never played the game before. If you dont know who Sephiroth is, who Rufus is, who the heck Cloud and Aeris and Tifa are, youre going to be like a person opening up the last issue of Infinite Crisis or House of M from the local comic shop and expecting to understand whats going on. It aint happening. Not that thats a bad thing necessarily. American movies as a whole waste WAY too much time explaining everything, rather than building on the universe that already exists (like good comics or video games do). In other words, if youve played the game before, youre going to love all the little touches and tributes in honor of what amounted to a cultural phenomenon: Final Fantasy VII.
Second of all, none of that time-consuming backstory explaining (a quick wrap-up will do thank you very much) leaves lots of room for character interaction and animated action. And is there every action.
Motorcycles and Materia and Animated Mayhem. Oh my!
Everyone whos seen a trailer for this movie has gotten a taste of the animated glory to be found. As a friend of mine who was an animation student told me, SquareSoft has had problems in the past with making their animated human beings animate and move like real humans should, but all those problems are gone as of now. They look better than real people, the animation is perfect, and every scene of this movie is a spectacular treat for the eyes. If there was ever a movie that makes me think I need a better TV (yet again) this would be it.
More than that though, the action scenes are the kind of over-the-top sword-slashing, power-sliding, acrobatic eye-candy that everyones been craving in their summer flicks, but havent had since George Lucas last laid on the movie cheese. I could try to describe the movie scene by scene, but you really should see this one for yourself. Oh, and youll love the motorcycle chase later in the film. Guaranteed.
The Fantasy Remixed
Oh, and did I mention the music? I went into this movie expecting quite a bit musically. Im one of those crazed gamers who downloads all the remixes off the net, whos got the Final Fantasy Concert cd, and who could probably name where ever piece of music in the game is taken from in the game. I am here to tell you that this movie has the best soundtrack Ive heard in an action movie possibly ever. There are orchestral versions of epic themes, piano versions of individual themes, and techno-rock remixes of battle themes. You might think that mixing three types of music like that would end up a jumbled mess, but instead it manages both to do justice to the genius of one of the greatest composers in Japan AND provide a beautiful, touching, moving, score that has plenty of bite. I own the soundtrack actually...
And so he takes sword in hand once again...
And then there a friend of mine who said that no matter how great the visuals, you get used to them after a while and there has to be some substance. In other words, there has to be a story and some interesting performances to make a good movie. Thank goodness this one does not disappoint.
Sure, theres a new cast of villains bent on yet another "reunion", a new infection cause by Jenova, and lots great tribute moments to be found, but the REAL story here is not the revival of Sephiroth, its the redemption of Clouds soul. The death of Aeris is one of those video game events that EVERYONE knows about (like Mario fighting Bowser or Ganondorf stealing the Tri-Force). And her death was the last straw that made Cloud decide to hunt down and kill Sephiroth. But you just know...after letting her die theres no way Cloud could forgive himself.
In a series of flashbacks, memories, and dialogs with Aeris in his own mind, the real conflict of the movie is brought to the fore, fought, and ultimately resolved, giving the longed-for closure that the game never got. This story is ultimately about Cloud moving on, and learning to forgive himself. It makes for an ending that is SOOOOO satisfying.
Theres only two things I wish were different about this movie, and theyre both musical. First of all, the awesome piano remix of the Overworld theme from Final Fantasy VII found in the version of the film shown at the Venice Film Festival is missing, and so is the single most recognizable piece of music in the whole Final Fantasy repertoire, The Prelude. Theres something magical about that piece (in fact its my favorite piece of music in the world, not just from video games), and it really would have made my decade to have an orchestral version. Ah well, perhaps in the next Final Fantasy movie...
On: 2006-06-01
I can sum up this anime in a word: disappointment, but I highly doubt that alone would be very useful to anyone so I will go a bit more in depth.
First a little background, Im a huge fan of the Final Fantasy franchise and see Final Fantasy VII as the best title in that franchise. So it is with a great deal of sadness that I actually feel that this movie warrants such a low rating, but I couldnt rate it any higher based on its merits.
Ill start with the strengths, and this should be the obvious one, and that is the graphic quality and animation. The detail on the character models especially is virtually unsurpassed, some truly impressive CGI on Squares part. Unfortunately, I still dont see it as perfect even in this regard, a lot of the scenery felt generic and the character movements often lacked an organic or natural feel to them.
The music was pretty well done and the voice acting wasnt too bad for the most part although I honestly wouldnt rate many of the performances as great or truly stellar in either English or Japanese.
The story is where it all really falls apart though, or rather the lack of a story. For starters it backpedals the story of the game itself, pretty much defeating the whole accomplishment of the game in a matter of minutes, recycling the same old villain and sticking Cloud back into his bubble of self-pity that he works his way out of through the course of the game.
Now throw in a lot of meaningless action which revolves around fights that basically just drag on and on until someone losing is convenient for the story. The blows exchanged in the battles are pretty severe from start to finish but the only time it really shows anyone tired or losing is when the story requires it, otherwise its just a meaningless and flashy exhibition of action. Pretty much every fight revolves around Cloud as well, the major characters from the game have disappointingly minor roles, the one real fight they are involved in their presence really makes no difference aside from providing Cloud with a ridiculous and cheesy boost.
Theres no real gravity to their situation, despite the intended evil theyre facing no one really falls or dies or even gets injured. Nothing really carries the weight a story of this magnitude should and even the ridiculously over the top action only manages to further make it feel so artificial you cant take what little story there is seriously.
As an exhibition of CG and action this movie is decent enough, but in all other areas it is either mediocre or fails outright. When you get other titles out there like Karas that actually manage a story and are visually stunning themselves theres little reason to purchase this aside from attachment to the game in which it is based. My bet is that Square was depending on that to make this cash-in of theirs, and why not? It worked, unfortunately even I gave them my money for this.
Now lets see how many "not helpful" votes this gets for daring to give a bad review.
On: 2006-05-31
Its been a long, long, LOOOOOONG time coming, but finally the years of endless waiting have paid off. The REAL Final Fantasy movie is released! Of course, the real question burning in everyones poor brains is, was it worth the insanely long wait? Beyond the hype (if there can be such a thing for a creature of this kind) does there lurk a GOOD movie? Yes. Oh yes.
Children Laughing? Is this the end?!
Okay, more than a few people (in fact probably most) who played Final Fantasy VII through to the end were massively disappointed by the ending. Like the terrible ending for KOTOR II: The Sith Lords, there was no closure whatsoever. So epilogue, no explanations of how everything ultimately ended, nada. Ouch. Every saga needs a good ending that wraps things up. The sequel is not really a stand-alone feature so much as an oh-so-necessary wrap-up that everyone was entitled to in the first place. What does this mean?
First of all, it means this movie will not make a whole lot of sense if youve never played the game before. If you dont know who Sephiroth is, who Rufus is, who the heck Cloud and Aeris and Tifa are, youre going to be like a person opening up the last issue of Infinite Crisis or House of M from the local comic shop and expecting to understand whats going on. It aint happening. Not that thats a bad thing necessarily. American movies as a whole waste WAY too much time explaining everything, rather than building on the universe that already exists (like good comics or video games do). In other words, if youve played the game before, youre going to love all the little touches and tributes in honor of what amounted to a cultural phenomenon: Final Fantasy VII.
Second of all, none of that time-consuming backstory explaining (a quick wrap-up will do thank you very much) leaves lots of room for character interaction and animated action. And is there every action.
Motorcycles and Materia and Animated Mayhem. Oh my!
Everyone whos seen a trailer for this movie has gotten a taste of the animated glory to be found. As a friend of mine who was an animation student told me, SquareSoft has had problems in the past with making their animated human beings animate and move like real humans should, but all those problems are gone as of now. They look better than real people, the animation is perfect, and every scene of this movie is a spectacular treat for the eyes. If there was ever a movie that makes me think I need a better TV (yet again) this would be it.
More than that though, the action scenes are the kind of over-the-top sword-slashing, power-sliding, acrobatic eye-candy that everyones been craving in their summer flicks, but havent had since George Lucas last laid on the movie cheese. I could try to describe the movie scene by scene, but you really should see this one for yourself. Oh, and youll love the motorcycle chase later in the film. Guaranteed.
The Fantasy Remixed
Oh, and did I mention the music? I went into this movie expecting quite a bit musically. Im one of those crazed gamers who downloads all the remixes off the net, whos got the Final Fantasy Concert cd, and who could probably name where ever piece of music in the game is taken from in the game. I am here to tell you that this movie has the best soundtrack Ive heard in an action movie possibly ever. There are orchestral versions of epic themes, piano versions of individual themes, and techno-rock remixes of battle themes. You might think that mixing three types of music like that would end up a jumbled mess, but instead it manages both to do justice to the genius of one of the greatest composers in Japan AND provide a beautiful, touching, moving, score that has plenty of bite. I own the soundtrack actually...
And so he takes sword in hand once again...
And then there a friend of mine who said that no matter how great the visuals, you get used to them after a while and there has to be some substance. In other words, there has to be a story and some interesting performances to make a good movie. Thank goodness this one does not disappoint.
Sure, theres a new cast of villains bent on yet another "reunion", a new infection cause by Jenova, and lots great tribute moments to be found, but the REAL story here is not the revival of Sephiroth, its the redemption of Clouds soul. The death of Aeris is one of those video game events that EVERYONE knows about (like Mario fighting Bowser or Ganondorf stealing the Tri-Force). And her death was the last straw that made Cloud decide to hunt down and kill Sephiroth. But you just know...after letting her die theres no way Cloud could forgive himself.
In a series of flashbacks, memories, and dialogs with Aeris in his own mind, the real conflict of the movie is brought to the fore, fought, and ultimately resolved, giving the longed-for closure that the game never got. This story is ultimately about Cloud moving on, and learning to forgive himself. It makes for an ending that is SOOOOO satisfying.
Theres only two things I wish were different about this movie, and theyre both musical. First of all, the awesome piano remix of the Overworld theme from Final Fantasy VII found in the version of the film shown at the Venice Film Festival is missing, and so is the single most recognizable piece of music in the whole Final Fantasy repertoire, The Prelude. Theres something magical about that piece (in fact its my favorite piece of music in the world, not just from video games), and it really would have made my decade to have an orchestral version. Ah well, perhaps in the next Final Fantasy movie...
On: 2006-05-31
any flaws in this movie are obvious. its not at all a bad movie, and I personally like it because I love the Final Fantasy series of games. the rendering was beautiful, and the voice acting was not bad (it was better sounding and better matched in the Japanese version in my opinion). some of the characters were abstractly placed but I didnt mind (but Cait Sith... why a Scot?). You need to have played the game to understand this well, otherwise itll just be plain confusing. You will get lost too easily if you havent ever touched a FF game. needless to say, it is a wonderful movie. Good job on the part of SquareEnix.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-05-31
This seems to be in a love-it-or-hate-it category. Myself, I LOVED IT! Amazing CGI, flowing score, and some of the best action scenes since...well..ever. Sometimes the DVD glitched (DAMN YOU, BLOCKBUSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) but other than that, nothing tore me away from this movie than to get some popcorn. Id never even heard of FF before I watched the movie, but I got the general gist of it all enough to love it. Square Enix has a very good thing going for them and should probably keep this momentum strong before releasing FF12 (I did some research, OK?) ROCK ON, SQUARE ENIX!! Peace out.
On: 2006-05-30
I played through 1/2 of the game a few years ago (it crashed half way through). The DVD comes with a recap of sorts for those who want to refamiliarize themselves with the original plot, or for those who didnt play the game. After that, you are thrown into a flimsy (if not absent) plot with no character developement (the hallmark of Final Fantasy games). The musical Score was amazing, and I highly recommend the CD, but as for the movie, I watched it, and have no idea what happened.
On: 2006-05-30
any flaws in this movie are obvious. its not at all a bad movie, and I personally like it because I love the Final Fantasy series of games. the rendering was beautiful, and the voice acting was not bad (it was better sounding and better matched in the Japanese version in my opinion). some of the characters were abstractly placed but I didnt mind (but Cait Sith... why a Scot?). You need to have played the game to understand this well, otherwise itll just be plain confusing. You will get lost too easily if you havent ever touched a FF game. needless to say, it is a wonderful movie. Good job on the part of SquareEnix.
On: 2006-05-30
This seems to be in a love-it-or-hate-it category. Myself, I LOVED IT! Amazing CGI, flowing score, and some of the best action scenes since...well..ever. Sometimes the DVD glitched (DAMN YOU, BLOCKBUSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) but other than that, nothing tore me away from this movie than to get some popcorn. Id never even heard of FF before I watched the movie, but I got the general gist of it all enough to love it. Square Enix has a very good thing going for them and should probably keep this momentum strong before releasing FF12 (I did some research, OK?) ROCK ON, SQUARE ENIX!! Peace out.
On: 2006-05-29
Fans of FFVII are going to love this movie due to the nostagila (if you want to call it that, FFVII is not that old), but people unfamilar with the game probably wont like it. It has a pretty weak plot, but some awesome action scenes and just great special effects in general.
I enjoyed it, but I was hoping for a little bit more in terms of a story.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-05-28
I loved the game and the movie is really great! The CGI is beautiful and the dub isnt that bad at all. The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII is really coming along nicely, and Im hoping for a remake some day...
On: 2006-05-27
I loved the game and the movie is really great! The CGI is beautiful and the dub isnt that bad at all. The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII is really coming along nicely, and Im hoping for a remake some day...
On: 2006-05-25
Im not going to write a big in-depth review for this, because there are already about 100 of them writen.
This movie is very very good, especially for any fan of the series, or games in general, and some of my friends dont even play games and they also enjoyed this movie alot. The action sequences are un-rivaled!
Enjoy!
On: 2006-05-25
This movie is unbelievable, and worth all the setbacks in release. just inexpressable. looked almost human.....a masterpiece to say the least.if you have played final fantasy 7 and still do not own this movie, then the greatest of shame is on you. its just a little hard to follow in terms of story, you might have to watch it a few times, which is still a good thing. a must have.
On: 2006-05-25
Thank you SquareEnix for giving us Final Fantasy VII fans something like Advent Children at last. Especially after the disappointment that was The Spirits Within, Advent Children is not only a refreshing nostalgic experience for any fan of Final Fantasy VII, but a visual representation of, in my opinion, the deepest and most memorable videogame I have ever played. At its core, VII was a love story between Cloud and Aerith, but it goes way beyond that to Clouds painful memories and lets not forget saving the world and that whole Jenova thingy. Most "hardcore" fans whod been playing Final Fantasy since the original were turned off by VIIs new direction. Its was completely different from what they were used to and who can blame them? It traded old school dungeons for smoky industrial cities and the slums of Midgar. Square took a huge leap onto the Playstation platform with VII (they had been pretty much Nintendo exclusive up to that point). It started the whole CG cutscene trend in RPGs and made it cool to know how to breed a gold chocobo and where the Knights of the Round materia was. Final Fantasy VII was a turning point for the RPG, especially in America. Most younger gamers will tell you VII was their first RPG and its what got them into the genre. It justs goes to show how much of an influence the game really had. The movie is definitely directed towards the fans. I imagine itd be hard for anyone who has never played through VII to understand what was going on, but thats not to say newbies wont enjoy it. The CG is simply amazing. Ive never seen anything quite like it. Square has always had incredible cinematics, and graphics junkies will drool over this one. Little bits of fan service are littered throughout the movie. For example, in one scene Cloud in driving his motorcycle down the road and he passes a sign that reads "Healin Lodge." I had to laugh at that.
The ending of Final Fantasy VII was quite a cliffhanger. You dont know whether our heroes make it out alive or if the whole world is destroyed. It left many questions unanswered and thats where Advent Children picks up: two years later. Im sure everyones heard about the plot and Im not going to ruin anything, but it definitely does the fans some service! There is a point where a Bahumut is summoned and all the old characters come together to fight it. A little girl (I think its Marlene) asks "Who are they?" and Tifa says "Just some old friends." I couldnt help but smile watching that. Dont be turned off by the delay or the fact that Spirits Within was a pretty bad movie, you really should see Advent Children. When I was watching it, I felt myself wanting to play through VII again (and Ive already played through it three times!) One of the things I liked best about Advent Children is it shows us Clouds true feelings about Aerith and how he feels that he let her die. He also has many doubts about himself and hes afraid of being alone. He cant deal with trying to save people and not being able to help them. With the game, it was hard to show all these emotions through plain dialogue, but the movie really does the game some justice.
Has anyone heard about the SquareEnix remaking VII for the PS3? There was a tech demo at E3 and I think this movie was supposed to get us pumped up for that. Im willing to play through a fourth time!
On: 2006-05-24
Im not going to write a big in-depth review for this, because there are already about 100 of them writen.
This movie is very very good, especially for any fan of the series, or games in general, and some of my friends dont even play games and they also enjoyed this movie alot. The action sequences are un-rivaled!
Enjoy!
On: 2006-05-24
First off let me say this, this movie was meant to bring closure to the game. In a movie like that you shouldnt expect tons of character development.
I thought the action scenes were fantastic, very well choreographed. There were many jaw dropping moments. It is true it is very fast paced, but if you watch it twice or dont sit miles away you can catch it all.
Also ive never actually played the game, but I plan on playing it now that I saw the movie. There is a nice feature on the dvd for those who havent played the game. Basically it will run through all the dialog scenes in the game and give you the gist of the story. Also lets you see some of the key scenes and understand the importance of them.
In the end, this movie is easily the best cgi flick ive ever seen. Ive watched it about 10 times so far and will continue to watch. I could only wish that other companies would take the time and dedication to their fans to come out with a movie like this.
On: 2006-05-24
FF7 Advent Children features less character development than the game did and even has a worse plot than the game. After 30 minutes its obvious the DVD serves no purpose other than to suck as much money out of fans as possible.
On: 2006-05-23
A long-time fan of FFVII myself, I love Advent Children and the quality of the film, I still believe SquareEnix to be THE best cinematic makers in the gaming business. I love the extras that the 2 disc comes with but there is something people dont know.
The japanese version 2 disc special edition has something that any fan of FF would love to have, it has the short animated film of Final Fantasy VII: Lost Order plus other extras like commentary and such.
I feel the U.S market is being shafted a little because of this extras that dont come with ours and I dont like that at all. I feel that the animated film should have been included in the special edition.
Im pro for this movie, definitly, but I am disappointed in the marketing/publishing companies who took away the rest of our extras.
On: 2006-05-23
Just Brings Back Memories
The most youll enjoy this film is having invested a month of your life to the game. Then at best it may stir up old memories, your favourite characters, the fantastic scores of music, and then youll feel warm inside. Then again, you could always just play the game.
The Music
As with alot of japanese movies they like their electric guitars. So for them to make something old and familiar (the music) sound fresh and more lively they rock it all up with electric guitars which loses its fresh appeal within a minute or two. Id go with the full blown orchestra every time, with a little less lead guitar pushing all the original music out of the frame. It would have been a welcomed surprize if there was a lead acoutic instrument and harps are always nice.
Plot and Characters
Because of what fans already know, there is little character development. This wouldnt matter so much, apart from the fact that theres very little emotion in the whole film to add to character. No one fears for Clouds life in the final battle, no one sheds one tear of worry. Maybe its becuase they all know who won the fight last time so why bother worry.
Becuase of the pace of the story all the characters appear in the film for a fight. The closest you see them all bond is when each character (yup everyone) gives Cloud a foot-boost to chase a Creature that can fly. Theres very little dialogue between them. I would have loved for the characters to have human problems the viewer could relate to and then emphasise with but there are none, unless you have a super rear case of geo-stigma.
Humour?
The only humour element in the whole of the film is acted out by the two Turks in suits. This is screwball tomfoolery comedy at best, hitting each other by mistake etc and nothing more. Its funny the first time. Personally I also thought the turks were the coolest bunch of cats in the whole of FFVII and so I wasnt happy to see these guys turned into Abbot and Castelo, albeit a very cool looking Abbot and Castelo.
The Directors Vision
The film was made to appear well... not real
If the creators focused on making a proper movie with real life sensibilities I would have enjoyed the film more. Then again they did say (in the extras) they wanted to make a film that looked like a game not real life. This in turn meant people could jump... (they made their own rules) well you could almost call it flying... all over the place. But then when someone would slip over any edge of some tall structure, about to fall to their demise, the ability to jump/fly is lost and well down they fall.
The plot was a message being left for Cloud and him reciveing it at the end of the film (from the directors mouth). Lots of fights are crammed in the middle of the plot. I found the fights far too fast, being as long as they are made for an exhausted viewing.
Its pretty.
Good Japanese Voices.
Average music - typical constant Jap metal guitar solos ruin any faithful representation of the original music.
Sorry but there were way too many fan reviews of this DVD, I couldnt find a single one review meriting the film for being exactly that a film. As it is... "This beautiful film offers no more than skin deep sentimentality for fans of FFVII" Fans will be happy to own anything that has been branded with the FFVII name. Im a fan too, but an extreamly picky one at best.
Sorry if anyones feelings were hurt, no one else was writing the side of the story but its now here.
On: 2006-05-23
First, allow me to offer this fact: I have been waiting for this movie to hit the shelves since 2000 (for those who are not fans of the PS One Game, this was announced 3 years after the game was created).
Six years later, I had to drive 20 miles to get my hands on a copy on the release date. Once I was able to watch the movie on my HDTV with my surround sound, I would have to say the wait of 9 years from the release of the game was worth it. Most producers are known for pumping out titles for the sake of making money. The creators/directors for FFVII and FFVII: AC are concerned with a greater cause - the legacy of the game.
While some of the reviews you will read will say there was not enough action, the fights were small, there wasnt a story, etc - you must keep one thing in mind: this movie was created for gamers who had the background of the game. This would create a maximum impact and the game and movie would synergize, creating a feeling unparalleled by any other series/game in the history of the genre or even game. Everytime I watch the movie and the crew attacks Bahamut (for those who havent played the game, it is the giant dragon in the midgar square which also serves in the game as a summon) I get a sense of joy and it takes me back to the epic battles within the game.
While the story may seem a bit stretched for some people, I think the plot and all of the details were all within reason. The movie is a fine extension of the game, told by those who were closest to the game.
My only complaint might be the stretch about Rufus surviving (as well as some of the turks) the fatal blast eluded to in the first confrontation of Cloud, Rufus, Ruud, and Reno. Overall, it is a good extension and a fine job of clarifying some points I felt were left open in the game and provided a good history/refresh for those who have not played the game in a while.
I feel the bottom line is this: there will be critics. Some will feel cheated by the "lack of action" or "lack of story" (which I feel to be completely false statements). But everytime I pop the DVD in my multi-disc player and turn on my Bose surround I start to get that feeling something great is about to happen. Once the musical score plays in the menu the hairs on my arms raise and stay up throughout the movie. The feeling of satiating my 9 year thirst for more FFVII is finally achieved at the battle between the good guys and bahamut. The rest of the movie is great, and the ending makes sense if you have played the game (the thought and ideology of Aeris can only be comprehended completely by one who has finished the game). I feel Cloud has finally gotten some much needed closure at the conclusion of the movie, and you feel as though the game has come full circle.
I would recommend this movie to anyone who has played and finished the game, and for those of you who havent, you will finally get a sense of what you may have been missing for the last 9 years. If you do not at least watch this movie once, you are doing yourself a disservice - regardless to whether you have finished/played the game or not....
On: 2006-05-23
As a 3d guru, I have found this to match, perhaps in some terms surpass Pixars ability (Dont get me wrong Pixar makes great films). This is a major improvement over Spirits Within, which was really the novelty of realistic CGI actors. I found it to be quite action-packed, more so than many movies. I believe that this will influence the CGI market for years to come.
Graphics: Truly astounding. As a 3d artist, I can tell that it took many months to create such lavish images. It was indeed a feast for the eyes.
Story: I am actually quite amazed that when I showed it to a friend (whom had not seen the movie), it was enjoyed. The story is practically straightforward, but nonetheless a great story. There are many things that fill in the games holes.
Voice Acting: I must say, they did a good job in voice acting, in my opinion. The actors were not kids on helium or anything. Sure, dubbing messes up in a few places; but not too many.
It would have been difficult to make more room for the other characters. They would probably encompass several more movies if that had been done.
Action: Frequent swordfights and unreal abilities are a good break from the constant dialogue of most other movies. Especially the areas near the end. It was teriffic and I enjoyed every second of it.
In short, I am definitely keeping this movie for years to come. It was well worth waiting 2+ years for, and every penny that I paid.
On: 2006-05-20
I remember back in the day when i first played FFvii. It was the kicker that kinda set off all the RPGs. The story was excellent, the graphics disgusting but who cared when the storyline was beautiful and the dialogue was better than average. The characters were memorable for their individual quirks and reactions to situations and such and who can forget the stories they brought along with them? it was the GAME!
and then they made a movie...
Since Sephiroths dead, they cant rightly put him back in, but since it seems that was the whole central point of the movie [a bit lame], they did it anyway. The whole movie centers around Cloud trying to get over his feelings of worthlessness [sound familiar?]. We see Tiffa a few times, but we see Rufus more than any of the other characters [except Cloud since hes the star]. Red and Cid get like three lines, if that[and lets face it, they are Awesome!], and so does Yuffie, or Cait Sith. Its just disappointing how little the team work was shown, however there is ONE really neat scene where they all help in clobbering a monster. Other than that, its just Cloud doing his thing.
There arent that many fight scenes and when there are... well, here in the matrix and dragon ball z spoiled world, lets just say theyre kinda old school, you know what im talking about... TOO SHORT!
The dialogue in Jap is ok, it sounds just like any other regular movie [nothing special], but the dubbed English version... well... it sounds the same but... the words are really, really cheesy. Sure i understand all the girly bad guys [however there is ne bad guy who actually looks like a guy], want to find Mother for what ever reason, but come on, we dont need to here the constant "Ahh... OOf, RAH!" True that sometimes there needed to show how much struggle is going on, but not when there are more of them than understandable words, and the words that are there arent really worth listening to.
The Graphics are breath taking, and the only reason why i added a star. They are so good i thought i was watching a real life movie in some places. but...
the whole reason why FF vii was such a success was because it was so different form other RPGs and because of its great story and characters. The movie kinda just follows cloud and forgets about everyone else, so much so that when they all do come out... it really looks like they just slapped it on at the last minute. The whole central plot is a bit vague and lame too, no more monsters to take out, no more world to save, no ones looking for trouble, life seems normal... perhaps in the FF vii world, it should stay so unless by some strange miracle the writers can think of an original way to bring sephiroth back or... perhaps think about making a better bad guy who keeps the long hair and katana sword...
In recent months, movies based off of video games are hitting the movie theatres and shelves slowly but surely. With halo possible coming in 2007 as a movie, and silent hill still in theatres, its little wonder why most of them are disappointing. Video games that are good are like books, really, really long. Until producers get over the mortal terror, and start making epic films, there will be a few satisfied faces, and a lot of other disappointed ppl behind, knowing full well it could have been alot better.
rent this movie before you spend money on it. if youre a die hard ff vii fan, watch it for old times sake. If youve played the game and fell in love with it because of the story and characters... the movie is a sorry excuse for a sequel, as most are.
The bonus features are really good, they provide alot of hope in their previews of upcoming, and previous games and such, as well as interviews with the creator, and a few more extra goodies.
On: 2006-05-20
Ever since the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was released, many Americans have awaited the arrival of the movie in America. It is now here, and I am the first one to review it.
(Since just about everyone else has already explained the plot, you will have to read some of the other reviews on this site if you are unsure of what Im talking about.)
Many fans of the original Japanese version are wondering if the English dub is worth it, and Im here to say that it is. If you are a fan of cartoons and English-dub anime, the cast is quite easy to recognize. Steve Staley, Fred Tatasciore, and Dave Wittenburg do the English voices of Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo (respectively), and Steve Burton, the English voice of Cloud in the Kingdom Hearts games, provides his voice to the hero once again. The only problem that anyone will see in the dub is that since the original animation was done in Japanese, the words dont perfectly match what the characters say in English. Other than repeating some footage for references and flashbacks (and the English dubbing), the original version of the movie is untouched.
Because of its 2-Disc format, there is a good amount of special features on this DVD: trailers for the movie and future FF7 games, a Japanese making-of featurette, the Venice Film Festival preview version, a "Reminiscence of FF7" feature showing the main events from the original game, and a quick batch of deleted scenes.
The plot is amazing, the animation is awe-inspiring, and the music is perfect. If you are a Final Fantasy VII fan, you should definitely get this DVD and the official soundtrack.
by: kinggrim On: 2006-05-19
The eagerly anticipated film follow up to one of the best and highest selling PlayStation games of all time is finally here. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is here in all its superbly animated and convoluted story glory. Picking up two years after the final battle between Cloud and Sephiroth, Advent Children finds the city of Midgar in shambles and the children of the city stricken with a mysterious disease called Geostigma. When a trio of brothers arrive on the scene yearning for "Mother", the brooding Cloud reluctantly comes back into action to save the city, and his friends. For newcomers, youll be scratching your head a lot. But for those who have fond memories of spending hours upon hours playing one of the greatest RPGs of all time will find plenty to admire here. Besides Cloud, just about all the faces you remember from the game are here: Tifa, Barrett, Red XIII, Cid, Yuffie, Vincent, Cait Sith, Aeris, and even Reno, Rude, and Rufus Shinra; theyre all here. The animation is superb and light years beyond the promise shown in 2001s Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, even though that films story was certainly more involving. Despite that, Advent Children is a must have for fans of the game who wanted a bit more closure than the ending of the game offered, and even for those unfamiliar with the material but love CGI animated action films, this is worth a look.
On: 2006-05-19
I remember back in the day when i first played FFvii. It was the kicker that kinda set off all the RPGs. The story was excellent, the graphics disgusting but who cared when the storyline was beautiful and the dialogue was better than average. The characters were memorable for their individual quirks and reactions to situations and such and who can forget the stories they brought along with them? it was the GAME!
and then they made a movie...
Since Sephiroths dead, they cant rightly put him back in, but since it seems that was the whole central point of the movie [a bit lame], they did it anyway. The whole movie centers around Cloud trying to get over his feelings of worthlessness [sound familiar?]. We see Tiffa a few times, but we see Rufus more than any of the other characters [except Cloud since hes the star]. Red and Cid get like three lines, if that[and lets face it, they are Awesome!], and so does Yuffie, or Cait Sith. Its just disappointing how little the team work was shown, however there is ONE really neat scene where they all help in clobbering a monster. Other than that, its just Cloud doing his thing.
There arent that many fight scenes and when there are... well, here in the matrix and dragon ball z spoiled world, lets just say theyre kinda old school, you know what im talking about... TOO SHORT!
The dialogue in Jap is ok, it sounds just like any other regular movie [nothing special], but the dubbed English version... well... it sounds the same but... the words are really, really cheesy. Sure i understand all the girly bad guys [however there is ne bad guy who actually looks like a guy], want to find Mother for what ever reason, but come on, we dont need to here the constant "Ahh... OOf, RAH!" True that sometimes there needed to show how much struggle is going on, but not when there are more of them than understandable words, and the words that are there arent really worth listening to.
The Graphics are breath taking, and the only reason why i added a star. They are so good i thought i was watching a real life movie in some places. but...
the whole reason why FF vii was such a success was because it was so different form other RPGs and because of its great story and characters. The movie kinda just follows cloud and forgets about everyone else, so much so that when they all do come out... it really looks like they just slapped it on at the last minute. The whole central plot is a bit vague and lame too, no more monsters to take out, no more world to save, no ones looking for trouble, life seems normal... perhaps in the FF vii world, it should stay so unless by some strange miracle the writers can think of an original way to bring sephiroth back or... perhaps think about making a better bad guy who keeps the long hair and katana sword...
In recent months, movies based off of video games are hitting the movie theatres and shelves slowly but surely. With halo possible coming in 2007 as a movie, and silent hill still in theatres, its little wonder why most of them are disappointing. Video games that are good are like books, really, really long. Until producers get over the mortal terror, and start making epic films, there will be a few satisfied faces, and a lot of other disappointed ppl behind, knowing full well it could have been alot better.
rent this movie before you spend money on it. if youre a die hard ff vii fan, watch it for old times sake. If youve played the game and fell in love with it because of the story and characters... the movie is a sorry excuse for a sequel, as most are.
The bonus features are really good, they provide alot of hope in their previews of upcoming, and previous games and such, as well as interviews with the creator, and a few more extra goodies.
On: 2006-05-17
as my title says the Animation is Superb! and its is mesmerizing. it is a highly fast paced movie so you have to pay close attention to not miss any of the details of the action which there is a Lot of. the story itself is a bit confusing especially if youve never played the game before, so be aware of that. also there are a few odd characters... but all in all the vioce choices for the english cast are very nice and do a decent job of lip synching to what was originally done in japanese. i find it very difficult to decide wether Final Fantasy the Spirits Within or Final Fantasy Advent Children is the better movie. one has easier to follow story but the animation in the later has surpased the first, especially in the cloth generation. As a student of 3D animation and a big fan of Anime i have to say that i LOVE this movie and its a must have for gamers/anime lovers/animation freaks/action seekers, and so forth! I thank Amazon.com for providing a great price on it too. its at the top of my collection now!
I recommend this movie for the ages of 16 and up, there is not much blood or to awful of language, but it simply is to hard to grasp for any younger, unless you want the flood of questinos afterward. Enjoy!
On: 2006-05-17
Okay, I do not have a PSP but whnever I try to review the same thing it wont let me. I had reviewed AC on DVD so here I am to rate the english version. I had seen the Japanese version.
STEVE BURTON AS CLOUD: Good choice for him. Although he kinda sounded like a valley-girl, he still fit Cloud.
QUINTON FLYNN AS RENO: Not bad either. He had some of the worst quotes, though. (Mother schmother its jenovas friggin head)
RACHEL LEIGH COOK AS TIFA: Terrible! I mean "dilly dally shilly shally!"? Plus she kinda sounded "waspy".
MENA SUVARI AS AERITH: WAY BETTER than her craptastic job at Aerith in Kingdom Hearts 2.
BENJAMIN BRYAN AS DENZEL: Pretty good except when he yelled Son of a b**ch at Bahamut.
DAVID WITTENBERG AS KADAJ: Hilarious!
STEPHEN BLUM AS VINCENT: sweet. cool voice! I wish my voice was as low as his... well mines kind of.
SO not bad english dub. Still prefer the Japanese version.
On: 2006-05-17
This is the best Fing movie ever any says that this movie is not needs to go F them self in a corner.Now that i said that go out and buy it.WHY ARE YOU STILL READING GO OUT AND BUY IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.Ty Tenchi.M.muyo for life
On: 2006-05-17
This film never ceases to take my breath away every time I watch it; its witty, action-packed, and you get to hear our favourite characters speak for the first time! And as promised, the animation is always beautiful and completely flawless.
Yes, it would be extremely hard to appreciate this film if you hadnt played the game beforehand. By playing the game you got to know and love all the characters, and when I saw all the characters together and helping each other out in the film, it was actually quite touching. This would go right over the heads of the people who had never played the game (who are missing out on TONNES of fun by the way :] )
However, even without playing the game, it is fast and fun. My little brother sat and watched it in amazement the whole way through without saying a word (as you can see thats very uncommon with him).
All the characters are just as they were in the game, just as they should be. Reno and Rude are absolutely HILARIOUS. No joke, they make me laugh so much, theyre probably some of my favourite characters in the film even though they werent my favourite in the game. Yuffie is the cute and mischievous girl she was in the prequel. Barrett, loud mouthed and cheeky.
I must say, this film is probably one of my favourite films EVER, and thats saying something (I have A LOT of favourite films). Square Enix, you have done a fantastic job. Bravo for another terrific acheivement!
by: Anonymous On: 2006-05-17
THIS MOVIE IS THE BEST MOVIE IN THE HISTORY OF MOVIES! I LOVE IT SO MUCH THAT IM BEGGIBNG MY MOM TO BUY IT FOR ME. LOVE IT SO MUCH, AND I SAY THAT ABOUT A LOT OF MOVIES, BUT THIS IS DEFINANTLY THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On: 2006-05-16
This is the best Fing movie ever any says that this movie is not needs to go F them self in a corner.Now that i said that go out and buy it.WHY ARE YOU STILL READING GO OUT AND BUY IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.Ty Tenchi.M.muyo for life
On: 2006-05-16
I went into the whole fiasco of Advent Children with the expectation that, while the animation was sure to be a stunner, it wouldnt exactly corner the market on characterization, scripting, or storyline, and it seems that I was right. With that in mind even before I saw the movie, I have to say that I enjoyed Advent Children. A LOT.
I love the maturization and the realistic feel of the characters-a far cry from the more animelike depictions in FFVII, the game, but the designs were still in keeping with the feel of the original. That was cool-I dont think I would have enjoyed a CG cartoon nearly as much. The attention to detail, even with a few bits being slightly stiff, awkward or contrived, was gorgeous and a joy to behold; the calibur of detail and fluidity is just excellent.
The music? If youre familiar with Nobuo Uematsus work, youll notice that the flavor of this soundtrack has his feel all over it. Its nicely done, with throwbacks in the form of remixes to several of the games original tracks-and theyre nicely done. Many of the original pieces to the movie are hot too-check out Divinity 1 and 2 (even if they DO sound a bit Star Wars-y).
The acting in both the original and the English versions are good, nothing stellar, but they do the job; which is disappointing. With some big name Hollywood actors attatched to the English version project, I expected better-but the viewer still has to understand the painstaking work that goes into dubbing a pice like this. Its hard. So the work done wasnt all bad.
The story-sigh. It was pretty uninspired compared to the game, but still-what 1 and 1/2 hour movie can pack in what a 50 hour videogame could? It was still entertaining and it tied up some loose ends, while at the same time introducing some interesting new folks into the fray. The characterizations for some of the more minor characters were pretty accurate, even if their turns in the movie were all too short.
The action sequences...while over the top,portrayed many of the abilities of the characters in the game, which in turn makes the unrealistic nature of combat in the movie actually realistic in the context of the series. It was all fast and furious; even non-fans can appreciate the work that went into coreographing and animating scenes like this, and it all turned out very pretty.
All in all, a solid sequel, but not a great stand alone movie. As I stated about myself in the beginning-dont go into watching it with unreal expectations, and youll enjoy this film. I, like others, look forward to future works from Square-Enix-if the leap from The Spirits Within to FFVII AC is any indication, their next movie shoud be FANTASTIC.
P.S. To Squenix- I, like many others I gather, would have rather had an actual game for a direct sequel ;p But Ill just enjoy the pre/sequels you DO have coming.
On: 2006-05-16
Sure it was visually stunning and more movies should be made like this, but the story went pretty much nowhere. I am not a fan of the FF franchise, but one of my best friends is and loved FF7 the game, and even he agrees that this movie made absolutely no Fing sense.
On: 2006-05-15
I was a diehard fan of Final Fantasy, and especially FFVII, until I saw this movie. Ive read alot of reviews that think the animation was this movies saving grace, and while it was decent, not worth the agony of sitting through this piece of garbage. Making an exciting movie following FFVII seemed to be a no-brainer task, yet someone the writers couldnt manage this task. Although I dont want to ruin the plot for the suckers who just shelled about $15 for two shiny coasters, I will say that the entire plot can be summarized in about 10 words or less. And Yuffie parachuting in...that was the point I turned it off. Was there a Scottish accent I heard too? Just when you think it was getting bad, it would get worse. And what was with Tifas chest? Was she hiding Materia in there?
The animation acting was jerky and kind of creepy to watch. The solution to some of the problems the characters face makes no sense. I could go on, but I am just still shocked at how badly they could drop the ball. I wasted $20 and 1.5 hours of my life on this garbage. Dont make the same mistake!
On: 2006-05-15
FF AC is a fair movie at best. I cannot deny the gorgeous graphics and vibrant actions (almost too fast for audience to catch up with) are the best out there. But the story is poorly written. The movie is somewhat difficult for fans to follow and leaves its audience a sense of hollowness after watching it. It certainly recalls memories of FFVII, yet if you look beyond the graphics and actions there really is not much left.
Any mature audience should be able to spot the problem right away. And for all you FFVII fanatics out there blinded by the superficial features of the movie, grow up please.
On: 2006-05-15
One word Amazing!!! This movie is what people wanted when the first Final Fantasy movie came out. The graphics make you drool and the story stays true. It will make you remember things about the game you forgot and if you didnt play it you would still love it. I think this is in my top anime list and it might be hard to push it out.
by: arlando On: 2006-05-14
You definitely have to be a fan of Final Fantasy VII. I loved the game. I really did. I bought it in 1997, and Ive yet to sell it. I still play through it more than most of my other games. To be honest, Final Fantasy VII is truly one of the greatest games ever made. A sequel to Final Fantasy VII comes off more as fan service than anything else, however.
Theres a new virus going around. Geo-stigma. Most of the people affected by this virus happen to be children. Theres little that anyone can do to stop the spread of this virus. Even worse, for Tifa, Cloud has run off and is the lone wolf he always was. Kind of strange, actually, considering how he turned out at the end of the game. Theres more to the plot. A group of people are looking for mother (Jenova).
Fan service isnt always bad, mind you. Here it isnt bad, but it is, for the most part, something that will only satisfy the fans. When you step back and really look at Advent Children, its a really "cool" movie, but a sequel that really didnt need to be made in the first place. Had Final Fantasy VII not been so popular, this sequel wouldnt exist in the first place. Say Final Fantasy VI was more popular than VII, Final Fantasy VII would not have a sequel at all.
The fight scenes are magnificant, thats for sure. They look really glamourous, but they eventually become all that the movie is about. I love the fight scenes, but a lot of them began to drag on longer than they shouldve.
The story, about halfway through, takes a backseat to action. Even worse is that the characters have little to no development at all. When all the charactes from Final Fantasy VII reunite to fight a battle against a monster (a "boss" fight, to put it into perspective for RPGers), this is about the only time you see most of them, and when you do, they hardly utter any lines. Even Cloud and Tifa dont have a whole lot of development to them, and its Clouds story.
Another asset of the story that begins to suffer is that for those who loved the game as much as I do, there are plot points that happened in the game that most of the creators of this movie either forgot or ignored completely.
Then, of course, theres the return of Sephiroth. Another chalk up to fan-service. Sephiroth just has a huge cult following, thats it. The way hes even squeezed into the movie is just strange. The fight scene that ensues between him and Cloud is breathtaking, but it was just really hard to understand why he actually needed to be there in the first place.
Another thing that really hurts Advent Children is that the story doesnt even take itself seriously. It relies more on glamourous fight scenes and slap stick humor by supporting characters rather than actual storytelling. The game was all about story. The movie is about glamour and satisfying hardcore Final Fantasy VII fans like myself. Unfortunately, when I saw the sequel, I was actually expecting it to be done for more than just fan-service.
To its credit, though the CGI is fantastic. Almost humanistic. Far superior to any CGI that has ever been used before. Even better, is that for those who love games, the CGI really makes it feel like a video game at some points. Thats exactly how this movie should feel. It is, after all, a sequel to a video game. The voice acting also isnt so bad. Never are dubbed voices as good as their japanese counterparts, but for the most part, the voice work isnt bad.
The music is also satisfying. Most of it is remixed from the game and series as a whole.
Fans of Final Fantasy VII will be absolutely stunned by it. Those who havent played Final Fantasy VII at all would probably do best to stay away from this movie. However, those who watch the movie a couple times and then sit back and take a look will realize that this movie isnt really serious. Its mostly about satisfying fans, and it does that. When you look at it as a movie, though, and not as Final Fantasy merchandise, its a letdown. It really shouldve been better than it was. It shouldve done what the game did. That is: give your own story and characters a little more credit.
Advent Children isnt a bad movie. Not at all. Im sure Final Fantasy VII Fanboys (and girls) will be absolutely pleased by this movie. But Id rather just stick with the game Ive had for nine years and can never seem to grow tired of. As fan-service, the game works. Fan service isnt always bad, but for me it was just unsatisfying. If theyd made the movie for more than just to satisfy the desires of fans, it wouldve been so much better.
Finally: Why only Final Fantasy VII? I understand its said to be the best in the series but every Final Fantasy has its own cult following. I hear its even getting a remake on the PS3. The Final Fantasy games before VII (with the exception of FFIII) have gotten nothing but ports despite that the fans devoted to other Final Fantasy games like IV and VI show so much more devotion than fans of FFVII do. It would be nice if other Final Fantasy games got some share in the credit as well. Instead Square seems to be using Final Fantasy VII as a cash cow, now.
Its a good movie, but its hit or miss for fans. If you like a lot of beautiful action and dont give a rip about story then youll absolutely be stunned by Advent Children. If you want a little more from you movie... story development, character development and emotional involvement then Advent Children cant and wont fulfill these desires. Every Final Fantasy VII fan should see the movie at least once, though.
On: 2006-05-14
Anyone thinking of buying this might want to save their cash for a Sephiroth poster, because eye-candy is about all youll get out of Advent Children. (And if youre a fan of anyone but Cloud, Tifa or the Turks, not even much of THAT.)
Im an FF fan, but I have to admit there was not much to this but the graphics. And that you could get on a poster or your computer wallpaper. My biggest problems with it was depth (or lack thereof) and more importantly, the fact that while fighting moves youd see in a low-budget foreign kung fu film can be fudged over to look nice in a viedo game, they look as crummy (and will make you cringe as much) as those low-budget kung fu films when its in a movie. (And even for low-budget kung fu films itd be pushing it.)
Other than than the nice visuals, this video comes off like a bad Shinra scheme to raise cash thatd have Hiddegar laughing hysterically all the way to Midgar bank. I bought the Japanese version for upside of $40 I was so excited about it, and now I strongly recommend you save your $14.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-05-14
Final fantasy Advent children is awesome. But, lets break it down.
Special features
Disk 1:
Reminesince of Final fantasy 7. Really a musical montage of FF7. Its great...filling in if you havent won it or just have a general overview of FF7 ( like me ) rating 5 out of 5 stars
Disk 2:
Making of movie. Its okay. It just shows the japanese making of. What about the american making of? Nothing! It just tells and talks about the japanese making. No interviews with the american voice actors....nothing. Interviews with the japanese stars, but nothing american. 2 out of 5 stars.
Trailers for upcoming games:
Nothing to say about this. Just trailers. Boring all in japanese.
Venice flim footage:
Boring.
So......... bad extras. Very bad. But props for the reminesance of FF7. that was great!!
Voice Acting:
Great!! Peoples, please saying the american acting stinks. It does not. Though I do have to admit, sometimes corny.
Steve Burton ( Cloud ) Awesome job as Cloud. You can almost feel his pain. Steve is the best as cloud.
Rachal Leigh Cook ( Tifa ) When I heard Rachal was doing Tifa, i nearly keeled over. That girl from Shes all that??? Horrible choice I thought. After watching, Rachal does great as Tifa. I was very surprised.
George Newbern ( Sephrioth ) Boy.....Sephy....the big villian. Lance Bass did the voice for Sephy in Kingdom Hearts 1 and that was horrible. But George IS Sephrioth!!! George does a awesome job.
Mena Suvri ( or however you spell her name ) Aerith. Oh gosh. Bring back Mandy Moore!!! Mandy Moore played Aerith in Kingdom Hearts, and she was great. Mena sounds like a robot. When I think back to Aeris in FF7, this young girl killed, and i think to the oh so robotic voice of Mena.......bring back Mandy!! Mena is a robot. She makes Aeris SOUND like a robot. You should hear her in Kingdom hearts 2!! She sounds a LITTLE better in FF7 AC.
All the rest to great jobs. Voice acting hands done awesome. ( Execpt Mena )
Story: Great. I dont want to give away the story but....
3 guys ( sliver haired guys......can we say Sephy fan boys much?) Are looking for someone they are calling....Mother. Cloud seems to be in the middle though..... at the mean time he cannot stop thinking of Aeris and how he didnt protect her from Sephy. Tifa trys to cheer him up, but as we all know, Cloud is a loner. ( Like Squall in FF8 ) And theres this sickness killing kids and adults alike. ........ Could Cloud have it also?
Overall, this movie is awesome. I LOVE final fantasy. Ive never played FF7, but have a great overview of it. FF7 AC, pretty much explains it all, if you havent played, won, or just have have an overview.
Grading:
Storyline: 5/5
Graphics: 5/5
Voice Acting : 5/5 EXCEPT MENA SUVARI ( or however you spell her name )
Bonus features: 3/5 Reninesince of FF7 was awesome on disk 1 though.
On: 2006-05-14
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is the first in wave of brand new Final Fantasy VII related sequels called The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII Project. I say its Square-Enixs attempt at milking the cash-cow that is their first blockbuster game until its poor utter bleeds. This movie is pure fan gratification for the people that remain in love with game even though it is quickly approaching its tenth year anniversary. Granted, its not even good fan gratification.
Ill preface why I think Advent Children is a poor tribute to hard-core fans, casual fans, and newcomers alike, by stating my game credentials. Final Fantasy VII annoyed me. It was a good game. I liked it when it came out, but I place it in the middle-lower end of series quality spectrum. The part that annoys me is that for the last ten years, Ive had to listen to the Final Fantasy VII fanboys, most of which have never really played an RPG before or after this one, blow the game completely out of proportion. Now, thanks to this movie, Im sure this will continue for ten more years since this brainless, empty little affair is getting such high praise.
Final Fantasy newcomers, avoid this movie, because what little of the plot makes sense only makes sense if you have played the game. The DVD has a retrospective from the game that is meant to help you out, but it is about twenty-minutes of still screen-shots from the game and it doesnt really cover much other than a few key scenes. Its pretty to look at, but it isnt pretty enough to find yourself awash in two hours worth of dreck.
Now onto why Advent Children is a poor tribute for all the fans, casual and hard-core alike. For years, those fans have been begging Square-Enix to remake the game with state-of-the-art technology because the blocky 3D graphics of the early playstation days are really looking ugly. That is about the only thing Advent Children does: it looks pretty. Character models are gorgeous and as close to photorealistic as Ive ever seen. When the camera isnt zipping around during fight scenes and people arent doing ridiculous acrobatic combat, its easy to forget that everything you see is all computer generated. When it shifts into its numerous fight scenes, the audience is treated to frantic and cool-looking battles, at least in the first quarter of the movie. As the film approaches its climax, the combat becomes more and more ridiculous. People jump higher than superman. Two men engage in a fifteen minute sword fight while airborne the entire time. A motorcycle chase doesnt even try to adhere to the laws of physics. It becomes too much. Which brings me to my first point. The overall style of this movie is more suited to a game like Devil May Cry than any of the Final Fantasy series. Ill honestly say that if combat in the movie resembled the way it looks in the game, it would have been lame, but then again I ever imagined Cloud Strife as having the same moves as Neo from the Matrix.
Point number Two is: The plot is a mess and the characterization is poor. This thing is so amateurishly written its sad, considering the plot/character progression is what so many people adored about the game. First, you must forget that misanthropic ending that implied that saving the world caused the extinction of the humans. In Advent Children, everyone is alive, but not so well. A strange sickness is spreading throughout the population called Geo-Stigma. Three white-haired men show up looking for the head of Jenova. Its up the heroes of Final Fantasy VII to stop their evil plot, but main character Cloud Strife is too busy being a sad little emo-kid who feels useless and refuses to fight. Cloud spends most of the movie moping about over issues I thought he had already resolved in the game, which gives the other characters time to make cameo appearances. Everyone outside of Cloud feels extraneous in this movie. Being that it is so Cloud-centric, its Surprising that Cloud doesnt have the best scenes. The most amusing and enjoyable scenes belong to the characters affiliated with the Shinra Corporation and they werent even playable characters in the game. Everything culminates to a climax in which the dead villain Sephiroth comes back from the dead for one last duel with Cloud. I wonder what preteen fan fiction writer Square Enix found to write this plot, because that is exactly what it amounts to.
To be honest, I dont know what I was expecting from this movie. I think I was at least hoping not to dislike it, but thats exactly what happened. The idea of watching this a second time is almost unbearable. If this is a taste of future videogames from Square will look like, we are lucky in did, but we all need to hope that Square keeps their future endeavors in the realm of videogames.
Its not easy to create something that retains such a strong following a decade after its release. Final Fantasy VII fans deserved better after a decade of support
On: 2006-05-13
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is the first in wave of brand new Final Fantasy VII related sequels called The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII Project. I say its Square-Enixs attempt at milking the cash-cow that is their first blockbuster game until its poor utter bleeds. This movie is pure fan gratification for the people that remain in love with game even though it is quickly approaching its tenth year anniversary. Granted, its not even good fan gratification.
Ill preface why I think Advent Children is a poor tribute to hard-core fans, casual fans, and newcomers alike, by stating my game credentials. Final Fantasy VII annoyed me. It was a good game. I liked it when it came out, but I place it in the middle-lower end of series quality spectrum. The part that annoys me is that for the last ten years, Ive had to listen to the Final Fantasy VII fanboys, most of which have never really played an RPG before or after this one, blow the game completely out of proportion. Now, thanks to this movie, Im sure this will continue for ten more years since this brainless, empty little affair is getting such high praise.
Final Fantasy newcomers, avoid this movie, because what little of the plot makes sense only makes sense if you have played the game. The DVD has a retrospective from the game that is meant to help you out, but it is about twenty-minutes of still screen-shots from the game and it doesnt really cover much other than a few key scenes. Its pretty to look at, but it isnt pretty enough to find yourself awash in two hours worth of dreck.
Now onto why Advent Children is a poor tribute for all the fans, casual and hard-core alike. For years, those fans have been begging Square-Enix to remake the game with state-of-the-art technology because the blocky 3D graphics of the early playstation days are really looking ugly. That is about the only thing Advent Children does: it looks pretty. Character models are gorgeous and as close to photorealistic as Ive ever seen. When the camera isnt zipping around during fight scenes and people arent doing ridiculous acrobatic combat, its easy to forget that everything you see is all computer generated. When it shifts into its numerous fight scenes, the audience is treated to frantic and cool-looking battles, at least in the first quarter of the movie. As the film approaches its climax, the combat becomes more and more ridiculous. People jump higher than superman. Two men engage in a fifteen minute sword fight while airborne the entire time. A motorcycle chase doesnt even try to adhere to the laws of physics. It becomes too much. Which brings me to my first point. The overall style of this movie is more suited to a game like Devil May Cry than any of the Final Fantasy series. Ill honestly say that if combat in the movie resembled the way it looks in the game, it would have been lame, but then again I ever imagined Cloud Strife as having the same moves as Neo from the Matrix.
Point number Two is: The plot is a mess and the characterization is poor. This thing is so amateurishly written its sad, considering the plot/character progression is what so many people adored about the game. First, you must forget that misanthropic ending that implied that saving the world caused the extinction of the humans. In Advent Children, everyone is alive, but not so well. A strange sickness is spreading throughout the population called Geo-Stigma. Three white-haired men show up looking for the head of Jenova. Its up the heroes of Final Fantasy VII to stop their evil plot, but main character Cloud Strife is too busy being a sad little emo-kid who feels useless and refuses to fight. Cloud spends most of the movie moping about over issues I thought he had already resolved in the game, which gives the other characters time to make cameo appearances. Everyone outside of Cloud feels extraneous in this movie. Being that it is so Cloud-centric, its Surprising that Cloud doesnt have the best scenes. The most amusing and enjoyable scenes belong to the characters affiliated with the Shinra Corporation and they werent even playable characters in the game. Everything culminates to a climax in which the dead villain Sephiroth comes back from the dead for one last duel with Cloud. I wonder what preteen fan fiction writer Square Enix found to write this plot, because that is exactly what it amounts to.
To be honest, I dont know what I was expecting from this movie. I think I was at least hoping not to dislike it, but thats exactly what happened. The idea of watching this a second time is almost unbearable. If this is a taste of future videogames from Square will look like, we are lucky in did, but we all need to hope that Square keeps their future endeavors in the realm of videogames.
Its not easy to create something that retains such a strong following a decade after its release. Final Fantasy VII fans deserved better after a decade of support
On: 2006-05-12
The only reason I saw this movie in the first place is that I saw Cloud, Sephiroth, and the others in Kingdom Hearts, and then I saw the trailer for this movie. Being the hormonal 18 year old I am, I thought Hey, Sephiroth is hot in KH, so why not watch the movie? Well, when I did, I was blown from my seat. The visuals are wonderful, and so is the voice acting. I have never played a single Final Fantasy game, but the movie was still easy to follow, and the action was spetacular.
I recommend this movie for everyone, except little kids of course, cause it has a PG-13 rating. It doesnt matter if youve never played FF, this movie is for you!
On: 2006-05-12
this really is.......rubbish! im a big fan of all the final fantasy games and i so loved ff7. but the film was a bitter dissapointment.
bad-points:- the fighting sequences was just to fast to see what was happining and who was being hit.....bit like kung-fu-hustle with people flying though the air and all other bizzare things! theres no or little magic no summons(which i was expecting) you see very little of sepheroth?
all in all i would wait till its in the ?3.99 bin at your local off-licence!! and even then its a rip-off!
by: hhuffm On: 2006-05-12
If you are not a fan of Final Fantasy, the game, then you will be totally confused by the plot (I am not a fan, so the first 5 minutes mystified me) but the graphics and action scenes will keep you interested.
I would not recommend this to anyone who does not watch alot of anime but Fanal Fantasy VII will be a treat for any fans of shows like "Dragon Ball Z". The action in this film is fast and furious, displaying super-human people performing incredible feats of strength and speed.
The animation is very similar to another Final Fantasy film, "The Spirits Within" - which has the same weaknesses: incredible animation, wacky/convoluted plot. The high quality of the animation is one of this films saving graces.
Final Fantasy VII is packaged as a two disk set, filled with extras, so you get your moneys worth. If you are a FF fan, then by all means buy this DVD. Anime fans will enjoy this one as well.
On: 2006-05-12
I am a huge FF7 fan, no doubt. I have loved and played every final fantasy game. I look forward to FFXII and the tentative third installment of FFVII. I looked forward to this movie. I have seen it three times, in order to try and absorb everything I could, in the hopes that there was SOMETHING that I missed from the first two watchings.
Why, then, do I give this two stars? Because there wasnt anything more to it. Anything more to this movie you might see will be a mix due to your love of FF7 and your experiences with the game. I could go on and on ad nauseum and repeat many of the same accolades and pitfalls that I have seen in other reviews. Its safe to say that the majority of the pluses are indeed good points about the film. This film is a visual masterpiece, and should define what CGI movies should be on a visual level. The music is great if youre into rock and cheesy riffs (which I am and I absolutely LOVE the soundtrack, despite the naysayers) It is also an adequate adaptation of a video game series. Most of the problems listed are also pretty consistent with my experiences. The action is jerky and extremely unrealistic, characters are glossed over and tacitly written off as if they do not exist, much of the ending of the game is patently ignored in favor of making a half-hearted typical Hollywood-style movie but failing in most respects. Ultimately the action is too ludicrous and takes up too much of the movies real estate, while little things like "plot" or "character development," which made the GAME WORTH PLAYING, suffer in this absence.
The most important question I have to ask is this: if this movies plot were translated into a game with FF7-style graphics, even as a sequel to FF7, would it be worth playing?
I would have to answer "hell no" to this. Without the graphics and the Final Fantasy name, this movie reveals its total lack of substance, and is a total anathema to everything that is Final Fantasy. Rent, but do not buy, and always remember the greatest Christmas lesson of all: crappy things can and often do come in pretty packaging.
On: 2006-05-11
this really is.......rubbish! im a big fan of all the final fantasy games and i so loved ff7. but the film was a bitter dissapointment.
bad-points:- the fighting sequences was just to fast to see what was happining and who was being hit.....bit like kung-fu-hustle with people flying though the air and all other bizzare things! theres no or little magic no summons(which i was expecting) you see very little of sepheroth?
all in all i would wait till its in the ?3.99 bin at your local off-licence!! and even then its a rip-off!
On: 2006-05-10
As a fan of the original game, I felt compelled to inform other fans about my opinions regarding this movie, as reviews for this movie seem overly positive. First of all, let me say that I played, played, and replayed FFVII at the age of 17 when it was first released for the PC. I appreciated a lot of things about the game but what I liked most was the storyline, and how it resembled a classic mythological tale. I heard information about the movies development a long time ago, saw the various trailers, and was very excited and waited in anticipation for the release date, which was delayed time and time again.
On the movie itself, there are two areas where this movie truly excels: action, and visuals. When it comes to action this movie certainly doesnt disappoint. The classic FFVII fight music plays for many of the battles (nostalgic for some, predictable for others) and swords clash with amazing speed. The visuals are also truly stunning. Ive always appreciated the animation style of SquareSoft and particularly enjoyed a realistic rendition of these mainly androgynous Caucasian cartoon characters.
Aside from the ludicrous and hard-to-follow fight scenes, there was very little else to hold the movie together. It was very difficult to tell what was going on in the movie, even for a person that studied the mythological structure of FFVII. The lines were dry and consisted mostly of dramatic exclamation of characters names. Add that to the bad English voice acting and its almost unbearable.
The edits in this movie needed serious work. If youre a sugar-pumped teenager with ADD you might call the edits fast-paced. If youre not, theyre choppy, underdeveloped, and agonizingly jarring. I dont always need to see a different camera angle every two seconds, and would prefer more time to take in all the imagery that Im being presented with.
Overall, I thought this film deserved two stars because while its visuals and nostalgic value may be its only saving grace, they are nevertheless secondary to plotline and pacing, which were in serious short supply.
Maybe Im getting old. Maybe my taste for film has refined some since I was 17. Maybe this movies not meant for mature audiences. If so please disregard my review and purchase this movie. However, if you are considering purchasing this movie and are over the age of 20, please take my review to heart before making this purchase.
On: 2006-05-09
This movie is just so awsome! Finally I get to watch the dubbed version after watching the japanese version of the film, I atomaticaly wanted to buy it. The CG in this movie is so overwhelming, I havent played the whole entire game through yet but thats not necessary anymore. I already know the story and everything. For those who arent FF fans will probaly have a hard time understanding the plot and everything. This is a must buy for all FF fans and Sc-Fi movie lovers. This is the best CG film without a doubt. I love the special features is will. Definatly a movie worth buying.
On: 2006-05-09
As a fan of the original game, I felt compelled to inform other fans about my opinions regarding this movie, as reviews for this movie seem overly positive. First of all, let me say that I played, played, and replayed FFVII at the age of 17 when it was first released for the PC. I appreciated a lot of things about the game but what I liked most was the storyline, and how it resembled a classic mythological tale. I heard information about the movies development a long time ago, saw the various trailers, and was very excited and waited in anticipation for the release date, which was delayed time and time again.
On the movie itself, there are two areas where this movie truly excels: action, and visuals. When it comes to action this movie certainly doesnt disappoint. The classic FFVII fight music plays for many of the battles (nostalgic for some, predictable for others) and swords clash with amazing speed. The visuals are also truly stunning. Ive always appreciated the animation style of SquareSoft and particularly enjoyed a realistic rendition of these mainly androgynous Caucasian cartoon characters.
Aside from the ludicrous and hard-to-follow fight scenes, there was very little else to hold the movie together. It was very difficult to tell what was going on in the movie, even for a person that studied the mythological structure of FFVII. The lines were dry and consisted mostly of dramatic exclamation of characters names. Add that to the bad English voice acting and its almost unbearable.
The edits in this movie needed serious work. If youre a sugar-pumped teenager with ADD you might call the edits fast-paced. If youre not, theyre choppy, underdeveloped, and agonizingly jarring. I dont always need to see a different camera angle every two seconds, and would prefer more time to take in all the imagery that Im being presented with.
Overall, I thought this film deserved two stars because while its visuals and nostalgic value may be its only saving grace, they are nevertheless secondary to plotline and pacing, which were in serious short supply.
Maybe Im getting old. Maybe my taste for film has refined some since I was 17. Maybe this movies not meant for mature audiences. If so please disregard my review and purchase this movie. However, if you are considering purchasing this movie and are over the age of 20, please take my review to heart before making this purchase.
On: 2006-05-09
This film was the best full-length feature film with spectacular CGI!! I couldnt believe my eyes when i saw the trailers on TV. Me personally, it was 10 times better than "Spirits Within." A much better story and characters.
On: 2006-05-09
Ive got to say, I loved this movie! It brought back a lot of fond memories of FF VII. Do you need to know the game to get the movie?...Not necessarily, but if you were into the game way back when...Oh man, are you gonna love this movie!
On: 2006-05-09
If you havent played the game you will be lost and very confused. But if you have you get to see all the charters from the game and some new evil ones too. I give it 5 stars!
On: 2006-05-08
I have had this movie for only one day, and Ive watched it three times. It brings some closure for fans of the game, but people who havent played the game can enjoy it too. The Cinematography is amazing, and beautiful. The music is enjoyable, too. The fight scenes are intense. Ill never get sick of this movie.
On: 2006-05-08
When I first played the final fantasy series...Final Fantasy VII was the one...
It got me hooked on RPGs for the rest of my life!!!
I have ALMOST all of their titles starting from VII except for IX...
Now about the movie...
It is truly sectacular, the fight scenes are breathtaking, the music is flawless, and ths storyline follows up on the game...so if youve never played the game, and watched the movie, i suggest you get yourself a copy and get cracking!!!
then itll all come together...
This movie is worth watching, especially for FFVII fans!!!
On: 2006-05-07
This CGI movie is a superb presentation of the legendary Final Fantasy genre. Below are my minuses and pluses (minor spoilers ahead):
Minus: Movie focuses almost exclusively on Squall and Tifa, others (Barrett, Yuffie, etc.) have primarily cameos. While the movie explains the backstory, it can be confusing without an understanding the FF VII plot.
Pluses: 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound. Lots of bonus features. Superb CGI graphics. Great Nobuo Uematsu soundtrack.
On: 2006-05-07
FF7 was the game that got me into rpgs.. I still play that game. When I heard the movie was coming out I couldnt wait. Now that Ive seen it, I have mixed feelings about it. The graphics are unparalleled. Every last detail is perfect, the lip syncs are perfect, everything. The dialogue left a lot to be desired though. There were a lot of scenes where people said very few things and you were just left there to sit and stare at the scenery. Then the whole "mother" thing. Dont know about anyone else but it ruined it for me to hear people talking about mother and saying things like "I want mother" or "dont insult mother" throughout the movie.
I enjoyed seeing the world of FF7 again, but to be honest I would rather this have been a game than a movie.
Bottom line, I enjoyed seeing the familiar characters and places from the game but people who have never played FF7 will not understand or enjoy this movie, unless they like lots of eye candy.
On: 2006-05-07
I watched this movie and i loved it. It reminded me of the old Final Fantasy Game
On: 2006-05-06
I just saw this DVD today and wow it was one of the best CGI animation movie I have seen in a while...with great graphics and a pretty good story line.
I was never much into the Final Fantasy RPG games but heard that it is a popular series. This movie kinda got me into doing research on all the characters from the game...lol
It wasnt just the A+ graphics that made to movie great but the characters development and story line, which was better than your average animation. I mean Final Fantasy The Spirits Within (same company?) had great CGI animation but was such a snore fest.
There were some reviewers that gave this movie a one star stating that it had no plot...these people have to keep in mind that this is a continuation of the story 2 years after the games ending.
I think the writers made the right approach in not explaining about all the characters in detail, which would make the movie alot longer and probably a little boring. They made both the main guy and girl characters interesting, and Im pretty sure there are more back stories behind the quieter/non-action scenes between the two. But if you want to know more about them and the other characters, just do an Internet search like I did or look at the console game cut scenes themselves on the DVD extra sections.
This movie is added to my favorite list of animated movies next to such titles as The Incredibles, Ghost in the Shell, Princess Mononoke, and Appleseed.
On: 2006-05-06
THIS MOVIE ROCKS! For all you final fantasy fans out there, this is the movie to watch. Awesome OST and action scenes make the movie suspenseful and entertaining to watch. BUY IT.
On: 2006-05-06
You do not have to be a Final Fantasy aficionado to appreciate this film. It is a visual master-piece. The imagery is absolutely stunning. You may need to watch it a few times to understand it fully, but each time you will discover something about it that you had not discovered before. And if you find yourself thinking things like "humans cant jump that high" or "no one could weild a sword that heavy", remember: THATS THE POINT! Its a fantasy, a window to a world where anything can happen. A dream where you can do things that are not otherwise possible in reality.
I highly recommend watching the film in its original Japanese dialogue. The English version is a good translation in meaning, but it doesnt have the same feeling as the Japanese. The creators went to great lengths to match up the guestures and mouth movements precisely with the Japanese language.
The soundtrack is wonderful too. Every aspect about this movie is A+. The only bad part is that it eventually has to come to an end.
On: 2006-05-05
To tell you one thing Im not that hip on RPGs but, the first time I played final fantasy VII was about 9 months ago and truly I really enjoyed it! It took me about 7 weeks to beat it. The story in the game was really good and all the different enviorments were great.
The movie picks up 2 years after FFVII. The one thing I did not like was that the dub was off pretty bad in some parts of the movie. But most of the time it was good. The CG in the movie is the best Ive ever seen! The action in it is really good too. Ohh yeah and the music was freakin good too. Other than the dub everthing else is Out of this world.
Story= B-
Dub= B
Animation= S++
Art= S++
Music= A+
Overall= A-
On: 2006-05-05
I never was really into Final Fantasy *FF* that much until after seeing a few short movie clips on Putfile.com and the TV commercial for the Final Fantasy:Advent Children. Now Im a diehard fan of FF. The graphics are FF:AC are incredible !! Close to human-like details. Im looking forward to seeing more Final Fantasy movies like this. Cloud and Vaan are my FF lovers ! I always ask myself why do they always make Anime men so sexy but you can never find one like that in real life. But this DVD is EXCELLENT !! I actually give it 10 stars and for the price theyre selling at ... Add 5 more stars for Value. I expect this DVD was gonna cost me like $50 like some Anime DVDs Ive seen at the store. But under $20 ? Its a steal !!! I highly recommend this DVD and youll become a FF Fan yourself !!
On: 2006-05-05
This is a horrific movie even by anime standards. The plot is shallow and character development is weak. This movie picks up 2 years after blah blah blah. Its the same old spin. The evil corporation "Shinra", the ex SOLDIER who has lost all faith in anything, the helpless children, barf! The list goes on and on. I cant believe they took so long to come out with this trife poo. Nothing like watching one boring combat scene after another thats so predictable even with FF standards. I couldnt wait for it to be over and I felt like I was watching a dumbed down version of Gasaraki (which I also gave an F). It was a waste of 90 minutes. At first I was thinking maybe I would like to play the game again but after watching it, I changed my mind. Its been a long time since I played FF7 and thankfully they have a remininence feature to remind you about what happened. I now realize how butt ugly the graphics were back then and wonder what I ever saw in it.
The FF series has really never advanced or gotten better. Every game is the same thing. Its like eating the same thing over and over again. It just gets old and that taste that you used to crave, makes you gag. This stale movie is no exception.
Will I recommend this to anyone? NEVER!
On: 2006-05-05
First of all lets just say, if you havent played FF7/ Beaten it, its not worth watching. I have had the wonderful oppurtunity to play this game, and really absorb the story. This movie how ever i feel falls very short of my expectations of what it should be. im not a video game fan , or a hard core gamer, i just loved my experience with FF7 and i feel its the best game ever created.
This movie completely fails in its plot/ story line. Its very dry, and some of the terminology they use in the plot (english version) seems very unrealistic (i understand translations are usually a little wack). I felt some scenes felt had no relivance in the movie either.
Im giving it 3 stars ,because ive been anticipating more FF7 for years after i played it, and finally something is being released. Also the sheer beauty of the Graphics (dont no what else to call it), is just amazing, i think its very ahead of its time. Looks good with a high def Television. The Sound is pretty good too.
On: 2006-05-05
People seem to complain about the english voices, but i didnt find them unbearable. Its a nice mix of actors who nail their lines perfectly at some times, and make your ears cringe at others. If anything, some of the bad voice acting gives you something to laught about, and there are good voice acting scenes in here which cannot be denied. The dvd has some nice features. It has an extra that tells you the ff7 story through the cutscenes in the game. It made me remember how much of the story i forgot. big probelem with this extra however. The problem is, the cutscenes are in japanese with subtitles on the bottom. Its just pure laziness, the game came out in the us, why didn the us just replace the japanese cutscenes with the american ones instead of just putting in subtitles. Other nice features are trailers, deleted scenes, and the making of advent children. The trailers and deleted scenes shows just how many awesome scenes were cut, which is a shame. The making of advent children is nice, but its just the japanese version with subtitiles. absolutely no input from the american team whatsoever. I guess the americans didnt need to do any input because the only work they did was get some second rate actors and have them play characters theyve never heard about...complaints aside, its still an awesome movie.
On: 2006-05-05
I have been waiting for this movie to come out for 5 years and now after the release date being push back so many times it is finally out and I have to say it is defiantly the best CG movie I have ever seen, it is true to the game and the graphics are absolutely astonishing. Even if you have not played the game I think it should still be enjoyable because the story is great and if you dont even like that kind of movie the graphics are not something you want to miss. It is great seeing all of the whole gang from Final Fantasy VII together and every fight scene is a jaw dropper. I greatly encourage anyone to buy this movie.
by: darthkommissar On: 2006-05-05
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
INTRODUCTION:
When the Playstation (One) was the premier gaming system in the land, Squaresofts classic RPG Final Fantasy VII was arguably the biggest hit title on the system - ever. Even to this day it remains, in the hearts of many a gamer, the best game in that legendary franchise. Many gamers wanted a continuation of the storyline - and now they have gotten it. The direct-to-video Advent Children movie continues the storyline started by the classic game. Read on for my review and see how it fares!
OVERVIEW (PRODUCT):
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is a direct-to-video feature continuing the story of Final Fantasy VII (the game.) The film is computer animated. It is rated PG-13 for language and violence. The film was released in America on April 25, 2006.
OVERVIEW (STORY):
Two years have passed since the events of the Final Fantasy VII video game. The world was ravaged by the events of the game and left in ruins. Many people of the world have fallen victim to an illness caused by the spirit of the Earth. And thats only the least of the planets problems. A group of soldiers is seeking revenge on the Earths spirit for what it has done. To do this, they plan to create their own army from many of the worlds children. They are also seeking to recover the elements of Jenova, the evil entity that made Sephiroth (the chief villain in the game that preceded the storyline here) so powerful and such a threat. With the world becoming a dangerous place once again, the heroes must unite once again - and even join forces with a few old foes.
REVIEW (FILM):
I wasnt sure what I was going to think of this film, or even if I wanted to see it. After all, the last so-called Final Fantasy movie (The Spirits Within) has NOTHING to do with the games! But Im glad I saw Advent Children - because it is awesome. The animation, action, voice acting, musical score.... Pretty much everything this movie has to offer is top notch. I admit, it helps if youve played through the game to understand the story behind this movie, but even if you havent played it, you should still be able to enjoy the film.
REVIEW (DVD):
Do not buy the UMD - it has NO BONUS MATERIAL. Get the DVD instead - its a two-disc set loaded with extras! And if youre a fan of the Final Fantasy series, the extras are going to appeal to you all the more. Just make sure you take my advice and get the DVD - not the UMD!
OVERALL:
Overall Advent Children is an awesome movie. Its not hard to see why it was so hotly anticipated by so many. If you were a fan of Final Fantasy VII and want to see what happens to the characters after the game, this movie is well worth watching. Even if youve never played a Final Fantasy game before, if you want action, youll get plenty of it here. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
EDITION NOTES:
There are only two American editions of this movie: UMD and DVD versions. Obviously, get the DVD version, since its two discs and has the bonus material the UMD so badly lacks.
On: 2006-05-04
as a massive ff7 fan i really looked forward to this one. dont repeat my mistake. the graphics are gorgeous, but the utter lack of anything resembling a plot kills this film. honestly the whole movie is just like a preview teaser clip of fighting you would see running in a video game store, except it lasts 1:40. it was much more enjoyable watching the ff7 scenes (reminiscence) than the movie itself. dont waste your time on this pretty superficial nothing.
On: 2006-05-04
Well, what can I say? Buy the game, or any of the other Final Fantasies, but its probably not worth watching this. Yes, the fight scenes are awesome, but its not really a good movie - nor would it make a game as deep as any of the FFs. I feel as though Square do best creating amazing new worlds, but seem to trip up when trying to follow their games up in sequels.
On: 2006-05-04
I cant beleive a lot of people were waiting years for this piece of junk. This could of been released in a week. Dont they know the Matrix got old already? This is nothing but stupid unrealistic action with people literally flying and the slow motion to boot. Advent Children is no where near as cool as it thinks it is.
Bottom line, this movie has disappointment written all over it. And even hardcore Final Fantasy 7 fans who wont admit it, will get bored of it soon. There is one scene that stands out as even more ridiculous than the rest and thats hard to accomplish trust me. Its where cloud jumpes into the air and flys up for miles and miles I mean the scene takes like 5 minutes. It gets better the other FFVII characters all happend to be on higher ground and as cloud reaches each one of them, they give him a hand by grabbing his hand and tossing him up higher.
On: 2006-05-04
First off let me say just how amazing the Final Fantasy VII game really is. Over 5 years after its release there are still people talking of it and interested in it. Just look at this dvd which is ranked #1 on Amazon as proof...
This movie is beyond beatiful. The cg artwork and graphics in it are beyond stunning. I have never seen cg work as impressive and seemless as this anywhere else. The work is truly jaw dropping.
And the battle scenes. Oh what a joy!
Seeing every character give Cloud a boost during the bahamut battle was awesome. And that finishing move vs Sephiroth will put a smile on your face. The battles were a pure joy to behold.
The story was a decent one but it was nothing too shocking. They clearly went for action over storyline in this movie but it doesnt seem to make it any worse for it.
You will definitely be lost if you havent already played Final Fantasy VII. Though there is a handy little movie summary of the Final Fantasy VII game on the dvd.
This movie has been in the works for years and brought some tremendous hype along with it. Well, after the long wait i must say that it was definitely worth it.
On: 2006-05-04
This excellent action movie takes place were Final Fantasy VII left off, picking up two years after the game. Amazing visually and realistic with a surprisingly good story. I plan to watch it again soon.
On: 2006-05-03
The CG animation is good, but thats the only thing good about the entire movie. At least in Final Fantasy:The Spirits Within, it felt like a movie because it had a decently written script. The script is the worst part of the movie. The dialogue is mundane, cheesy, and all-around just horrible. The plot is hard to follow because the movie is more about showing off its animation than it is about the storyline. When an entire scene is supposed to be understood by a character saying a few words, rather than descriptive dialogues, monologues, etc. like a movie is supposed to be, you get lost in the scenes meaning.
I love the music from the FF series, but it just does not work for a movie. They should have hired someone to write a decent score because the entire movie seemed so dull without one. The mastering was horrible too and the sound effects were so cheesy that I had to force myself to watch the whole movie. When a character is in the heat of battle and says something... how about making it seem believable??? How about screaming it, or at least putting some sort of emotion behind it?? Its not supposed to sound like some dude sitting in a lounge chair reading a dull book. There was no excitement in any of the actors voices at any point in the entire movie. I have never been so embarrassed on behalf of a movie company because the sound editing and mastering was absolutely horrible.
This could have been done SO much better if they had hired someone who knew how to write a screenplay. Japan needs to stick to video games and leave movie-making to Hollywood. Square-Enix destroyed any potential that this movie had. The two hour movie was so boring it fel like 30 hours (like the game) but nowhere close to being as exciting as the game. I have been looking forward to a sequal to FF7 for so long and this is the biggest disappointment I could have imagined.
On: 2006-05-03
The movie is superb. 9.9 out of 10, outstanding CGI and top-notch action. The Japanese voice actors are money! Their voices match each character perfectly. I speak Japanese and my only gripe is that I just wish the English translations/subtitles were done better.
I know that when you dub a movie in a different language you have to try find lines that fit the characters mouth movement(Unlike those old Kung-Fu movies) but, in this day and age...
WHO THE *BLEEEEEEEEP* says "Dilly-Dally Shilly-Shally"?!?!?
On: 2006-05-03
First off... the cgi is absolutely beautiful.
Now to why this only got three stars from me. This movie is close to two hours long, and in that time I feel that there was almost no movement in the story. It is almost completely filled with overdone fight scenes, and in focusing on the fights there are places where you end up scratching your head because something just happens with no explanation as to how or why.
Also the story itself is fairly flat. Where there was the oppertunity to have some depth, it wasnt exploited. This left me a little disappointed since I am a huge fan of the games, and I know that the story writers are capable of much more.
In the end, if youre a fan if the FF series its probably worth buying. Or if you really want to see excellent cgi, its worth it. But if you dont play the games or have another reason to buy it youll most likely be disappointed.
On: 2006-05-03
I cant beleive a lot of people were waiting years for this piece of junk. This could of been released in a week. Dont they know the Matrix got old already? This is nothing but stupid unrealistic action with people literally flying and the slow motion to boot. Advent Children is no where near as cool as it thinks it is.
Bottom line, this movie has disappointment written all over it. And even hardcore Final Fantasy 7 fans who wont admit it, will get bored of it soon. There is one scene that stands out as even more ridiculous than the rest and thats hard to accomplish trust me. Its where cloud jumpes into the air and flys up for miles and miles I mean the scene takes like 5 minutes. It gets better the other FFVII characters all happend to be on higher ground and as cloud reaches each one of them, they give him a hand by grabbing his hand and tossing him up higher.
On: 2006-05-03
this movie is dripping with beautiful animation. i love the costume design work and the facial expressions. this is a major step stone for cgi movies. absolutely incredible. cloud really shines.
On: 2006-05-03
Final Fantasy VII is in an awkward position these days. Fans of the original still bask in the fond memories the (for its time) revolutionary title brought to them. Newbies, however, are now turned off by the (now) archaic graphics, inconsistent character models, and poor localization that resulted in severely bad English.
This game is in dire need of a remake, and rumors have been going around that one is in the works, but in the mean time fans have this little treat to hold them over.
For the first time since the original Mortal Kombat a video game movie takes place within the continuity of the game its based on. This makes it already leaps and bounds better than any other game to film conversion. That said the film is far more visually stunning than its competitors, and the animation is simply breath taking. It brought tears to my eyes when I realized that one day the actual game could look this good, if they remake it... And theoretically its possible that a PS3 remake of the original could come close. Its beautiful, and unlike other recent CGI films with quasi-realistic characters, Advent Childrens characters feature very lifelike eyes, and deliver mostly believable performances except the gravity defying stunts defy suspension of disbelief, yet remain true to the game as many of these stunts are based off of the FFVII Limit Breaks! And they look amazing, even if I dont believe that Cloud could fall several hundred feet and not break anything.
The films story, however, is somewhat problematic. Non-fans shouldnt even bother trying to follow it. There was potential for a very deep film here, but sadly what story there is minimalistic and serves as a device to move from one action sequence to the next. You can tell that the writers of this film are too used to writing for video games, as this sort of writing works well there, but here it leaves a lot to be desired. I was especially disappointed that the party (Barret, Cid, Caith Sith, Yuffie, and Red XIII) didnt really get all that much screen time. Had this film been longer then there could have been some seriously cool character developments. I was particularly disappointed with the final battle, which looked awesome, but really didnt do all that much for the story. Had the Remnant remained the main villain instead of a device to resurrect Sephiroth I would have handled the story a little more seriously. Cheesy resurrections dont go over that well with me.
Cloud is the only character that receives any significant character development here. And Im glad he is able to make peace with himself, but at the same time I am sorely disappointed that there wasnt much by way of romantic developments between Tifa and him. Tifa is obviously in love with him, and I know hes in love with Aerith, but shes dead, and he should have realized by now that Tifa is ga-ga for him and done something about it at the end.
This story is not un-enjoyable, its just not very deep. It runs circles around Silent Hill, and would have been a much better expenditure for theater viewing. FFVII isnt going to win an academy award for best screen play or picture, but it certainly wets ones appetite for the rumored remake.
On: 2006-05-03
Final Fantasy VII is one of gamings most important masterpieces. SquareSofts mega-hit re-launched the American RPG scene back in 1997 and the Sony PlayStation gained even more steam as the worlds leading game console. One could argue that without Final Fantasy VII, gaming as a whole would be vastly different in its existence today. The three-disc epic was soon enough over, though, and its story left many with tears in their eyes and a want for more. For years, SquareSoft (now Square-Enix) has worked on what IGN.com calls a "fan service"; a film that continues the events of the video game, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
I will try to summarize Tetsuya Nomuras plot without ruining too much from either Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children itself. Taking place two years after the monumental ending of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children continues Cloud Strifes story and the struggle between the Planet and the evil forces trying to destroy it. The Life Force, a stream of life that circles throughout the planet, is a source of energy that the evil Sephiroth tried to use and control before he was defeated by Cloud.
Low and behold, Sephiroth couldnt be completely destroyed because of special cells that run through his veins and as an interesting plot device, certain people were born with these cells infused into their blood. Cloud, of course, is one of these people. In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, a wily threesome of Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz want to revive Sephiroths evil form by finding the elusive blood that fueled his hatred. When Cloud learns of this, it is his job (alongside some of his friends) to stop the destruction of the Planet that would ensue if that were to happen. All the while, inhabitants of the Planet are inflicted with a strange sickness known as "Stigma".
The only negative thing I could possibly say is that Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children tries to wrap up what should be another 40-hour RPG in 1 hour and 41 minutes of bridges that lead to fight scenes, and of course, intense fight scenes. Of course, the effect of this isnt completely negative; Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is as much Final Fantasy as could possibly be crammed into 101 minutes of delight.
What must be clarified is that Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is one of the most beautiful computer graphic works of art in history. Its amazing to look back at the Tyrannosaurus Rex in Jurassic Park, which was one of the first CG marvels, and then watch Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which is entirely done in CG. Everything, from the ruined landscape around the industrial city of Midgar, to the intricate detail woven into Clouds shirt, looks eerily real. There were times throughout Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children where I lost a grip on the CG reality and thought that I was watching a live-action film.
Now, that isnt to say that the Final Fantasy VII art style isnt recreated. The bug-eyed, anime-styled protagonists are back, alongside the stick-proportioned Reno and the thuggish Rude of the Turks gang. Their wispy hair and realistic skin makes the CG even more deceiving. It is also safe to say that Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children has some of the most impressive animated battle scenes in film and gaming history. If you thought some of the battles found in The Matrix or Dragon Ball Z were interesting, youll be knocked off of your seat by the events that unfold in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Without ruining a single piece of action, I dont think there are faster-paced or higher-flying battles anywhere in entertainment. Let me just say that when a certain beast was summoned from the skies during one of the films more pivotal moments, I beamed with fanboyish delight.
Without an amazing score by Nobuo Uematsu, any Final Fantasy project wouldnt be complete. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children carries that score, mixing everything from the classical Final Fantasy VII theme to larger-than-life metal and electronica tracks that pulse through your veins alongside the emotion drawn from the on-screen battles. The soundtrack almost always seemed to be playing, especially near the end of the film. I noticed myself wondering if the music would stop, not in anticipation for it to stop, just in utter amazement that a composer could put on such a score for such an extensive amount of time.
Another addition to the excellent audio is the spot-on voice acting, where not once can I find a character to complain about. All ears will of course be on Cloud and I was happy with the job Steve Burton did here. Although he did a great job in SquareEnixs Kingdom Hearts series, he really shines here, where the emotion is allowed to flow out of the characters a little more than in the Kingdom Hearts games. Vincent Valentine is decidedly dark and mysterious in his voice, which was also done rather well by Steve Blum. And Rachel Leigh Cook captures the powerful but beautiful voice of Tifa in almost every line, though I wish Tifa had a stronger role in the film. She has a few minutes to shine but for the most part, shes a supporting role and a critic of Cloud rather than her own powerful being.
For those of you who arent familiar with Final Fantasy VII, the bonus features included with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children include "Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII", a clip devoted to filling in the storyline up to the events of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Also included on a second disc are clips of upcoming games like Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core and Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus. Final Fantasy fans will giggle in excitement and those | |
