What's new

'FINAL FANTASY' dvd, absolutely INCREDIBLE! (1 Viewer)

Morgan Jolley

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2000
Messages
9,712
Take a japanese idea, make it american, then release it in japan. What do you think will happen? Thats why it tanked.
 

James D S

Screenwriter
Joined
Nov 14, 2000
Messages
1,000
Morgan,
Could you expand on the "make it American" theme? I'm curious as all get out to find what was changed before shooting to appease Americans that would not also appease Japanese.
 

teapot2001

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 20, 1999
Messages
3,649
Real Name
Thi
How do you explain the fact the film tanked when it was shown in Japan?
Richard, read the first post on page 2 for possible reasons. Also, most of the time box-office success doesn't have much to do with the appreciation of a movie.
~T
 

GlenH

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 28, 2001
Messages
60
To Hubert:
When I said FF was a more impressive achievement than Toy Story, I meant from a CGI standpoint. Toy Story, as well as the other Pixar flicks, have very well polished characters and stories with witty dialog. Mannerisms of the characters, timing, etc. are awesome - much better than Final Fantasy. But, the CGI rendering in Final Fantasy was incredible because of the amt of detail involved. However, I do think that most of the facial features, etc. from FF were pretty weak and it detracted from the movie. The Japanese animators have a LONG way to go in terms of rendering performances that are convincing enough to evoke significant emotions.
To those who thought the story boring:
I still don't understand how people would think this is boring. IMO, if you want to see boring, long winded anime, check out Akira. I thought THAT was boring. However, everyone who watches Akira praises it like crazy. There was a lot of constant action in FF and when there wasn't action, I was mesmerized by how great the CGI was.
I do agree that FF is very Japanese in terms of story themes. MANY MANY Japanese anime stories use similar topics of armaggedon, world destruction, nuclear destruction, etc. to preach peace. I guess this is what happens when you had 2 complete cities obliterated by nuclear bombs in the past. But, frankly, I think this theme is getting really old. It is a worthwhile subject, but becomes VERY played out when you see it over and over again in these Japanese anime stories. However, I didn't think FF came across as preachy as some of the other stories.
Glen
 

teapot2001

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 20, 1999
Messages
3,649
Real Name
Thi
quote: However, I do think that most of the facial features, etc. from FF were pretty weak and it detracted from the movie. The Japanese animators have a LONG way to go in terms of rendering performances that are convincing enough to evoke significant emotions.[/quote]
I look at it as suppressed emotions.
~T
[Edited last by Thi Them on October 24, 2001 at 10:04 PM]
 

Robert McClanahan

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 21, 2000
Messages
188
I rented it watched some of it and turned on FOX news.The animation/CGI was first rate and the REAL actors voices were a plus,but I just got bored.A renter IMHO.
 

Edwin-S

Premium
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2000
Messages
10,000
This is just my opinion but I think this movie tanked in Japan because the character designs are too "American" looking.
 

Romier S

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 2, 1999
Messages
3,525
I bought the DVD yesterday and have watched a good bit of the materials as well as the movie ( :)). I saw the movie in the theater and I liked it then. After watchingit on DVD I still like the movie quite a bit. I dont think its an awesome beyond belief movie but its a solid film with spectacular CGI work.
Story wise I found it all to be adequate. It gelled well with what has been established in the Final Fantasy game IMHO. In fact the whole Gaia storyline and especially the ending of the movie reminds me very much of the ending to FF7. Both had similar themes.
My biggest problem was just some of the cookie cutter characters. I found Aki to be very interesting and the Donal Sutherland character also held my interest. On the other hand General Hein was a waste of James Woods talents. Just a typical, boring villain with a typical, boring goal. Also the female in the group of good characters, I forget her name, we will call her Vasquez cause that is so who the filmakers obviously copied to create this character. They even have the "mistaken for a man" joke in the movie. The minute she turned that huge gun on the top of the jeep around all I could think of was "LETS ROCK!". Buschemi was underused and Ving Rhames could have done more. I think they just tried to meld the spirituality of a Japenese Anime film with Aliens and things got a bit muddled while doing it (could be why it tanked in Japan).
To Glen:
I would like to know how in the world you can find Akira to be boring. Did you understand the movie? Did you have trouble following it? My god the opening Motorcycle battle between the gangs is worth the price of admission alone. I'm just curious what you found so boring about the movie?Although I liked Final Fantasy quite a bit I dont think it can hold a candle to Akira (kind of comparing oranges to apples anyway but hey its my opinion!:bg :).
[Edited last by Romier S on October 25, 2001 at 05:27 AM]
[Edited last by Romier S on October 25, 2001 at 05:28 AM]
[Edited last by Romier S on October 25, 2001 at 05:31 AM]
 

Dan Brecher

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 8, 1999
Messages
3,450
Real Name
Daniel
Ok, so got it sight unseen and to my delight enjoyed the movie very much, yes a little cliched here and there but by no means as bad as I had been lead to believe.
One fine DVD to boot.
Dan (UK)
 

Hank_P

Second Unit
Joined
Nov 15, 2000
Messages
324
I have to agree with the above... I like animation movies, but Akira seemed long and boring. I was going to purchase it site-unseen after all the rave, but rented it just to be safe... very glad I did, and will never watch it again.
 

Phil Morris

Auditioning
Joined
Jun 11, 1999
Messages
12
I don't want to turn this into an Akira-bashing thread, but I have to say that I too found said movie rather dull, I doubt if I'll ever have the urge to watch it again. And yes, I DID understand the story.
On the other hand, as noted elsewhere, I loved Final Fantasy. :)
Phil
 

James D S

Screenwriter
Joined
Nov 14, 2000
Messages
1,000
... However, that "Thriller" may be enough to justify a purchase. I'll buy it for "Thriller" and convince myself I'm getting a 2-hour CGI demo-fest as a bonus. I can live with that.
 

nousername

Supporting Actor
Joined
May 26, 2001
Messages
614
Okay, so I bought the DVD and I must say, it is indeed reference quality. The movie is lame, I admit, but I bought it mainly because of the visuals.
For those who say it looks grainy, that's the way it's supposed to be. It was like that in the theater as well. It's a dark movie without the bright, cartoony colors of, say, A Bug's Life or Toy Story 1 and 2. No, FF:TSW is definitely a reference quality disc in terms of picture and sound, at least it is on my system.
But I would like to know where the "Thriller" video is. I've looked through all the menus and came up with nothing. Can anyone help me out?
 
Joined
Oct 23, 2001
Messages
22
To get the thriller:
On disc2, scroll all the way to the very bottom of the menu. Highlight the little icon on the right hand corner and enter.
 

Morgan Jolley

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2000
Messages
9,712
When I said "make it American" I meant taking it and sort of bastardizing it. Had it been written in Japanese and then just translated, it might have been more appealing. Had it been released in Japan first, it probably would have done better. A lot of Japanese people probably read what the film was about and then lost interest in watching it.
The one thing you need to take into account is the atmosphere in the film. The world is half destroyed, humans are always looking behind them to see if they are about to die, and throughout the whole film, only one person cries. That DEFINITELY means suppressed emotions. Maybe the animation for talking wasn't great, but the expressions were fine to me.
The story had a lot of similarities with FF7 because it was written around the same time and Hironobu Sakaguchi was in the same state of mind (thinking of life, death, spirituality).
Akira was great, as was Final Fantasy. If you want to test yourself (in how easily bored you are), watch Neon Genesis Evangelion (yes, it is a whole series). Why do I say that? Because it is a good example of Japanese anime drama. Characters exhibit realistic emotions and reactions, but the battle scenes are few (though they are some of the best ones I have ever seen in a TV show anime). Then again, there are many times when they show the same shot for over a minute to show drama, and that easily bores people.
 

GlenH

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 28, 2001
Messages
60
To Romier:
I was bored with watching Akira because it felt just too drawn out. There were scenes in which Akira would grimace and contort and expand in size, etc. etc. and these scenes just went on... and on.... and on...........zzzzzzz.
Again, this is what suprises me about the opinions on FF. FF seemed to have a lot more action and the visuals were much more stimulating than Akira (IMO), yet people love Akira, but it seems like 1/2 the people didn't like FF or thought it was boring. Again, I'm not saying FF was a great movie or anything, but the visual effects and overall execution of the movie made it very entertaining for me.
It isn't really fair to compare Akira and FF as they are practically different genres. I'm comparing them more just in terms of story and action content, pacing, etc. I wouldn't say that FF has a better story than Akira either. I'm just saying, when I watched both, Akira practically put me to sleep because it seemed to go on forever with no real resolution. FF was fast paced and had a definite conclusion.
Although I used to be a big fan of the Macross story arc in Robotech, as well as some of the anime around that time, I find that I typically don't like most Japanese anime I see nowadays. I thought Megazone23, Macross: Do you Remember Love, Nausica: Valley of the Winds were EXCELLENT and still has some of the best stories and animation. Much of the anime stuff now just isn't that compelling. To top it off, the animation is pretty poor in terms of motion. I swear they draw many of these anime movies in 3 frames per second or something close to that b/c the motion is super choppy.
Glen
[Edited last by GlenH on October 25, 2001 at 08:32 PM]
 

Rob Tomlin

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2000
Messages
4,506
I must admit that I have been intrigued by this thread. I decided to go ahead and RENT this disc before purchasing it, so its on its way from NETFLIX.
I hope that it is better than Akira. I agree with the others here who found Akira.....BORING!
sleep.gif

I don't really want to purchase another DVD just because it is reference material. For example, I have Titan A.E. and it is definitely reference material, but I have only watched the movie twice since owning it since the movie isn't very good.
Looking forward to viewing FF
 

GlenH

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 28, 2001
Messages
60
Rob,
In terms of CGI and animation, FF simply BLOWS AWAY Titan AE. I thought Titan AE had too much mediocre hand drawn animation to make it a very impressive looking movie. Practically all the scenes in FF look great. I almost didn't buy FF because my brother said it really sucked and it had very lukewarm reviews. After watching FF, I'm glad I bought it. I thought about holding out for a possible Superbit version b/c it is a Columbia-Tristar movie, but I can't imagine the transfer being improved significantly as it is already a direct from digital transfer. The DD5.1 soundtrack is also quite aggressive with good, solid, deep bass.
Glen
 

Morgan Jolley

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2000
Messages
9,712
Glen-
Besides the fact that Titan AE sucked.
Aaron-
If you want an anime with a good, deep story and better animation than your average anime, check out Evangelion. There are 8 DVDs (26 episodes) but in the end, its worth it (if you enjoy it anywhere near as much as I did).
I know I shouldn't reccommend anime here, but I think that Evangelion is the appifany (sp?) of TV anime. Just my opinion.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Forum statistics

Threads
356,808
Messages
5,123,524
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top