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

[Dalton]

I thought it was an okay movie and i will probably get the disc for the reference quality video. I won't have a problem watching it again.

 

[Daniel L]

"The problem is that it's a very Japanese film, and most Americans don't have patience for their style of drama..."
Jeff,
I do have patience for Japanese drama, but I'll give you that.
How do you explain the film bombing in Japan? It made around $9 million from everything I've heard.
Daniel L

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I got the DVD earlier today (thanks to the online supplier my dad orders from) and watched it. Visually, its THE BEST looking DVD in my dad's collection, at least thats what I think. He says Toy Story, but TS doesn't show the same array of colors and the same amount of detail and still maintain the same amount of clarity.
The extras rock! Granted, I didn't see them all, but there are a buncha things on there. The trailer for FFX was...a little disappointing (nothing I hadn't already seen) but there was that Thriller video which ROCKED!!!
The menus are actually very well made. The second DVD has a nice little intro with a digital Aki doing something unseen since Roger Rabbit (thats the only clue I'm giving).
I am happy that I own the movie now so I can find all the little things in the movie. In the three times I've seen it, I have seen 3 little details in the film (the director makes a cameo, there is the outline of a chocobo, and there is a dead chocobo) and I'm still trying to find the (at least) fourth thing.
The case is also well designed. Take the Episode I case, flip the holder thing that goes inside (that holds disc one) and flip it around so the discs face eachother, and thats what it is. It's actually very nice (IMO).
Overall, this is a very good package. The only thing hindering the experience would be if you don't like the movie (I already said how much I liked it).

 

[Joel C]

Morgan-
I agree with your comments, except for the one on the case. I don't think you got a special one, I just think the flipper portion was put on the wrong way. It is the same case as TPM, and mine is facing the same way.
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Joel
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"I've been very lonely in my isolated tower of indecipherable speech."
digitallyOBSESSED

 

[cafink]

With regards to the case… I don't have Final Fantasy, but it's just a standard double Amaray keep case, correct? You guys know that the inner tray is removable, right? If you like the disc facing a certain way, you can just pull the tray out, flip it over, and pop it back in.

 

[teapot2001]

How do you explain the film bombing in Japan? It made around $9 million from everything I've heard.

-Spirited Away?
-9/11?
-Marketing?
Who knows. I tried reading some of the Japan Yahoo user reviews around the time when the movie opened, and it seemed like the majority of those who didn't like it said the story was complex.
Morgan, how long is the FFX trailer and does it contain any CG FMV scenes?
~T
[Edited last by Thi Them on October 22, 2001 at 10:06 PM]

 

[James D S]

How do you explain the film bombing in Japan? It made around $9 million from everything I've heard.

Oops!
Jeff, I have no idea what you are talking about. please explain. Drama is drama. Good characters are good characters. Involving story is involving story. There are MANY parallels between Japanese films and American films (and German, English, and French for that matter). A good film will transcend. Good Sci-Fi knows no language barrier nor does it care about what country created it.
That is, if it's any good.
Such is not the case with FF.

 

[Brad_W]

I hate to admit it, but I actually fell asleep during this movie when my wife and I saw it in the theater. We were very excited to see it, maybe I was too tired or maybe the story made no sense what-so-ever, but I nodded off a couple of times during the movie. I have the DVD at my house right now and my wife and I will watch it when she gets home from work. I hope the extras are good because the story was not understandable at all, unless maybe you really paid attention. I am a fan of Final Fantasy video games and was just disappointed with the movie. However, the CGI was awesome, but you need a good story to make a movie. Remember, CGI can only help a good story move forward and shouldn't make the movie. Which, I believe, was the case for FF:TSW.
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[Edited last by Brad_W on October 22, 2001 at 10:59 PM]

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Japanese drama is all in the same style as Final Fantasy, long, wordy, and drawn out. Huge stretches with very little happening save for characters interacting in a very dry manner.
Watch "The Wings of Honneamise" or "Grave of the Fireflies" for other examples of this kind of filmmaking
Jeff Kleist

 

[Tom Oh]

Where may I ask is the FFX trailer? I found the film dissappointing in the theater. However, I feel that it plays better on HT. It actually improved on second viewing, especially with the commentary. You can either read the translated Japanese commentary or listen to the English one. I was amazed at the effort that went into creating this film. You'll get a better appreciation of this film.
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[EricW]

if good film-making was always universal, Crouching Tiger wouldn't have flopped in China and Hong Kong
also, i think Final Fantasy must be the record-holder for making people fall asleep... aside from reading this thread, this movie is the only one that had the topic of sleep raised when i discuss it with other people. for the reocrd, i've only fallen asleep in two other movies: Batman Returns and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.

 

[Edwin-S]

You fell asleep during Mortal Combat:Annihilation?!! Granted, the story could have put someone into a coma but I don't know how you could have slept during the cacophony that passed for a soundtrack. This was the first film I saw when a new multiplex cinema opened in my town and it was ear drum blowing loud. Guess you never worry about suffering from insomnia.

 

[Daniel J]

I didn't see it in the theater, and won't buy it on DVD, because every FF fan that I know who has seen it confirmed that the movie has little or no relation to the video game series of the same name. Rather, it is another tired Sci-Fi/fantasy/new-age philosophy movie, which I do not care to spend time watching.
that said, I may rent it to check out the visuals.

 

[Anthony Thorne]

I bought the disc (Region 1) from an import shop here in Melbourne last Thursday. I love the movie and the disc is a very solid effort that does it justice. I've posted the reasons I feel enthusiastic about FF:TSW elsewhere on this forum and won't belabour them here.
The commentary tracks are nice. The English-language one is my favourite of the two so far, and you really get a feel for how much effort went into the making of the movie. I actually feel a little depressed after listening to some of it because you empathise with their efforts to produce the best possible movie - and I also empathise with their enthusiasm for much of what is on the screen - and you realise that a few short months later the film would bomb and Square would sadly abandon the idea of making any more movies. (The editor on the commentary track ponders aloud what sound designer Randy Thom is going to do to one of the dream sequences, indicating that the commentary was recorded prior to the full mix being completed).
The 'Thriller' video is a little goofy - all the characters seem to move to the same 'mo-cap', rather than having any individualistic movement - but's it's kind of fun and I like the idea of the folks behind the scenes (including the martial-arts expert female motion-capture performer seen in the doco) having fun and letting off steam making it.
Whatever, even though the film is flawed, I'm still very enchanted/intruiged/encouraged by the movie, and the fact that a lot of smart people were able to spend a lot of time and money creating something unique... something different from much of the cookie-cutter sameness that I witness in most mainstream movies. I'm genuinely sad that Square won't be making any more films. Much as I enjoy all of Pixar's work, if Square and Pixar were both guaranteed a run of 10 or 15 films over the next 20 or 30 years and I could only watch the output of one company, I'd choose Square. FINAL FANTASY is flawed, over-ambitious and jars a little with its collision of East and West (both in front of and behind the CG camera) but I find it moving and impressive for those exact same reasons, as well as plenty of others.

 

[Kheng Hong]

I think I can make a fortune selling the '2 types' of double amaray cases.
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[Jerome Grate]

Some good bass on this movie, I think they did a great job on the computer animation. The story was pretty good but I have to admit a lttle slow moving.
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[Mike_G]

I have to chime in as a fan of this film. Yes, it's unlike other American movies and has a very heavy Japanese influence. Not AS good of a movie as I had hoped, but I still loved it.
Mike
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[Eugene Hsieh]

if good film-making was always universal, Crouching Tiger wouldn't have flopped in China and Hong Kong

Well, by Chinese standards there were significant problems with this movie, most audible of which were the cheesy Chinese accent of Michelle Yeoh (who I nonetheless thought did a good job). So while I think this is a good (but not great) movie, I can understand why many in China would have been irritated by this piece of film-making. Imagine trying to watch classical Shakespeare with a bunch of very heavily-accented Texan actors. It might work in the right context, but most of the time it's just annoying.

 

[jason celaya]

LOL...This is a sleeper! I watched a 10 minute demo at the widescreen review facility a few weeks back........with in 5 minutes at reference level I was dozing off. I will buy it for the fact it will work better than a sleeping pill!

 

[Patrick Sun]

Count me in as yet another who fell asleep trying to watch FF in the theaters. The first 20 minutes were pretty good, but there was no story that grabbed my attention, and I wound up dozing off more than once while in the theater.
The CGI looks pretty good, but as a satisfying film-going experience, it fell well short of that goal.
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