Final Fantasy Movies and Anime
Created | Updated Sep 5, 2002
First, a note: FF is a common abbreviation for Final Fantasy eg FF7 refers to Final Fantasy 7. Due to numbering differences (Final Fantasy 4 from Japan was originally released in the US as Final Fantasy 2 since we didn't get the Japanese Final Fantasy 2 and 3 games) FF2 is ambigous, and you'll see FF2j referring to the Japanese game, Final Fantasy 2 and FF2a or FF2e refering to the American or English language Final Fantasy 2 (which would be FF4j).
The best known Final Fantasy movie is "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" which unfortunately did not fare so well as one would have hoped. It was thought that more movies would follow, but the poor showing led to the cancellation of future movies. (A real shame, a great movie could be based around FF4j or 6j... even FF1 could make a good action flick)
And now for a listing of the various Final Fantasy non-games:
Legend of the Crystals Based on Final Fantasy
This is a great 2 part anime series that is supposed to follow after the events of FF5, a few decades into the future.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
This is a CG movie, which came out in American theateres to a disappointing showing. I think part of this movies lack of popularity derives from the moral ambiguity, and the inability to hate any of the antagonists with a clean conscience. The DVD also has a great "Thriller" video remake. Given that thriller is about the undead, the CG characters better fit the song than the original living (if playing undead) actors. CG characters are capable of a zombie-like jerkiness that the original dancers could not hope to achieve.
Final Fantasy Unlimited
This is the latest Final Fantasy anime, I don't know much about it yet, but as soon as I finish the series (after it comes in the mail and I finish Trigun) I'll update this review. So far no grunts have been heard about this leaving Japan, so importing or fansubs are your only options. This is supposedly reminiscent of the early games of the series.
I personally prefer Legend of the Crystals to The Spirits Within (they actually ride a chocobo!) but your mileage may vary.
The best known Final Fantasy movie is "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" which unfortunately did not fare so well as one would have hoped. It was thought that more movies would follow, but the poor showing led to the cancellation of future movies. (A real shame, a great movie could be based around FF4j or 6j... even FF1 could make a good action flick)
And now for a listing of the various Final Fantasy non-games:
Legend of the Crystals Based on Final Fantasy
This is a great 2 part anime series that is supposed to follow after the events of FF5, a few decades into the future.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
This is a CG movie, which came out in American theateres to a disappointing showing. I think part of this movies lack of popularity derives from the moral ambiguity, and the inability to hate any of the antagonists with a clean conscience. The DVD also has a great "Thriller" video remake. Given that thriller is about the undead, the CG characters better fit the song than the original living (if playing undead) actors. CG characters are capable of a zombie-like jerkiness that the original dancers could not hope to achieve.
Final Fantasy Unlimited
This is the latest Final Fantasy anime, I don't know much about it yet, but as soon as I finish the series (after it comes in the mail and I finish Trigun) I'll update this review. So far no grunts have been heard about this leaving Japan, so importing or fansubs are your only options. This is supposedly reminiscent of the early games of the series.
I personally prefer Legend of the Crystals to The Spirits Within (they actually ride a chocobo!) but your mileage may vary.
