---
product_id: 1736389
title: "- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within"
price: "NZ$36"
currency: NZD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/1736389-final-fantasy-the-spirits-within
store_origin: NZ
region: New Zealand
---

# - Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

**Price:** NZ$36
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** - Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
- **How much does it cost?** NZ$36 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nz](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/1736389-final-fantasy-the-spirits-within)

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## Why This Product

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## Description

Earth is a desolate wasteland in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within . Humanity has been decimated by an invasion of Phantoms, insubstantial aliens that extract and devour the spirits of living things. The few remaining humans have retreated to a handful of cities that are protected by massive bio-energy shields. The beautiful Dr. Aki Ross (voiced by Ming-Na) and her mentor Dr. Sid (Donald Sutherland) have discovered that the energy signatures of eight key Earth spirits can cancel out and destroy the Phantoms. With the help of Captain Edwards (Alec Baldwin) and his band of marines, they must scour the globe for the last two remaining spirits before General Hein (James Woods) manipulates the refugee government into attacking the aliens with an orbital laser that may also destroy the Earth. Hironobu Sakaguchi's film is taken from the popular Final Fantasy video game franchise, which is particularly well suited to film adaptation with its series of original stories, but the movie features entirely new characters and settings. And like Toy Story and Shrek, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is completely computer generated. Unlike those cartoon comedies, though, The Spirits Within is a serious science fiction drama with astonishingly human digital actors. Aki, the female lead, appeared in a full-page spread in Maxim magazine's Hot 100 list--and was indistinguishable from the real-life models. The setting and conflict make for incredible action, but it's the larger issues, character interaction, and human elements that really make the movie shine. The Spirits Within is not simply a science fiction movie, in the same way that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is not simply a kung fu flick. The result is a fantastic summer movie with better action and more emotion than Pearl Harbor , and actors more lifelike than those in that other video game movie, Tomb Raider. --Mike Fehlauer The year is 2065. A meteor has crashed onto Earth unleashing millions of alien creatures who roam the earth, decimating field and city alike, threatening to extinguish life itself. Prepare to be spellbound by an amazing woman, the brave individuals at her side and an astounding mission to save the Earth.

Review: Beautiful but complex - This is one amazing movie, different from anything you have ever seen. It is extremely ambitious. It is the first computer generated movie to try not only to be in 3D but to actually represent reality. A few characters, especially Dr. Sid, can fool you into thinking they are human, an incredible achievement. It is a science fiction story wrapped around a spiritual core, a very difficult proposition. It has adventure, aliens, alien war, romance, valor, tragedy, violence and pacifism. This is a conceptually, artistically and technically groundbreaking work. Does it work? Not quite. The graphics may be much more advanced than anything seen to date, including the contemporary Shrek, but they are flawed. Aki Ross, the main character, has a beautiful and soulful face, but her mouth seems chiseled on her chin, her teeth seem to be planted too far out and look like a fish's, her eyes are not wet but rather seem built of a hard plastic, her hair (each of the 60,000 threads individually animated) looks like a synthetic piece. Her body is too long, and her, uhm, bottom seems all wrong. Still she has an intriguing, star-like presence. Other characters, unfortunately are very cartoonish. All suffer from stiff bodies, their limbs attached to rigid torsos, as you see on plastic toys. By the way, the movie is not really computer generated. Rather the computer is used as a very powerful, knowledge based, colored pencil, under the control of human artists. The resulting visual experience reminds one of a very detailed drawing. Live actors were used to help the animators use the computer to render the movie's characters. No wonder, the whole thing cost 100 million dollars to make. The storyline is built around a complex spiritual core, which is revealed little by little in the movie. (If you haven't yet seen the movie you may want to jump to the next paragraph.) It proposes that each life bearing planet holds a spirit in the ground out of which each life form is born from and to which it returns after death. These planetary spirits are formed from some kind of wave, and, significantly, they are incompatible and deadly to each other. A fragment of an alien planet destroyed by nuclear war, has fallen on earth and has disgorged many deceased individual spirits of that planet, which move around like phantoms and lay waste to much of our life sphere. Well, this is a rather complicated background for most of the movie going public, not to say slightly derogatory of the Christian world view. Star War's "the force be with you" was a much simpler proposition. The joy in Final Fantasy is in taking in the beauty of the realistic but completely human-made world it depicts. Less spirituality and more laughs and sexual tension would certainly have made it more successful. This movie takes itself too seriously for its own good. Shrek's creators were smarter in this sense. I understand that Final Fantasy has been a financial flop. This is a great pity. Personally I would love to see Aki Ross again in a few years time, at 10 times better rendering technology. If a movie deserves a sequence, this is one. The movie's creators must realize that they own much more than the first photo realistic picture in human history, they also own the first human-made movie star. Let's hope they will be able to build on top of this amazing achievement.
Review: Most underrated movie of the NEW millennium... - I'll keep this short. Have you ever cried because a movie you loved was hated or ignored by everyone else? And that movie was obviously a work of art that took teams of artists years to create? Well, that's how I felt when "Final Fantasy TSW" came out and died within a couple of weeks. I went to the premiere of this fine film. The theater was half-empty. I went again two weeks later, just before the movie disappeared from cineplexes. Would you believe I was THE ONLY person in the room?! When the eagle at the end soared away over the mountain range, I had to choke back angry tears. (The beautiful ending itself had caused the first upswell of tears.) Why was nobody else enjoying the show with me? And what a show it was! Great "acting" by the digitally created cast, especially the leads, restrained but believable dialogue, breath-taking visuals, and tight editing of a logical storyline that is so perfectly steamlined and simple it should never cause confusion. So why this tragedy of an empty theater after just two weeks? First, many critics panned it, complained of wooden acting and a convoluted plot. They claimed the story was unoriginal; well, what other movie does it plagiarize? Apart from the stereotyped way the marines sometimes talk, what is unoriginal here? Second, the trailer was misleading; this is a moving love story, set against the spooky, solemn backdrop of a last-ditch attempt to repel an alien invasion and restore the Earth to humanity. The love is between Aki and Gray, who ultimately must love their planet enough to sacrifice their lives to save it. There is also credible caring between Dr. Sid and Aki, and Gray and his Deep-Eyes. But the trailer presented "Final Fantasy TSW" as a kind of juiced-up videogame. A rollercoaster thrill ride, which it is at times, but the human quality of the story is paramount. It's the only reason I would have seen this movie so many times, bought TWO copies on DVD, and now proudly own TWO copies of the Blu-ray release. It's definitely worth it. Unfortunately, that will not bring back Square Pictures (closed up shop after the movie flopped) or reunite the gifted animators who brought the characters to life so memorably. I'm just doing my part to support one of my favourite movies, while thumbing my nose at certain small-minded critics and at the moviegoers who left me all alone in the theater (not that I really minded having the whole place to myself). Lovers of this movie, UNITE! (And if you haven't seen it yet, by all means DO!)

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Contributor | Akio Sakai, Chris Lee, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Jun Aida |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,453 Reviews |
| Format | Blu-ray |
| Genre | Sci-Fi |
| Initial release date | 2001-07-11 |
| Language | English |

## Product Details

- **Contributor:** Akio Sakai, Chris Lee, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Jun Aida
- **Format:** Blu-ray
- **Genre:** Sci-Fi
- **Initial release date:** 2001-07-11
- **Language:** English

## Images

![- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71TRTu8yNDL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Beautiful but complex
*by D***S on December 12, 2001*

This is one amazing movie, different from anything you have ever seen. It is extremely ambitious. It is the first computer generated movie to try not only to be in 3D but to actually represent reality. A few characters, especially Dr. Sid, can fool you into thinking they are human, an incredible achievement. It is a science fiction story wrapped around a spiritual core, a very difficult proposition. It has adventure, aliens, alien war, romance, valor, tragedy, violence and pacifism. This is a conceptually, artistically and technically groundbreaking work. Does it work? Not quite. The graphics may be much more advanced than anything seen to date, including the contemporary Shrek, but they are flawed. Aki Ross, the main character, has a beautiful and soulful face, but her mouth seems chiseled on her chin, her teeth seem to be planted too far out and look like a fish's, her eyes are not wet but rather seem built of a hard plastic, her hair (each of the 60,000 threads individually animated) looks like a synthetic piece. Her body is too long, and her, uhm, bottom seems all wrong. Still she has an intriguing, star-like presence. Other characters, unfortunately are very cartoonish. All suffer from stiff bodies, their limbs attached to rigid torsos, as you see on plastic toys. By the way, the movie is not really computer generated. Rather the computer is used as a very powerful, knowledge based, colored pencil, under the control of human artists. The resulting visual experience reminds one of a very detailed drawing. Live actors were used to help the animators use the computer to render the movie's characters. No wonder, the whole thing cost 100 million dollars to make. The storyline is built around a complex spiritual core, which is revealed little by little in the movie. (If you haven't yet seen the movie you may want to jump to the next paragraph.) It proposes that each life bearing planet holds a spirit in the ground out of which each life form is born from and to which it returns after death. These planetary spirits are formed from some kind of wave, and, significantly, they are incompatible and deadly to each other. A fragment of an alien planet destroyed by nuclear war, has fallen on earth and has disgorged many deceased individual spirits of that planet, which move around like phantoms and lay waste to much of our life sphere. Well, this is a rather complicated background for most of the movie going public, not to say slightly derogatory of the Christian world view. Star War's "the force be with you" was a much simpler proposition. The joy in Final Fantasy is in taking in the beauty of the realistic but completely human-made world it depicts. Less spirituality and more laughs and sexual tension would certainly have made it more successful. This movie takes itself too seriously for its own good. Shrek's creators were smarter in this sense. I understand that Final Fantasy has been a financial flop. This is a great pity. Personally I would love to see Aki Ross again in a few years time, at 10 times better rendering technology. If a movie deserves a sequence, this is one. The movie's creators must realize that they own much more than the first photo realistic picture in human history, they also own the first human-made movie star. Let's hope they will be able to build on top of this amazing achievement.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Most underrated movie of the NEW millennium...
*by C***N on September 10, 2007*

I'll keep this short. Have you ever cried because a movie you loved was hated or ignored by everyone else? And that movie was obviously a work of art that took teams of artists years to create? Well, that's how I felt when "Final Fantasy TSW" came out and died within a couple of weeks. I went to the premiere of this fine film. The theater was half-empty. I went again two weeks later, just before the movie disappeared from cineplexes. Would you believe I was THE ONLY person in the room?! When the eagle at the end soared away over the mountain range, I had to choke back angry tears. (The beautiful ending itself had caused the first upswell of tears.) Why was nobody else enjoying the show with me? And what a show it was! Great "acting" by the digitally created cast, especially the leads, restrained but believable dialogue, breath-taking visuals, and tight editing of a logical storyline that is so perfectly steamlined and simple it should never cause confusion. So why this tragedy of an empty theater after just two weeks? First, many critics panned it, complained of wooden acting and a convoluted plot. They claimed the story was unoriginal; well, what other movie does it plagiarize? Apart from the stereotyped way the marines sometimes talk, what is unoriginal here? Second, the trailer was misleading; this is a moving love story, set against the spooky, solemn backdrop of a last-ditch attempt to repel an alien invasion and restore the Earth to humanity. The love is between Aki and Gray, who ultimately must love their planet enough to sacrifice their lives to save it. There is also credible caring between Dr. Sid and Aki, and Gray and his Deep-Eyes. But the trailer presented "Final Fantasy TSW" as a kind of juiced-up videogame. A rollercoaster thrill ride, which it is at times, but the human quality of the story is paramount. It's the only reason I would have seen this movie so many times, bought TWO copies on DVD, and now proudly own TWO copies of the Blu-ray release. It's definitely worth it. Unfortunately, that will not bring back Square Pictures (closed up shop after the movie flopped) or reunite the gifted animators who brought the characters to life so memorably. I'm just doing my part to support one of my favourite movies, while thumbing my nose at certain small-minded critics and at the moviegoers who left me all alone in the theater (not that I really minded having the whole place to myself). Lovers of this movie, UNITE! (And if you haven't seen it yet, by all means DO!)

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Inspiration for Avatar STILL AWESOME IN 2013
*by P***Z on March 19, 2013*

Cameron even admits it, hats off to him. The sound track album for this movie also is grammy quality, with song number 17 being truly astonishing with a kindof sci-fi / Native American blend to the counterpoint. It's available on Amazon here: Final Fantasy - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack . Most composers give Goldenthal 5 of 5 stars for this album, but it is still little recognized by the recording industry! If you pass on this film, and only want to spend a buck, download song 17 from the album, you will NOT be disappointed, guaranteed. By now, everyone knows that this movie failed at the box office (cost, $140 million US, revenue $85 million worldwide). The plot is weak and character development poor. The big BUT: the team assembled over 12 years ago in Hawaii to CG the film is historic for the technology of the time. It literally is, in some ways, technically BETTER than Avatar! If you have any interest in the technology, this is a must have disc. If you're just trying to relax with a "good movie" the plot will probably fail you. The underlying premise is wonderful, as is the game series, of alien spirits as the challenge, but this slice of a story doesn't capture the majesty of that premise, except in the utterly amazing graphics and music. That's the blend and balance. I'm the CTO of shaderjoes dot com, an animation studio, and that's my bias. Library Picks reviews only for the benefit of Amazon shoppers and has nothing to do with Amazon, the authors or publishers of the books and products we review. We always buy the books and products we review for the sake of objectivity, and although we search for gems, are not shy about trashing a title if it's a waste of time or money for Amazon shoppers. If the reviewer identifies herself or her field, it is only for the sake of a point of reference for the skill set viewpoint to help you gauge the bias.

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*Store origin: NZ*
*Last updated: 2026-06-24*