Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Ming-Na

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 th...( read more  read more... )ings. 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

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55% liked it

53,579 ratings

PG-13, 108 min.

Directed by: Hironobu Sakaguchi, Moto Sakakibara

Release Date: July 11, 2001

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DVD Release Date: October 23, 2001

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Stats: 5,215 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (5,215)


  • September 18, 2009
    Great CG (though the movement of people looks a little marionette like), and a decent story that ultimately descents into a Shinto take on Gaia philosophy.
  • July 6, 2008
    Cool, you can make almost photo-realistic computer animated characters. Now try to invest that time in a better script. And by script i don't mean the Aliens fanfic someone wrote on weekends.
  • May 3, 2008
    ''Through their experiences on Earth, each spirit matures and grows. When the physical body dies, the mature spirit, enriched by its life on Earth, returns to Gaia, bringing with it the experiences, enabling Gaia to live and grow.''


    A female scientist makes a last stand ...( read more)on Earth with the help of a ragtag team of soldiers against an invasion of alien phantoms.

    Ming-Na: Dr. Aki Ross (voice)

    Alec Baldwin: Capt. Gray Edwards


    Spirits is nothing like the game and it makes me sad, very sad...

    Slightly lacking in emotion and a little soulless.

    Beautifully animated though and that's whats frustrating about it because it hasn't got the plot and heart to go with it, it's like watching a perfected Robot do a humans job.

    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 same problem i had with some of Animatrix and I think sometimes Japanese don't have humour or emotion enough in some of their anima stuff.

    FF:Spirits is a disappointment having been a fan of the games forever.
  • February 9, 2008
    Visual triumph/landmark.
  • December 31, 2007
    horrible film, maybe i was expecting too much from it. but the special effects were nice.
  • November 8, 2009
    I wanted magic
    You gave me some crappy dreams
    not final enough

    -courtesy Glen Lakin

    Neon Neo tech
    A bit too much soul for me
    A mawkish science
  • November 5, 2009
    Que graficas! Aki Ross esta buenisima.. y eso que no existe!
    Buena historia.
  • October 29, 2009
    !Comercial or Stupid! :|
  • October 23, 2009
    best film....touching....
  • October 20, 2009
    Boring and hard to follow.

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Comments


  • MorpheusOne
    May 21, 2009
    I also found it quite disgusting that Titan A.E., which came out around the same time, had animation that was nearly as good, actors that were nearly as good, and acting that was actually BETTER, a plot that was AT LEAST 100 times better but, without the name recognition & the vast amounts of hype, it was considered a bomb...

    HORRIBLE!!!
  • Aritosgold
    November 1, 2007
    Cant say much^^
  • MorpheusOne
    October 4, 2007
    I didn't care that the storyline in the game was out of whack with the storyline in the movie and I still don't. I think that if you go into watching this movie knowing that then you might still be disappointed bc the script & plot does utterly suck a bloody sphincter!! However, if you think that the movie sucks bc it has nothing to do with the game then ... well, cry me a river, build me a bridge & get the fuck over it!

    Now, with that said..

    The animation was some of the best that I have ever seen. Truly outstanding! The story however was among the most predictable and pointless that I have ever been put thru by ANY movie ... that I have EVER SEEN in my entire life!! I find it to be an insult that there was so much put into this movie, i.e. animation, first rate actors, vast amounts of hype, & name recognition, and the movie ultimately sucks ass! Considering the actors that they had in this movie the acting could have been A LOT better; it was only subpar.
  • MRFI
    October 3, 2007
    Just commenting on some of the reviews and comments made. Who cares if its got nothing to do with the game! It's a damn fine effort for a first full CGI movie of its kind! As for the casting it was a brilliant move if you ask me!
  • Narutokun2
    February 1, 2007
    I Agree that this movie whould be alot better if it had a diffrent name,its not rlaeted to the game but not bad on its own......
  • lucyglitter
    September 27, 2006
    If it had a different title.

    I bet you it would be alot more popular.

    But I loved it. SO much.
  • Malicabo
    August 20, 2006
    For what it was, I did enjoy it. I'm actually glad it wasn't like the games.
  • yellieisarobot
    August 19, 2006
    :/ just because it has the final fantasy name, doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be about the video games.
    or THE video game, as you put it.
  • nate444
    July 10, 2006
    this movie was fucked. it has nothing to do with the ACTUAL final fantasy game.

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Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within Trivia

Final Fantasy - The Spirits Withi... Trivia


  • Which movie has this tagline : " Unleash a new reality " ?  Answer »
  • In Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, what was the name of the main character?  Answer »
  • What actor links Lilo and Stitch, Con Air, Mission Impossible III, Pulp Fiction, Jacob's Ladder, Bringing Out The Dead, Mission Impossible, Rosewood, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Baby Boy and Idle Wild? (this question better get a thumbs up just off of all the typing)  Answer »
  • In which movie do spirit monsters invade a space station, but eventually are driven back by a lady researcher?  Answer »

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