FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN

Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment

Special Edition 2-DVD Set, $29.95

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is a stunning new CGI film from the creators of the Final Fantasy video game series.  The film is set on Earth in 2065 AD, where alien spirits are threatening mankind's existence.  Scientist Aki Ross and her mentor, Dr. Sid, have developed a plan to defeat these aliens.  As they attempt to implement this plan, which requires the collection of eight specific Earth spirits, Aki and Dr. Sid must also persuade military officials from executing an alternative plan that would have disastrous consequences.               

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within features the voice talents of Ming Na, Alec Baldwin, James Woods and Donald Sutherland.  The movie is rated PG-13 with a feature running time of 106 minutes.           

The film, created entirely in the digital domain, is presented in an anamorphic widescreen version (1.85:1).  The overall quality of the transfer is excellent.  Images exhibit the finest detail and colors are robust with fully saturated hues.  There is a high level of contrast and deep black levels.  Picture defect mastering is perfect with no major flaws or digital compression artifacts.

Video Rating: 10 out of 10

The following spoken language options are available for the movie: English Dolby Digital 5.1, English and French Dolby 2.0 channel surround.  The following subtitle tracks are available: English and French subtitles, and English closed captions.  The English Dolby Digital 5.1 track is the basis for this review.  Dialogue is intelligible and clear.  The surround channels are very active, and include many split rear effects.  There are also numerous discrete channel effects that take place across the forward channels.  The LFE channel is formidable and provides thunderous bass to the soundtrack.

Audio Rating: 9 out of 10

The tactile sound effects are excellent and are present in every chapter of the DVD.  Everything from subtle to heavy impacts can be experienced.  Some of the best tactile information exists in the killing of a phantom in chapter 11, the firing of the ship's thrusters in chapter 19, and the overloading of the Zeus Cannon in chapter 27.

Tactile Sound Effects Rating: 9 out of 10

Bonus features available on Disc One include two scene-specific audio commentaries; isolated score with commentary by composer Elliot Goldenthal; storyboard/CGI renderings; production notes; theatrical trailers; animated menus and scene selection.  Bonus features available on Disc Two include the 30-minute documentary The Making of Final Fantasy; multiple workshops; alternate opening sequence; Final Fantasy Shuffler editing studio; DVD-ROM materials; animated menus; easter eggs and more.

Bonus Features Rating: 10 out of 10