The forgotten sci-fi that once set the Internet on fire, is now streaming for free
By Chris SnellGrove | Being published
Every now and then, the movie sets the world on fire with the fire of hype before burning out and being forgotten for generations to come. Watching these films feels like entering a period of cinema that holds onto what we care about before the next shiny thing comes along.
Perhaps the best example of this Final Fantasy: The Spirits Withinthe most popular video movie now streaming for free on tubi.
The Phantoms Menace
The foundation of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Is the whole world besieged by ghostly phantoms that can suck the life out of a person. Things seem bleak for humanity until a few impegile researchers find a way to defeat these beautiful foxes, but it will require collecting spirits from all over the planet (HEY, it wouldn’t be a video game movie without Fetck Quest).
They are racing against the clock in the face of a military solution that can rid the world of phantoms. Except, of course, it turns the entire planet into one ghost town.
A motion picture film is only as good as its voice acting; Fortunately, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within came to play, with the main character portrayed by genre legend ming-na wen (well-known Agents of the shield and A girl who frequents a house with people). Meanwhile, the infrepid Captain helps with his quest to be portrayed by Alec Baldwin (the famous The departed and It’s complicated). Some of the most memorable Captain Crep’s include characters tied up by Steve BusterMi (best known Just like you and Ghost World) and vering Rhames (best known Fingp Fiction and mission missions are impossible).
Believe it or not, that’s just a few words in this blockbuster enderbuster. Other voice actors include James Wood, Keith David, and Donald Sutherland, each a legend in their own right. They all do a great job of suggesting what could have been a forgettable cookie-cuteter adaptation of the popular video series.
Not just a lazy bum
It took a lot of money (or should that be gil?) to deliver Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within in life. It had an estimated bahamut budget of $137 million but only earned $85.1 million at the box office, killing any chance of a sequel. However, it once set the Internet on fire (seriously, people kept sharing images of our leading CGI Photoshoot from Size Magazine!), and its legacy now lives on in a number of games and other projects that help inspire it.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within It was designed to bring the video game series to life, but it also managed to inspire game designers who continued to create their own monsters. Most notably, Bioware Art Director Derek Watts said the film was a major influence on the Mass Effect series of RPG games. Considering that the Mass Effect Trilogy gave us one of the best Sci-Fi stories in video history, that’s quite a compliment.
A movie ahead of its time
While making a big pop culture splash, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within it couldn’t work any magic on the critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has a rating of 44 percent, low enough that you might be tempted to give this movie a Phoenix down to bring it back to life. Critics agreed that the CGI in the movie was behind the revolution, but complained that the actors or characters did not interact enough.
In particular, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within won more than others a great war chief Critics, including Roger Ebert. He gave the movie 3.5 stars out of 4 and hailed it as a “technical milestone,” saying that your main motivation for watching the movie is “just, look at it.” He especially liked the portrayal of the lead character’s face, and I agree: It’s a year where actors work especially well, there’s something special about seeing a character transplanted with love and every movement of which was trying to make a love story.
Will you agree to that? Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within It’s better than the critics think, or is this one movie you’d like to hit with a bum sword? You won’t know until you stream it for free on tubis and experience all the amazing CGI for yourself. When the credits roll, you can join the film’s ever-growing legion of fans as we press the sequel to one of the most iconic films of all time.
