Though it feels as if it has little to do with the games series it is based on, this groundbreaking film endures as a milestone for CGI animation, with a stellar voice cast<\/p>\n
In 1987, after working on several games that were only moderate successes, Japanese game designer Hironobu Sakaguchi proposed a game that would be his last attempt to make a hit. Aptly titled Final Fantasy, Sakaguchi\u2019s game achieved critical acclaim and commercial success, launching a franchise that has spanned 40 years and 16 core titles \u2013 as well as countless spin-offs<\/a>, remakes<\/a> and film adaptations. Sakaguchi himself directed one of the latter: the 2001 photorealist animation Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.<\/p>\n Despite the fantasy its title and source material imply, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is really a military science-fiction film. Later cited as a major influence on the Mass Effect games, The Spirits Within may appeal more to fans of that franchise than to those of Final Fantasy. At times, it feels like a YouTube compilation of cutscenes from a game you can\u2019t afford.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/543f0040f9277e5370ad42f2157ba31175448e9f\/265_0_1557_1246\/master\/1557.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=6f95db6a42e366239f06f1ff34c79925\" "\\"Final")
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