Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within reappraised as a pioneering photoreal CGI film

Collider says 2001’s Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within deserves renewed recognition as a groundbreaking, if commercially unsuccessful, attempt to produce a feature-length film of photorealistic CGI directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi.

The film aimed to emulate live-action rather than stylized animation, making it an early stepping stone toward later CGI-heavy movies such as Avatar, and it pursued photorealism in ways distinct from films like Toy Story or The Polar Express. It cost $137 million, earned $85 million worldwide, and holds a 44 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the protagonist Aki Ross, voiced by Ming-Na Wen, received particular attention in the development process.

Set in 2065, the story follows Aki Ross as she seeks eight distinct spirits to wipe out alien "Phantoms" that kill on contact; supporting voices include Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Peri Gilpin and James Woods. Sony distributed the film and has been "somewhat ashamed" of it, and as of right now it is available to watch for free on The Roku Channel. The film's release date is July 11, 2001, its runtime 106 minutes, and writers listed are Al Reinert, Jeff Vintar and Hironobu Sakaguchi.

Key Topics

Culture, Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Photorealistic Cgi, Aki Ross, Ming-na Wen