Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

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Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

PG-13

2001

1h 46m

Fantasy

Adventure

Sci-Fi

Animation

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

44%

Tomatometer

144 Reviews

48%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Blurring the lines between reality and computer animation, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is the first feature-length motion picture that brings vivid photorealism to computer-generated, human characters. The thrilling, futuristic action-adventure pits the earth and its people against the ultimate enemy - mysterious aliens that steal the energy from all living things on the planet.

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Critics Consensus

The movie raises the bar for computer animated movies, but the story is dull and emotionally removed.

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Dec 24, 2010

2/5

First computer animated movie to "star" actors.

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Lisa Alspector

Chicago Reader

Apr 12, 2010

I never stopped marveling at the thousands of individually delineated pores and hair strands of the heroine, but the thin story covering her acquisition of one wave after another while narrowly escaping death time and again is strictly for player one.

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Todd McCarthy

Variety

Sep 9, 2008

This bigscreen adaptation of the long-popular interactive computer game is visually impressive if not dramatically cool, and is marked by "acting" that is no worse than that found in the majority of sci-fi films.

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Michael D. Reid

Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)

Apr 30, 2024

4/5

A strangely exhilarating and mesmerizing experience as it breaks new ground in the never-ending technological revolution.

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Dan DiNicola

The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY)

Apr 30, 2024

C

The storytelling here is inane, but the first major release to highlight a complete cast of computer-generated characters is a breakthrough of ominous proportions.

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Tony Black

Cultural Conversation

Feb 16, 2021

2/5

A thuddingly joyless experience that feels twice as long, with a leaden pace, an awful script & phoned in performances.

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Linggar A

@RT58737787 3 days ago

A film with an incredibly lavish and grand concept that falls apart completely in execution. It ends up being a boring film to sit through. Boring characters, a mediocre story, and an annoying subplot. Not to mention we see several characters make dumb decisions just to push the plot forward. The interesting concept it set up is never actually explored, instead focusing on cheap drama that often gets irritating. The antagonist in this film is extremely annoying, clearly shown through what he does, which just makes the film drag on longer and puts you to sleep. This film is incredibly boring, with almost every aspect being negative or mediocre, making it not worth watching at all.

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Daniel L

@Hotchopeppa Aug 2, 2026

Ok. Not amazing. Unfortunately it has absolutely nothing to do with the game series and the Final Fantasy universe. It’s just another military sci-fi movie. On its own, it’s entertaining enough but is nothing special. It’s the same story we’ve seen a 100 times before.

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Landon J

@Minxsykitty Jul 25, 2026

Super boring, super predictable and generic. No risks taken, no reward reaped. Some CGI from this era is being rediscovered and praised for it's feel but I personally am not a fan of the style.

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Oaklee D

@ODie63 Jul 1, 2026

As someone who knows nothing about Final Fantasy, The plot of this film was hard to follow.

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Tom J

@RT82748570 Apr 15, 2026

I thought I was going to love it. To say that it disappointed is a complete understatement. Unless you have a thing for computer graphics and are okay with there being no plot and creeping along at a snails pace... This movie is awful, and it bankrupted the makers.

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lala l

@LalaLies Jan 6, 2026

Complete boring script.

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Hironobu Sakaguchi

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Synopsis

Blurring the lines between reality and computer animation, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is the first feature-length motion picture that brings vivid photorealism to computer-generated, human characters. The thrilling, futuristic action-adventure pits the earth and its people against the ultimate enemy - mysterious aliens that steal the energy from all living things on the planet.

Director: Hironobu Sakaguchi
Producer: Hironobu Sakaguchi, Jun Aida, Chris Lee
Screenwriter: Al Reinert, Jeff Vintar, Hironobu Sakaguchi
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Square Company, Chris Lee Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Sci-Fi Violence|Sci-Fi Action)
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 11, 2001, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 9, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $32.1M
Runtime: 1h 46m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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