http://us.imdb.com/Title?0173840
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0284110

Originally a very entertaining series of video games. Now a movie, 100 percent CG.

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Someone feel free to post a review.

''Excellent CG animation, although not quite as good as the hype. The plot was a little on the predictable side "Find the last 3 of 8 whatsits to defeat the evil foozles that are making most of the planet uninhabitable while avoiding the machinations of the less enlightened", with most to all of the usual cliche scenes, but with some aspects that show a marked Japanese influence (particularly the ending). I also note that they still use QwertyKeyboards and that their vehicles use ManualTransmissions and don't have AntiLockBrakes. -- Someone''

They claim that they had things looking more realistic rendering-wise, but toned back the rendering realism. This has nothing to do with the animation realism though. Yes, it had numerous cliched story elements, but they work anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and how they developed Aki. As to the manual transmissions, I thought that was weird. Then I thought, "well, it is a military vehicle, and military vehicles seem to do that sort of thing in real life."

''Manual transmissions are superior for many applications...''
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The facial expressions were worth the price of admission. There will eventually be a CG movie with a good storyline, but there will never again be a first ground-breaking CG movie like this one.
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"Tracking Assets in the Production of
'Final Fantasy : The Spirits Within'"
(game developers conference 2002)
http://www.lava.net/~shiro/Private/essay/gdc2002.html

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