Final Fantasy comes out this Wednesday (7/11/2001)! I can't wait! This looks like a milestone in CG animation. If you haven't seen the trailers already check them out at the Final Fantasy website. Information from Columbia Tristar:
The Story
Set on Earth in the year 2065, destruction and confusion surround us. Cities are deserted, the population is decimated, and the precious few humans who remain must find a way to survive. An invasion threatens to extinguish the remains of mankind and quite possibly every living creature on the planet. The fate of all life on Earth relies on one woman's determination. But time is running out.
There is only one hope - Aki Ross, with the guidance of her mentor, Dr. Sid, and the aid of the Deep Eyes squadron, is searching the organic wave, the only hope for counteracting the invasion without destroying the planet.
Terminally infected by an alien, Aki holds the key to discovering the secret to defeating the alien predators. But the militant opposition of General Hein, who plots to unleash a massive space cannon that will annihilate the aliens and possibly the Earth, jeopardizes her quest.
In this world, we face death as we part with our loved ones. We begin to question what "life" and "love" is, and what is the philosophical definition of the "heart." After all in this world, science has analyzed life and death, expressing life as a form of energy.
As the clock ticks down, Aki searches within her dreams to find an answer to the alien mystery, while scouring the Earth to collect the eight spirit waves she believes will save the planet.
Beyond the riveting battle scenes, Final Fantasy will take you on a journey of personal discovery into both the real and fantasy worlds, drawing you deep into its characterizations and themes: love, friendship, dreams, adventure, life and death.
Fighting both the enemy within and the scheming General Hein, who would destroy the Earth in order to save it, Aki valiantly pursues her Final Fantasy.
The Setting
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within follows a trend of a more sci-fi setting started by Final Fantasy VII and VIII. The movie appears more like the latter in that the characters tend to be more realistic and the central planet found in the movie is more like Earth. The reason for this approach is because the creators want the audience to feel more attached emotionally to the characters, and one way to achieve this is by creating characters that people can relate to. In this case, it is a human in which all the features contemplate that of a real human being and that leaves little room for error. There are some similarities to past Final Fantasy titles, but these are few and not readily evident. For one, it seems that there will be a party of rag-tag team members that fight together to stop an unthinkable evil... sound familiar? Apparently, aliens are the ones responsible for the destruction of Earth and could very well be the antagonists of this story. However, rather than just scripting a mediocre and trite plot, the creators have created something more complex and meaningful, so we'll have to wait and see for ourselves when the movie hits theatres.