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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’s game achieved critical acclaim and commercial success, launching a franchise that has spanned 40 years and 16 core titles – as well as countless spin-offs, remakes and film adaptations. Sakaguchi himself directed one of the latter: the 2001 photorealist animation Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.
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’t afford.
On a post-apocalyptic Earth, Dr Aki Ross (Ming-Na Wen) searches for a way to end a war between humans and Phantoms, mysterious beings that are believed to be alien invaders. Aki’s allies include her mentor Dr Sid (Donald Sutherland) – a nod to the recurring “Cid” in the games – as well as the Deep Eyes, an elite military unit led by Captain Gray Edwards (Alec Baldwin), who is Aki’s old flame. They must find eight life forms carrying “spirits” that, once joined together, can end the conflict. Meanwhile, grieving the loss of his family to these alien entities, General Hein (James Wood) wants to eliminate the Phantoms by more violent means, even at the planet’s expense.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within puts a fantastical spin on the Gaia hypothesis, which posits that the Earth is one giant organism; in the film, all lifeforms carry spirits and, when they die, their spirits return to Gaia, where new life bursts forth. It echoes the environmentalism of Final Fantasy VII, the franchise’s most popular entry, though the philosophy of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is sometimes obscured by dense sci-fi expositions.
After being infected by a Phantom, Aki begins to dream of a distant planet consumed by war. These dream sequences highlight the limitations of the film’s then-revolutionary CGI with Aki framed against barren landscapes and surrounded by identical, unsettling alien models. The CGI was astonishing in 2001, photorealistic to the point that Aki had 60,000 individually rendered hair strands. But where extreme closeups of detailed irises and wrinkles fail to convey lifelikeness, the voice performances from the star-studded cast step in to save the illusion. Donald Sutherland lends calm brilliance to Dr Sid while Steve Buscemi steals the show as the comic relief, Officer Neil Young. Ming-Na Wen, with composure and vulnerability, grounds Aki as determined and empathetic.
In 2001, Maxim magazine included Aki as the first (and still only) nonexistent person on its annual 100 sexiest women list, putting her in a skimpy purple bikini on the cover. Ambitiously conceived by Sakaguchi and even bearing his late mother’s name, Aki was intended to become a digital actor, who could appear across multiple projects. However, The Spirits Within was a box office failure due to its enormous budget and Sakaguchi’s dreams for Aki became a fantasy laid to rest. Recently, the rise of AI has rekindled similar ambitions, with the controversial “Tilly Norwood” now being touted as the first AI actor.
Unlike the 1987 game that made Sakaguchi a legend in the game industry, The Spirits Within was his first and last film as a director. Over time, advances in animation technology have made Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within a relic of the digital aether. But even so, Sakaguchi’s passion and the animation team’s effort still shine through every frame. Twenty-five years on, it’s worth revisiting.
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Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is available to stream on Netflix in Australia and the UK, and on Roku in the US and UK. Find more recommendations of what to stream in Australia here
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