3 ms·

And despite all that, by the time it was released, it was really not very impressive graphically, which was all it had going for it since it was a terrible film

And despite all that, by the time it was released, it was really not very impressive graphically, which was all it had going for it since it was a terrible film.

Pulcinella 5y ago
Yeah the faces were alright for the time, but everything else wasn’t great. The environments in particular were pretty bad. The opening scenes of the movie have the characters flying through a burnt out wasteland and it really, effectively looks like a 16x16 texture has been draped over several square kilometers of mountains. Texture filtered, so no giant chunky pixels, but it still looked awful. Absolutely no detail. And this was one of the first things you saw in the movie! Also it was just dreadfully boring, which is basically the worst thing a piece of entertainment can be, even worse than the visuals.
- latortuga 5y ago
  Amen! As a FF fan in the 90s, I was so incredibly hyped about this movie. I remember it major getting press in gaming magazines and going to it with my cousin. I also fondly remember it as the only movie I've ever walked out of.
  - barbecue_sauce 5y ago
    My friends and I were big Final Fantasy fans in the 90s but really had no interest in this film when it came out because it was clear that despite being directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, it didn't really tie-in to any of the FF games. Sure, all of the mainline Final Fantasy games are stand-alone stories, but when you base a movie on an existing property, that doesn't really fly.
- guenthert 5y ago
  At the time of release, they were quite proud of the animation of hair I remember. I thought actually the film was alright, if you're into such spiritual things. But I can see, that it didn't appeal to the video gaming crowd.
  - Pulcinella 5y ago
    I could see what they were going for. A lot of the pieces of good or functional ideas and hooks are there: the central mystery of why there are all these ghostly creatures everywhere, trying to solve this mystery before it’s too late, the uneasy alliance between the scientists and the military where both are trying to solve the problem both have different ideas about how to do it but both need resources from the other, trying to convenience other of things you know are true but are difficult to understand or sound crazy, trying to have functional and healthy relationships in a crumbling world, etc. There is a lot there that could work and a lot of media has similar themes and plot points, it’s just the film doesn’t do a very good job of it. It’s not even really worth a watch to see “it’s so bad it’s good” or “let’s see and laugh at Square’s hundred million dollar mistake” because as I said it’s just kind of mediocre and boring.

And despite all that, by the time it was released, it was really not very impressive graphically, which was all it had going for it since it was a terrible film.

Pulcinella 5y ago

Yeah the faces were alright for the time, but everything else wasn’t great. The environments in particular were pretty bad. The opening scenes of the movie have the characters flying through a burnt out wasteland and it really, effectively looks like a 16x16 texture has been draped over several square kilometers of mountains. Texture filtered, so no giant chunky pixels, but it still looked awful. Absolutely no detail. And this was one of the first things you saw in the movie! Also it was just dreadfully boring, which is basically the worst thing a piece of entertainment can be, even worse than the visuals.

latortuga 5y ago
Amen! As a FF fan in the 90s, I was so incredibly hyped about this movie. I remember it major getting press in gaming magazines and going to it with my cousin. I also fondly remember it as the only movie I've ever walked out of.
- barbecue_sauce 5y ago
  My friends and I were big Final Fantasy fans in the 90s but really had no interest in this film when it came out because it was clear that despite being directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, it didn't really tie-in to any of the FF games. Sure, all of the mainline Final Fantasy games are stand-alone stories, but when you base a movie on an existing property, that doesn't really fly.
guenthert 5y ago
At the time of release, they were quite proud of the animation of hair I remember. I thought actually the film was alright, if you're into such spiritual things. But I can see, that it didn't appeal to the video gaming crowd.
- Pulcinella 5y ago
  I could see what they were going for. A lot of the pieces of good or functional ideas and hooks are there: the central mystery of why there are all these ghostly creatures everywhere, trying to solve this mystery before it’s too late, the uneasy alliance between the scientists and the military where both are trying to solve the problem both have different ideas about how to do it but both need resources from the other, trying to convenience other of things you know are true but are difficult to understand or sound crazy, trying to have functional and healthy relationships in a crumbling world, etc. There is a lot there that could work and a lot of media has similar themes and plot points, it’s just the film doesn’t do a very good job of it. It’s not even really worth a watch to see “it’s so bad it’s good” or “let’s see and laugh at Square’s hundred million dollar mistake” because as I said it’s just kind of mediocre and boring.