It’s been almost four years since I first saw Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and wrote my review for Amazon.com. After seeing the novel complete version on Blu-Ray, I view I’d approach encourage and offer my thoughts only to contemplate that my modern review was transferred over from the DVD edition. That review was written at a different time, before the DVD was even released in the States. I plan about going benefit and revising it, but that’d be changing the past. What I will add are my thoughts on the original Blu-Ray edition.
Buy,Download, Or Stream Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete! Click Here
Firstly, if you’re looking at the Blu-Ray edition, wondering if it’s a superb seize, it definitely is. It’s a mighty sterling version to the current, both in instruct and clarity. Obviously, with the Blu-Ray the describe quality and sound quality have been considerably increased. There’s a few microscopic nitpicks, such as a smart, aliasing predicament that pops up every now and then (The Resident Evil: Degeneration Blu-Ray had a similar scrape) and it can be distracting. But the details are so remarkable clearer now that it looks like a current movie.
Additionally, recent notify has been added to this release. A lot of times, “director’s cuts” can be detrimental to the film and the pacing, but in the case of Advent Children, I appreciated the novel screech. I hold there’s an additional 26 minutes added and these parts delve into the Geostigma and the origins of some of the characters as well as an extended fight between Cloud and Sephiroth. Overall, I assume the additions are useful and wait on get the movie more of a movie and less an extended chop scene. It’s objective too abominable that it didn’t approach with a playable demo of Final Fantasy XIII like it did in Japan…
Buy,Download, Or Stream Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete! Click Here
On to my recent review as it was serve in 2005:
Cloud, Tifa, Sephiroth, Marlene, Barret, Vincent. The names could go on. This series reigns in many Final Fantasy fans’ minds as being the best. Though in unusual years a lot of people roll their eyes and say its over-rated (and it might be), for me, and for a lot of fans, Final Fantasy was a turning point in the genre not only in terms of graphics and presentation but also in anecdote. I have been playing video games and RPGs since the very first NES. Final Fantasy VII was the first game that made me close and go, wait when did a video game become something more than impartial pushing buttons?
Now we have the official sequel, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Advent Children is basically a cherish brand written for the fans of VII. Those who did not invest 40, 50, 60+ hours into the game will probably have no interest in it. But those who were alarmed when (should I even say spoiler? ) Sephiroth murders Aeris, who have a deep connection to the characters, and over the 40-60+ hours grew so attached to them that to this day they smooth method fan art or study for that elusive draw to glean Aeris wait on in game(it doesn’t exist, by the arrangement), this movie will mean something.
AC is a fair CG movie taking site two years after the events of FFVII. While the ending of VII was climactic and exhilarating, providing a resolution of sorts to the people of Midgar, it did not provide a resolution, glad or not, for Cloud. In fact, it left him empty and pain as we fetch in the beginning of Advent Children. What AC does is execute Cloud’s yarn. Another reviewer here made a comment that he liked FFVII’s ending. I do too, don’t find me wicked. But the one thing it didn’t do was kill Cloud’s legend. For the length of the game, you have a deeply personal anecdote surrounded by the world tale and while the world got its ending, the people enthusiastic did no, uncomfortable or not. As I said, AC ends Cloud’s anecdote with a bang. And it is damn well worth the wait.
I don’t believe it would be lawful of me to talk about what happens in AC. Piece of the fun and surprise is to inspect how well it fits together, brings memories of the video game and works to produce an emotional core. I will withhold the review as spoiler free as possible because I know I’m tired of reading reviews where people stick in something that can demolish the whole movie.
For those who didn’t play or behold FFVII, this movie will not have noteworthy resonance since it’s basically for the fans, both die-hard and casual. Those who loved FFVII will more than likely appreciate this movie. AC is basically an action movie and the action is spectacular although the monotonous motion was aged (while effectively) a dinky distinguished. The sword play, the battles and the action is all directed with style oozing everywhere. The characters are all engrossing exceedingly well and the animators did a gigantic job in making PS1 characters into spectacular CG. The musical glean varies for me from being ample to impartial okay. By far, the best moments are ones I can’t talk about aurally for panic of spoiling surprises. Needless to say, the music is at its greatest when it brings in hints of FFVII, the video game.
There are a lot of connections to both VII and the Final Fantasy series as a whole. From moogle dolls to The Turks, the game oozes both FFVII and FF; although I was disappointed in not seeing any chocobos, there are a few moments that made up for it. One in particular revolves around the games Kill Battle Theme. Hilarious, laugh out loud scene. There are some minor annoyances. A couple of the scenes felt episodic and not connected. Some scenes were directed very well and lead into each other or intercut between each other. But there are a couple scenes that stand out because they didn’t feel attached to what was going on. In fact, it felt as if they were slash scenes from a video game. Did this detract from the movie? Not in the least, but its there nonetheless.
What surprised me the most with this movie is that it wasn’t done to milk the saga. I mean, of course its there to fabricate money, and FFVII is a large contrivance to do it because of fans’ admire for it. Anything in the business world is made around making money. But what I mean exactly is best represented in FFX-2. I am one who did not secure FFX-2 at all piquant. In fact it is the only FF game I gave up on. It felt like it was a method of milking FFX for a limited more money while the wait for FFXII kept getting longer and longer. However, AC is so intrinsically related to VII that it has a heart and emotion that I haven’t seen in many movies released this year. I felt chills from the very opening moments as the narrator explained some of the events from VII and we peer a flashback of Sephiroth standing in front of flames. And that was unprejudiced the inaugurate of the thrills; there are scenes both emotional and thrilling to be found throughout the 1 hour 40 minutes of the film. And what gay me above all else was that Cloud’s account finally received a perfect resolution.
I consider most fans have been hoping and wishing that Aeris would return and I consider the creators give a grand respond to this in this movie. I won’t spoil the ending, I won’t convey you who does and doesn’t return. But I will relate you the resolution is damn well awesome and probably the most satisfying ending to what is by far many people’s well-liked (if clichéd) choice for the Final Fantasy series. I do need to perform a plea and I apologize for it, but if you downloaded this movie (like a definite reviewer did *cough*) please assist it when it comes out here in the States and prefer it. We need to point to encourage to Square-Enix that this is the kind of sequel we want to recognize. They spent a long time and a lot of money making a movie that is mumble to DVD here in the states. We need to return the favor and relieve it.
Square-Enix, my hats off to you for handling this with flair, tenderness and sympathy for the characters.
About the Film:
I followed Advent Children closely from the first time it was announced some time in 2004. I am a die-hard Final Fantasy fan, and although I would have preferred the sequel to one of the greatest games of all time (Final Fantasy VII) to be, well, a game, I was pleased to peep the myth continued in a medium with slightly more widespread appeal. Although the writers made an worry to allow this movie to stand on its maintain, people who have played the game (and remember the region and characters) will certainly secure considerably more out of it.
About This Release:
In production since about 2006, this version of the film, subtitled “Complete” is the Japanese equivalent of a director’s slash. In addition to a unusual high-definition transfer of the film several scenes have been extended or reworked and recent scenes have been added to further round out the myth and provide more visual flash. It may not seem like grand while watching it, but in total the film has been extended by fully a third taking it from 90 minutes to 2 hours running time.
Visuals:
Although respectable, I have to say I was expecting more from the High-Definition release of this movie. My first misgiving is with the inconsistent visual quality. The newly added scenes are generally presented with the kind of tantalizing visual detail that HD enthsiasts have near to inquire of. The older scenes, while clearly providing more detail than the DVD release, are missing the clarity that just HD material is proper of, often appearing fuzzy or out of focus. It is not generally noticeable, but it does become an positive annoyance in a couple of scenes. Arguably this could have been done on purpose, adding a “fuzzy” filter for ambiance, but I doubt they would have intentionally added upscaling artifacts which are exhibit in this film. The most primary instance I can assume is during Tifa’s scenes, particularly in the church; the aliasing on her hair is more reminiscent of a DVD being upscaled to 1080p than of a original render done in 1080p.
Little touches have been added to further “sell” the quasi-realism that this film is striving to conclude. During battles characters’ faces procure dirty, during one scene flecks of dust in the air created miniature shimmers.
Story:
While the same legend is being told, the added/extended scenes and to an extent the visual enhancements do add a different slant on the area of Advent Children. While the main points of the record remain unchanged, the location is made clearer and determined elements which seemed random or unimportant assume on fresh meaning.
[Spoiler alert!]
For example, during a scene a girl carrying a stuffed moogle comes up to Denzel and holds out her hand for him to follow. In the new DVD release, this is really all we sight of her, but in the “Complete” release we catch to peer an earlier scene that reveals she is really trying to invent an apology to Denzel for being extreme before.
Denzel plays a remarkable more prominent role in this version. It was never sure to me what it was that Cloud was so busy doing before I saw this release, but in this version it is revealed that he was out looking for a cure to the Geostigma so he could relieve Denzel.
In the DVD release, the Geostigma seemed like puny more than a charcoal colored rash that slowly killed people. In this version it is distinguished more imperfect, causing sores that ooze sticky dark sludge and induces violent convulsions and vomiting of the same gloomy sludge.
[End spoilers]
I’ll leave the spoilers at that, but I’ve only revealed a couple of the dozen or so state augmentations that this version of the film brings to the table. Most of them gave me that “Ooooh that’s what they meant. I find it now.” feeling. Maybe I’m objective unimaginative, but a lot of these things weren’t positive to me in the film’s modern presentation.
Sound:
This film really benefits from the expanded HD audio - more so if you have the equipment to properly decode the newer HD audio formats, but even when down sampled to Dolby Digital, the sound is richer and has great fewer compression artifacts. Some of the music has been remixed slightly and it seems like I heard one or two additional compositions. Many of the songs were written to lock in with distinct scenes, and when the scenes were extended, so was the music. I was very impressed with how seamless it all seemed.
Voice acting is one of those things, like pizza toppings, that nobody seems to be able to agree on. I have never been terribly picky about assert acting, but since everyone is different I’ll attempt to provide some frame of reference for my plan. My belief of abominable insist acting is the Devil May Wail anime, and my conception of marvelous verbalize acting is Cowboy Bebop. I consider the sing acting is friendly in Advent Children. I was particularly blissful to hear the voices chosen for the ancillary characters like Barret, Cait Sith, Red XIII, Yufie, Vincent and Cid. But the actors chosen for main characters Cloud, and Tifa were very agreeable matches for what I imagined the characters from the game would sound.
Extras:
This review is of the Japanese release, and frankly I did not really care enough about the extras to check them out. I watched them once when the DVD release came out and can’t be bothered to do it again. This does advance with an additional exciting “episode” about Denzel. For those of you who want to know absolutely everything there is to know about how a movie was made, you will not be disappointed with the depth.
For me the genuine attraction in the extras was the inclusion of the Final Fantasy XIII playable demo. Since the PS3 is area free, the Japanese release is very import ample. (If you don’t mind that it is all in Japanese) The U.S. release mentions a Final Fantasy XIII “preview”. I don’t know if that means that it will be a demo, or an extended trailer. It would be a shame if it was the latter.
Final Thoughts:
I wish all “director’s reduce” releases could enhance the current presentation as well as Advent Children Complete does. The extra footage catapulted this already mountainous movie firmly into the category of awesome. If you didn’t like the first release because you unbiased didn’t “net it” then this release may be fair what you need to do the pieces together as many of the more vague areas of the situation are clarified. If you loved the first one, then you’ll appreciate this one even more. About the only thing it is missing is the ability to peruse the recent release version of the film. Personally that isn’t an deny for me but it would have been a nice addition.
Although this review is for the Japanese release, I doubt grand will change in the final U.S. version. My reasoning is that the the DVD release was nearly identical for the two territories, and there are only two months between Blu-ray releases.
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