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Game Debate to the Death!<br>Best Final Fantasy Movie? photo

In the last debate, I asked everyone to pick the best racing game they've ever played, and hundreds of votes were cast all over the spectrum of speed games. As a series, Burnout games in general probably got the most votes overall, but when it came down to which single games received the most praise, here's the photo finish racing results:

  • Best Racing Game:
  • 1st: Mario Kart 64 (15 votes)
  • 2nd: Burnout 3 (11 votes)
  • 3rd: Forza 2 (7 votes)
  • 4th (Tie): F-Zero GX & Gran Turismo 2 (6 votes)
Last week I also asked for new game debate topics that you wanted to see Dtoid debate over in the near future. I received several great suggestions that I had never thought of yet, and many of which you'll see in the next few debates, so feel free to keep on casting new topic suggestions in the comments.

For this week though, I wanted to hit up an obvious versus battle that had slipped my mind until now. We've had plenty of Final Fantasy game debates in the past, but never a Final Fantasy movie debate. Both films stir up a lot of mixed emotions in different fans for different reasons, so let's hear your thoughts on both of them. Which Final Fantasy movie did you enjoy more, and why? Go rewatch Advent Children and Spirits Within if you must, cast your votes and reasons, get some film friends to share their opinions as well, and check back next week for the winner.


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106 comments | showing # 51 to 100

spiffsneed's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 01:21
spiffsneed
I remember buying my ticket a day early for the first showing of Spirits Within. While I didn't have my mind blown as much as I'd expected, I at least walked out thinking I'd seen a good movie.

I fell asleep during Advent Children.

Spirits Within all the way.
Kyle's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 01:23
Kyle
One was fan service and the other wasn't really a Final Fantasy movie. The term "best" doesn't really seem appropriate here. Maybe "better" would be more suited.
Elrando's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 01:28
Elrando
Given that none of the Final Fantasy games are related to one another, I fail to see how anyone can make the arguement that SW "wasn't Final Fantasy".
WaveMaster's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 01:33
WaveMaster
Advent Children yo. I'd watch it over and over again.
Paustinj's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 01:35
Paustinj
Easiest Debate Ever

Advent Children
pendelton21's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 01:51
pendelton21
Advent Children.

Spirits Within is a sci-fi movie that they thought would sell more tickets if it was called "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within". That's bullshit.
Baron Calico's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 02:04
Baron Calico
Legend of the Crystals.
Mustin's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 02:13
Mustin
Both blew IMO.

Shoulda made a movie with FFIX cut scene CGI with the FFIV story.

Square would be in a whole different world. Coulda appealed across the board as a "fantasy" movie (not space shit) with knights and crystals and castles and a arranged soundtrack by me.

But oh well.
braulio09's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 02:33
braulio09
Advent Children, of course
manasteel88's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 03:00
manasteel88
this is hard because while I was expecting more out of Advent Children, Spirits Within didn't do much either. Spirits Within did attempt to bring a major push to improving animation in film though so you've got to give it that.

Legend of the Crystals. then........

Advent Children. Just because of enjoyment.
katz's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 03:18
katz
Spirits Within was a better movie experience. Perhaps not being connected to the FF franchise is all that's good about it. I didn't like Advent Children at all. Just another mindless anime.
Artimecion's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 03:36
Artimecion
I'm not sure on this one! I did love Spirits Within and I think it was woefully underrated, but Advent Children was a bit of mindless fun.
I guess in terms of best movie, Spirits Within gets my vote as it was actually a proper movie where Advent Children was more of a fan-pleaser.
Skribble's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 03:53
Skribble
"FF - Spirits Within" had Steve Buscemi, James Woods AND Donald Sutherland in it.

Case fucking closed.
The Johnggernaut's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 04:22
The Johnggernaut
No amount of awesome voice acting could save TSW. AC wins in an epic obvious vote.
Wubbytoes's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 04:30
Wubbytoes
Spirits Within. I've never liked FFVII or any of it's spinoffs.
Tactics's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 04:54
Tactics
awaiting the blu-ray version of Advent Children to view in HD awesomeness.
Joe 100517's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 06:20
Joe 100517
I love Advent Children, it's one of my most favorite movies. It did a wonderful job of redesigning the world and characters of the original game in amazing new graphics. I felt the characters looked, sounded, acted, etc. exactly as they should have and nothing seemed out of place. It was a little light on story, but I was willing to accept that since a movie is a lot shorter than a game and I love over-the-top anime-style fight scenes.

Spirits Within isn't horrible however. I hated it when I saw it in theaters, but when I watched it again a couple of years ago, knowing that it wasn't going to be an awesome Final Fantasy-style movie, I was surprised how FF-like the story was and I actually enjoyed it.
MisterMingo's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 06:23
MisterMingo
I don't know, this is a hard o- Advent Children. Hands down. It's a more authentic Final Fantasy experience, even if it is kind of silly and pointless.

Though Spirits Within did have Steve Buscemi and James Woods in it...

And one time the Today Show had a segment on underage looking girls in CG pornography, and Matt Lauer used the "sex" scene from Spirits Within between Aki and Grey as an example, stating she was "obviously underaged", even though she's at least in her 20s. Someone didn't do their research...
Cryoplasma's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 06:31
Cryoplasma
lol.. so many FFVII haters. Worst post-SNES Final Fantasy? Please. People complain about FFVII fan boys but they just jump on the "hate anything lots of people enjoy" bandwagon so they're just as bad, if not worse.

I enjoy both movies. I've had TSW on DvD since it was released onto DvD and I purchased Advent Children as soon as it was released. I'm partial to Advent Children simply because I love FFVII so much, but I think both have strong points and I enjoy both movies.

AC was Square ringing more money from the FFVII series? No, no it wasnt. It was Square giving people more of what they want--Final Fantasy VII. You haters are a bunch of morons. Do you guys jack off to being ignorant?
Deckard's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 06:33
Deckard
Best Final Fantasy Movie? Seriously? Why don't we have the question be " Would you rather have your legs gnawed off by sharks or take a chainsaw to the groin?" Both of these movies are absolute garbage. I really tried to convince myself that "Spirits Within" was watchable. I really did. But both of these abominations make "The Wizard" look like "Rain Man."
AgentMOO's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 06:54
AgentMOO
Advent Children.

I haven't seen it, but it can't be worse than spirits within.
Elrando's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 07:00
Elrando
"You haters are a bunch of morons. Do you guys jack off to being ignorant?"

No, I used to like FF7, but then I got older and realised that what I used to think was "awesome storytelling" was actually pretty damn average.

Why can't you handle the fact that not everyone likes the same things you do?
Static Jak's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 07:15
Static Jak
Advent Children.
SW bored the hell out of me.
Shinu's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 07:21
Shinu
Both movies have their pros and their cons. But I thinks someone needs to know his Final Fantasies to appreciate some of, especially in Spirits Within.

I vote for Advent Children, because it's a great memory of FFVII, and an easy watch. It's kind of an anime in 3D CG.
nilcam's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 07:32
nilcam
Let's see... Spirits Within starred space marines and their jeep vehicle, ripped right out of Aliens; nearly bankrupted Square; and bored the hell out of me.

Advent Children was pretty entertaining.

Easy choice: Advent Children.
BlackSheep's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 07:40
BlackSheep
spirits within, was a tech demo with final fantasy slapped on to it. the crystals were basically all already gathered, and they just threw you into the movie. IMO it could have been a good mini-series of like 10 episodes, gathering crystals and giving some back story to the characters. as a movie, disappointing.

advent children ftw.
peeetah's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 07:53
peeetah
Spirits within, it had Steve Buscemi.
ShawnKelfonne's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 08:02
ShawnKelfonne
I'm going to say Spirits Within was the better movie overall, only on the point that if you had never seen or played anything related to Final Fantasy before, you could still sit down and watch it as a comprehensive movie.

Advent Children was basically an hour and a half of complete fan service.

To put it in perspective, when Spirits Within finally came out on DVD, my parents were able to watch it and decide that it was somewhat enjoyable. I do not think they would have the faintest clue of what's going on in Advent Children.
Murumasa123's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 08:21
Murumasa123
Advent children! Spirits wasn't even anything like FF!
Tascar's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 08:24
Tascar
The Spirits Within gets my vote for most of the reasons already posted above. I was entertained by it and I thought it was an interesting but heavily flawed first (and last) feature film from Square Pictures.

Advent Children on the other hand, is little more than the anime equivalent of the unnecessary direct-to-video Disney sequel. If Square wanted to actually do something for the fans, they would have taken the money and just used it to make a remake of FF7, which is what the fans really want.
Diomeneus's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 08:24
Diomeneus
there is no debate here. The spirits within was a huge letdown.

Advent children FTW
killias2's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 08:30
killias2
Geez, this is like that old internet joke: "Having an argument on the internet is like participating in the special olympics. Win or lose, you're still retarded."

Regardless of which movie wins, they're both retarded. They both make me want to stab myself in the face with a rusty screwdriver.

This coming from a guy who has played every main series FF game and beaten 1, 3 (Japanese one, not the SNES one), 4, 6, 7, 10, and Tactics. I've come close to beating 5, 8, 9, and 12 too, but just got lazy towards the end. I also enjoy anime, science fiction, etc. None of this matters. Both movies suck!
Torzelan's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 08:30
Torzelan
Advent Children. Watched that movie so many times, on TV, PC, iPod and MP4-watch. Just love the badass fighting scenes and CG in general. Also fanboy.

When I first watched Spirits Within, I hated it. Didn't get it at all and nothing "stuck" in my head so couldn't even remember what I watched. However several years later I rewatched it, and for some reason - perhaps that I went into it with the mindset of seeing it for what it was and yeah, kind of ignoring the Final Fantasy part in the title - I thought it was really cool that time around. So while not near AC, it's ok in my book.
Professor Pew's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 08:41
Professor Pew
SW. Because it's the only movie and because it's the only of the two that didn't:

a) suck as an attempt at a movie
b) throw random scenes at you so you got bored to death
c) turn Sephiroth into a metrosexual
d) give you an extended cutscene on dvd and called it a movie

Although I love FF7, AC just felt pointless and added NOTHING. Both things are better than that god-awful Legend of the Crystals anime though.
Takeshi's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 09:20
Takeshi
My vote goes to the opening sequence from Final Fantasy X.
What that didn't count? Oh well I like 'em both. Only the music of AC was slightly better. So that one gets my vote.
brimtastic's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 09:27
brimtastic
Er... Advent Children? Do I win?
ghets's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 09:28
ghets
Im going with Spirits Within. Only because i think if i had to watch either of them multiple times, i would be more likely to stay awake watching Spirits Within.

The only good thing about Advent Children are the couple of fight scenes. Other than that i was bored to death. And everything is gray!
Brian Keljore's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 09:53
Brian Keljore
This question is like having to choose between contracting Ebola or swimming in an active volcano. But I am going with the lesser of two evils and saying Spirits Within.
Hitogoroshi's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 09:59
Hitogoroshi
Everyting about spirits within was bad so I guess I'll go with advent children.
ajaxender's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 10:09
ajaxender
Advent Children. Because it makes all my favorite characters look so great, and the fights are epic. Plot? Who needs plot? Tbh, i think square just created a plot for a 40 hour game, and tried to stuff in a 1.5 hour movie. If it had been a game, i think the general plot could have worked.

Ive never seen Spirits Within, and dont intend to.

Although, like Takeshi, i really want to vote for movies from the games. From the top of my head it would probably the battle between the Gardens in FF8, although most of the movies from IX and X were pretty sweet.
Anus Mcphanus's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 10:13
Anus Mcphanus
Advent Children

It may have added nothing but bullshit to the FF7 story, lacked any colours other than grey and been an extended cut scene of fan service but it looked good and is entertaining which Spirits within is not.
nats's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 10:25
nats
Both were beautiful, but, in my opinion, terrible. But if I had to watch one now, it'd be Spirits Within.
Taurshaz's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 10:45
Taurshaz
They both looked good , but if I'd have to pick a favorite it would be Advent Children.
SyntaxError's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 11:02
SyntaxError
Well, the comments surprised me. I thought it would be a landslide for AC.

Anyways, it just goes to show how people change. As one guy put it, what he once thought was awesome storytelling turned out to be average (same goes for me with FFVIII, I was like, 12 then). I could make a joke about this... But I won't.

As for my vote, SW as a movie, AC to satisfy my fanboy residing in the dark side of my psyche.
The White Light's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 11:21
The White Light
They were both pretty bad, in different ways. I vote neither.
nelsondelmonte's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 11:31
nelsondelmonte
My vote goes to Spirits Within for the same reasons quite a few people have already stated here. SW was a good movie, and Advent Children was fan service. As someone who's never played or has any intention of playing FFVII the movie made no goddamned sense. I'll grant you that the fight scenes were impressive but that's about as far as I'll go.
JynxShot's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 13:39
JynxShot
Advent Children by far. The plot may have been a little awkward, but DAMN those actions scenes were awesome. MAkes me wish Pixar or Dreamworks would make their CG movies more action-heavy.

The Spirits Within was a great flick, it just WASN'T FINAL FANTASY. Seriously, just remove that name from the title and we have a killer sci-fi film.
B5512's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 13:46
B5512
@Dennen

Sorry, i was a bit subtle--what i meant was, i choose Advent Children over SW due in no small part to the presence of Baldwin in the latter. I harbor an unhealthy dislike for him that I unfortunately can not justify :-P
Ninjajuice's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 17:18
Ninjajuice
The FF7 movie was just Fan-wanking bullshit. It's sole purpose was to give fapping material to the fan-boys. Bored the shit out of me, with it's Michael Bay wannabe "fight" scenes. Spirits, on the other hand is Ebert approved, and Ebert knows whats good, unlike FF Fanboys.

Another note, I now love Jynx.
The Combat Wombat's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2008 17:58
The Combat Wombat
I have to go with Spirits. Even though I'm a huge FFVII fan, Advent Children totally ruined the series for me. Not only did it just come across as total fan service it tried to force it's own continuity down my throat. My interpretation of the end of FFVII was vital to my understanding and enjoyment of the game, and AC completely went the opposite direction. At least SW was able to stand on it's own imperfect merit and not ruin what it piggybacked on.

That being said, Spirits Within did depart from the traditional FF Swords, Summons, and Stereotypes, but I would like to see the series reinvent itself a little more. Maybe it should take a look at Spirits for some inspiration. I'm looking forward to FFXIII Versus more than I am the main game for just that reason. Hey, it's different.
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