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[Faile]

https://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3134435&did=1

(HUGE SPOILERS - both article and below)

I especially like this part :

Spoiler: show

The moment of truth close at hand, Cloud grabs his sword, and leaps into the air, flying against the tumult of cinder blocks and girders that crash down upon him. As Cloud's oversized sword cuts through the rocks as if they were air, the first-ever showing of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Special Edition ends with the line "I won't be just a memory," as instantly familiar Sephiroth suddenly makes his debut, descending from amongst the falling debris, like a dark angel to meet him.

[Reid]

Has it been released commercially in Japan yet or only played at the Venice International Film Festival?

I'm pretty anxious to see this, although I refuse to read anything about it, not wanting to be spoiled and all. I think it should be released by fansubbers pretty soon after they have a DVD version.

Is it going to have a theatre run in Japan?

[kupoartist]

As far as I understood, the film isn't actually finished yet. Hence why this is a "Preview Review"... a review of a preview! I'm unsure when the full thing is out... and when it'll get over here. Though as far as I can tell, it'll be straight to video release...

I'm not sure how Advent Children will come out like... I'm not confident of Square's abilities as film makers and I really think they should have kept to what they know best and made the FF7 sequel as a game... the forthcoming Vincent game is a step in the right direction... who knows... ^^

[Urahara Kisuke]

Originally Posted by kupoartist

As far as I understood, the film isn't actually finished yet. Hence why this is a "Preview Review"... a review of a preview! I'm unsure when the full thing is out... and when it'll get over here. Though as far as I can tell, it'll be straight to video release...

I'm not sure how Advent Children will come out like... I'm not confident of Square's abilities as film makers and I really think they should have kept to what they know best and made the FF7 sequel as a game... the forthcoming Vincent game is a step in the right direction... who knows... ^^

yah, considering how the other Final Fantasy movie came out like. This one looks pretty cool though. Hopefully they get it right this time.

[LrdAlucard]

Ive seen a trailer of this movie...dont know if i still have it.. have u ever seen it? its pretty cool ppl...i think they really made it right.. i cant wait so see the whole thing ^^

[Spank-A-Thon]

Originally Posted by kupoartist

I'm not sure how Advent Children will come out like... I'm not confident of Square's abilities as film makers and I really think they should have kept to what they know best and made the FF7 sequel as a game... the forthcoming Vincent game is a step in the right direction... who knows... ^^

The irony is that I play FF games for the story!

The plot of VI and VII were wonderful, the CG of IX and X was breathtaking (although I'll never forget the time I first saw the opening to VII) and for the most part I really develop a relationship with their characters.

So considering this, I would expect a CG movie with characters I'm already familiar with to be superb... but we all know how Spirits Within turned out (although to be fair, I did enjoy it). Somehow they lose something when they try to make a 2 hour, rather than 30 hour, story.

I'm actually quite excited about Advent Children (more so than the Vincent-based sequel) seeing as FFVII is easily my favourite.

Fingers crossed.

- S

[kupoartist]

Originally Posted by Spank-A-Thon

So considering this, I would expect a CG movie with characters I'm already familiar with to be superb... but we all know how Spirits Within turned out (although to be fair, I did enjoy it). Somehow they lose something when they try to make a 2 hour, rather than 30 hour, story.

But the plots of most FF games are surely 2 hours (if even that), just stretched out over a 30 hour period of playtime? Sometimes my mind convultes and implodes when I try to think just how a 30 hour long, occasionally story-led game (and lets be honest here, FF stories are actually pretty trashy, but then I think that all game stories probably are anyway) that basically involves selecting a menu command to achieve your ends, is possibly enjoyable. It is, but I can never put my finger on why. Whatever the reason (the mysterious reason "X") I'm pretty certain that it's lost when you translate the game to movie. I mean, can anyone here name a game to movie conversion that didn't completely suck? And of those few that didn't, how many are actually "good"?

[Spank-A-Thon]

Originally Posted by kupoartist

But the plots of most FF games are surely 2 hours (if even that), just stretched out over a 30 hour period of playtime? Sometimes my mind convultes and implodes when I try to think just how a 30 hour long, occasionally story-led game (and lets be honest here, FF stories are actually pretty trashy, but then I think that all game stories probably are anyway) that basically involves selecting a menu command to achieve your ends, is possibly enjoyable. It is, but I can never put my finger on why. Whatever the reason (the mysterious reason "X") I'm pretty certain that it's lost when you translate the game to movie. I mean, can anyone here name a game to movie conversion that didn't completely suck? And of those few that didn't, how many are actually "good"?

Hmmm, I think you're right on the 2 hour thing Kupo - I never really thought about it that way before. But what I think is the real issue is the characters. By playing these characters for 30 hours or so (albeit very little of that being actual character development) you're bound to form a relationship with them. I was gutted when certain characters died - which I don't think I would have felt had it been a beat-em-up with the same story.

Maybe that's the key? The length of time we spend with these character is lost in Game to Movie translations.

- S

[kupoartist]

Originally Posted by Spank-A-Thon

Maybe that's the key? The length of time we spend with these character is lost in Game to Movie translations.

I suspect yes. I think FF has an advantage other some other games, in that its characters aren't as contrived or run-off the mill (well, until Square themselves continually recycled the characters and made the series rather formulaic) as those in other genres... Take Lara Croft. without the player hours a Tomb Raider player puts into her, she's Indiana Jones with boobs.

Games often don't have good characters because a lot of the character development, (through experience, gameplay wise) is part of the player and not the character itself. Take this away and the character is 2 Dimensional. Long RPGs have advantages in this respect, because losing a character comes with the double blow that a) all your levelling up and training of the character is lost (something you certainly never get with films) and b) your accumlated time just seeing or "being around" the character is far longer than in many other types of game, and to lose them is therefore a bigger loss.

I'd also have to say that if a Game to Movie adaptation actually ended up being good, it would come from the RPG genre because the characters have better development already... if Hollywood actually invested some time in "improving" Game characters, films of games could be great. Instead, we're just treated to stereotypes and underdeveloped ones at that, particuarlly as game to movie adaptations typically come from action games and end up as cliched as they can possibly make them. Perhaps that has it's roots in the wider Media opinion that game to movie adaptations have a target audience of 10 to 35 year old males and that no one outside this demographic would be interested in such a movie.

At least Square-Enix isn't Hollywood

[LrdAlucard]

rpgs in general are like that... i feel the same way when i play games like MU or diablo...after weeks or even months playing with your char (not about the story), you feel attached to it in a different way....u might even be proud of it. (ex: in MU i have 3 chars, a dark wizard a dark knight and a magic gladiator, and i love every single one of them... i shouldnt have to say, but ive spent more than 1 week with each of them, and im really proud of them.) i think that ff's are really this way, but with the additional good story(ies) = best rpg sequels there is... u cant counter this argument

[Macceh^]

wow

Well what can I say, I opened the link up read the first two paragraphs and started to read where it described the opening and just forced myself to stop.

The wait for this film makes me want to bleed, I just couldn't afford to spoil it now. If it turns out to be terrible, fine I want to experience it for myself, heh even as I write this the window lays dormant in my minimized tray giving me a seductive glance.

I won't, I simply can not do that to myself.

[Frozen]

I like to say that playing a FF game is more like reading a book than watching a movie.

The difference is that I get to play with the characters in the book, listen to the spells they cast, hear their screams when they get hurt... (or read such things)

I don´t see why a FF 2 hour movie couldn´t be successful if done right, which didn´t happen with Spirits Within, which was a pretty good Sci-Fi movie on it´s own right, it´s just that it wasn´t FF for crap and that´s why I think it was such a major disappointment for us fans.

I´m definitely looking forward to Advent children.

Now, Kupo, would you mind telling me some more about that Vincent game?

[kupoartist]

Originally Posted by Frozen

Now, Kupo, would you mind telling me some more about that Vincent game?

To be honest, I had to look up and find this stuff out for myself. I've not been really following the newly formed FFVII franchise... perhaps not even Final Fantasy itself... for sometime.

The action of Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus takes place 3 years after the ending of FF7 (the part before the credits at least). This means it takes place a year after the advents of Advent Children. The world is still rebuilding after the disaster of Sephiroth and Meteor (and hell knows what else happens in Advent Children), but everything grinds to a halt as a new group known as the "Deep Ground Soldiers" (no idea whether that should be "SOLDIERS") emerges from... well, deep under the ground and starts soldiering and stuff.

Vincent is the main character to rise to the challenge. Primarily this is because the game is going to be "a shooter", and Vinny uses guns where Cloud used swords... we could also speculate that Cloud is MIA after Advent Children, but there is nothing concrete to go on. The exact gameplay is a mystery: it's certainly not an RPG, but just what form the shooting takes is not clear: I expect a mix of First and Third Person, with stealth elements but it's not made clear what the proportion of these elements is, so we don't know whether we'll be playing Timesplitters, Tomb Raider or Metal Gear Solid stylee.

There appear to be other playable characters: 2 unnamed but one recognised as the Cat part of Cait Sith. There's an ETA on the game of Q4 2005, so it's quite a way away...

[Frozen]

Thanks a lot for the insight, I´ll be looking forward to this game!

[Macceh^]

To be honest I am not a big fan of these "spin off" games, I despised FFX-2 and by the sounds of it I will hate the Vincent game too.

The FFVII storyline to me was complete, I don't want it tampered with. :/