TheFinal Fantasyfranchise has been through its fair share of ups and downs, and this doesn’t apply to just the games themselves. After the huge boom in popularity for the series following the release ofFinal Fantasy 7, Square decided to go all out in making this series a household name, even for the people who didn’t play video games. However, unlike the track record of the video games that only had a few speedbumps early on before the modern era led to later games having more of a mixed reception, their first attempt to break into the realm of movies was a huge failure.
Still, credit must be given to the company for not giving up after the first failed attempt, especially given how catastrophic this foray was. Over time, Square Enix released two more films that have seen varying levels of success.The list ofFinal Fantasymoviesmay not be expansive, but each film has a tantalizing backstory that fans of this long-running JRPG franchise would love to know, with some of this trivia being fascinating to behold.
4Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
IMDb Rating: 6.4/10
AfterFinal Fantasywas enjoying a string of successes, Squaresoft took a gamble and let Hironobu Sakaguchi direct a movie in the series using their state-of-the-art CGI expertise.Final Fantasy: The Spirits Withinis a visual spectacle for the ages, with its quality still looking downright mesmerizing in every way. Unfortunately, the movie fell flat in pretty much every other department, with its story and characters being lambasted by the masses for being subpar at best.
The fallout of this movie’s financial failure was spectacular. Squaresoft had put all their eggs in this basket, and no one could’ve predicted just how much of a box office bombFinal Fantasy: The Spirits Withincould be. This failure set off a chain reaction that led to Sakaguchi parting ways with Square, with the company settling on a merger with Enix to remain financially stable. In hindsight, trying to break into the realm of movies with a CGI film that was all show and no substance may not have been the worst idea, but a combination of poor marketing and bad critical scores ultimately sealedFinal Fantasy: The Spirits Within’s fate as one of the worst things to have this illustrious IP’s name attached to it.
3Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy 15
IMDb Rating: 6.7/10
The development ofFinal Fantasy 15is infamously legendary, with the game being announcedasFinal Fantasy: Versus 13before the company did a U-turn following the complaints fans had about the studio focusing on a mainline entry that is considered by many to be one of the worstFinal Fantasygames ever made. Eventually, the game was rebranded asFinal Fantasy 15with Tetsuya Nomura at the helm of things, but the ship was yet to be steady. After a lengthy development process, Hajime Tabata took over from Nomura and helpedFinal Fantasy 15ship out as a near-complete product.
The fragmented story ofFinal Fantasy 15was split between a short anime and a movie. WhileFinal Fantasy 15: Brotherhoodwas fun to watch, the same can’t be said forKingsglaive: Final Fantasy 15. For some reason, big-budget actors were employed to lend their voices to characters who already had people assigned to the roles in the game, and the movie itself featured a half-baked story that barely made sense half the time. While the visuals and action sequences were in a class of their own, everything else was a mess and proves whyFinal Fantasy 15should’ve shipped with a complete story instead of what fans got.
2Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children Complete
IMDb Rating: 6.8/10
Despite theCompleteedition ofAdvent Childrenranking lower than the original release of the film, most people consider this movie to be the superior product in every way. With grittier and more violent visuals that made the action scenes come alive, this update release was a huge step forward in every way.
Fight scenes are expandedto make them look more awe-inspiring, plot points are explained in a better fashion, and the music is re-scored to make it sound more similar to that of the original game. All these changes are something fans will welcome in a product that serves as a fitting sequel to the events ofFinal Fantasy 7.
1Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children
IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
After failing to make a mark withFinal Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Square Enix decided to go back to the drawing board and see how they could interest fans with a movie set in this franchise. The obvious answer was to make a sequel to one of their most profitable video games ever made,Final Fantasy 7.
Despite some questionable additions here and there,Final Fantasy 7: Advent Childrenturned out to be a notable success and compelled Square Enix to focus on developing theCompilation of Final Fantasy 7. The action sequences were amazing and the quality of animation was off the charts. It helped that Sephiroth’s final fight against Cloud was mind-blowing in every way and let fans witness a battle between two legendary characters in its entirety.
