Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children - Special Edition

In arguably the most anticipated game-to-movie sequels of all time and being a huge fan of FFVII I didn't waste time in buying this film. To begin with I doubted the film for even being able to compare to the immensely deep storyline that runs through the game. For those who aren't familiar with the game, here is a brief background. The game starts with an unlikely cocky hero called Cloud joining a group called Avalanche in taking down a corrupt organization called Shinra Inc. who are draining the planet of "life energy". The game takes a hell of a lot of plot twists including brief flashbacks from Cloud, the troubled main character who interestingly finds himself aligned with the main villian, Mr Sephiroth himself. An insanely powerful villain that is one of the toughest villains in any game I've played other than the Final Fantasy games. The game continues down a winding path, introducing more and more characters as the plot thickens further. After finding out Cloud is merely a 'puppet', a failed clone of Sephiroth, the story really picks up into an action-packed game. Without giving too much away, to fully understand the story of the film I strongly recommend you buy the game and unravel the mysteries that may be plaguing your mind after watching this film. If not, the bonus material on the DVD 'revisiting VII' is an excellent source to do your homework and if you have no ideas about the story, watch this first...I cant stress this enough. What sets this game apart from the other final fantasy games? The passion you develop for the characters and the interesting twist of humour, love and action all thrown together in a very satisfying game spills over to the film. Watching this film, I was regularly questioning myself as to whether this really was CGI throughout the film or whether 'real-time' screenshots of Japanese towns had been thrown in for good measure. To full appreciate the time and effort spent on this film it really is a masterpiece. The film is a huge success in my opinion and has lived up to the expectations if not exceeded mine. I would strongly recommend everyone to watch this film as it really is well worth the money. Obviously every film has its downfalls and the only things I can question here is the character of Barrett. He was a huge part of the game and supplies only a few lines. His body work is also questionable as in the game he seems to me to be extremely muscley with a big physiche. However, in the film he looks far too skinny to be Barrett! The only other flaw I can find here is that too few of the main characters from the game say more than 2 or 3 lines through the film but hey, can't please everyone right? BUY this film now it is well worth the money!

If like me you are a huge FFVII fan and have already owned and watched the dvd version many times or the PSP UMD version (yup I bought both) and you are wondering is it worth getting this on Blu-Ray?.......the answer is a resounding YES. For starters the picture quality is amazing, the dvd was good in its day but having seen this I couldn't sit through the old version again. And even better this disc has more story, for starters there is a very good anime short about Denzel and his backstory (if you've seen the film before I recommend watching this first) and this is also weaved into the main feature along with a good half hours worth of extra materiel (materia ?) all of which now makes the story make more sense and flow along better, it also answers some questions about some MIA characters (no spoilers) Soundtrack is also much richer (5.1 here). And at this price its a bargain.

Warning: Despite the title, this is the 'complete' version of the movie, which is with additional special effects, modified music and additional scenes. In contrast to Final Fantasy The Spirits Within, Advent Children is the sequel that follows Final Fantasy VII the video game and the other media. This means that you will need to either play or read about the story of the original Final Fantasy VII video game in order to understand fully of the plot of this film. The story of the film is the final conclusion of our hero Cloud Strife overcoming his guilt for letting two of his closest friends died. Therefore if you are a fan of Final Fantasy VII the video game, you should really watch this. Plot wise there are some disappointment in the relationship between Cloud and his childhood friend Tifa, but the audience would rejoice upon seeing almost all of the characters from the game (including one of the most evil villain ever existed in video games!) Action scenes in this film is similar to most of the other Japanese media - overly exaggerated and unrealistic fights. Whether that is a good thing or bad, that is up to you. However, the music is very well-known and indeed is scored by non other than the legendary Nobuo Uematsu, composer for majority of the Final Fantasy game. No doubt any music lover would appreciate greatly. Audience can also identify high quality visual effects in this movie, making this fantasy even more enjoyable. Overall it is highly recommend you watch this movie if you are a fan of Japanese media (video game, anime, novels...etc) and if you are just curious, do give it a try. But as mentioned above, you will need some preparation before watching this or else you will find it hard to accept the overall movie comparing to watching western movies.

I loved FF VII to play as a game - still the best in the series IMHO. I was in love with Cloud, I wanted to save the world and I loved killing monsters along the way. This movie is probably a bit too off the wall for anyone who doesn't really like the FF franchise. You don't have to have played the game to watch it, BUT it is very fast paced at times and there are a lot of characters who aren't fully explained here, which might confuse you a bit. Not for the younger children - it's too complicated for a start. The animation is top notch for when it was made and it was really nice to have the opportunity to see my favourite FF character on screen!

The movie starts with a white text: "To those who loved this world and knew friendly company therein: this Reunion is for you" and that's true. If you love Final Fantasy 7 then this movie is for you. You can watch it for the amazing visuals and intense action scenes if you haven't played FFVII but to truly understand the movie, you have to be a fan of the game. Some moments in the movie are better than others and the story itself is more of a spin-off to the original game but it is also an important end to Cloud's story where Zack and Aerith play a big role in. All the playable main characters from FFVII appear in the movie but aside from Cloud, Tifa (and Vincent) they don't have much to do for the story, but it's lovely to see them fighting together once more. The few lines Cid gets to say will make you smile but I wish he had more screen time. The new main character Denzel is sympathetic and brings an emotional kick to the story. Still I would have liked to see more of the main characters of the original game. The movie looks just fantastic. I watched the movie from a big screen and there are some aliasing problems (outlines have almost unnoticeable jagged distortions) which didn't bother me at all. Again some scenes don't look as sharp as some others but it's still so good-looking movie that you don't really care about the little imperfections. The movie includes Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and (even though it doesn't say that in the cover) English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and they sound awesome, the English-dub is actually pretty good. Subtitles are English Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, English, Finnish (with a few wrong translations), Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Swedish and Turkish. Extras: An animated short "On the Way to a Smile - Episode: Denzel" which is drawn anime. It tells the story of Denzel and I think it's pretty good. It's in Japanese like all other extras and only subtitles seem to be English and Italian. Then theres two "Story Digests", first showing important story clips from the original FFVII with amazing music (wich appear to be from the "Distant Worlds"-albums) and short live action scenes with cloud speaking to his phone, reminding the credits of the main movie. It's pretty cool and surely nostalgic to those who have played FFVII. Then there's another story digest about the other games in the FFVII universe including Before Crisis, Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus which is still pretty fun but it's not as good as the first story digest. "Legacy of FINAL FANTASY VII" is a featurette that tells the really really basic history of the Final Fantasy VII franchise. It's not completely bad but you probably already know everything it has to say, it doesn't really tell much. Then there is trailers for the Advent Children but only for the new "Complete" version of the movie. THERE IS NO MAKING OF DOCUMENTS OR THE "LAST ORDER" ANIMATED SHORT!!!

I FREAKING LOVE THIS FILM!!!.... as a fan of final fantasy, and FF7 being my favorite, i had to watch this film. i original brought a copy of the film on dvd when it was first released in the uk, but after ungrading to blu-ray, i knew i had to have this film as part of my collection. finding the "complete" version of this film puzzled me a little as i thought i had already watched it in its complete form, but was very happy upon watching this that loads of extra scenes were threw into this version, and even a few had been changed slightly (the only slightly negitive thing i have to say about this film is that one of my favorite scenes had been changed, the "tell me what you cherish most" scene, which although its still good, i prefer the other one), all in all making this an even longer, more in depth and enjoyable experience.....if you haven't played and enjoyed the game, most of the story will be lost on you, as its set a few years after the events of the game with the story and most of the charactors from the game following through into this film.....this is a must for anyone who has played final fantasy 7 and loved it...those unfortunate not too may find the film less enjoyable but still enjoyable

I loved how the case came without any scratches and the disk was easy to watch on my PS4 and Blu-ray Player. The quality was fantastic and I was pleased with the audio and language setting to switch to the original Japanese voices. There are 30 minutes added to gain a bit more knowledge for those who don't really understand what is going on. I was confused as to why they left that much time out but I was still satisfied and the surround sound was perfect. I'm planning to add this to my collection of DVDs I would watch over and over again. If you are a fan of Final Fantasy Advent children, or just beginning to understand the series you will fall in love with this movie. Great price and received my order in less than a week. Satisfied

I have been a fan of Final Fantasy 7 ever since I unwrapped the game back on Christmas Day 1997. I eagerly awaited the first release of Advent Children in the UK back in April 2006 and whilst I adored it and was absolutely satisfied with the conclusion it gave to the story I did feel that it had a few holes in it's plot. On discovery of the 'Complete' version I was sceptical, could it really improve on the original film and DVD cut? My word it blew my expectations out of the water. The picture quality on this Blu ray press is stunning as you would expect. The additions to the story are not just extra scenes, many have been graphically re-jigged to add extra depth and effect. (This is a far more graphic film then the original, it spares no punches in the fights and with the effects of Geostigma. This isn't just a rehash, it truly is the completion of the original. It has now fully reached the promise the first cut held. It unreservedly gets 5 stars from me.

Cool cult film

他商品のコンプリートと見比べるためにも保存物の一品でした。

There are already lots of great reviews here for Advent Children, so let me add my review for the half-hour OVA "Last Order," which is bundled in as an extra in this release and makes it more than worth buying: Let me start by saying this OVA... was perfect. Tetsuya Nomura has proved himself fifty times over as a fantastic director with this brief, poignant, and unbelievably powerful little 30-minute OVA. No overt sappiness, no slow-motion tears flying about, none of that. Cloud doesn't even comprehend what has happened. Nothing but grim reality with its edge of grittiness--and it is utterly devastating. I'm sitting here typing in tears and I think, even if I hadn't had the special fascination for this obscure, long-dead side character that I have had since playing FFVII, I still would have been moved to tears by this OVA's plaintive look at the last few hours of this man's life. It would have been so much easier for Zack to escape on his own; slowed down and strength sapped from carrying the nearly comatose Cloud, Zack could have traveled so much faster and less-conspicuously if he'd just abandoned him. With his strength and wits, he would have made it. It's a mark of what a wonderful person he is that he went so far as to shield Cloud with his own body---Cloud, this random, low-ranking soldier who was probably only an acquaintance before the Nibelheim incident, if at all (SOLDIER first class, the highest of the high, and Cloud, a common, faceless foot soldier!). He didn't owe him a thing, but he still valued this poor kid's life enough to protect him all the way to the end. That's why I'm so happy we have this OVA touching on the truly tragic and unfair fate dealt to such a wonderful person. Zack is such a minor character in the grand scheme of the original game (he's even dead long before it begins!), but still---if you're watching closely---you see, little by little, how much his deeds have effected the story. He starts out just as shock factor--you see the photo taken at Nibelheim the day Tifa led Sephiroth's party up to the Mako Reactor, and instead of our familiar, blonde-haired Cloud standing there as we expect, it is a taller, dark-haired stranger. From here, little by little, Zack's influence grows and discover slowly, rather painfully since you know of his sad fate, what sort of person it was who lost his life (and even identity) so that Cloud could take it. You discover that he was the wonderful boyfriend of Aerith's whom Cloud reminded her of, that he was the elite SOLDIER 1st class who was friendly even with the foot soldiers, that he went on his own to try to stop Sephiroth during the Nibelheim massacre, that he suffered side by side with Cloud in Hojo's laboratory for those five, long years of their imprisonment, and it was he, alone, who managed to break free and literally CARRIED Cloud back across two continents and was finally killed defending him when he fought alone against an entire squadron of Shinra soldiers. It hurts, doesn't it? And he did all that never knowing that his actions would give Cloud the strength, motivation, and will to save the world someday. That's why I love this OVA so much. Just like the cool, unassuming guy that Zack was, it doesn't come at you with this, "look at me, this is such a tragedy!!!" sort of "tragic epic" attitude. It's just "there was this cool guy, and this is what he did. He fought simply for a chance to live in freely, and died trying." It's just the way Zack would've wanted it, I think. Directiorally, it was very nice how the movie begins with Cloud (as we expect, Cloud being our cherished hero of FFVII). But all we see is his clouded, green, mako-tinged vision, and all we hear is his gasping breath. He doesn't actually speak a coherent line until much later in the story. In this way, we make the transition from Cloud, who IS FFVII, to Zack, who is (just as in the original game) our "hidden" hero. You realize long after the fact that Zack is the one we're actually focusing on (every time he enters a scene, it's in a rather unassuming way--the opening, and in the Nibelheim flashback, when he wanders in from the background in the midst of the disaster). All the things you wanted to see most happen--from some of the most AMAZING animated fight scenes I have ever seen (when Sephiroth elegantly slashed away Zack's sword strike, did your heart stop for a moment? Mine did...), to that beautiful moment when Tifa discovered that Cloud did keep his promise (though she later thinks she just hallucinated it... ^^; ), to the perfection that is animated Sephiroth whispering "Mother, come with me," to Cloud's truly incredible moment in the fight against Sephiroth. Wow, the power of this animation! (I love you, Mad House!!!!!) And let's not forget that quiet, last scene. Our esteem and affection for Zack is just growing and growing as he cheerfully (and somehow, fatalistically) expounds on the fortunes and adventures he'll have hereafter and then, his famous and haunting line, "We're friends, right?" to the man who will steal his entire life and identity later on... wow. Ah, the Turks. Now that was a truly clever touch! I love how they become a sort of sympathetic third party. Tseng's quiet sadness and contemplation of the pitiful fate that Zack and Cloud were dealt, even as he hunts them down, gives the audience solace. We know (as the Turks know) that their escape is futile, but the fact that the people who are actually tracking them down feel sorry for them as well is somehow soothing for us. I love how Tseng's sympathy, and his order to try to take them alive, gave me this wild, completely irrational hope that maybe--just maybe--they would make it through this impossible situation alive. In particular, that last scene when the Turks' helicopter is right there, rushing toward the scene and offering some sort of salvation (at least for their lives) for Zack and Cloud just at their fateful hour. But of course, they don't make it in time. History has already laid down its cold order, hasn't it? And anyway, Zack says it all in that one line--"I don't want assurances that my life will be spared. All I want is FREEDOM!" I guess for him, it was better to have died fighting of his own will than to return to Hojo's lab of horrors to live as a test subject to the end of his days, ne? But still... ;__; I love that we see the last moments of Zack's life back in Cloud's point of view. It is satisfying to know that, whatever he forgets or blocks out of his memory later on, he did bear witness to Zack's final sacrifice for him. But that grieving is for later. For now, I love that Cloud has no reaction, no sappy screaming, etc. Just silence and the haunting echo of the gunshot that ends it all. That shot is so devastating, so inevitable... just as we know from the moment we began watching this OVA that Zack would soon die despite all his efforts, that shot is so inevitable and heavy, and we (like Cloud) are so helpless to stop it. We don't even get to see it happen--just the sound signalling that it has been done somewhere beyond our reach and we are only hearing the declaration of its completion after the fact. It's wonderful and SO painful. Really, truly, hats off to Nomura-sensei and his entire crew. This OVA was everything I had hoped for. Thank you so much for it and for this incredibly well-deserved tribute to that nameless soldier who gave Cloud his life, his sword, and even his memories--and gave us one of the most memorable video game stories of all time.

Ich muss gestehen, dass ich erst dieses Jahr (2020) durch das Remake mit FF7 in Berührung gekommen bin. Ich habe das Original vorher nicht gespielt, das aber inzwischen nachgeholt. Auch ohne Nostalgiefaktor begeistert mich die Welt von FF7 sehr. Das Remake fand ich grandios und freue mich sehr auf mehr. Das Original ist zwar nicht mehr zeitgemäß, ich kann aber verstehen, warum es so beliebt ist. Ich bereuhe es sehr, nicht schon als Kind damit in Berührung gekommen zu sein, aber ich war 1997 leider noch zu jung. Aus diesem Grund habe ich mir auch gleich den Film Advent Children geholt um diesen anschließend zu schauen. Als ich gelesen habe, dass der Film von 2005 ist, habe ich erstmal nicht viel von der Technik erwartet, wurde jedoch sehr positiv überrascht. Die Animationen sind auch heute noch klasse. Schöne Bilder, krasse Kamerafahrten und tolle Details. Nur die Charaktermodelle sehen beim Remake von FF7 mMn deutlich besser aus. Die Story vom Film fande ich nicht so interessant, aber das ist auch nicht nötig, da diese nur zur Charakterentwicklung Clouds beiträgt. Der Rest von Film ist reiner Fanservice. Alle Figuren aus den Spielen haben ihre Auftritte, die Originalmusik aus FF7 wird verwendet, der Endkampf zwischen Cloud und Sephiroth geht in eine xte Runde. Das macht einfach nur Spaß! Man muss hier aber auch sagen, dass Leute die FF7 nicht kennen oder mögen eher keinen Spaß an dem Film haben werden (Für die, bei denen es schon lange her ist, ist bei den Extras übrigens eine Zusammenfassung des Spiels enthalten). Es waren mehrere Szenen dabei bei denen ich Gänsehaut bekommen habe. Dies liegt insbesondere daran, dass Musik und Bild sehr gut aufeinander eingestimmt sind. Auch die Aktion- und Kampfszenen sind sehr gut gestaltet. Humor ist ebenfalls zu genüge vorhanden. Der Film lebt aber wie auch das Spiel größtenteils von den Charakteren. Diese sind einfach grandios. Cloud ist mir extrem ans Herz gewachsen und es war richtig schön die komplette Gruppe zusammen kämpfen zu sehen. Die Freundschaft der Gruppe ist quasi greifbar. Für mich ein sehr schöner Film auch 2020 noch!

Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children est un très bon film d'animation et même pour les personnes qui n'ont jamais joué aux jeux vidéos dont ce film est la suite logique (Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core et Final Fantasy VII notamment). Le film est un peu déroutant et difficile à suivre au départ pour qui n'a jamais entendu parler de FF7 mais les explications qui jalonnent le film sont amplement suffisantes pour comprendre l'intrigue. Par ailleurs, des bonus permettent aussi de replacer le film dans le contexte des jeux vidéos dont il est la suite. Les graphismes sont de la bonne image de synthèse comme Square Enix sait le faire et la bande son est aussi de bonne qualité avec notamment qq mélodies cultes de FF7. Les combats sont très dynamiques (parfois même un peu trop et on a du mal à s'y retrouver) et les personnages principaux attachants. Il y a certes qq petits défauts (un personnage principal a priori fortement blessé qui ne perd pas une goutte de sang par exemple) mais rien de très grave. En tous les cas, Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children fait partie des films d'animation que l'on prend plaisir à voir et revoir lorsqu'on souhaite se divertir et c'est bien le rôle d'un film d'animation que d'être divertissant.