Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Review (Spoilers) [Archive]

Matt Cruea

09-13-2005, 04:27 AM

I put spoilers in the title to deter those who haven't watched the movie from reading this. That being said, there's really not much to spoil. This movie is SO devoid of plot it's rather sad, seeing as the original Final Fantasy VII that caused so many to flock to the genre of role playing games had a rather good one. The movie lacks character development, explanations, and also is rather cliche and predictable.

However, I loved it.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is a series of cool moments, with fight scenes that make Agent Smith's mouth gape in awe. The most beautiful CG in existence compliments all this, accompanied by what may just be Nobuo Uematsu's last real work for SquareEnix. The characters are, for the most part, voiced well, and, for what they are, they're all rather enjoyable. So let's go through the movie, and again, thar be spoilers:

We get Cloud, which was pretty obvious to everyone. He's got a motorcycle, a slight change in clothing, and a NEATO sword which he can attach all his different swords to. The thing about Cloud in this film is that, as a character, he takes a step back. He's despondent, an enigma, and very much a loner in the first portion of Final Fantasy VII, and then he learns that he is not alone. Apparantly the disease that Cloud contracts causes amnesia, as he learns it all over again.

We're also introduced early on to our main protagonists: Yazoo, Loz, and Kadaj. Yazoo and Loz are henchmen, essentially, and rather unimportant aside from the fact that they have awesome fight scenes (and hey, like I said, aside from the awesome fight scenes, there IS nothing important in this film). Kadaj is, apparantly, a clone of Sephiroth. Or of Jenova. Or he's been created by the Lifestream.

To be honest, one of the main problems with this film's lack of plot is the fact that we don't get to care about these villains. When Kadaj dies, we're supposed to feel for him... but where did he come from? What's his motivation? He "feels" Sephiroth? That's not enough. Give these guys an origin. This movie could've done with another hour of setup.

Aside from that, they're all three very cookie-cutter villains. They kidnap some children (the aforementioned children of the Advent variety), one of whom Cloud and Tifa know (but of course, he's not really explained), turn them into zombies, and then Tifa makes them not zombies. They also kidnap Marlene, who's sole role in the movie is to care more about Cloud and Tifa than her "father," Barrett.

Tifa's our secondary main character. She begins as a major player in the beginning, taking on Loz (or perhaps it was Yazoo? Again, lack of character development) by herself, and then she falls into the background with AVALANCHE.

Yes, every member of AVALANCHE appears in some form, even my personal favorite, Cait Sith. Aside from Vincent, however, they all seem to be pretty much cameos. The sad part about this is that most of the fans won't care. They're here to see Cloud and Aerith and Sephiroth and Reno, not Cid and Yuffie and Barrett. The team members get in one good (REALLY good) fight scene, and then they're relegated to the background.

We're also treated to the Turks, Reno and Rude. Outside of the battles, they're essentially the best part of the movie. Unlike Cloud, they have character, they have emotion. Reno's face has to be the most animated face in the entire movie. They're working for Rufus, who is inexplicably alive following his really amazing death in-game. Rufus' motivations or actions are never really explained, making his return seem rather pointless, another loose end that will probably never be addressed.

In the end, Cloud fights everyone, Kadaj becomes Sephiroth, and Cloud beats him. Then Cloud almost dies, but Aerith talks to him and he doesn't. Then everyone laughs. The end. Predictable schlock? Totally. But man, them some pretty graphics, no?

To supplement my point, here are some of the coolest points in the film:

- Cloud using a limit break (the super Climhazard during the Bahamut battle being my favorite).

- Cid being the only one other than Cloud to really land any good shots on Bahamut.

- Rude's glasses. Classic!

- Rufus's fight scene. Perhaps the one part of the film that had me jumping out of my seat.

- Loz's ringtone.

- The fight with Sephiroth.

- Pretty much any of the fights (which was about 3/4 of the movie).

Like I said, it's pretty, it's fast-paced, and it is INCREDIBLY fun. It's a really good movie.

It's just not great.

Joe

09-13-2005, 04:42 AM

I had low expectations coming into this movie. I hated the idea that they were going to potentially ruin everything they set up in FFVII. I hated the idea that I was so positive that Cloud was going to hook up with Tifa and forget Aerith...Luckily none of this happened as there was little plot to do so with! That said, I did in fact enjoy this movie. The fight scenes were indeed incredible (I'd go so far as to say some of the best I've ever seen) and the pacing was quick. The movie was beautiful visually, oftentimes leaving me in awe as I found it comparable to reality.

Aside from that, most every character's appearance in this was really just a cameo. Rufus was inexplicably brought back only to ... not really go anywhere...The Turks returned (most awesomely) even though at the end of FFVII they said that the Turks were finished...So yeah. Plotwise, this movie would've sucked if it weren't backed up by the pure quality of the action. But, thanks to said action, I ended up enjoying this movie. It was fun so watch it.

Matt Cruea

09-13-2005, 04:52 AM

Naruto is awesome fight scenes punctuated with boring and annoying character development.

FFVII Advent Children is awesome fight scenes. Period.

FFVII > Naruto

Joe

09-13-2005, 04:55 AM

I think it's impossible for you to go a single post without mentioning your opinion on the quality of Naruto... Oh yeah and to reinforce the Spoilers warning at the top...SEPHIROTH RETURNS!

Chris Nagy

09-13-2005, 05:10 AM

Damn it, all the torrents I've found are overloaded... I shall have to wait.

Bryan D

09-13-2005, 05:40 AM

For the most part I agree with Matt. Out of all the moments they could have beefed up on was the background of the Kadaj trio and more on how he becomes Sephiroth exactly..then again it could be me. I haven't played the game in almost a decade so I forgot alot about the game(thats why I started playing it again).

I will end it by saying this. This is the film that should have been put out instead of the Spirits Within. Far more superior in terms of animation and action. This could have made Square a decent amount of money here in the states. Then again 29.99 for a DVD is a good chunk of change as well.

Yunnie Kun

09-13-2005, 06:39 AM

ºforgot about Tifa's Limit break that Dolphin wateva move.. yar i forgot.. ;__; .. *pets Tifa* .. she was sexy for a 3d gal.

I think the funniest part though.. was everybody helping to lift Cloud into the air.. seriously.. if i had that much strength.. i'd lend him a hand in killing that thing. Even Yuffie.. shot him into the air like she was beefed. *LoL*

Not much materia was used in the movie =/ .. makes me sad inside.

*spoilers* .. yar forgot to add that in

Jerry-kun

09-13-2005, 06:44 AM

The problem is that this film can only possibly appeal to fans. Character introductions, backstory... well, there weren't any. You were expected to know.

I liked that they didn't waste time with it, because it allowed for them to get into this story much more quickly. I don't like the fact that those who haven't played the game won't have the damndest clue what's going on. But, their loss, really.

And... I will hear no comparisons to Naruto. These fight scenes are several leagues above.

I'll back up Joe's statement by saying that honestly those were, quite possibly, the best fight sequences I've ever seen. I sat gape-mouthed at the screen throughout the entire film... even through the "reality-defying" moments. The thought process goes something like this... "Oh come on... that's not even possib... HOLY SH*T!"

Really, the story was secondary. This is fanservice in it's purest form.

Fortunately, it's really, really good fanservice.

Matt Cruea

09-13-2005, 07:01 AM

I agree.

But, seriously, what were the silver haired guys? They're SO fanfiction characters. No explanation at all.

Jerry-kun

09-13-2005, 07:20 AM

I have no idea... I tried not to spoil the movie by thinking too hard about it.

But it'll likely be explained in that backstory they've been posting bit by bit on the Japanese site... if someone ever gets around to translating it.

Matt Cruea

09-13-2005, 07:30 AM

The Way to a Smile or whatever?

It's about fucking Denzel.

Fuck him.

TamTu

09-13-2005, 08:50 AM

I've always thought they were some of Hojo's Sephiroth clones? Yanno...since they're all REUNION! MOTHER! SEPHIROTH! and stuff. ._. *still hasn't seen the movie*

I HATE HAVING NO INTERNET >: (

Matt Cruea

09-13-2005, 02:59 PM

See, I thought that they were Sephiroth clones too, but then it talks about Jenova getting into the Lifestream and them being spirits... which kind of kills them being genetic copies. And then one of them BECOMES Sephiroth! He MUST be a clone! But then the Sephiroth juice runs out and he's a spirit.

WHAT.

TamTu

09-13-2005, 03:10 PM

Oh. Well then, Square should cut all of that Spirit crap. It didn't work for TSW either :XD

ig.

09-14-2005, 12:49 AM

I demand a transcription of the lyrics for the new version of "One Winged Angel".

And it's about damn time we got a coherent ending for FF7.

Sukisho

09-14-2005, 03:04 AM

I thought it came out pretty good. Lots of action, litte story, that made it good haha.

Velvy

09-14-2005, 03:16 AM

If I had gone to AWA we woulda had a viewing party. LAME. Anyways, you already read my thoughts on the film. So I'll just comment on your little comments.

- Rude's glasses. Classic!

YES.

- Rufus's fight scene. Perhaps the one part of the film that had me jumping out of my seat.

I thought, "Dang, Rufus is cool now." I didn't really think of him as cool prior to FFVII. Just a closet queer.

- Loz's ringtone.

YES.

Am I the only one who thought Loz crying was really random??

Brad Tajiri

09-14-2005, 05:41 AM

Amazing stuff. Action was unbelievable, story felt rushed near the end and NOT ENOUGH OF THE GANG. Reno and Rude were great comic relief though. I can't wait to pick this bad boy up on DVD listen to it in 5.1 surround sound.

TamTu

09-14-2005, 08:32 AM

Am I the only one who thought Loz crying was really random??

His crying got me all WTF o___o....but maybe it was a set up for the phone call at the church later :eh

I adored it. I still have it looped in my head. >D...

I really liked all of the action scenes, but I got a bit tired of all the fights on the motorcycles @_@....my favorite fight was definitely Reno and Rude vs Yazoo and Loz. Reno climbing up the wall reminded me of Samara at the end of Ring 2 >D;

This movie had me staring at the screen from beginning to end.

-Love the ringtone.

-Love Reno and Rude

-Love Roy Mustan--....Rufus.

-Wanted to see more Elena and Tseng.

OH! The re-arranged Turks theme! I squealed like a fangirl. It was SO perfect >D

Aaaaah. I'm gonna have this movie on loop the whooooole time.

Lioncourt

09-14-2005, 09:59 AM

Well I figured that I'd wait a day before writing out any kind of review for it, so that I wasn't writing it in the throes of fanboy love ^^

This movie was exactly what I wanted and more, an all action thrill ride that was well worth the wait. Howvever those expecting an epic and convoluted plot, or deep characterisation will not find what they are looking for here.This movie assumes that you are already familiar with the Final Fantasy VII characters and setting, it makes no effort to clarify these things to new viewers. So a new audience may look at this movie and see two dimensional characters, however original fans will already understand the cast and know where they are coming from.

This, in my opinion, works in the movies favour as it doesn't need to waste screen time by treading familiar territory again. While screen time may be limited for each character (mainly because there are so many people to show), each of them are given their own precious seconds to shine and even have some banter, which at times may be cheesy but is great to see.

In regards to the story, the plot is a simple one involving Kadaj and his gang of henchmen searching for the head of Jenova, forcing Cloud and his friends to join together and battle to save Midgar and the planet once again. It's familiar stuff, but it's told with excellent pacing and one or two welcome surprises and I'm pleased to say, a conclusive ending. While it may be disappointing to some that the plot does not match the scale of the original game, I feel that the movie does not suffer for this. We have already had the epic world-changing plot, this film is simply the extension and aftermath of that story and this approach allows the film to concetrate on other things...which brings me nicely to the action sequences...

The fight sequences (of which there are several) are possibly some of the finest ever shown on film, expect every character in this film to perform gravity defying feats of superhuman strength and agility, shown from about 50, quick cutting and equally impossible camera angles. It really is as if they loaded your lvl 99 characters into this film and said "Go Fight!". Also no fight in this film eels anticlimatic, each battle feels just right in terms of time, flow and scale, at times offering only a seconds rest before the next eyeball searing onslaught.

The movie, as was to be expected from Square, looks truly stunning. the world is full of exquisite details and grand scale that will at times make you believe that you're looking at real film. The characters all move and show their expressions with genuine emotion and purpose, making it all the easier to forget that it was done on a computer.

The music is also excellent, using full blown orchestral work fitting of the movie's scale whilst still incorporating the classic themes which we all know and love. From the very first music cue, you know this is FF7. The voice acting is also of a high quality, with voices that seem to fit their characters nicely, even Cloud, who is not given as much emotional material to play with, still sounds like he should.

In this end, this movie is not a stand alone adventure. This is an hour and a half epilogue to arguably one of the greatest game stories ever told. The movie is the ultimate tip of the hat, both visually and audibly, to the fans. This movie is for them and I for one loved every minute of it.

Highlights:
-Loz's ringtone
-The Bahamut battle sequence
-Cloud vs. Sephiroth
-The banter on the airship (don't know why, just thought it was a nice scene ^_^).

Erica

09-14-2005, 12:19 PM

I couldn't figure out how to install the English subtitles to my version, so I had to read from a text file. Hah. I fail. But as I was reading.. I saw that nothing really made sense O_o;; Then again I DID wake up at 5AM just to watch it before school and nothing usually makes sense to me that early.

A lot of things just happened and ended pretty abruptly without explaination, but the fights were DAMN cool. The fact that I couldn't understand much of what was going on dialogue wise didn't stop me from enjoying this movie. I just wish it.. y'know.. explained more.

And did anyone else thing Red XIII had a REALLY weird voice during the fight scene? O_o; It sounded decent at the church at the end.. but yeah x_X

Moments that made me go 'WTF' or just.. appealed to me in general:

- Vincent <3
- The Bahamut summoning
- Reno's homage to Spiderman.. and Rude trying his own as well.. but failing
- Rude's look of shock as his glasses were CRUSHED.
- Rufus's fight scene
- The new Turks theme arangement!
- The fact that Tseng was called.. Shion?
- Loz's ring tone!
- Cloud vs. Sephiroth
- ..Morikubo Shoutarou's voice <3
- ..the pretty graphics and colors D=

Am I the only one who thought Loz crying was really random??

No. It WAS pretty random o.o;;

TamTu

09-14-2005, 12:42 PM

During the fight, it was mostly Cait Sith talking while riding Red's back.

Also, if you have the SSA file with the english subtitles, you'll need VobSub to overlay them on the video, which you can download at www.doom9.org <3

Chrnogirl

09-14-2005, 02:08 PM

Man, I am sooooo late XD I saw it yesterday (after trying for an hour to figure out the subs XD) Alot of people have already said what really needed to be said about this movie. Awesome fight scenes, little plot (even though I didn't notice, nor care, I was so captivited by the CG and fight scenes I was like, plot? I don't care cuz it's preeeettyyyyy) Unfortunatly some things were cliche and as people have mentioned, the origins of Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo weren't explained, but oh well, what will be will be.

Fav scenes (warning, my charatcer names are kinda rusty..)

Tifa's fight scene (I loved it the moment I saw the trailer)
TURK REMIX!!
Everyone's cameos!!
The big fight with everyone.
When Vincient appered.
WHEN SEHPRIOTH APPERED!! (turned up the speakers for that one)
(will edit later, gotta go, in school XD)
EDIT (since now I'm home: Loz's cell phone ring ( At first I was like WTF! Why do I hear the FFVII victory music. Then I saw it was Loz's phone and LMAO!!)
The overlaying effect between Kadaj and Sepphy. (When he bowed before Boss, looked up and all those flashes between him and Sheppy, that twas cool)
Cat Sith!! I LAMO when I saw him and applauded ENIX ^^

Matt Cruea

09-14-2005, 02:53 PM

Supposedly the soundtrack's out there somewhere. If anyone has it, I needs it.

I forgot to add in my review that Cait Sith on Red XIII's back was a work of genius.

Joe

09-14-2005, 04:28 PM

For those of you unaware, Last Order has now been leaked. Find it at the usual places.I have yet to find a sub for it however...

Yunnie Kun

09-14-2005, 06:00 PM

Intead of it being in bits n pieces throughout the game, it summed it up a bit with relating back to Cloud's lost memories etc.

Chrnogirl

09-14-2005, 08:36 PM

For those of you unaware, Last Order has now been leaked. Find it at the usual places.I have yet to find a sub for it however...

SWEEET! But I think I'll wait for the sub version ^^

Erica

09-15-2005, 01:13 AM

During the fight, it was mostly Cait Sith talking while riding Red's back.

Oh yeah? I didn't notice Cait Sith until everyone was on the Highwind.. or Sierra.. whatever x_X He had a really creepy voice then. And speaking of, Reeve's voice was awfully deep. Not what I expected =x

And no worries about the sub. My friend burned a copy with the subs for meh >>;

Sukisho

09-15-2005, 01:26 AM

Supposedly the soundtrack's out there somewhere. If anyone has it, I needs it.

There's a sampler of the OST that's out, it only has like 4 tracks on it.

Chris Nagy

09-15-2005, 01:47 AM

Sukisho

09-15-2005, 02:08 AM

Erica

09-15-2005, 03:39 AM

I'm kinda surprised no one is jumping to dub small clips of it, since the raw is so readily available and in beautiful quality, and it is Final Fantasy 7. (Not too mention the small window of opportunity between the japanese and english releases.)

Aaactually. I really want to dub clips.. because I want to be Denzel >>;; But my computer is teh suck! But I'm gonna try anyway! Expect something urm.. soonish?

I'd also loved to do scenes with Reno in English. Because Reno = <3

Chris Nagy

09-15-2005, 04:11 AM

For those of you unaware, Last Order has now been leaked. Find it at the usual places.I have yet to find a sub for it however...

Did you encounter any problems with the .rar files?

Aaactually. I really want to dub clips.. because I want to be Denzel >>;; But my computer is teh suck! But I'm gonna try anyway! Expect something urm.. soonish?

I'd also loved to do scenes with Reno in English. Because Reno = <3

I want to try my voice at Reno, Rude, Rufus, and Vincent.

Sukisho

09-15-2005, 04:25 AM

Did you encounter any problems with the .rar files?

When I tired it, I found they were like all the same file in multipule .rars if you mean you can't get all of them to come up in the same folder that is.

Erica

09-15-2005, 04:26 AM

Originally Posted by Eric

Omg.. I hate you Chris.. Just for that, I'm going to make you suffer through a long process of auditions when I do get the clips set up.

Joe

09-15-2005, 04:28 AM

Did you encounter any problems with the .rar files?

When I unzipped them, I just highlighted them all at once and unzipped them that way. It prompted me saying that there was no data in the zip after zipping the first. I hit close on the warning box that came up and, for whatever reason, I ended up with the anime...

Matt Cruea

09-15-2005, 04:49 AM

I'm gonna be pissed if you guys who're dubbing clips don't hold auditons.

Because no one scouts me anymore, and I want in.

Joe

09-15-2005, 05:38 AM

Well if they don't cast you, you can always just make your own dub only you'll have to one up them by dubbing the whole movie. I can help though; I'll play the part of all of the females/effeminate males and you can play the other guy!

Full Metal Miku

09-15-2005, 05:47 AM

Before I begin, allow me to say one thing:

F*CK YO PLOT, NIGGA!

I got around to watching Advent Children this afternoon at the behest of a really really cute girl-friend of mine.

Wow. Just wow. I cannot begin to describe how happy in the pants this movie makes me. For shortness.. a list.

Things that made me go HELL YES:
Ringtone
Tifa's battle music
Vincent = Spawn
Bahamut
Incorporation of everyone's limit breaks
Dual Wielding Cloud
SIX SWORD OMNISLASH PWNAGE
Yuffie being a f*cking Ninja!
Fenrir - I WANT ONE
Cloud's multi-sword-sword - I WANT ONE OF THESE TOO
Black Mages J.E.N.O.V.A rearrangement
The motorcycle fight scene. I could almost hear Cloud saying "Tch.. amateurs.. I already done this sh*t"
And Aerial Battles. Seriously.. can everybody fly or was this just Crouching tiger Hidden dragon type stuff?

I. Harth. This movie.

Matt Cruea

09-15-2005, 06:53 AM

I'm still not certain that Cloud was using Omnislash against Sephiroth. It looked like either something entirely new or maybe a version of Cherry Blossom from FFT.

Chris Nagy

09-15-2005, 06:57 AM

Yeah, that was no omnislash. As an aside, if they had ported my saved game to do the whole Advent Children thing, Cloud would have been screwed. I sold all the weaker swords as I came across the better ones unless they had double growth or special abilities.

TamTu

09-15-2005, 08:27 AM

I'm gonna be pissed if you guys who're dubbing clips don't hold auditons.

Because no one scouts me anymore, and I want in.

Hasn't anyone told you you're my Cid?

I'm not dubbing until I get my hands on the OST. I want my dubs to be as authentic as possible ^_^

Okay, that's a lie. I'm waiting for lines for two clips >D

TamTu

09-15-2005, 08:31 AM

I double post because I'm posting a Last Order review here ;3

Animation: Awesome. It's a very big contrast after watching ADVENT CHILDREN on loop last night, but being an animé fan I really enjoyed LO's animation. The fight sequences are of the same caliber as the ones in AC, though not as spectacular since it's still just animated. And I guess the moves will not be as spectacular when you play Crisis Core either Oh well. I personally liked the designs for Tifa and Sephiroth the most.

Voice Acting - Same voice actors as in AC, although Tifa certainly sounds younger, and Sephiroth and Zack both have more spoken lines, as well as Tseng, having a narrative role in the beginning of the OVA. As can be expected, the acting was two thumbs up.

Music - There are two arrangements of existing FF7 tracks in LO as far as I remember, those being Tifa's theme and the Turks Theme. The other tracks go well with the OVA, being somewhat slanted to a more rock-ish kind of background music.

Story - Nicely done and at the same time "What the hell?". It was to be expected that a lot of things would've been changed when involving the BEFORE CRISIS storyline into this one. All in all, it's a very good take on the Nibelheim story, though possibly a bit confusing. I'll go through the OVA, scene-by-scene, hopefully clearing things up a bit. Spoiler tagged, since there are a couple of changes in the story.

It starts off with Tseng opening a dossier about the Nibelheim incident. As he narrates Shin-Ra and the Turks are chasing after Zack and Cloud. We then Nibelheim on fire, Sephiroth attacking a villager and then Tifa going after Sephiroth after talking to Zangan.

It switches back to the pursuit of Zack and Cloud. We get a great idea of what a 1st Class SOLDIER is capable up.

Tseng continues looking into the Nibelheim dossier, thus taking us back to Nibelheim on fire where Zack and a Shin-Ra grunt arrive (which we all know is Cloud, don't we?). They are updated on the situation by Zangan and head for the Mako Reactor.

Back to present time where the chases goes on and on and on.

The Nibelheim story continues. Tifa finds her father and Sephiroth's sword in the ground before the Mako Reactor. She grabs the sword, enters the reactor and finds Sephiroth. Her effort is futile. The legendary Sephiroth is no match for her. After she is struck down she yearns for Cloud, wanting him to save her as they promised.

And the chase continues. Zack beats up a few Shin-Ra grunts and rides off on his bike with Cloud.

Back to Nibelheim. Zack finds Tifa on the floor, and he enters the Jenova room where he finds Sephiroth speaking to Jenova. A spectacular battle ensues, but we all know the outcome. (although there's more talking during this fight, so there's more plot explanation going on). After being thrown out the Jenova room, Sephiroth is stabbed by the Shin-Ra grunt, it's revealed that he is Cloud. Thinking Sephiroth is dead, Cloud rushes back to Tifa and carries her to somewhere safe.

Now comes my biggest nitpick of the OVA. The end is DIFFERENT (as could be seen in the Crisis Core trailer). Cloud runs up to Sephiroth,is stabbed, then thrown down the stairs while Sephiroth walks off the stairs. And then Cloud is stabbed AGAIN...does the speech we know from the game and throws Sephiroth into.....a wall. He collapses with the sword still impaling his body. Sephiroth looks Cloud into the eyes, sees a mako reaction and realizes it's coming from Jenova's head. He mumbles something about the Promised Land and does the most stupid thing ever >.>....he leaps into the Lifestream.

Zangan carries Tifa out of the reactor, while Hojo and other Shin-Ra employees gather the surviving people for experiments. The scene switches to Tseng and the Turks, being sent out on a mission. We then see Zack and Cloud sitting in the yellow pick-up truck taking them to Midgar where the classic scene is shown. A new touch however, is that they're targetted by a Turks helicopter. Zack notices this and grabs Cloud, jumping out of the truck. I suppose this is where the chase begins since the screen goes black and Zack yells "Cloud, run!!" and we hear a gunshot.

Insert credits roll.

Last Order score: 7/10, simply because of the way the of the Nibelheim incident ended, and the confusing switches during the first half of the OVA.

tofu

09-15-2005, 01:18 PM

TamTu

09-15-2005, 01:20 PM

Course, still a bit peeved at people downloading... but what can ya do? XD

Well. I'm sure that 90% of the people that downloaded it will buy the DVD too. I know I'm gonna >D

I pre-ordered the OST? <3

tofu

09-15-2005, 01:22 PM

Well. I'm sure that 90% of the people that downloaded it will buy the DVD too. I know I'm gonna >D

I pre-ordered the OST? <3

Yeah, that's true.. so.. PEOPLE BRING ME MONEY..

*cough*

Ha ha ha.. I mean, buy it for your own entertainment.. Heh.

Chris Nagy

09-15-2005, 03:16 PM

So all in all, you guys ARE satisfied right?? Was it worth the wait??

Yes yes, I understand that the plot was a sometimes a bit weak, etc..., but judging from the comments you guys made you enjoyed the graphics a lot. Which is good too.

Course, still a bit peeved at people downloading... but what can ya do? XD

Anyways, to all of you who've watched and enjoyed it, thank you on behalf of SE. I hope it was worth the wait for you guys.

Completely dissatisfied. Hated it. Definitely not buying it, and I definitely do not have a white envelope marked Advent Children on my bookshelf tucked into page 50 of the FFVII Complete Walkthrough that has not been collecting money for an eventual purchase that I won't make. I'm definitely not going to EBX this weekend to preorder it, either.

Matt Cruea

09-15-2005, 04:07 PM

Hasn't anyone told you you're my Cid?

I'm not dubbing until I get my hands on the OST. I want my dubs to be as authentic as possible ^_^

Okay, that's a lie. I'm waiting for lines for two clips >D

But I wanna audition for Reeeennnooo... : P

Matt Cruea

09-15-2005, 04:08 PM

And yeah, I'm definitely buying the DVD, if only to see the dubbed version.

Velvy

09-15-2005, 06:00 PM

Still buying it, and I'm *pretty* satisfied with it... except... The lack of Aeris (jeeez, all the way at the end, and so *brief!*) is unsatisfying. I hope she appears in other titles in the Compilation or I'm going to be feeling very ripped off as an Aeris fan at the end of these titles.

Oh, and I'm dubbing a few scenes, only because I want to continue my SHM series.

Matt Cruea

09-15-2005, 06:03 PM

While I liked Aerith a lot as well (and Joe will back me up there, too), she is, ya know, kinda dead.

Joe

09-15-2005, 06:07 PM

Alright, well the subbed version of Last Order did come out last night. Unfortunately, the subbing was not released as a seperate downloadable file meaning that those of us who had already downloaded the raw get to DL it all over again...

I'll post thoughts on it in a bit, too busy for this moment.

Velvy

09-15-2005, 06:10 PM

While I liked Aerith a lot as well (and Joe will back me up there, too), she is, ya know, kinda dead.

Nevertheless, after seeing CG'd Aeris it definitely left me wanting more. She ought to be in CC, since that was during her time and it's about Zack. But now I'm somewhat skeptical if she'll even appear in *that* for very long. It's bad enough she was cut out of discs two and three.

Matt Cruea

09-15-2005, 06:15 PM

Well, ya know, she was kinda dead. : P

I'd still like to see a remake of FFVII.

Velvy

09-15-2005, 06:21 PM

Well, ya know, she was kinda dead. : P

Yeah. *One of those offended fans Nomura refers to when he talks about Aeris's death*

I'd still like to see a remake of FFVII.

Same here.

Joe

09-15-2005, 07:21 PM

Thoughts on Last Order:

I'm just going to do this in a pros v. cons format as TamTu already summed up this familiar story no less, it was only 20 mins.

Pros:
- More cool fight scenes. Not as much flying but it was still unique.
- Presentation was great. I personally enjoyed the constant switches between the Nibelheim incident and Zack/Cloud's escape. Most of us already know this story so presenting it in the way it was in the game would have just been dull.
- Zack's death was better. Three soldiers just walking up to him and shooting him on a mountain? That was pretty lame...This was more believable though I wish we could have seen Cloud's reaction as that was a great scene in the game.

Cons:
- Sephiroth's death was excrutiatingly weak. It was much more chilling to watch Cloud throw Sephiroth to his death than this crap.
- Where was Rufus? As far as I recall, Rufus headed the Turks over Tseng. I know it wasn't 100% necessary to show him, but if you're going to show all those accessory Turks from BC you could at least mention him...
- Tseng seemed really out of character in this. What was the deal with his compassion for his fellow man? What happened to the Aerith slapping, die-for-my-job Tseng I remember?

Overall I thought that they did a good job with this OVA. The animation was solid. Nothing spectacular but it got the job done effectively so no complaints. It was also cool to see familiar scenes and still be able to quote them after all this time.

Katie

09-18-2005, 05:44 AM

After LOTS of problems while trying to obtain the movie, I finally got to see it earlier today. I absofreakinglutely loved it. Of course. Because it was awesome. As a loser who has not even played FF7, I'm glad to know that I was just as confused about the SHM as those who've completed the game. Bwuhaha. And since everyone has covered over and over and over what was awesome about the movie (and I agree with all of it), I shall now point out what I found to be odd (aside from obvious plot holes and lack of character development).

In the trailers for AC, I'm sure you all noticed how the movie REALLY got you pumped up, and was very cool. While they did this in a few scenes in the movie, some of the scenes, MUSIC-wise just didn't get me pumped up enough (sorry to go all RealUltimatePower on you guys)... like, they could been way more awesome with the music if they'd chosen to. Feel free to disagree. And keep in mind that I'm not talking abotu EVERY action scene, just a few.

Did anyone notice the total lack of blood? Cloud got cut like... ONCE. And you only saw a little bit of blood on Sephiroth's sword when he yanks it out and puts it in the wall. Sure, Cloud got... shot, or whatever, but again. No blood. Are we sure the Japanese made this movie??? Maybe I've been watching too much blood-happy Bleach, I don't know, but I was expecting SOMEONE to feel some major pain after all those sword fights. BECAUSE PAIN IS SEXY, OK?!? ;D

Runai

09-18-2005, 12:43 PM

Nosce

09-18-2005, 01:30 PM

Brilliant.

I've enevr completed FFVII, but I've read up on the backstory and been in long dicussions about it with my FF nerd freinds.

Personally it's the best thing since sliced bread. Aweosme visuals and movement, tremendous music and overall, just brilliant. I haven't had as much fun watchinf fight scenes since first watching the Burly Brawl.

Chris Nagy

09-18-2005, 02:13 PM

Hehe, I kind of agree about the Getting Pumped (tm). I mean, I was still awestruck by the whole film, and I love Nobuo Uematsu just as much as the next fanchild, but the music really did kind of understate a couple of scenes!

It really was a lovely film though. I didn't realise Reno and Rude were supposed to be so goofy ^^

They weren't in the game. Well, Reno was a bit, but he always struck me as the wild-child type. I'd expect having their asses handed to them and eventually losing in the game (they were lovable bad-guys, but still bad-guys) has forced them to lighten up. In the FF7 character art, for example, Rude was clean shaven and only had one earring in each ear. Now his left ear is an armory and he has that stubble thing going.

Plus, they wouldn't be half as goofy if they were on the same level as Loz and Yazoo (or whatever the hell their names are,) but then, if they were that powerful there would be no point in having new antagonists.

Matt Cruea

09-18-2005, 02:54 PM

You guys talking about the music not matching the fights... you're referring to Tifa vs. Loz, right?

Erica

09-18-2005, 02:59 PM

But I wanna audition for Reeeennnooo... : P

I'll have you know I'm doing some scenes with Reno. Just have to get some things situated first =p

Chris Nagy

09-18-2005, 05:13 PM

You guys talking about the music not matching the fights... you're referring to Tifa vs. Loz, right?

I felt that was some of the best music in the movie.

Full Metal Miku

09-18-2005, 05:30 PM

I felt that was some of the best music in the movie.

Agreed. If only for the sole fact that it made me squee like a fanboy.

Also, the JENOVA remix for the Kadaj/Cloud fight was pretty kick-ass.

Katie

09-18-2005, 05:42 PM

You guys talking about the music not matching the fights... you're referring to Tifa vs. Loz, right?

Yes, that's one of them. I'm just not crazy about piano accompaniment for fight scenes. But I'm also talking about several of the bike fight scenes and a few others.

Nosce

09-18-2005, 06:13 PM

Agreed. If only for the sole fact that it made me squee like a fanboy.

Also, the JENOVA remix for the Kadaj/Cloud fight was pretty kick-ass.

I love the soundtrack. It's like 'FF7's Greatest Hits' or something. :D

Katie

09-18-2005, 06:27 PM

I'll have you know I'm doing some scenes...

P.S. *SEE ICON* :D:D:D

Velvy

09-19-2005, 05:16 AM

I felt that was some of the best music in the movie.

Agreed. Though the accompaniment was not what I expected for that scene. The small intermission during the fight where Tifa's back is to us and her hair is blowing, I felt the piano there was a nice touch, kinda reminded me of a Hayao Miyazaki moment.

Matt Cruea

09-19-2005, 06:50 AM

I liked that piano piece a whole helluva lot, actually.

But I'm mainly posting to make note of how this thread has knocked the "Advent Children Delayed" thread down a peg or two.

I guess we all caved and downloaded it, huh?

Kairi Li

09-19-2005, 03:11 PM

To Aerith fans:

You do know she appears at the end credits song too right? That's 2 shots of her full face for ya, more than I expected.

Hideki

09-19-2005, 06:49 PM

you know...i LIKED the movie.......but i didn't LOVE it...... sorry, but without an aeris revival, it'll never get a perfect score.

Velvy

09-19-2005, 08:35 PM

To Aerith fans:

You do know she appears at the end credits song too right? That's 2 shots of her full face for ya, more than I expected.

Wow. Two very brief (and that's an understatement) shots of her face. Gee, I feel satisfied. I mean, you can't compare to the other characters and then say to me as an Aerith fan that what I got is enough. Dead or not, it doesn't wipe the slate clean. I would *like* to see more CG'd Aerith.

The gratuitous amounts of Kadaj, Rufus and Tifa made up for the lack of Aerith.

Matt Cruea

09-19-2005, 08:41 PM

The only way we should EVER get more CG Aerith is in a remake of the game. I don't want to see her otherwise. She's dead and works better that way.

Chris Nagy

09-19-2005, 08:44 PM

I really, really didn't like Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj. Was it just me or were those three practically devoid of personality?

Matt Cruea

09-19-2005, 08:45 PM

Finally got around to watching Last Order.

Man, FUCK the way they took all the coolness out of the Sephiroth/Cloud battle! GOD.

Amon

09-19-2005, 09:58 PM

I haven't read through every gripe etc here so by all means let me know if these have been covered. F**k it I'll just list my selected pro's and cons:

Pros

Cloud vs Sephiroth (standing on side of collapsing building bit, YASS)
Cait Sith riding on Red XIII's back
Battle Theme done on piano
The intro! Post-credits bit of FVII remix
Vincents Spawn-Like cape
Clouds expensive new sword

Cons

Half-assed plot
Barret being a clumsy twat who needs saved about 4 times
Vincents appearance? what the hell?...
Background devoid bad guys who cry randomly
How did cloud get to the forgotten capital!?!?!?

TamTu

09-19-2005, 10:34 PM

Finally got around to watching Last Order.

Man, FUCK the way they took all the coolness out of the Sephiroth/Cloud battle! GOD.

I AGREE with this. Wholeheartedly

Velvy

09-20-2005, 12:46 AM

The only way we should EVER get more CG Aerith is in a remake of the game. I don't want to see her otherwise. She's dead and works better that way.

WTF?! She works better when she's DEAD? I preferred her when she was alive. The lack of Aerith works better when she's dead is what you mean right? Honestly, they could have shown more Aerith during the bonus ending. I want a damn remake.

As for Last Order.... .... Don't even start with me on that butchery.

I really, really didn't like Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj. Was it just me or were those three practically devoid of personality?

Yazoo was. Loz at least conveyed pretty childish responses. Kadaj was the most childish of them all, and contained a sense of intimidation (or at least the skills of such) and a sense of agony. He *was* a child, and according to Nomura we were meant to see love through the eyes of Kadaj. ...Not so sure about that, but I disagree with the notion that he is void of personality. Yazoo and Loz though? Yeah, no one really gives a damn about them except excited fangirls.

Chris Nagy

09-20-2005, 12:54 AM

Velvy

09-20-2005, 01:01 AM

Personally, I felt Loz came the closest to being an actual character, so it doesn't surprise me that he was my favorite of the three, despite his crappy piston-weapon. Kadaj seemed far too busy being "Sephiroth's little brother," a marrionette, a cocoon, a vessel for his royal badness to be anything resembling his own person

That's precisely why I feel he has the most personality (the fact that I and others felt compassion over his vessel like status). His desperation and childishness is what sets him apart from Sephiroth IMO, and the little humanity he showed at his death. Also, I'm amused at the flambuoyant way he walks. XD To each his own though.

As for the whole Aerith thing-- I really, really like Aerith, but ressurrecting her would cheapen her death scene from the game and the role of her self-sacrifice. She needed more flashback time is what she needed.

Ohh I'm not saying ressurection. It would be pitiful of them to succumb to that. I agree about flashback time (although I'm told the Limited Edition includes more "bonus material" of FFVII, including Aerith). Nifty if that's indeed true.

Chris Nagy

09-20-2005, 01:14 AM

That's precisely why I feel he has the most personality (the fact that I and others felt compassion over his vessel like status). His desperation and childishness is what sets him apart from Sephiroth IMO, and the little humanity he showed at his death. Also, I'm amused at the flambuoyant way he walks. XD To each his own though.
I did feel compassion for him up until he basically admitted that he was being willfully used. At first I considered him a passionate but misguided character who obviously didn't get the memo about how Jenova uses people like tools. Then he hinted that he would become Sephiroth, then he sort of stated it, and the feeling changed to "Wow, how much of a person can you be that you are willingly subverting your own identity?" I guess in illiciting that much of a response, though, the character did what it was supposed to.

Ohh I'm not saying ressurection. It would be pitiful of them to succumb to that. I agree about flashback time (although I'm told the Limited Edition includes more "bonus material" of FFVII, including Aerith). Nifty if that's indeed true.
At this point they could make some continued revenue just by spending some time on an Aerith/Zack project, with assorted other characters (the Turks, maybe low-level Cloud, etc.) I am refusing to reference Last Order, which was re-crap from the game, with a stupid ending.

Xzelion

09-20-2005, 01:19 AM

I agree.

But, seriously, what were the silver haired guys? They're SO fanfiction characters. No explanation at all.
I say they were experiments by rufus or shinra made from jenova's head and some sephirtoh cells. By rufus father before he got killed by sephirtoh and were secretely locked away but the again who the hell knows.

Matt Cruea

09-20-2005, 03:34 AM

WTF?! She works better when she's DEAD? I preferred her when she was alive. The lack of Aerith works better when she's dead is what you mean right? Honestly, they could have shown more Aerith during the bonus ending. I want a damn remake.

Aerith was a powerful character, however if she hadn't died she would mean much less to all of us. It's like Gwen Stacy or something. Much more useful dead.

That being said, if they'd overloaded us with Aerith scenes, I would've been unhappy. It would've been fanservice (well, MORE fanservice). What we got was perfect. She's a memory, and very good one, to Cloud.

And the ending to Last Order was awesome. The way Zack went out was much cooler than in the game.

It's the way SEPHIROTH went out that was lame. Cloud is supposed to have thrown him off. ARGH.

Holy Crap!

09-20-2005, 05:24 AM

http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/7429/banana25db2sh.gif

geez this picture is giving me a hard time!

Joe

09-20-2005, 05:33 AM

I think we can all agree that that was pretty much the greatest scene in AC.

Kairi Li

09-20-2005, 10:17 AM

My beautiful Advent Pieces limited boxset has FINALLY arrived... And its so huge...

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/FF7AClimitedboxset/LimitedBox.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/FF7AClimitedboxset/Boxopen.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/FF7AClimitedboxset/FF7gamewithbox.jpg

Yes, the PS1 FF7 Game comes with frames, defintly a collector's item, so I dont think Ill be playing this version, will play the copy Tamtu send to me instead on an emulator!

More photos here!

http://photobucket.com/albums/a371/FF7AClimitedboxset/

Chrnogirl

09-20-2005, 01:43 PM

That looks SOOO cool Kairi *fumes in jeaslousy* XD

Anyway, I finally saw Last Order yesterday (friend sent it to me on Sunday) It was good. I was kinda dissapointed that Cloud didn't really do anything but look like a sulking angsty kid until the end, but Zack made up for the lack of coolness on Clouds part. I had never known who that guys was (It's been years since I've played the game, so if Zack was in there in one of Clouds flashbacks or something I honestly don't remember him.) When I saw the turks I got soooo excited. I'm tempted to cosplay as a Turk for the next con. All I need is a buisness suit XD Turks=Awesome. I do wish Zack hadn't died, but then Cloud wouldn't have his kick ass sword, now would he? XD Overall very nicely done. (Sephiroth looked hoott and so did Zack, so my bishonen meter was spinning XD) I loved the fast paced fightscenes. (Of course they can't top AC's ones, but for an animation, it was good)

Kairi Li

09-20-2005, 02:49 PM

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/kairi_li/extraDVD.jpg

I've ripped a short 4 mins clip from the making of feature, found only in the Limited box set extra features, its the interviews with the VAs, also shows some recording sessions.

http://rapidshare.de/files/5322182/FF7AC_Actors_interview.wmv.html

8 megs, scroll down and click FREE button, wait for download ticket, then click link to start download.

The Extra DVD contains the Venice Film Festival cut of the film, and watching it shows how much more development was made between then and now. Some shots are different, angles varied, lots of shots naturally were not done yet, and the end of it was like a exteneded trailer than a movie. Some shots had different lighting EG the shot where clouds stans on his sword and debris is about to fall on him? instead of a dark sky, we can see the sun set and its a more warm lighting than the final film. Another example would be the shot where RedXIII attackes Bahamut, Cait Sith was not on him in the Venice cut.This special cut has both stereo and 5.1 surround.

The other is one that many of us would love to watch and understand, the making of. It interviews Nomura, the animators, producers, Nobuo Uemastu, and even a tattoist who designed the tattoos that appear in the film, particulary Barrett's. The VA's are interviewed and you can see it in the above clip.

Another extra is called Bonus tracks, its really a bunch of deleted or unused animation. Example with shots of Vincent and Barrett we saw in the early trailers that didnt make into the final cut, some dialouge, angles and shots were cut as well. Most of the lighting and shading were done, unlike Pixar's deleted animation where it was cut before any lighting or shading was added.

and finally we get to see ALL the trailers ever released, including ones that were exclusive, didnt watch them since i got the bloody movie now.

BAD NEWS FOR THOSE SAVING UP FOR THE BOX SET!

Its virtually sold out in tonnes of online retails, Play Asia has now offically sold out the boxsets, CDjapan sold out long ago, good chance that you have to get it off ebay for a higer price...

Velvy

09-21-2005, 07:14 PM

BAD NEWS FOR THOSE SAVING UP FOR THE BOX SET!

Its virtually sold out in tonnes of online retails, Play Asia has now offically sold out the boxsets, CDjapan sold out long ago, good chance that you have to get it off ebay for a higer price...

*Fumes* I am really beginning to despise Square-Enix USA if only because they're "not sure" if there's ever going to be an English special edition. So I may just buy this off Ebay (at a ridiculously high price of course).

Is there a cd of remade scenes that comes with the Limited Edition? If so, how is that?

Chinomi

09-22-2005, 05:33 AM

xD;;;
I take it I'm the only one who laughed through the entire movie? xD;;;

Amon

09-22-2005, 08:20 PM

HELP! anyone know where i can download (course im going to buy it at some point!) the AC version of one winged angel, seems impossible to find the version with the guitar etc on it. I MUST HAVE IT NNNNOW it f**king rocks. kisses x

Xzelion

09-22-2005, 08:34 PM

Sukisho

09-22-2005, 09:02 PM

Kairi Li

09-24-2005, 05:52 AM

http://whitney.is-a-geek.net/Whitney_Advent_Children_Lies.zip

Here's a parody subtitle file, appretly is pretty dame funny.

"Rufus... ...dude, you totally died."
"No, you see, I'm fine--"
"There were explosions!"
"I ducked."
"That's RETARDED."

SirGaryColeman

09-25-2005, 08:39 AM

Finally watched this... I had the divx, but I was waiting until my full, uncompressed rip with 5.1ch audio finished.

Anyway, what a let down. :(

Eye Candy - 10
Music - 7
Plot - 0

Overall - 5.5

I really do not see the need for this movie. I will watch the original version that came on the 2nd DVD that's only like 30minutes long to see if it fairs better in a nice short dose... I'm guessing it probably should have stayed 30minutes too. If this movie didn't feature FF characters (it really didnt need to, since it was devoid of a plot anyway), I'm willing to bet most people would have thought it wasn't very good... but the fanbois rejoice.

If they were going to be so lazy on the plot ideas what they SHOULD have done was just re-tell the story from the game... It really is starting to seem like FF7 was the last thing Square could do right and they seem to be realizing this too, since they've started going back to ff7 and milking it for all its worth.

Oh yeah and the fight scenes were fucking brilliant... good job on that, but that's about it.

Amanda

09-25-2005, 02:08 PM

You know, The only bad thing I've heard about this movie is the plot...

Since I've never actually played FF7, I was worried it would confuse me if I watched the movie without playing, but now I guess I can still enjoy the movie? lol

Hawkeye_GGK

09-25-2005, 02:31 PM

It makes me incredibly sad that everyone bashes the movies plot because they don't get it. There's absurb amounts of plot and character development where needed and who needs it. You people are honestly just disappointed because you had it hyped to be the greatest thing since Sliced Jesus and it wasn't.

Yes, the animation was fantastic. Yes, the fight scenes were beyond compare. Yes, there was a great plot if you sit back back, watch it and think back to some of the points made about Sephiroth's origin in the game.

Is it the best movie ever made? Of course not. However, you people really need to give it the credit it's due here. It's more than fight scenes and stuff blowing up. It's a story about how one man's soul must always seek fulfillment and how "Good" and "Evil" are always in balance, never being gone from the hearts and minds of humans.

Rating:

7-8 of 10

Henageshi

09-25-2005, 04:37 PM

Just watched it this morning.

I really really enjoyed this movie. The music is great, animation fantastic, action scenes amazing. I had to look some information up just in case I'd get confused (because I never really finished the game) but I understood all of it anyways, so that was good.

Rating:
8.5 out of 10

Matt Cruea

09-25-2005, 04:49 PM

Amanda

09-25-2005, 05:06 PM

And how are people watching this? lol, it's not out on DVD yet, is it?

Chris Nagy

09-25-2005, 05:35 PM

It makes me incredibly sad that everyone bashes the movies plot because they don't get it. There's absurb amounts of plot and character development where needed and who needs it. You people are honestly just disappointed because you had it hyped to be the greatest thing since Sliced Jesus and it wasn't.
Then you are the person to answer my burning questions. What's the story with Yazoo and Loz? For that matter, what are the details with Kadaj? If Sephiroth is essentially a soul, and Kadaj is a spirit, did a soul possess a spirit? How does that work? What was Jenova's aim in all this? Was Jenova an active player behind the scenes or are her cells just being used as a plot device? Has Aerith essentially become Mother Earth? How did Rufus survive? Why did it seem like Rufus was very familiar with Kadaj and company? Those are all of the not-really-addressed plot issues I can think of off the top of my head.

SirGaryColeman

09-25-2005, 06:26 PM

Chris Nagy

09-25-2005, 06:34 PM

Those tricky bastards! Hiding the answers in the credits, much like they hid the alot of the original details in Jewish Mysticism. You, sir, deserve recognition both for your amazing abilities to decode plot facts out of names and titles and the immense sadness you feel for the rest of us, myself especially. *Tagged*

Brad Tajiri

09-26-2005, 12:01 AM

Hawkeye_GGK

09-26-2005, 01:52 AM

Then you are the person to answer my burning questions. What's the story with Yazoo and Loz? For that matter, what are the details with Kadaj? If Sephiroth is essentially a soul, and Kadaj is a spirit, did a soul possess a spirit? How does that work? What was Jenova's aim in all this? Was Jenova an active player behind the scenes or are her cells just being used as a plot device? Has Aerith essentially become Mother Earth? How did Rufus survive? Why did it seem like Rufus was very familiar with Kadaj and company? Those are all of the not-really-addressed plot issues I can think of off the top of my head.1. There is no story with Loz, Yazoo or Kadaj. They aren't real people. They're merely accumilated bits of Sephiroth/Jenova come to form. They are there to show how Jenova cannot die and will forever remain a part of existence. "With good, there must always be evil."

2. Kadaj isn't a spirit. He's basically a piece of Sephiroth/Jenova's soul. He's just a collective conciousness that took form when Geostigma began appearing. Geostigma is "Memories" of Jenova and Sephiroth, so Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo are just concentrated forms of those "Memories." They are basically the same thing as Materia, hence why they can form with it.

3. Jenova herself is irrelevant. She's a physical form to an ideal. Namely, Evil. It's not about whether she's trying to destroy the planet or whether she's bringing Sephiroth back for revenge. It's the perputual struggle in physical form so as to give people a visual reference tp a moral. She's just a means to portray and addage.

4. Aerith is part of the Life Stream. Whenever someone dies, they became part of the planet. They explained that in FFVII, as well as Final Fantasy: Spirits Within. It's the same idea in both instances where there is basically a life to all things and all things are part of the same life. That's why she can never truly be gone. She, and everyone else on the planet, are from the same Life Stream.

5. Rufus...Well, that's just a REALLY bad plot-hole. One of two I noticed in the movie. I'll just explain it as my girlfriend did:

"He was hiding behind his special titanium desk!"

6. Rufus backstabbed Kadaj when it came to finding the pieces of Jenova. They explained that when he was in the office and Kadaj says that Rufus "Tricked/Lied" to them about things. Rufus did what he always does and used Kadaj to get at the piece so that Kadaj couldn't have it. It was also part of the misdirection as to where the piece eventually found a home.

That's the basic that I got just from watching the movie the first time through.

Chris Nagy

09-26-2005, 03:46 AM

1. There is no story with Loz, Yazoo or Kadaj. They aren't real people. They're merely accumilated bits of Sephiroth/Jenova come to form. They are there to show how Jenova cannot die and will forever remain a part of existence. "With good, there must always be evil."

2. Kadaj isn't a spirit. He's basically a piece of Sephiroth/Jenova's soul. He's just a collective conciousness that took form when Geostigma began appearing. Geostigma is "Memories" of Jenova and Sephiroth, so Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo are just concentrated forms of those "Memories." They are basically the same thing as Materia, hence why they can form with it.
It's only been two years since the end of the game, so apparently Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj sprung fully grown from... what? The Lifestream? They obviously aren't soley made up of Jenova/Sephiroth; Jenova's taint on the world was cleansed at the end and yet those three (assumedly, but Kadaj for sure) were re-accepted into the Lifestream. This means that there was more to them than just being a recreation of Sephiroth and Jenova. Furthermore, why were they ordered the way there were? Why was it Kadaj's gang? Yazoo looked a hell of a lot more like Sephiroth, yet aside from his and Loz's occasional comments about "Mother" there is no indication that they shared the same sort of 'manifest destiny' that their youngest sibling showed.

3. Jenova herself is irrelevant. She's a physical form to an ideal. Namely, Evil. It's not about whether she's trying to destroy the planet or whether she's bringing Sephiroth back for revenge. It's the perputual struggle in physical form so as to give people a visual reference tp a moral. She's just a means to portray and addage.
The irrelevance of Jenova is not something that can be proved that easily. This ties back to Yazoo, Loz, and Kadaj's story. Where they created on purpose? By accident? Kadaj says that he is a marrionette, implying that Jenova has an active role in what is happening, or at the very least set the stage in advance, yet Sephiroth seems to allude that she is dead, with his proclaimations of using the world as a vessel like his mother before him.

4. Aerith is part of the Life Stream. Whenever someone dies, they became part of the planet. They explained that in FFVII, as well as Final Fantasy: Spirits Within. It's the same idea in both instances where there is basically a life to all things and all things are part of the same life. That's why she can never truly be gone. She, and everyone else on the planet, are from the same Life Stream.
That doesn't really answer the question, though. Yes, she is part of the Life Stream, and yes that means that she'll never truly be gone. Why exactly is it that she can heal and ressurrect from beyond the grave? This is perhaps the more easily answered of the plot questions, since the abilities of the Cetra were never truly explained. As the last of the Cetra, she could very well be playing the role of Mother Earth manifest.

6. Rufus backstabbed Kadaj when it came to finding the pieces of Jenova. They explained that when he was in the office and Kadaj says that Rufus "Tricked/Lied" to them about things. Rufus did what he always does and used Kadaj to get at the piece so that Kadaj couldn't have it. It was also part of the misdirection as to where the piece eventually found a home.

The beginning denies this. The Turks were caught by surprise, and Reno managed to escape with Jenova's head. Assuming Rufus, and Shinra, has no ties with Kadaj and crew before the movie, this can be explained rather mundanely; they caught and tortured Tseng and Elena, and found out how to get in contact with Rufus. Rufus told them that Cloud had Jenova's head, probably hoping that the ex-Soldier would leave their corpses baking in the sun, and things progressed from there. A rather boring explaination, though.

Hawkeye_GGK

09-26-2005, 02:40 PM

It's only been two years since the end of the game, so apparently Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj sprung fully grown from... what? The Lifestream? They obviously aren't soley made up of Jenova/Sephiroth; Jenova's taint on the world was cleansed at the end and yet those three (assumedly, but Kadaj for sure) were re-accepted into the Lifestream. This means that there was more to them than just being a recreation of Sephiroth and Jenova. Furthermore, why were they ordered the way there were? Why was it Kadaj's gang? Yazoo looked a hell of a lot more like Sephiroth, yet aside from his and Loz's occasional comments about "Mother" there is no indication that they shared the same sort of 'manifest destiny' that their youngest sibling showed.They are concentrated forms of Geostigma/Sepiroth. They explained that throughout the movie by referencing them as "A body of thoughts." They explained why they referenced them as such when Vincent explained about Geostigma and that it was the remnants of Jenova and Sephiroth, mainly that it was essentially their essence. They DID spring from next to nothing and that's why they stayed away from developing them as characters. They had no backstory and they wanted to make it apparent.

Kadaj is the closest to a full embodiment of Sephiroth and that's why he's the "Leader" of the gang. You could see that in the flashes revealed to Rufus when Kadaj kneeled before him.

The irrelevance of Jenova is not something that can be proved that easily. This ties back to Yazoo, Loz, and Kadaj's story. Where they created on purpose? By accident? Kadaj says that he is a marrionette, implying that Jenova has an active role in what is happening, or at the very least set the stage in advance, yet Sephiroth seems to allude that she is dead, with his proclaimations of using the world as a vessel like his mother before him.Jenova is the embodiement of an ideal. Namely, evil. The whole story is the triumph of good over evil and have there must forever remain a balance. They talk about how Sephiroth and Jenova can never truly be destroyed during the battle and even in Cloud and Sephiroth's little banter at the end about "Staying quietly in my memories" and Sephiroth rebuting this with, "I will never become a mere memory." Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo are simply pawns of evil, being embodiments of this evil created by Geostigma themselves. Mother is telling them what to do because they are made up of her.

That doesn't really answer the question, though. Yes, she is part of the Life Stream, and yes that means that she'll never truly be gone. Why exactly is it that she can heal and ressurrect from beyond the grave? This is perhaps the more easily answered of the plot questions, since the abilities of the Cetra were never truly explained. As the last of the Cetra, she could very well be playing the role of Mother Earth manifest.Sure, the Cetra thing would make sense as well. I see it as more the fact that, because she is a Cetra, she fused with the Life Stream in ways no other can and that she shares a bond with it no other can (Seen by her summoning Holy in FFVII). Cloud was going to die and become part of the Life Stream again. For someone who can control the Life Stream, it would make sense that she could simply redirect his soul back to life and out of the Life Stream.

The beginning denies this. The Turks were caught by surprise, and Reno managed to escape with Jenova's head. Assuming Rufus, and Shinra, has no ties with Kadaj and crew before the movie, this can be explained rather mundanely; they caught and tortured Tseng and Elena, and found out how to get in contact with Rufus. Rufus told them that Cloud had Jenova's head, probably hoping that the ex-Soldier would leave their corpses baking in the sun, and things progressed from there. A rather boring explaination, though.Rufus made Reno and Rude leave the room to speak with Kadaj because he began talking about the backstabbing which occurred. This shows me that Rufus had plan in the works to obtain the neck one way or another, whether it be by manipulating Kadaj or sing The Turks to get it. Then he would have Cloud secure the package so as to keep it away from them.

Matt Cruea

09-26-2005, 05:12 PM

You're really, really stretching.

Chris Nagy

09-26-2005, 10:09 PM

They are concentrated forms of Geostigma/Sepiroth. They explained that throughout the movie by referencing them as "A body of thoughts." They explained why they referenced them as such when Vincent explained about Geostigma and that it was the remnants of Jenova and Sephiroth, mainly that it was essentially their essence. They DID spring from next to nothing and that's why they stayed away from developing them as characters. They had no backstory and they wanted to make it apparent.
That's a whole lot of conjecture. For one thing, Kadaj doesn't know Sephiroth, and he mistakes Aerith for his Mother (or originally mistook Jenova for his mother.) That hardly supports being a "body of thoughts," as one would assume that at least on an instinctual level Kadaj could tell the difference between what he was supposed to destroy and what birthed him. The two most plausible explainations are that the emerged as spirits from the Life Stream with some of Jenova's cells, but the more likely explaination is that they were part of the Sephiroth cloning projects. This would explain the whole Reunion thing, and the reason that Kadaj calls Cloud "Brother" even after Cloud loses his geostigma. Further supporting this is the line "I am a marrionette, just like the old you." I know this line of thought contradicts my previous belief that Rufus does not have an affiliation with them, but I'll get to that in a second.

Kadaj is the closest to a full embodiment of Sephiroth and that's why he's the "Leader" of the gang. You could see that in the flashes revealed to Rufus when Kadaj kneeled before him.
More conjecture. Vincent calls Kadaj a sort of larval Sephiroth, but there are no details beyond that and absolutely no details concerning Yazoo and Loz. One could just as easily say that Kadaj earned his spot at the head by being the most powerful.

Jenova is the embodiement of an ideal. Namely, evil. The whole story is the triumph of good over evil and have there must forever remain a balance. They talk about how Sephiroth and Jenova can never truly be destroyed during the battle and even in Cloud and Sephiroth's little banter at the end about "Staying quietly in my memories" and Sephiroth rebuting this with, "I will never become a mere memory." Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo are simply pawns of evil, being embodiments of this evil created by Geostigma themselves. Mother is telling them what to do because they are made up of her.
All of your analysis isn't answering the question of whether or not Jenova played an active part in this. The Devil is the embodiment of evil, but some people think he has a hand in the affairs of mortal men. Again, there are points that seem to indicate that she is involved, and there are points to indicate that she is dead and merely a plot device. Furthermore, Mother isn't telling them what to do; beyond reunion, they have no idea what is supposed to happen.

Sure, the Cetra thing would make sense as well. I see it as more the fact that, because she is a Cetra, she fused with the Life Stream in ways no other can and that she shares a bond with it no other can (Seen by her summoning Holy in FFVII). Cloud was going to die and become part of the Life Stream again. For someone who can control the Life Stream, it would make sense that she could simply redirect his soul back to life and out of the Life Stream.
More conjecture, but I have to say I like the idea of Aerith being "the One" less than anything I've heard thusfar.

Rufus made Reno and Rude leave the room to speak with Kadaj because he began talking about the backstabbing which occurred. This shows me that Rufus had plan in the works to obtain the neck one way or another, whether it be by manipulating Kadaj or sing The Turks to get it. Then he would have Cloud secure the package so as to keep it away from them.
Are we talking about the same movie? Reno and Rude were laying on the ground, having been beaten to hell. The only scene where Rufus and Kadaj are alone makes no reference to backstabbing at all. Anyway, the very first point, where I said that they could be products of the Sephiroth clones, seems to refute my last belief that Rufus was not affiliated with Kadaj and crew prior to the incident at Northern Crater, but Rufus had only taken control of Shinra Company briefly before it was destroyed, so he did not necessarily have to know them beforehand even if they were produced by Shinra.

I like this movie as much as the next person, but saying Advent Children had a well thought out plot that one can draw definite conclusions from is something that is insupportable.

hideko_dahlia

09-26-2005, 10:39 PM

Best. Subtitles. Ever.
I'm gonna give these subs to my roommate (to whom I swore I would translate FF7AC for...) and see if she figures it out. XD And then I'll actually translate it for her.

Speaking of translations, does anyone have the *actual* translation, fan dome or not? Otherwise I'll just do it myself.... *sigh*

Kairi Li

09-27-2005, 06:29 AM

I have a sub file of a fansub, email me for it

Brad Tajiri

09-29-2005, 01:12 AM

Got the soundtrack and damn does it rock. :)

Shiokemuri

09-30-2005, 04:42 PM

Got the soundtrack and damn does it rock. :)

yes, yes it does... :luv

Zankoku no Yami

09-30-2005, 08:39 PM

Ah, one of my all time favorite movies ever ^^

I want the soundtrack!!! T.T the music rocked so much better than it did in the game!! MUST HAVE!!!!

Kat Avery

10-01-2005, 01:05 AM

Ohmahgawd. :O

Saw it yesterday after buying a DVD for about 5 bucks. Not a bad deal. :B I reather liked the movie, though having not finished FF7, I found a few parts confusing (I commented on one scene seeming as if Cloud was on crack) nor did I get a scene transitions, like the ones where Cloud and Tifa are in the room with Reno and Rude, and then suddenly Cloud is on his motorcycle heading off to fight Kadaj and his crew, and you see the scenes jumping back and forth.

But maybe I'm just slow. :O

I really liked Tifa and Kadaj's VAs, btw. Tifa's fit her perfectly ( and reminded me SO MUCH of Nikki Wright. XD ) And Kadaj's VA was a wonderful actor. I really, really liked his performace.

.. I <3 Denzel. Omgsocute.

Lesse. The only character I really couldn't stand here was Yazoo. He just seemed like a waste of talent on the creator's part, seeing as he did little to nothing to contribute to the plot other than stand there and look like a girl.

Fangirl/Funny moments: Seeing Rufus and the Turks, Loz's Cellphone Ring, Reno and Rude (all the time. XD), Seeing the cuteness that is Denzel, CIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDD. And Marlene x Vincent's Cape. XD SO CUTE

Oh. And you're looking at BVP's Denzel. *pose* I'm so happy TamTu casted me! :O *wanted that part SO bad and randomly got cast as it and wtf yeah.*

Hmm.. the lack of blood was a bit of a disappointment, yes, but it didn't bug me THAT much. :B

I wanna see Last Order now, Dammit.