[General Discussion] FFVII Compilation Thread

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Wheelchair Guy (play along): Wally Wingert

This was one of the first VA’s listed, but now he’s confirmed. I only know him as Maximo, but I think he’ll do fine.

He was also Almighty Tallest Red in Invader Zim. Which makes the image of him voicing [Wheelchair Guy] strangely funny to me.

The lack of Last Order annoys me, so I'm still debating whether or not to buy this when it comes out in North America. But chances are I will eventually. Even though I'm more in love with the parody subtitles than the real move, heh.

I HIGHLY recommend watching the movie with the parody subs, by the way. I showed the parody subbed version to a group of friends, and even the ones that had never played FF7 were nearly in tears from laughter. I liked the subs so much that I spent three days learning how to hardsub them into the movie so I could burn it off on DVD for a bunch of people. Marlene's voiceover ALONE is priceless, and that's even before you get to Barret's new accent, Vincent pimping Dirge of Cerberus, the knitting jokes... Though you might never be able to watch a certain battle scene the same way again. X)

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Simo

* 1.5 hours of bonus footage, including interviews with primary voicing talent: Mena Suvari, Steve Burton, and Rachael Leigh Cook.

* Special trailers for:
- Ringers: Lord of the Fans
- Stargate: Atlantis
- Underworld: Evolution

* 4-color Final Fantasy Label on disc.

* Disc enclosed in a see-through jewel case!

So essentially the special features are:
* Interviews that should have been a special feature anyway, considering we left out Last Order!
* Ads for shit you don't care about!
* HOLY FUCKING SHIT PACKAGING!!!!!!!!!!!

Geez. This is as bad as those DVDs that still list "interactive menus" as a special feature.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Simo

Keep in mind those are the features on the bonus DVD not the actual special features on the 2nd disc, though they're nothing much either.

I know. Which makes it even sadder, since the regular two-disc version is kinda lacking in special features to begin with. No Last Order. No commentary. No apparent contribution to make up for the lack of such things. Whatever took the least possible effort to fill two discs, I suppose. Now they throw in an exclusive-pre-order-only bonus DVD, and what does it have? A few interviews that should be on the regular DVD set anyway, and a bunch of damn ads. Geez.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by a lurker

Last Order was stupid anyway.

But it has the one scene where Cloud does something cool and thus his one lone, shining moment of NOT SUCKING. Everything after that in the timeline is him and his boring angst, and him deciding that the best way to deal with his emotional pain is to be an asshole to everyone. So for me, Last Order gets points for the sheer fact that it contains that one brief moment where Cloud isn't an utter tool whom I wish would die a painful death.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Hantei

Scottish Cait Sith, eh? I didn't expect that, I was actually expecting a cartoony voice. Can't wait to see how it works out.

Makes sense.

My friend is more well versed with the Japanese version of things than I am, and she tells me that Cait Sith has the Japanese equivalent of a hick's southern twang, while Reeve himself is pretty much the opposite (polite, well-spoken, etc). Make of that what you will.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Tascar

What is wrong is trying to convince yourself and others that such a film is great. The hordes of people who are convinced that this film is great and will go to lengths to prove it just convince me that most FF fans have been so desperate that they have lost their ability to recognize bad shit when they see it.

The parody subtitled version of the opening voice-over is pretty apt in that regard, heh.

Spoiler:

Final Fantasy 7...

You didn't really understand it in 1996. And you're too distracted by fancy graphics to remember the plot now.

Wasn't there some company called Shinra? And maybe they were using the Lifestream to make taffy? Factories full of delicious strands of fresh-pulled saltwater taffy...

No, it couldn't have been about taffy, that's ridiculous. Millions of people wouldn't have bought a game about taffy. It must have been something meaningful, deep, and incredibly profound. Definitely, definitely, not about taffy. Maybe there was a meteor that was going to destroy the world? And maybe a robot chick named Jenova?

Oh, wait, this was the game with Sephiroth, the prettiest girl in Nibelheim. He had a lot of mommy issues and was sad, but because LiveJournal didn't exist yet, he had to kill a lot of things instead of writing poetry.

It's all coming back now, isn't it? The long hours you spent leveling up, the phallic imagery... The time you wasted getting Vincent and Yuffie... How you told your friends that you cried when Aeris died. How they laughed, oh how they laughed.

And then one day... A fated day... After seventy hours of leveling up, of trying to beat Emerald and Ruby Weapon, of racing and breeding Chocobos, you finally beat the game.

And, god damn it, the ending made no sense.

Now it must finally be time to clear things up, right? They wouldn't screw you after all this time, right?

Unfortunately for you, they spent the budget on graphics and got the script from Fanfiction.Net. Buckle in, tiger.

DENZEL: Hey, Marlene? Is this going to make any sense?

MARLENE: Oh, no. Oh, good god, no.

Anyway, at this point you can't really draw a comparison between FF7 and Star Wars/Star Trek. Both of the latter have had ongoing franchise stuff for decades, non-stop, from movies to books to TV shows to comics to toys to everything else under the sun. AC's a direct-to-DVD sequel to a video game from ten years ago. You just can't expect everyone to immediately have the same kind of cynical criticism that exists around things like Star Trek when it releases something sub-par. Give it time and you'll probably start to see it more.

In addition to that, it seems like you have the same problem as the other person I chatted with about this: the fanboys. The ones that scream the movie's praises and absolutely refuse to recognise its flaws or tolerate any criticism.

Maybe you're letting them get to you a bit too much. ;) AC is all about lots of pretty characters, familiar music, impossible fight scenes, and nice graphics. It's meant to make people nostalgic for the 70 hours they spent levelling up to beat Ruby Weapon and raising inbred chocobos. As painfully weak as it was in terms of plot, character development, and a lot of other things... It did that. You said it yourself: enjoying something on any of those levels isn't a crime. If people enjoy the movie, that's fine. If that just doesn't cut it for others, that's fine. If some people actually did like the plot, that's fine too. To each their own. But if a few people are obsessed with the movie and viciously scream its praises while utterly ignoring its flaws and biting the head off anyone who says anything negative about it... Well, that's teh intarwebs for you. There's people like that in every fandom. Just roll your eyes and move on.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by WolfDemon

I downloaded the movie again so I could watch it with those parody subs, but I can't get them working. Anyone know how?

The easiest way is to put the sub file in the same folder as the movie file and give them both the same name. (For example, AdventChildren.avi and AdventChildren.srt/AdventChildren.ssa.) Then when you open the file in most media players, it will automatically pick up the subs. There's two different formats for the subtitle file up on the site, so if one doesn't work for you, just try the other.

The other way is to load it manually: search your video playing programme for an option to open subtitles. In BSPlayer you just load up the movie file, right-click and select "load subtitles", then find the file and load it. Look around a bit in your media programme and see if it has that option. If it doesn't, get one that does. VLC should work.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

IGN has video interviews with some of the english cast. I'm not looking for fear of any possible spoilers, or most likely these will be the same interviews found in that bonus third disc (when is that being distributed anyway?).

http://media.dvd.ign.com/media/761/761530/vids_1.html

I just finished watching all of them. Don't worry, there's not one single thing that could possibly constitute a spoilers. Or even any real content. :P It's mostly IGN plugging itself. Surprise surprise.

If you want some cheap amusement, open the interview with Cloud or Loz's VAs, close your eyes, and imagine it's Cloud/Loz doing the interview. Worth a few chuckles if you're bored enough. Otherwise, just skip the things entirely. Not because of spoilers, just because they're boring.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Motsy

IGN should seriously be banned from the internet; those videos were downright embarrassing.

Tell me about it. I feel dumber for having watched them.

Not that IGN is a bastion of journalistic integrity on the best of days, but... Geez. When you're interviewing VAs, why don't you ask them about the damn movie and their work on it rather than babbling and grilling them on their favourite TV show? For fuck's sake.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Freddy Krueger

From what I have heard from previews most voices are good, of course not ALL of them can be but I like Cloud's, Kadaj's, and Tifa's havent heard any others yet.

I watched the dub yesterday, thanks to the magic of teh intarwebs. Honestly, most of the main character voices were decent. Some better than others, some exceptionally good, one or two exceptionally bad, but generally hovering around "okay." No replacement for subtitles, IMO, but not ear-bleedingly bad by any means. It's mostly the unsynched lip movements that are distracting. As well as a few exceptionally dumb lines that are more the writers' faults than the VAs'. Tifa's VA was actually good, but even she couldn't make the "dilly dally" line sound not-stupid.

Don't see why everyone is ragging on Aeris' VA, though. She's a tad passive-sounding, but I didn't think she was all that bad. Vincent's VA bugged me far, far more than Aeris' did.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

I watched it.

My thoughts?

Spoiler:

That about says it.

Better yet...

Spoiler:

AM I RITE? :O

Quote:

Okay, I suppose I have ONE question.

Spoiler:

So....since when was Tseng uh...NOT dead?

His "death" was a mis-translation. Or so I hear. Someone else can probably tell you for sure.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Spoiler:

I'm also a bit surprised how much punishment she can take. Loz slammed her face into a podium, then smacked her a few times with that weapon of his, which could pierce concrete.

It's probably a fruitless effort to look for realism in a movie where basic physics are given a miss (hey, gravity's just a suggestion, not a rule), battles involve no blood unless it's dramatic, and characters magically gain the ability to fly for the final battle.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Well, if you take a look at the "Distance" feature, they state outright that they weren't concerned with physics, and just wanted to let loose.

Hence why worrying about realism is a fruitless effort, whether it's physics or how much punishment the characters can take before they have to get injured for dramatic effect or plot purposes.

Incidentally, I'm surprised that people seem to like Vincent's dub VA. Waaaaay too gravelly for my taste.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Magi

Spoiler:

The term, from some other translation on Chinese Website I visited in there is a passage that Vincent called Kadaj the "thoughts", "memories" and "body" ( 思念體 ) of Sephiroth. Of course, putting those three word together is actually suggesting that they are a type of spirit body that are formed through the memory and thought of either Jenova or Sephiroth, but not actually a real spirit. Not sure if that make sense.

Spoiler:

The way I hear it, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz are basically the remains of Sephiroth split between three different people. Loz has his butch toughness and some of his weepy mama's boy personality, Yazoo has his cold attitude (and I dunno, his hair or something, maybe :P), and Kadaj has his leadership ability, the bulk of his fighting skills, and the most intense version of his mommy issues. Something like that, anyway. I remember seeing something about how the moviemakers were originally going to have the three of them combine to form Seph at the end, but it was dropped early on because it seemed too hokey and silly.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Maria Gorokhova

What irked me about FF7:AC was the lack of actual storyline. Aside from the overly-dramatic fight scenes, there was no real plot development or character development. I would have expected to see more of Cid, Red XIII, Yuffie, etc.

I suppose they figured it just wouldn't be FF7 unless Cloud's annoying +2 SULLEN EMO BOY angst overshadowed all the other, much more interesting characters.

If you can ignore the fanfiction.net plot and lack of decent character development, pretty graphics and nostalgia can get you though at least one viewing the movie. The right subtitles can make it good for multiple viewings, especially if you're a bit jaded about it. If you can accept it for what it is -- pretty fanservice with no substance -- you'll do fine. I doubt it was trying to be any more than that. Unfortunately. It's just as well to make peace with that, turn your brain off, and be marginally content with watching pretty CGed people beat the crap out of each other for an hour and a half.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Matt

Ah, those.
I love that part where Cid made his first appearance and said "Whiskey and handjobs for all my men!"

Good stuff.

"For I am Cid Highwind, Lord of the Skies!"

I've shown the parody version to two different groups of people, and Cloud's "Current mood: sad." moment seemed to get the biggest laugh both times. That and "BUREAUCRACY!!!!"

The parody version has utterly spoiled me, though. So much that I can barely watch the real version any more, because it just seems so damn boring in comparison. When I watched the dub, I kept half-expecting Vincent to start pimping Dirge of Cerberus ("DIRGE."), or for the dramatic final battle to happen against a discussion of hair care products, knitting, and plans to have coffee. Far more entertaining than the REAL plot, heh.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Oh, all's well then. Any word about the voice acting? I'm certain Steven Blum will reprise his role

Oh sweet zombie Jesus, I hope not. Blum's Vincent voice was bad enough in Advent Children, and unless he miraculously improved between that and DoC, it'd be painful to have to listen to him for an entire game.

I hear DoC's plot's is just as reminiscent of bad fanfiction as Advent Children's. Hell, I have a soft spot for Vincent, so I'll probably cave in to my chained-up inner fangirl juuuuust a bit and play the damn thing regardless. But if I have to sit through a bad plot, I'd much rather sit through a bad plot with good voice acting. Here's hoping for an option for Japanese dialogue and subtitles in the NA version. Otherwise I'm going to be mighty inclined get a Japanese copy, track down a script translation, and play that instead.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Leknaat

Thank God. I thought I was the only one who didn't like Blum's voice for Vincent....As much as I like Blum, I really hated this.

It's been a few weeks since I watched the dub, but I remember thinking that Blum wasn't too bad on the actual delivery and synching of the lines. Some of the other VAs did a worse job on that. But to me he's probably the worst voice in the movie just because doesn't fit. The Japanese VA's voice is very smooth and calm. Blum just sounds like he smokes too much, and ends up sounding really inappropriate and atrocious.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Leknaat

I agree with you. Blum is great at this sort of thing, it's just the way he did the voice that bothered me. Like you said, the Japanese VA voice was smooth and calm--and, isn't that how you "heard" Vincent's voice when you played the game? They tried to make him sound tough, but it was all wrong.

Exactly. Decent delivery, horrible choice of voice style. Sephiroth's dub VA might have done a decent Vincent. Or at least someone with a similar tone. Anything but a gravelly chainsmoker voice that's trying way, way too hard to sound tough and badass. Ugh.

Oh, and your sig image comes from here (specifically here). Some of the pictures and animations on the site are actually quite well done and kinda funny, if often a bit...flamboyant. Okay, gay. Endearingly/amusingly so. X) Some of the 2D parody images make me nostalgic for FF6.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.