[General Discussion] FFVII Compilation Thread

Originally Posted by Matt

"SEE WHAT YOU MISSED, FIND OUT THE TRUTH BEHIND CLOUD'S CRAZY PAST!! COMING THIS JULY ONLY TO DVD!"

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

You could get that answer spending half that much in the actual game....

I'm amused you completely miss the satire.

So is there still no actual proper confirmation about whether the DVD will include the original Japanese audio? It should be a given, but then Square hasn't exactly been using the most rational logic in their actions, so I'm still worried.

The amount of contradictory info is bothersome. The AC website (at least I'm assuming it's the official website) states that April 24th has been confirmed as the European launch date and also a simultaneous release for Europe, US and I guess Australia unless S-E forgets them again. Considering everyone's been talking about 25th being the US release, this is puzzling. Also, while the news is listed on the site's front page, no one's bothered to update the DVD info, which still states TBA for Europe =/

Either way, at least we know they won't just skip Europe this time. Not that I'm not hesitant about the purchase already. The extras are a joke, but at least the alleged preorder bonus disc won't have anything of interest on it so that's a small comfort. Still, no Last Order (not that I really personally liked it, but leaving it out is just stupid), apparently no director's commentary and there don't seem to be any informative documentaries either (a featurette doesn't count and I couldn't care less what the localization team want to gush about). So all you have left is the movie alone which, while entertaining, certainly won't be worth the €29.90 I know they'll be asking for here. I'll just have to wait and see if the picture quality is outstanding or just decent before I make my choice.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Quote:

I'm amused you completely miss the satire.

I didn't. I just wasn't that amused.

I'm pretty sure they've already confirmed that it will have english and japanese audio.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Qwarky

The amount of contradictory info is bothersome. The AC website (at least I'm assuming it's the official website) states that April 24th has been confirmed as the European launch date and also a simultaneous release for Europe, US and I guess Australia unless S-E forgets them again. Considering everyone's been talking about 25th being the US release, this is puzzling. Also, while the news is listed on the site's front page, no one's bothered to update the DVD info, which still states TBA for Europe =/

I wonder if the time difference has anything to do with that? We're roughly 12 hours ahead of the US, roughly 4 hours behind the UK. So roughly 16-20 hours difference between the US and Europe may account for Europe seemingly getting it sooner.

Or maybe they just fucked up the release date for Europe. Maybe they screwed Europe? I wouldn't be surprised.....


:doh:

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by hikarub

I wonder if the time difference has anything to do with that? We're roughly 12 hours ahead of the US, roughly 4 hours behind the UK. So roughly 16-20 hours difference between the US and Europe may account for Europe seemingly getting it sooner.

Or maybe they just fucked up the release date for Europe. Maybe they screwed Europe? I wouldn't be surprised.....


:doh:

They tend not to take time difference into consideration. And a simultaneous release usually means "24th in the US, 8th next month for Europe) or something similar

Anyway, http://www.adventchildren.net/ is obviously not an official site, but Sony Pictures UK really does list it with concrete info on a Japanese audio track and deleted scenes among others, so I'm pretty releaved.

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

I thought I'd give some impressions of the VA's heard in Kingdom Hearts II, which will be featured in AC.

Cid: This one is going to stir up a LOT of debate. I always half-joked that they might end up giving one of the characters an accent, but I never expected they would actually do it. Cid now has a Texan accent, as generic as you can imagine it.

Keep in mind this isn't necessarily a bad thing, as they're just trying to create a little diversity with the character, just like when they gave Wakka his semi-jamaican accent. However, I don't know if a Texan accent works for this particular character. I always envisioned Cid as a gruff mechanic type. I don't see any room to include any Texan into him.

" 'Yall sit yer asses down, and drink yer goddamn tea, I tell ya what!"

The voice itself isn't bad, but again, I'm not sure if an accent is the right move or not. You spend 8+ years imaging how these characters would sound in your head, and when you finally get the chance, a controversial change occures.

Aerith: Suvari does not live up to the incredible work Mandy Moore established. She simply sounds too flat and devoid of life, as if she's trying to make Aerith into some soft-spoken type. I should have known she'd fail to grasp the character fully, considering in that MTV interview, all she would talk about was how she loved Aerith's clothes (while, in comparison, Racheal Leigh Cook seemed to have a much better grasp of what makes Tifa's character work. As such, I expect great things from her).

However, the whispy tone could work, considering the context of the movie (Aerith no doubt mostly talking as a ghostly, disembodied voice). Still, losing Moore and having this instead feels like a major blow.

Yuffie: For some odd reason, Christie Romano isn't in KH2, even though she was already confirmed for AC. I have no idea why she would star in one feature but not the other. That said, her replacement does a very good job as Yuffie, but I still favor Romano, who had a bit more subtlety, as well as a hint of Yuffie's trademark smugness. I just hope they decide on a permanent actress afterwards, considering Yuffie's role in DoC.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

How about Steve Burton? I'm going to assume he's doing a top notch job, considering no negatives have been mention on his behalf.


Regarding the AC figures, for those who passed up on the Cloud+Fenrir set, the individual Cloud figure is now available. He's exactly the same as the one packaged in the Cloud+Fenrir set. No AC figure collection is complete without a Cloud! (Bought another one for collection purposes).




There's nowhere I can't reach.

I haven't heard Burton yet, so I can't comment, but I have no doubts he'll do great. I still can't wait to hear more than 3 lines out of him though.

And I really, really can't wait to hear Newborn's take on Sephiroth.

Gah, now I have to decide if the bike is worth shelling out the extra cash, or just settle in with Cloud.

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

Aw man, you gotta tell me how Newbern is (won't be picking up KH2 for a while). I'm dying to hear how he'll present Sephiroth. I'm predicting a much more devious Superman voice.

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

I really hope so. I'm more interested in how he'll handle Sephiroth than Suvari with Aerith. Her role, in the end, is minor after all, so if she still can't do a better job, it won't be too bad. But if they mess up Sephiroth, it will completely ruin the big battle we're all waiting for.

I'm also hoping Cook will do a great Tifa. While like I said, she sounds much more confident about the character than Suvari did, and the clip from MTV was favorable, I worry if she can pull off Tifa while she's fighting. I don't want any girly sounds while she's punching and kicking, she needs to sound aggresive and pissed.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Hantei, does that Cloud figure include a scabbard for the sword or are you just propping it up against the figure stand? Anyways, the figure alone doesn't seem to appeal that much to me. I'm pretty glad then to have been able to get the Cloud + Fenrir set instead.

I STILL want the 6 piece sword though!! Wonder if that will ever make it out for retail?




How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by hikarub

Hantei, does that Cloud figure include a scabbard for the sword or are you just propping it up against the figure stand?

Haha, I used a twist tie. It does give that illusion doesn't it? Heh.

Originally Posted by hikarub

I STILL want the 6 piece sword though!! Wonder if that will ever make it out for retail?

Ahh, one can only dream.

FELIPE NO

This is one of the worst April Fool's jokes ever.

http://www.adventchildren.net/ (top story)

Not only are they not even trying with the fake logo and non-nomura characters, but they advertise that it will be on a cellphone? Why would SE waste another title for the cellphone when they have like 4 major systems they haven't touched?

The worst thing is the fools at ac.net's forums actually believe it.

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

According to Amazon.com the Japanese dub will be included, along with numerous different subtitles. Also, apparently the film will be featured in 2 different formats: Japanese dub with english subtitles, and english dub. Perhaps this means the english dub will have resynced mouth movements?

Quote:

Actors: Steve Burton, Rachael Leigh Cook, Steve Staley (II), Shotaro Morikubo, Toru Ôkawa
Directors: Tetsuya Nomura, Takeshi Nozue
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Studio: Sony Pictures
DVD Release Date: April 25, 2006
Run Time: 101 minutes
DVD Features:
Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Korean, Chinese, Thai
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Japanese (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Disc One
Feature film in two formats: original Japanese language with English subtitles; and dubbed in English
Featurette in English "Reminiscence of "Final Fantasy VII" featurette (story digest of original game)
Disc Two
Sneak peak of upcoming "Final Fantasy VII" games
The Distance: Making-of Featurette
Trailers

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...v=glance&n=130

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Quote:

Advent Children LA Screening a Success!
According to several members of our forums who attended the LA screening of Advent Children, the event was a success. Fans lined up from 8am in the morning just to secure tickets for the event. Several of the voice acting cast was also in attendance along with Tetsuya Nomura. Although it has been reported that the voice acting is not lip-synched, most were impressed with the voices.

Well there you have it. Unless the DVD version is different, the lips won't be resynched. On the upside, it sounds like the dub was stellar, though I wonder if Suvari improves at all.

My excitement is rising again, now that the movie is less than 30 days away, but after reading about the lips remaining the same, I once again wonder that if nothing new was added or altered whatsoever, then why in the hell did it take America so long to get this? Expect a rant from me soon (not sure whether to keep it as a post or a journal).

Quote:

Reunion File and Compilation Scan
A magazine scan featuring an article on the Compilation as well as information on the Reunion File artbook has surfaced on the web. According to the scan, the artbook will contain the following:

- Interviews with Nomura, staff and cast
- Countdown To Reunion, following the film from the start of the project to its Japanese release and international going-ons
- Character File and Story Digest
- Stories from production, and concept images
- Shots from the original pilot film made by Visual Works which lead to AC
- Stuff from the staff and cast about the characters

I'm interested in the pilot images, to see if my theory holds true that "Case of Tifa" was the original movie they had planned, before it ended up being a short story.

Not sure what to make about that Vincent-type character, but I hear BC throws in a few new characters and questions to be addressed in the next compilation.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Bah, that's just bull shit. Seems like such a waste of great performances, when hearing that the dub was stellar. No doubt, it'll seem some what awkward now (like any other dubbed movie/game). So, basically, it means it took them 8 months just to dub the damn thing.

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

The more I think about it, the more upset I get. If they haven't done a single damn thing to the film after 6+ months of delays, then the only other explanation is the rumor about Mandy Moore (as in, they were holding the movie back until she was available). I honestly want to strangle Moore right now, if she's responsible for the delay as well as the hack job replacement.

Even the date pisses me off. It's on the same month as the Silent Hill movie, and I'm still on Kingdom Hearts 2. Even the November date was fine, since there was nothing else to look forward to, but now it's hard to give AC my full attention.

Nothing about this sits right with me, even if the dub and everything else turns out fine. It's not worth the extra waiting and the complete smugness of people who downloaded it early, and now claim that "no one cares anymore". And if they plan to release a Blu Ray edition that DOES have resynched lips and a whole heap of new extras, my rage will know no bounds. Fuck that, I'm not accepting anything else FFVII-related unless it advances the story post-movie.

Or the PS3 remake. Either is fine.

EDIT: After finally meeting Cloud in KH2, and basically getting an FFVII cutscene rendered for PS2, I feel a bit better about the whole AC situation. If I got excited just from that short exchange, then I'm certain I'll forget all of my personal beefs with Square and their delays when the movie arrives.

Yeah, it was that good.

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

well for me the only voice that I really like is Tifa. She really did a good job with her. Cloud was ok but really not enough, but the sound of the voice is quite good for cloud. Oh and I think i'll just put the mute when aeris will be talking >.< Suvari is the worst voice actress I heard... Sephiroth was quite alright, what I found weird is that I think the voice they tooke for Cloud would be better for Sephiroth and the voice of Sephiroth for cloud XD

I was speaking idiomatically.

A few more details from the LA screening (I think I'll refrain from investigating further to avoid spoilers).

Cait Sith has a Scottish accent. I actually support this, as it beats the alternative (a generic cartoonish voice), as well as beating the accent he developed later in the game (country, much more than Cid). Also, if I recall, the spirit of Caith Sith comes from Scottish origin. So it works.

I'm hearing Red will have a British accent too (they must have read all the Sean Connery requests). Not sure if I approve of this, but he only gets one line.

There are no additions or changes whatsoever in the film.

"Zuru Zuru Zuru" (yes, I know what that is) has been changed to "'dilly dally shilly shally'". I can actually imagine the character saying something like that.

Mena Suvari does a better job here than in KH2 (but still isn't good enough).

Sephiroth reportedly sounds like a darker Cloud, to the point that he could probably play him. Intentional? I wonder.

The video and sound quality seems to have the highest definition possible.

While the lips haven't been changed, it's very hard to notice.

It seems to be unanimous that Tifa has the best overall voice, along with Kadaj and Reno.

And that's that.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Am I the only person who is confused as to why people are so anxiously waiting for the Final Fantasy equivalent of Pocahontas II and Bambi II?

I know I went into this film with low enough expectations but I was just so incredibly disappointed by this film that just seems to serve no purpose but to milk some cash out of Final Fantasy fans instead of giving them what they really want, such as a remake of the original Final Fantasy VII, a film version of the original Final Fantasy VII, or a more timely release of Final Fantasy XII.

FELIPE NO

Most fans want to see what happens after the game, too, especially considering the piss-poor ending. You can only take so many iterations of the same story (film, remake, etc) before you desire something new.

And Bambi II was a prequel.

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

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

A few more details from the LA screening (I think I'll refrain from investigating further to avoid spoilers).

Cait Sith has a Scottish accent. I actually support this, as it beats the alternative (a generic cartoonish voice), as well as beating the accent he developed later in the game (country, much more than Cid). Also, if I recall, the spirit of Caith Sith comes from Scottish origin. So it works.

I'm hearing Red will have a British accent too (they must have read all the Sean Connery requests). Not sure if I approve of this, but he only gets one line.

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. Red XIII with a British accent, hmm, I guess it'll work (he seems to have that kind of elegance I guess). Oh and he actually has, like, 3 lines I think (definitely more than 1).

I actually wasn't really expecting characters to accents, but I guess a little diversity is refreshing.

Ahh, can't wait to hear Newbern's Sephiroth performance in AC now. Hopefully a bootleg will pop up in a few days. I'm sure someone managed to sneak in some recording device.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

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.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Heck, I'm still wondering if Cait Sith is a robot, or a living creature? I was always a firm believer of the former, but that is some pretty realistic fur....

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

Animatronics (robots made to look like people, animals, etc.) can look pretty realistic. Just look at the dinosaurs from the Jurassic Park ride and King Kong from the...King Kong ride at Universal studios. I still can't believe they took Kong out for some stupid Mummy roller coaster...

I know it's CG, but you know what I'm getting at.

And how do you get those parody subs working on just the computer? (Don't need to burn it to dvd.)

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

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Most fans want to see what happens after the game, too, especially considering the piss-poor ending. You can only take so many iterations of the same story (film, remake, etc) before you desire something new.

And Bambi II was a prequel.

Obviously you missed the entire point of my statement.

My mention of Bambi II and Pocahontas II was to draw a comparison to the cheaply-made, insultingly-bad sequels to the original films. Technically speaking, any follow-up to a narrative whether or not it takes place chronologically before, after, or during, is a sequel. And incidentally, technically Bambi II would be a "mid-quel" since it takes place in the middle of the original film.

As for the earlier statement.

I agree to an extent that Square Enix should be obligated to show fans what happened after the story of the original. However, having seen Advent Children, I highly question how anyone could be satisfied with Advent Children as the continuing adventures of the FF7 gang. The plot of Advent Children is just utterly silly and ridiculous. Take a look at sequels like X-Men 2, Spider-man 2, The Two Towers, The Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather Part II, and all the sequels that are not only either as good if not better than the original film, but also took the plot and characters into new places. As a sequel, Advent Children doesn't even come close to being able to hold a light to the second Pokemon movie or the latter two Matrix movies.

So I guess that's what bothers me about Advent Children. Yes, I do believe that a great sequel can be made from FF7. But Advent Children isn't it. If Square is going to revisit FF7 and give me the rest of the story, I want them to give me something that matches or surpasses the original in scale, scope, and quality. A truly great sequel is a step forward, not a step backwards. The best part of Advent Children is that opening sequence that replicates the epilogue of FF7. The rest of Advent Children is just a mess that awkwardly tries to tie in visual eyecandy, everyone's favorite character (including ones which were dead and should have remained dead), in an attempt to kiss ass: in short, a collection of FF panty shots.

Now there's nothing wrong with a movie like Advent Children. There are plenty of bad films that I like for silly reasons. There's nothing wrong with enjoying Advent Children for the sheer thrill of seeing the characters you loved on the big screen. There's nothing wrong with liking a bad film just because you are amazed at the special effects.

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. For god sake, at least Star Trek and Star Wars fans have the dignity to admit when their genres are going wrong.

I was disappointed enough to see that Square has now resorted to mining their old games instead of focusing on creating new games. It is important to remember that Square got where it was moving forward, not looking backwards. What disappoints me more is that there are so many fans that are so willing to buy into Square's new direction.

I was speaking idiomatically.