Mena Suvari Movie:

		List Price: $14.94		Label: Sony Pictures Salesrank: 13241 Released: April 25, 2006
		Our Price: $8.38
		Used Price: $6.40
		MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: UMD for PSP

Editorial Review:
FINAL FANTASY VII: Advent Children continues the game’s storyline in this CG-animated film, featuring non-stop action and exciting visual effects. Two years have passed since the ruins of Midgar stand as a testament to the sacrifices made in order to bring peace. However, the world will soon face a new menace. A mysterious illness is spreading fast. Old enemies are astir. And Cloud (Burton), who walked away from the life of a hero to live in solitude, must step forward yet again...

Backed by a full team of video game extraordinaires, the film was directed by Tetsuya Nomura and Takeshi Nozue, written by Kazushige Nojima and produced by Shinji Hashimoto and Yoshinori Kitase.

Description of Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children [UMD for PSP]:
The question facing any viewer of the Japanese CG feature Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is: do you have to know the games on which it’s based in order to understand the film? And the answer is: it certainly helps. But even complete novices (i.e., most parents) in the Final Fantasy world will find some entertainment in its wealth of fantasy-based action, and the animation never fails to astonish. Picking up two years after an epic battle between the forces of good (represented by brooding soldier Cloud) and evil (Cloud’s former general, Sephiroth), FFVII opens in the devastated city of Midgard, whose youthful occupants suffer from a ghastly disease known as Geostigma. A trio of brothers arrives with what appears to be a cure for the plague, but their gesture conceals a more sinister purpose: to revive Sephiroth and bring about the end of the world. Cloud and his companions must once again rise to the occasion to stop the siblings and the revived Sephiroth from unleashing total destruction. Complex and self-referential to the point of occasional incomprehension, Final Fantasy VII will definitely be most appreciated by fans of the game series, but if others can look past the numbing dialogue and frenetic action (which is a bit too intense for very young children), the film offers a carefree and action-packed viewing experience. The two-disc set contains the original Japanese language version of the film as well as an English-dubbed edition (Rachel Leigh Cook and Christy Carlson Romano, among others, provide the vocal talent) and a version edited for the Venice Film Festival. A 30-minute featurette that recaps the Final Fantasy story up to VII, as well as a making-of documentary, deleted scenes, and promotions for future Final Fantasy VII games and products round out the extras. --Paul Gaita

Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children [UMD for PSP] Reviews:
Advent Children Complete-ly awesome
2009-12-13 - Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is first and foremost, an action movie. Many of the scenes are simply incredible, and they only look better in Blu-ray. However, if you haven't played the original game--Final Fantasy VII for PSX, or Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII for PSP--you will not understand any level of the story. I must say, the first time I watched this--before I got the game on PSN--I had no idea what was going on, I just knew it looked terrific. For you die hard FF7 fans, you SHOULD get this. It is the sequel to the original FF7 and is worth watching at least once to conjure up all of those good memories of playing FF7.

For all of you who haven't played the game, as I said earlier, you won't get what's happening. And, if you are one of these people, you probably should not buy it until after playing FF7, or Crisis Core.

In the end, I absolutely loved it, mostly because of the connections I had with the characters--specifically Cloud and Vincent. There are also some special features, but not nearly as many as they make it sound. If I remember correctly, there were around 5 special features, including the Final Fantasy XIII preview that gives some more insight into the upcoming game. So buy it if you love the characters and incredible action fliks, but get FF7 and crisis core first.

Great movie
2009-12-03 - This blu-ray version has more footage than the DVD version. Watching it in HD is so much better and clearer. The ending gave me a complete surprise because there is a different battle with Sephiroth.

final fantasy 7 advent children review
2009-11-15 - this is a amazing movie with so beautiful graphique, event wall disney can't do better.

NO ZACK ANIMATED FILM!
2009-11-06 - I have seen this movie like a 1000 times, it is beautifully made, if not a bit confusing plot wise (I have played the game like 1000 times too, so my confusion is not for lack of understanding of the FFVII universe)

But this is not what this review is about. I am reviewing the BluRay and lack of respect to us fans. I got the BluRay today and was VERY disappointed to find out the Zack animated short is not included AGAIN! I thought this thing would have EVERYTHING. If Transformers' 2 BluRay can have 6 hours of special features... well. Instead we only get the new Danzel short and a disappointingly short list of the same stuff we got on the DVD... no Zack short though, to me this feels like an excuse to squeeze more money out of us.

I previously bough the two disc DVD, in which of course, since there was a SPECIAL "Limited Edition Collector Set" whatever they call it, edition coming out at some point (which sold/sales for $49.99) wasn't included either. It was only reserved for those who forked out the cash. I thought, that by now, SquareEnix know that they got just about all they can from the DVD sales, so they should have included BOTH shorts in the BluRay plus whatever other incredible footage and revised scenes they claim to have, is not lack of space (neither was on the DVD) is just pure disregard for the fans who follow them even though they are the KINGS of delays and overrated hype. It disappoints me to see whoever decides what was to be included in the special features (or not), holding out on us fans like this. What, are they going to release a BluRay special edition with some fancy cover and charge $100 bucks for it just to get a 20 minute short film!? Do they really expect us to buy every release they put out there? I Guess I should just buy the most expensive one and shut up, but that is not the point.

I rate this a 3 because the movie is enjoyable and you do get the 1080p HD experience, but that's it, there is hardly any new special features, so there is very litle point to buy it if you have the DVD. I say save your money, or buy another BluRay you don't have...like Transformers 2 lol.



Now It's a Movie
2009-11-04 - I kept track of the evolution of this movie. At first it was just going to be some 45 minute OAV, then what i call a Disney-length movie (about 72 minutes), and I never took it seriously as a movie. I thought it was just a sad attempt at making money off the fans. Then they extended it out to a full-length movie, and i got excited. I saw it. It was a fun ride, but it kinda left me dazed and confused. I knew the story of FF7 (though i had never finished the game), at least enough to know what was going on in general, but this story seemed like an excuse for the action that took up more than half the movie. It was rushed, the whole movie looked very gray and depressing, the transitions were very rough, and a bunch of other small nitpicky things annoyed me. I think i gave the original cut 5 stars at the time, but in retrospect, it was more of a 4. High marks for the animation being far beyond what we get in America for direct-to-DVD, and for the action being so wonderfully insane that it made my eyes tired.

This release deals with the big issue that kept the original cut from being a real movie and not just a movie for FF7 fans. The story. They really fleshed it out, and instead of trying to pick up where the game left off and continue that story, the additions have served to finally give this its own story (and one that fits the title much better). And like any decent movie based on a story told in another media (Serenity), you don't have to know what happened before, but there are obviously things that will be more significant to those that do, but mostly in a nostalgic sense. The pacing is also a lot better, so it doesn't feel so rushed.

They've added more than just talking though. Many of the action sequences have been extended and revamped, including the final duel (which definitely pushes this above the PG-13 rating of the original cut). There are a few more location shots here and there which are easy to miss, but help with the pacing. And this cut seemed more colorful. It's still pretty gray, but things like Cloud's shirt looking blue, and Vincent's cape now being bright red seemed to pop out at me. It also seems like the characters actually look beaten, bruised, and dirty during the fights, and i don't remember it being done quite so obviously before.

The only thing that bugged me about this is that it's only on Blu-Ray (i just got a PS3, so i finally got to see this) and that you can tell how old some of the sequences are (early in the movie's development, after they decided to do a full-length movie, new footage for Complete). But that's because they've been working on this for so long. I noticed that in the original cut. But unless you're as visually picky as me, it won't bug you too much.

So with all the additions, big and small, and even with it's shortcomings, Advent Children is finally a real movie to me. And it now earns a full 5 stars from me beyond all doubt.