Ming-Na Enthralled by Final Fantasy Movie

By Azad April 24, 2001 6:34 PM

Ming-Na, who is the voice behind Dr. Aki Ross in the upcoming CG flick Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, told SciFi Wire in an interview that it was weird seeing her voice coming out of someone else's photo-realistic animated face. "The first time I saw it, it was very odd," the actress said in an interview. "Because I didn't realize how lifelike it would be. Now that I've seen a little bit more of it, I'm more used to it. But in the very beginning, yes, it was a little disconcerting, actually, yeah."

The Final Fantasy movie is based on the Square videogame series, and the story centers on the heroine Ross. Dr. Ross is a scientist in the year 2065 who is bedeviled by dreams and must figure out a way to thwart an alien threat to Earth. Advance footage of the movie, which screened over the weekend in Los Angeles, reveals animation that approaches reality, complete with human characters that are nearly indistinguishable from the real thing, as well as fantastical alien landscapes, Aliens-like armor and spacecraft and otherworldly monsters.

"Every time I see more of it, I'm more blown away," said Ming-Na, who still hasn't seen the full movie. "And I can't wait. ... They're now in the process of doing the music, with the London Symphony, ... and they're e-mailing me and telling me how fantastic the music is. ... So I'm really excited to see the final product."

Ming-Na, who is also known as the lead voice of Disney's Mulan, added that she was unfamiliar with the venerable game series from which the movie is drawn. "I started playing the game a little bit after I got the part, just for fun, just to see what it was about," she said. But she added that she's not worried about fan reaction to the movie. "No," she said. "When I go into any project, ... I do it because I love the material, or I love the character, or I love the people I'm working with, and I want to have that experience in my life. And if it becomes a big hit, or if it is successful and people profit from it, or people enjoy it tremendously, and it becomes whatever it becomes, then that's a life unto itself. I'm sure [director Hironobu] Sakaguchi-san, because he has such his heart and soul in this project--you know, it's his image, it's his story, his production company--I'm sure if you talk to him, his pressure is definitely different from mine. Mine is just to make sure when I go into the studio, I do a good job, and my pressure is hoping that people will believe in this character, and that's all I have to worry about."

Final Fantasy opens July 11.

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RE: Ming-Na Enthralled by Final Fantasy Movie   reply

Posted by A random shemp (No Email) on April 29, 2001 3:03 PM

i loved final fantasy 8 but not 7

RE: RE: Ming-Na Enthralled by Final Fantasy Movie   reply

Posted by Pumpkin Boy (pumpkin_pie_studios@hotmail.com) on April 30, 2001 9:05 PM

I really got into 7, but, alas, I played myself into a corner and was unable to make it to the end of the game. It was all a little too technical for my gaming tastes. I lean toward games that don't make you fight in turn. I hate that feature.
And as for 8, I refuse to play it until I beat 7. Which probably means it will never happen unless I break out the 'ol Gameshark and cheat like mad.
But why the Heck are we talking about the Games? The movie looks like a wild ride and with the connection of yet another character named "Cid" I see no connection to the games, and I like that. Too many video game movies fall into that rut (for reference, please watch any video game movie). If anybody out there has seen a good video game movie, please let me know. I hate having an uninformed opinion. My email is posted above.

RE: RE: RE: Ming-Na Enthralled by Final Fantasy Movie   reply

Posted by A random shemp (No Email) on May 2, 2001 4:45 AM

Eh... the games look pretty cool, but...

THIS IS FINAL FANTASY!!! Where's the magic!? I didn't see anything I'd call "magic" in the commercials. Every single game has spells, conjurations, junk like that. Where...?

RE: RE: Ming-Na Enthralled by Final Fantasy Movie   reply

Posted by A random shemp (No Email) on June 16, 2001 1:47 AM

final fantasy 7 beat 8 in so many aspects. Music (barely), story (no contest. there were surprises and twists and a villan you didnt meet only at the very end *coughultimeciacough*.) Also the battle system was easier to learn and was much better. The replay value is defintely there so overall ff8 is primitive vs ff7.

RE: RE: RE: Ming-Na Enthralled by Final Fantasy Movie   reply

Posted by A random shemp (No Email) on June 16, 2001 1:49 AM

This isnt final fantasy. This is a movie. I really hope in the future though that Square makes a movie out of ff6-9. ff6 had awesome story perfectely portrayable by a movie. Ff7 was remarkable yet the battle that is the majority of the game might take a bit of time. ff8 however is almost already a movie and just needs graphics.