Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Sony has released the 2001 digitally animated film 'Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within' to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/HDR video and Dolby Atmos audio. The UHD disc contains no extras, but the bundled Blu-ray, which is identical to the 2007 release, brings over all of the legacy Blu-ray extras.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Sony brings Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within to the UHD format with a new 2160p/HDR UHD presentation. The film, which was released in 2001, betrays its age both on UHD but far more so on the Blu-ray, that latter format revealing the rough computer artwork (at least compared to today's crisp and photorealistic computer renders...it's truly amazing how far technology has come in the past 20 years). Still, despite lacking the fluidity and absolute clarity that define today's behemoth digital constructs, there's no mistaking that this film still looks good, generally, and the UHD brings out the best of its offerings. It reveals excellent detailing to skin textures, well beyond the Blu-ray's ability. Some of the advanced graphic look worlds and away better, almost like as if it were some remastered video game where old, less optimized images are here rendered with far more care and precision. Look at a shot at the 21:14 mark showing some holographic elements. The newfound clarity and stability are amazing, bordering on transformative for crispness and accuracy. In all areas the UHD brings far more organic life out of the image, well beyond the Blu-ray, greatly stabilizing the picture, greatly enhancing clarity, and giving the film a more modern looking edge. Yes, the source limitations remain, but this is no doubt far closer to optimal than the now 14-year-old Blu-ray. It's a fairly striking upgrade overall. A few problem areas do remain, including some banding and shimmering, which appear to stem from the source rather than encode side. However, these are rendered far less intrusive on this disc than on the Blu-ray.

In terms of the HDR grading, one of the most obvious improvements is seen from the outset: the white title only seconds into the film has been transformed to a silky-smooth, high luminance, pure-as-snow white in what is a beautiful transformation to a more solidly expressive and true shade. On the flip side, blacks are deeper, more pure, and more absorbing, which in some instances can be a good thing; look at a shot at the 21:08 mark. The Blu-ray shows some serious banding artifacts in the background. These are still present to some degree on the UHD, but are more absorbed by the deeper blacks; they appear almost hidden, as it were. Overall, colors appear fuller and more brilliant, even through the movie's relatively dark color spectrum parameters. Everything is rendered more richly, including the somewhat ethereal phantoms that have overrun Earth. Though the film is fairly dark overall, with even brighter shots favoring something of an amber shading, the ends reach near peak efficiency and all of the brighter midrange colors, whether blue graphics or red lasers, dazzle with more tonal authority and pump compared to the Blu-ray. This is a surprisingly rich and well worthwhile UHD that breathes brand new life into an aging film.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within features a brand-new Dolby Atmos soundtrack. That track is not what one would label as intense or in full commitment to pelting the top end with sound. Rather, it's a nice step forward from the legacy LPCM track for clarity, depth, and engagement, particularly as it takes advantage of the surround-back channels. Essential definition is strong across the board, including music and action elements, though the latter occasionally lacks that serious punch and vigor, favoring a little more timidity rather than raw power. Music does play with impressive width and balanced surround extension while maintaining excellent definition to every note in the score. Atmospherics are nicely integrated though often take a backseat to the bigger musical and action components. However, they are well positioned and integrated as necessary. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized. It plays from a natural front-center location. While not as dynamic or as much of a serious upgrade as the video, this is a very good complimentary track that fans should enjoy.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within's UHD disc contains no extras, but the bundled Blu-ray, which is identical to the disc Sony released in 2007, contains all of the extras listed below (please click here for full coverage). A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover. On a side note, the Blu-ray is not fun to navigate. It's slow and the special features subtitle commentary listings don't make sense on the menu screen, i.e. it's difficult to understand what they are.

• Subtitle Commentary Tracks:
  • Co-Director and Crew. In English.
  • Animation Director, Staging Director and Editor. In French.
  • Co-Director and Crew. In French.
  • Interactive Commentary Linkout: In French.
• Audio Commentary: Animation Director, Staging Director and Editor.
• Audio Commentary: Co-Director and Crew.
• Aki's Dream Reconstruction
• On the Set with Aki
• Compositing Builds
• Joke Outtakes
• Matte Art Explorations
• Original Opening
• The Gray Project
• Interactive Documentary: The Making of Final Fantasy
• Character Profiles
• Vehicle Scale Comparisons
• Trailer Explorations

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sony has done remarkable work in bringing new life to this film. The 2160p/HDR visuals are a delight, greatly upgrading the picture from the aged Blu-ray. The audio is good, too, not quite the significant boost as the video but a nicely complimentary presentation. Supplements are numerous but the Blu-ray on which they appear is a bit hard to navigate. Recommended.