Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete coming to Blu-ray
(Credit:
Sony Pictures)
In 2005, we got to witness the return of two extremely popular characters in the Final Fantasy franchise--Cloud Strife and Sephiroth--but this time they'd do battle in a movie and not in a game. As of 2006 that movie, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, has sold more than 10.5 million copies worldwide on DVD and UMD. And now it's getting the full Blu-ray treatment.
On June 2, Sony pictures is releasing Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete (director's cut) on Blu-ray. Exclusive to the release will be 26 minutes of additional footage and over 1000 revised scenes, each of which was re-recorded with the original voice cast including Rachel Leigh Cook (Josie and the Pussycats) and Mena Suvari (American Beauty), and a 25-minute original anime short film, telling the story of the character Denzel before the events of Advent Children; a featurette showing a story line digest incorporating related footage from the video games; a documentary on the history of Final Fantasy VII; and a first look at the Final Fantasy XIII video game.
We received an early preview of this upcoming release and it looked beautiful. It was so detailed you could count hair strands and see textures in the clothing. The suggested retail price for this Blu-ray is $38.96, which we found a little high for a rerelease, but Amazon has it for $22.99
For those new to Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, it takes place two years after Sephiroth's attempts at mass genocide, and a strange disease threatens mankind. With many falling ill and the ruins of Midgar standing as a reminder of the sacrifices of the past, old enemies rise from the ashes to seek revenge. Riddled with guilt and haunted by his past, ex-soldier Cloud Strife must emerge from seclusion to again defeat evil and save the planet from certain destruction.
FFVII: Advent Children won the 2007 American Anime Awards and was awarded "best anime feature." This was all brought to life in a CGI film directed by Tetsuya Nomura and Takeshi Nozue and produced by Yoshinori Kitase and Shinji Hashimoto. It was written by Kazushige Nojima, and the music was composed by Nobuo Uematsu.
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