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Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) poster
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Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Thriller, Romance, Animation • 1h 46m

Director: Hironobu Sakaguchi

Letterboxd
IMDbThe Movie Database (TMDB)

Sony 4K Blu-ray

UHD Blu-ray

Best English-friendly release · updated 2 months ago

UHD tiers

Overview

Led by a strange dream, scientist Aki Ross struggles to collect the eight spirits in the hope of creating a force powerful enough to protect the planet. With the aid of the Deep Eyes Squadron and her mentor, Dr. Sid, Aki must save the Earth from its darkest hate and unleash the spirits within.

Release details

Best Video Release

Same release as the recommendation

Best Audio Release

Russia Sony Blu-ray has a superior 24-bit Dolby TrueHD 5.1 original mix compared to the 16-bit LPCM 5.1 on other Blu-ray releases and the 16-bit DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 on the 4K Blu-ray included with the Dolby Atmos remix.

Length
106 mins
Type
Movie

More from Sony

See more →

Director: David Fincher

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:same release
Additional Info:

4K Blu-ray has exclusive “unrated” audio with a small change to one line under the request of David Fincher (removed the poor dub over of frickin’ in the line “Screw it, let’s gut the f**kin’ nerd.”).

Director: Martin Scorsese

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook

Sources: blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot seen on the previous Columbia Classics release and has better encoding

Best Audio:

Original mono mix: 1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1991 Columbia LaserDisc
The 4K Blu-ray mono is only minimally worse (see blah-ray).

5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray

Director: Michael Apted

Best format: HD Streaming

Best English-Friendly:

Starz is Streaming in HD with OAR

Or Sony Special Edition DVD

Best Video:same release

Director: James Wong

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

UK 88 Films Blu-ray

Best Video:same release
Additional Info:

Commentary: 88 Films is at a very low volume level. The other BDs like the Sony do not have this problem.

Director: David Greene

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Richard Linklater

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray

Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Sony Blu-ray

Criterion Blu-ray uses the same transfer as Sony but the encoding is slightly worse than Sony and barely noticeable see caps 

Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray in viewing looks very similar to both the Criterion and Sony caps, but no side by side comparison available

Additional Info:

Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray is part of a 3-film box set like the Criterion 

Director: Damien Chazelle

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Neill Blomkamp

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

France Metropolitan 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

France Metropolitan 4K Blu-ray, glitch fixed from Sony

The Sony 4K Blu-ray has a glitch around the 40 min mark where a shot is repeated; no word from Sony about a replacement at the time of writing, i.e. 8/1/8/22

Directors: Frank Oz & Jim Henson

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:same release
Best Audio:

LaserDisc, Shout! Factory's 2.0 is a downmix of the 5.1

Additional Info:

Old Sony DVD has an isolated score

Director: Jim Henson

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray

Sources: lddb.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray, Shout! Factory doesn't have the low-pass filter that's on the Sony US 4K Blu-ray from 2021 with Dolby Vision (or the worse HDR10 only release from 2016). Shout! Factory retains more high-frequency grain and detail.

More Adventure on Blu-ray

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Japan Studio Ghibli RM4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan Studio Ghibli 4K Blu-ray

UK StudioCanal Blu-ray for the English dub

Additional Info:

4K Blu-ray includes the original 5.1 mix in its unaltered form, all other releases after the LaserDisc had its dynamic range lowered.

US Disney Blu-ray has dubtitles.

For the English dub, the UK StudioCanal Blu-ray is the least limited mix.

Director: Fred M. Wilcox

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray see comparison video 

Best Audio:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray  used what was also originally screened theatrically: The Perspecta Stereo 3.0 and a mono option. The Perspecta track sounds best with better dynamic range and was set as default with the mono as optional. The previous releases stereo were downmixes of a now lost original 4-track, and it sounds very thin as a result. See comparison

Director: Peter Faiman

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Australia Cut: Australia Fox DVD

International Cut: Paramount Blu-ray

Encore Cut: Germany Winkler Film 4K Blu-ray, censored but good encoding

Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

US Paramount 4K Blu-ray, is the International US Cut and not the Encore Cut

Best Video:same release
Best Audio:

Australia Cut: Laserdisc

Additional Info:

The film exists in three versions:
- the original Australian cut (~104 minutes at 24fps/~100 minutes at 25fps);
- the American/international version (~98 minutes at 24fps/~94 minutes at 25fps) trimming some exposition in the Outback first half of the film and some shorter extensions of a few seconds in the New York section, altering some of the dialogue – including censoring a "fuck" to "screw" – but featuring one additional dialogue extension not in the Australian version (a comparison of the two cuts can be found at Movie Censorship);
- the Australian Encore Cut (~95 minutes at 24fps/~91 minutes at 25fps) which uses the international version source so it already has those alterations but also removes approximately three minutes consisting of parts of two scenes featuring Mick grabbing the crotch of a cross-dressing prostitute and a later sequence when he does the same thing at a party to a woman with a deep voice (a comparison of the international version and the Encore Cut can be found at Movie Censorship).

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

2D version: Paramount Blu-ray

3D version: Paramount 3D Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray on October 26 2026

Best Video:same release

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

2D: Spain Emon Blu-ray
3D: US Lionsgate, Germany StudioCanal, or Netherlands Entertainment One 3D Blu-ray?

Best Video:same release
Best Audio:

US Lionsgate Blu-ray

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Lionsgate Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Peter Weir

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Disney 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:same release
Best Audio:

Disney 4K Blu-ray has neutered audio compared to OG home video release

Cinema DTS or DVD DTS 5.1 is better and has more bass.

Additional Info:

The 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray lack the bonus features found in the old Collector's Edition DVD release. The France Blu-ray has all extras plus an isolated score.

Director: Marcell Jankovics

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

US Arbelos Blu-ray

Best Video:

US Arbelos Blu-ray, encoded by FiM

Director: David Yates

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: David Yates

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

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· last reviewed 2 months ago

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