Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Thriller, Romance, Animation • 1h 46m
Director: Hironobu Sakaguchi
Cast: Peri Gilpin, Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Ming-Na Wen, Steve Buscemi, Donald Sutherland, James Woods, Keith David, Jean Simmons, Matt McKenzie, John DeMita, Matt Adler, Steve Alterman, David Arnott, Cathy Cavadini, Lanei Chapman, Vicki Davis, Judi Durand, Greg Finley, Jack Fletcher, Julia Fletcher, David McCharen, Tracy Metro, David Michie, Richard Penn, David J. Randolph, Andrea Baker, Eric Aten, John DiMaggio, Alex Fernandez, David Rasner, Dwight Schultz
Sony 4K 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.
Director: David Fincher
Best format: UHD Blu-ray
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
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook
Sources: blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot seen on the previous Columbia Classics release and has better encoding
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
Director: James Wong
Best format: 1080p Blu-ray
Director: David Greene
Best format: 1080p Blu-ray
Director: Richard Linklater
Best format: 1080p Blu-ray
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
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
Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray is part of a 3-film box set like the Criterion
Director: Damien Chazelle
Best format: UHD Blu-ray
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Best format: UHD Blu-ray
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
LaserDisc, Shout! Factory's 2.0 is a downmix of the 5.1
Director: Jim Henson
Best format: UHD Blu-ray
Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray
Sources: lddb.com (opens in a new tab)
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.
Embassy Home Entertainment JPN LaserDisc or 1999 Sony US DVD 2.0
More Adventure on Blu-ray
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Best format: UHD Blu-ray
Japan Studio Ghibli RM4K Blu-ray
Japan Studio Ghibli 4K Blu-ray
UK StudioCanal Blu-ray for the English dub
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
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
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
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)
US Paramount 4K Blu-ray, is the International US Cut and not the Encore Cut
Australia Cut: Laserdisc
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).
Best format: 1080p Blu-ray
3D version: Paramount 3D Blu-ray
Paramount 4K Blu-ray on October 26 2026
Best format: 1080p Blu-ray
2D: Spain Emon Blu-ray
3D: US Lionsgate, Germany StudioCanal, or Netherlands Entertainment One 3D Blu-ray?
Best format: 1080p Blu-ray
Best format: UHD Blu-ray
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.
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 format: UHD Blu-ray
Best format: UHD Blu-ray
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