MovieChat Forums > 9 (2009) Discussion > Final Fantasy VII references?! *SPOILERS...

Final Fantasy VII references?! SPOILERS

posted 15 years ago by shadowrunner-3
25 replies | jump to latest

i've just watched this movie (and loved it, but that's irrelevant) and my Final-Fantasy-VII-obsessed sister notice quite a few HEAVY references to both the game and the movie Advent Children! here they go:

--- SPOILERS from now on! ----

> the aproximate shape, relative size and handling of 8's biggest "sword" resembles Cloud/Zack's Buster sword in EVERY way - he even carries it on a magnet on his back, instead of in a sheath tied to his waist!

> 2's funeral, when they put him in some floating thing and send him drifting across a blue tinted lake (sewer). that scene heavily reminds of FFVII's (the game) scene when Cloud takes Aerith (who's also irreversibly dead) to that blue tinted magical lake, surrounded by trees, to bury her!

and last, but not by any means the least...

> the ending scene, when the souls of the dead are freed - they are green in colour, ascend to the sky where they blow apart, causing "magical" rain to fall (rain that includes tiny life forms that will presumably revive the planet). this particular scene resembles a major plot element from both the FFVII game(s) and movie - when someone dies, they break apart in countless green light particles that blow away, usualy towards the sky, returning to the planet's Life Stream, and in some cases they actually cause it to rain (like Kadaj's death in AC)!

question #1 : did anyone else notice these?

question #2 : if so, do you think this was some kind of direct reference/homage to said game/movie?

it'd be really interesting, if this was all made on purpose. in my opinion, that only shows that whoever wrote the plot and designed those scenes has some really good taste! :D

[–] Grammaton485 15 years ago

*beep* no.

[–] shadowrunner-3 15 years ago

that's a very nice and clear way of showing your opinion. thanks.

[–] ZombieMcQueen 15 years ago

Can't say I thought of those as a connection at first, but I can see where your coming from, to a point.

8's sword doesn't seem directly influenced by FFVII's Cloud, as it's a rather common battle stance, historically speaking.

2's funeral, to me at least, felt more like that of King Arthur's, with christian metaphorical relevancy (the penny-looking coin on 2's eyes, most likely referring to the belief that penny placed in the eyes of the deceased were to help in crossing the river Styx or Phlegethmon).

The ending rain scene bears the most similarity, I think - when I first saw the movie, I immediately thought it was too derivative of an ending deus ex machina not to have been used somewhere else before.

--------------------------
"We'll always have Paris..."

[–] shadowrunner-3 15 years ago

i guess you're probably right, Mr.C....
these "references" are actually historicaly common, but since we've most notably seen them in this particular setting (FFVII universe and it's relatives), that's what we've associated them to! to someone not that familiar with it, those situations would sound a lot different. i suppose that's where the "FFVII-obsessed" part comes in! lmao
anyway, thanks, and good point! :)

[–] firepants49343 14 years ago

I'm not a Final Fantasy fan, so I can't argue with the simularities you saw, but since Tim Burton was involved, 2's funeral scene reminded me of the same set up as the Penguin's (Danny DeVeto) funeral scene in Tim Burton's second Batman.

[–] existenze2003 15 years ago

Re: Final Fantasy VII references?! *SPOILERS*
by - Grammaton485 on Sun Apr 4 2010 23:04:25 *beep* no.
______________________________________________________________________

Did you even watch the movie or even know what the game is he's referring to? Didn't think so.

[–] shadowrunner-3 15 years ago

thank you. :)

[–] straightedgekilla 15 years ago

I thought of Aeris' death during this movie as well. I thought I was just trippin.

[–] WritingJester 15 years ago

I actually thought the church in 9 looked a lot like the one in Advent Children when I first saw it. :)

[–] adrianjankowiak 15 years ago

Signed up to imdb just so I could post here! Just watched the movie and was hit throughout by the amount of references to FFVII. Agree with all the one already posted- Aeris death, church scene, lifestream, sword and stance that 8 employs etc. Although these could just be common historical references, I think there are far two many to be pure coincidence, surely the animators must have been heavily influenced.

Brillliant :)

[–] adrianjankowiak 15 years ago

[–] Fartbag 15 years ago

Definitely thought of the Buster Sword when we (myself and two sons) saw No.8.
Also recently watched Avatar and saw a lot of similarities to FF series.

[–] tlavairt-1 15 years ago

Never thought of it that way. Your sister has a good eye!

[–] nothrowdown1009 15 years ago

ugh FF7 the Burton Final Fantasy

its kinda an emo one

I agree on the sword thats it

[–] saireuh 15 years ago

YES! I am so glad that someone else was reminded of it..

The Life Stream and Buster Sword I definitely saw. When you mentioned Aeris' funeral that clicked, too.

Honestly, thinking of the souls as the Life Stream kind of helped me piece the movie together (or what I thought of it)... and how it started to rain after they went up into the sky (kind of how the Life Stream healed the earth from the Meteor and returned everything to normal).

I mean there is so much more to the movie but I saw the connections, definitely.

[–] IamTheKing 15 years ago

Um FFVII wasn't really original. It borrowed from a number of different sources. Nothing you've mentioned is unique to FFVII.

[–] sci02 15 years ago

You missed the much more obvious video game parallel, Little Big Planet.
9 is basically just a darker version of Sackboy. Or, I guess more accurately Sackboy is just a lighthearted version of 9, since the 9 short predates LBP. I don't know if they ever said that 9 inspired LBP, but it seems obvious to me.

I have to agree with other posters, the coin on the eyes is a reference to Greek Mythology and ancient burial customs, not Final Fantasy.

Most of the "swords" they used in 9 were scalpel blades tide to things. 8's was a steak knife or small kitchen knife, with a smaller handle attached. The blade is the correct shape for that type of knife, again, I'd have to say not a FF reference.