I actually loved the movie!
Anyone that was on the forums about 6 months ago would remember the number of times I went to see it in the cinemas... I think it ended up being 16 times.
I have the DVD also, but to be honest I haven't really watched it much (probably because I am too busy playing Munch's Oddysee at the moment, and before that my ongoing PC problems left me with no DVD player).
It's actually very different to the games, apart from the references that Eibu mentioned (I couldn't find the Chocobo either!). Although I am also a fan of sci-fi, which is probably why I liked it.
I think the main reasons it didn't go well though were because the plot required some understanding and needed to be watched more than once (actually the DVD is selling quite well for this reason, and is still in the top 10 of the DVD charts I have seen lately). Also the bad guy (General Hyne) was a bit one-dimensional, he missed something to give him the classic FF bad guy aspect. It was also expected to go well in Japan, but didn't their either... but I think that was because it wasn't enough LIKE the games.
Eibu... I just got the FF Unlimited Anime. I have the first six episodes, but I haven't got around to watching them yet. My brother has watched three of them though and said they are really good. They are more in the style of Final Fantasy than the movie is.
I had seen the first of the old FF Legends of the Crystals anime in English, but that was the only episode I had been able to pick up anywhere here. I think it was pretty good from what I saw, considering I'm not really a big anime fan.
Abe Babe...