After falling out with her only friend, she is mysteriously summoned to another world, Gaea, where she finds herself inside Escaflowne, a doomsday weapon destined to come to life at the appearance of a prophesied "wing goddess".

The world of Gaea is facing its own crisis: relentless conquest by the Black Dragon Clan, the rebels against which become convinced that Hitomi is the prophesied goddess who will revive Escaflowne.

The characters themselves are also given different personalities, with the film Hitomi changing from a cheerful girl in love to a depressed, suicidal schoolgirl who is suffering from self-induced feelings of loneliness and alienation.

Van is also depicted as being more lonely and emotionally reserved, as well as being far more aggressive and willing to slay any perceived enemies than his more pacifistic series counterpart.

Although the Vision of Escaflowne series had been produced by Sunrise, the animation for the film was handled primarily by studio Bones, a company founded by a number of ex-Sunrise staff.

The North American theatrical premiere was on January 25, 2002, in select cities, including Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, and Vancouver.

Packed in a limited edition art box, the release included a 36-page booklet on history of the film, as well as on-disc interviews with staff and cast and the theatrical trailers and television commercials.

Bandai Entertainment also included the Ultimate Edition release of the movie in its 2004 "Perfect Collection" DVD set of the original Vision of Escaflowne anime series.