Empire of the Sun

I had put off watching this until recently, I do not know why, I had not read reviews and for some reason imagined it to be a movie about a young Japanese prince(!!).

I was captivated by the performance of Christian Bale as a privileged young boy named Jim Graham, growing up in Shanghai, very far removed from the poverty and despair all around him. When war breaks out, this changes him forever and hence the story.

After some harrowing experiences he winds up in a prisoner of war camp where he befriends some interesting characters and quickly adapts to a life of conniving and subterfuge to survive.

The transformation of Jim is beautifully captured, Steven Spielberg is a gifted director of child actors and gets a maximum performance always.

I was enthralled from beginning to end, young Jim was forever changed by his experiences and this change is portrayed starkly here when he is finally reunited with his parents.

8 out of 10 for equally impressive performances from John Malkovich and Miranda Richardson, but Christian Bale's performance deserved an Oscar.

In 1987 Steven Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun" opened to mixed reviews and disappointing box office returns. But the film's reputation has grown with time, and it's now rightfully considered an underrated Spielberg classic. "Empire of the Sun" tells the true story of Jim Ballard, an English boy who's separated from his parents in China during World War II. Featuring an excellent performance from the young Christian Bale, "Empire of the Sun" is an emotional and visually striking drama about loss, family, and the horror of war. Spielberg also uses Ballard's story to address thought-provoking questions about social privilege, militarism, and the lengths that humans will go to in order to survive. Spielberg doesn't provide easy answers to these questions, making this one of his more mature and contemplative works.

Having seen "Empire of the Sun" multiple times, I've grown to deeply appreciate it as both a sweeping historical epic and a powerful tale of a traumatic childhood. The movie isn't perfect - at two and a half hours it's too long. The second act in particular drags and this causes the movie to lose much of its dramatic momentum halfway through. But despite its length "Empire of the Sun" does more than enough to maintain your interest with compelling performances, amazing visuals, and of course John Williams' award winning score. 8/10.

Reading through the reviews, there were a lot of people who didn't understand this film. This is Spielberg's venture into the realm of art in cinematography. This film is a visual masterpiece and you are swept along from beginning to end. Yes, the tale gets a bit loose in spots and you never know what's going to happen next. But, if you're willing to give up warm and fuzzy for lush visual images and startling leaps of character, you'll see what Spielberg's trying to accomplish. This film makes use of the talents of Miranda Richardson and gives some early exposure to the likes of John Malkovich and Ben Stiller, but young Christian Bale steals the show. The reviewer that commented on the "gothic" effect of the Tai-Pan's going to the costume ball being driven through Shanghai was right on. This film is rife with such scenes and does not disappoint. It's wholly misleading to look for some kind of action story underlying this film. The tale, taken from the book, is straightforward enough: a young boy's boost into manhood through the second world war. The film is full of memorable moments and visually very, very pleasing. As art, it is excellent. That's likely why it wasn't a blockbuster, as say, e.g., Poltergeist, Close Encounters and the Jurassic Park films, were. But, hey. That's the cost of creating art as opposed to crap. And, crap does draw a lot of flies...

I came across this film while I was flipping through the channels on my t.v. This is truly an astounding film. The inimitable dialogue, the dazzling scenes, and most importantly the profundity of its premise make this film unforgettable and worthy of sycophantic obsession. I was completely enraptured by the brilliant acting. I believe this is Steven Spielberg's most noteworthy film. His other movies pale in comparison to this one. John Malkovich and Christian Bale are incredible as usual, but in this film they bring to life a story of a boy who loses everything due to a country trying to conquer everything. The physical and mental destruction of war and the injurious effects of loneliness are very clichéd themes, but this film conveys them in an incomparable way. This is undoubtedly one of my favorite films, and I suggest that everyone take the time to watch it. It would be exceedingly foolish of one to not watch it.

I can see that a tale told from a child's point of view how it would stir the imagination of one Steven Spielberg. Empire Of The Sun is a really imaginative story of a young boy stuck in World War II China in a truly terrible situation cut off from his parents. Yet young Christian Bale turns the whole thing gradually into an adventure of sorts.

Up to the age of 11 young Bale has lived in the British quarter of Shanghai and in fact has never seen the United Kingdom, his father Rupert Frazer owns a textile factory. Bale and his parents live in luxury among the millions of Chinese.

What one should remember when watching Empire Of The Sun is that since the Opium War of 1841 western powers and Japan joined them took small little nibbles out of China and in fact were granted by the weak Chinese governments special treatment in their quarters. Frazer, Emily Richard his wife and young Bale lived under British law and did not answer to the Chinese. The other powers did the same, even the USA had its own quarter in Shanghai as well as other large Chinese cities. That only ended with the Communist takeover in 1949.

It ended a bit prematurely for the west in 1941 when the Japanese attacked America, Great Britain, the Netherlands. That's when Bale's well ordered world falls apart.

I had to marvel at how when Bale came home and the parents were gone and some looting had occurred how his reactions were. Without any dialog Bale runs through a gamut of emotions. Great job of acting and directing.

Later on Bale is rounded up and taken to an internment camp next to an airfield. Fascinating how Bale who had an interest in aviation looks at the Japanese planes and become almost worshipful of the enemy. He even makes friend with some of the Japanese, a group not known for treating prisoners well in World War II.

Joe Pantoliano and John Malkovich are a pair of American adventurers, no better than they ought to be. They're caught along with Bale and sent to the internment camp. Our adult eyes see them as a pair of bottom feeders. But we see them through the child's eyes also and they become sort of devil may care rogues that one reads in pulp fiction the kind Bale no doubt read.

Steven Spielberg did a marvelous job of recreating wartime China and it certainly helped to shoot the film there. Just part of the People's Republic's post Mao entry into the community of nations.

The adult performers are fine. Empire Of The Sun got a flock of Oscar nominations in technical categories, no gold though. But it did inaugurate the career of Christian Bale who's done pretty well for himself as an adult actor too.

This one is highly recommended for its realism and encouragement of imagination.