Empire of the Sun

Sheer torture to watch. Chock full of anachronisms, bad history, excruciating dull stretches,miserable acting and not even a sense of impending doom or agony. Plays like an Oliver Twist in a prison camp for Anglo foreigners in China.The Chinese are made out to be ignorant and stupid-reduced to bad "Charlie Chan" stereotypes while the Japanese are glorified. Why would a Brit kid worship the Japanese flyers when his own country produced the more that capable English flyers with their great Spitfires and Hurricanes who whipped the crap out of the Germans in the Battle of Britian?Also, all those people in their finest clothes wandering about the camp among their possessions and cars? What does THAT signify? Spielberg tried to prove that he was Academy Award material with this one> Truth of the matter is this film is the cinematic version of a Mc Donalds hamburger- no substinance in it anywhere. True, Spielberg did produce Shindlers List a few years after this abortion, but aside from that the body of his work is truly designed for mass appeal-his name will guarantee big bucks at the box office. There really is no reason to give up three hours of your life to watch this. Read a good book on the subject instead.A waste of celluloid. Zero stars.

Somehow, I don't understand why Spielberg chose to make this movie. It was essentially a prison camp movie but why set it in China? If it is in China, then why is it about white people? In the entire movie, the Japanese are glorified as a warrior nation, while the Chinese are portrayed as dirty people. If Spielberg wanted to make a prison camp movie, he should have just skipped to Schindler's List or make a movie about a REAL prison camp perhaps. It seemed like Spielberg simply wanted to make a movie in China, since he haven't done so before. But Spielberg decides to completely neglect the real victims in the war, the Chinese, and decide to make a movie about a tiny minority that was stupid enough to still pursue their imperialistic fortunes even at a time of war. Some historical concerns. In the beginning of the movie, it states that China and Japan has been in 4 years of undeclared war already, therefore the starting scene was set in 1941. Shanghai fell in 1937. Also, Shanghai fell only after the largest battle of WW2, the Battle of Shanghai, and in the movie it seemed like the Japanese all of a sudden walked into the city and caught everyone by surprise. The Battle of Shanghai took 3 months! You would think people would know to get out of Shanghai by now, especially Westerners who had the means and a place to go, BACK HOME! Also, Shanghai was liberated by the Nationalist army, not by Americans, but whatever, its a Hollywood movie. This movie only had a couple historical mistakes because there was only a couple scenes of history in it! The prison camp could have been anywhere, anytime, any war, just change the subjugators. The scenary of the camp was also bland and generic enough to make you think it was filmed in Bakerfield. The generic camp also made the movie completely generic. All this makes you wonder, why China? If China, why this? It's not like the China war had much movies made about it. Spielberg could have made much better movies with China in WW2 as the background, such as something about the Nanking Massacre, or the Chinese defense against the Japanese, or even the American "flying tigers". Instead Spielberg chose the most unrealistic and obscure nook to make a grand epic about. Baffling. The movie itself was bland except for the boy, who made you wonder if he had gone crazy from the change around him. One minute he was a pampered kid from a western imperialist family, the next he was a refugee, although still better treated than the Chinese. Atleast he wasn't shot immediately on sight. Watching this movie makes me sad about how the world is treating the 2nd Sino-Japanese war from 1937-45 as a forgotten war.

it was one of those movies i never expected to watch. it was late, i was bored, and i happened to stumble upon a channel i barely ever watch. and while i sat watching events unfold in front of me, i slowly forgot about my usual program of interest. there is something about this film that truly captivates you and leaves your eyes glued to it every second. Christian bale displays his talents wonderfully in this movie, and the most striking thing to me was his ability to give such a realistic, yet youthful performance. his subtle acts of defiance against authority, his brave expeditions that left older men in awe, the fact that a little boy could irritate a general so much. friendships were forged, even with the enemy and it was by far one of the most astounding movies i've ever seen. it's long, it's good, and if you haven't seen it - do so.

I read some of these comments and I'm totally floored. The acting was horrid and forced, mostly due to the director creating scenes and instructing his actors to respond in completely unrealistic ways, such as when the parents of the "lost" children simply stand around staring at the assembled children until, after an eternity, one parent recognizes their kid. Um, yeah, right. Nobody would shout out a name, right? None of the kids recognize their own freaking parents. And this movie is full of moments like this. The Japanese come off almost like clownish figures, the Chinese as mere backdrops in their own country. The set pieces are ridiculous and none of this is even remotely close to actual history. I don't care if this is told from "the boy's perspective." That's not an excuse for lazy, unfocused, and completely unrealistic work. OK, so it's not supposed to be realism. It's "surrealism." Well, it fails on that level too as it doesn't produce a sense of wonder or fascination, but rather a sense of endless irritation and boredom as scenes go on and on, or simply cut to another unrelated scene. If Spielberg was shooting for some kind of "war as seen from a kid's point of view" he really blew it, unless we're to believe children are on a permanent happy acid trip. Scored like a soaring Disney kid's flick and sanitized to the point of being an insult, this movie is worthless. Another example of Spielberg's total inability to cover serious subjects with anything other than the mentality of a semi-autistic child. Jim's transformations are completely phony, based on nothing more than the script. Annoying English boy turns into bad-acting English boy. Don't let the high ratings fool you. You have been warned.

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source: Empire of the Sun

Trailer—Empire of the Sun

Empire of the Sun

Empire of the Sun is a fantastic with a very well written and developed storyline and an outstanding and very dramatic cast.Its Steven Spielberg's first serious war film and while it isn't and good as the war related films he's given in more recent years (Schindlers List,Saving Private Ryan,etc.), it still is a great start for a director who has proved he can direct several different types of genres.The film cast is very professional, it's Christian Bale first big movie,he is very young in this movie and inexperienced but that dosen't show in this film,he delivers a very impressive performance,and that also goes for John Malcovich,another amazing actor,this being one if his earliest films.Fans of war films and Steven Spielberg definitely wouldn't want to miss Empire of the Sun. Story of a young boy who is forced to grow up quickly in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during World War 2.

When I first saw the epic film 'Empire Of The Sun' by the inspirational director Steven Spielberg I became emotionally involved in the story and could not help but shed a tear for the truly remarkable piece of cinema. Christian Bale performs, without question, better than any other actor has in a Hollywood film that is twice his age. As he closes his eyes at the end of the film in one of the most moving scenes I can remember, you see what a simply fantastic job Spielberg has done to bring J. G Ballard's classic book to the screen. Not ever has a film been more inspirational to me whilst following my dream to become a director as this. At the end of it you feel you want to move people when making a film as much as you were moved by this one. Wonderfully acted, beautifully shot - no other film will ever compare to this.