Empire of the Sun (1987)

Roundly dismissed as one of Steven Spielberg's least successful efforts, this very underrated film poignantly follows the World War II adventures of young Jim (a brilliant Christian Bale), caught in the throes of the fall of China. What if you once had everything and lost it all in an afternoon? What if you were only 12? Bale's transformation, from pampered British ruling-class child to an imprisoned, desperate, nearly feral boy, is nothing short of stunning. Also stunning are exceptional sets, cinematography, and music (the last courtesy of John Williams) that enhance author J.G. Ballard's and screenwriter Tom Stoppard's depiction of another, less familiar casualty of war.

In a time when competitors were releasing "comedic," derivative coming-of-age films, Empire of the Sun stands out as an epic in the classic David Lean sense--despite confusion or perceived competition with the equally excellent The Last Emperor (also released in 1987, and also a coming-of-age in a similar setting). It is also a remarkable testament to, yes, the human spirit. And despite its disappointing box-office returns, Empire of the Sun helped to further establish Spielberg as more than a commercial director and set the standard, tone, and look for future efforts Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. --N.F. Mendoza Amazon.com essential video

EARLY CHRISTIAN BALE PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS THIS GOOD, BUT OVERLY LONG MOVIE!

Although I had heard of this film, I never watched it. It came on one of my HD channels this week and decided it was time to check it out. I didn't realize that Christian Bale was in this film and I believe his performance alone makes it worth seeing! Bale is captivating as a young boy separated from his rich parents in 1941 war time Japan. The film is well produced and the cast is excellent, but I did find some scenes to be a bit too long.

There is also some confusion, which only makes the film seem longer, an example is when Bale's character is hiding in his house for a period of time, they show the swimming pool water going from full to almost completely empty!?? This would take many years and it's obvious that it's not that long a time period. Was there a leak?? It's never explained. This is just one example of little inconsistencies like this. You never have a good sense of the time elapsing and in some cases,...what's going on. There is also a lot of Japanese Dialogue without sub-titles, this adds to the confusion and makes the film drag a bit.

It's a good film, but it's not perfect. Bale's terrific in this and he is truly gifted!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYBODY! July 4, 2008

A Moviie, Empire of the Sun,

This was a very difficult movie to understand. Have to watch carefully until the very end to realize what it's about. May 22, 2008

Excellent transfer to DVD

Great movie & fantastic transfer to DVD. The picture is sharp and clear and the colors are rich and accurate. The sound is also quite good. The widescreen format has been enhanced for large screen TVs, so the film fills most of the screen area. 'Empire of the Sun' looked quite good on my 46-inch LCD high definition TV, played on my Toshiba 1080p HD DVD player. Highly recommended film to watch again and again with the family. April 30, 2008

Disappointing!

Poor quality of DVD. Very limited information on the length of the special features, and impossible to navigate inside the special features--no matter what one selects, it plays the entire "special features", which is almost 30 minutes. The script, even though written by Tom Stoppard, is fragmented and inconsistent, failing to bring out the theme of the story as told in the book. March 24, 2008

A beautiful heartbreaking film.

A truly amazing and beautiful film. An excellent job was done by the actors, the directors and the entire production team. One of my favorite. It is heart wrenching and truly makes you feel for the boy. February 5, 2008

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