Cheap Empire of the Sun (DVD) (Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson) (Steven Spielberg) Price

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Customer Reviews of Empire of the Sun

Spielberg's "VERTIGO"
On the same day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, they also rounded up all the American and British residents of Shanghai and put them in prison camps. J. G. Ballard was only 12 at the time and he and his parents were among the "detained." "EMPIRE OF THE SUN," is Ballard's story and arguably Steven Spielberg's most personal and revealing film and the first of his WW II trilogy that continues with "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan."

Originally dismissed by the public and the majority of critics, this underrated and poignant film asks and answers the question: What if you once had everything and lost it all in a single afternoon? What if your were only 12? Christian Bale plays young Ballard with a mature authority that makes his transformation from pampered upper class Brit to desperate feral child totally believable. So far, Spielberg has resisted adding any commentary tracks to his films on DVD. There is however en extra on this disc, "The China Odyssey: Empire of the Sun," a wonderful behind-the scenes documentary (credited to Spielberg) that shows the director at work along with historical footage of the fall of China when it was occupied by the Japanese.

"Empire of the Sun" was Spielberg's admittedly first attempt to helm "a mature story a la a David Lean type epic." However, the child's point remains throughout and is especially emphasized by the beautiful, breathtaking images of low flying Japanese planes on the attack. These and many other shots reveal a lot about Spielberg's love of pure cinema and the difficulty of growing up in a world where reality can shatter the dream and thus the need to remain emotionally distant to real events -- like being separated from your parents. There's a lot of Spielberg in this widescreen Rorschach test. "Empire of the Sun" is to Spielberg what "Vertigo" was to Hitchcock. It's a remarkable achievement and a brilliant, complex film worth adding to the digital home library.

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Coming of age for a young boy and Spielberg
Made back in 1987, EMPIRE OF THE SUN, is based upon the best selling book by J.G. Ballard. It tells the story of Jim, (Christian Bale) a young British boy, who is separated from his parents, during World War II. His family is living in Japan at the time. The young boy is thrown into a Japanese internment camp. As the story unfolds, Jim befriends 2 Americans (John Malkovich and Joe Pantiliano) also trying to stay one step ahead of their captors and fight for freedom. As it says on the back of the DVD "Through [Jim's] eyes we see the facination and horror of war." Jim goes from being a child of innocence to an adult who is just trying to stay alive in a harsh world.

When the film ended, I had forgotton how flawless the movie is. This was not only a young boy's coming of age story, but a coming of age for Spielberg as a Director as well. This was his 1st film (up to that point) without a real "Gee Whiz" element to it The performance by Bale is outstanding. As the viewer, you really get a sense of what it must have been like to be held captive in that prison. The scene where Jim runs back to the comforts of his home, shortly after being separated from his Mom and Dad, only to find it ransacked, and his parents gone, is particularly effective. The scene is both horrible and funny at the same time The film also boasts some fine production design and a good film score by John Williams. The film was the first to be shot in the People's Republic of China and eagled-eyed viewers will note a supporting role from funny man Ben Stiller.

The only extra feature of note on the DVD is, a good 45 minute documentary, made at the time of production. The documentary is narrated by Actor Martin Sheen. When this movie was released, I remember the reviews being somewhat mixed. That is a shame. It is one of the only movies from Spielberg, that you don't hear much about, even today. I guess I just wanted to remind folks that EMPIRE OF THE SUN is still out there and certainly worth a first or second look

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a skewed reality, how a twelve year old boy would see things
A film by Steven Spielberg

Film critic Ernest Rister has written a brilliant review of "Empire of the Sun" where he details the unreality of the movie, how the viewer cannot trust what we are seeing on screen because it is the impressions of a 12 year old child and Spielberg gives us enough hints and allusions and images in the film that with a little bit of work, the viewer should be able to figure this out. Since I had read Mr Rister's review more than a year before I finally saw this movie, I tried to keep that knowledge in mind when I was seeing "Empire of the Sun" for the first time.

"Empire of the Sun" is the story of Jim (Christian Bale), a 12 year old British boy living in China with his parents. The movie is set during World War II when Japan was attacking China. During a raid on the city they are living in, Jim and his parents are trying to escape when they are separated. We don't know what happens to his parents, but Jim ends up in a Japanese internment camp. Jim meets an American named Basie (John Malkovich), whom he befriends and sort of tags along after. "Empire of the Sun" deals with the isolation and loneliness of this one boy who is quickly losing his innocence. That is really the heart of "Empire of the Sun", the loss of Jim's innocence in the midst of World War II.

The one thing that I struggled with was not taking this film at face value, that the events on screen are not truly happening, but rather how Jim is remembering them. They are happening as a twelve year old boy is seeing them, heightened and slightly distorted. I did not catch the clues that Mr. Rister wrote about, but I suspect you have to be studying "Empire of the Sun" to really grasp what Steven Spielberg is putting into the movie. Fortunately, "Empire of the Sun" works on two levels: as a straightforward film, and also on the level that Rister discovered and Spielberg intended.

-Joe Sherry