A YOUNG BOY’S EXPERIENCES AFTER THE ARMY OF IMPERIAL JAPAN INVADES CHINA FOLLOWING THE DECEMBER 1941 PEARL HARBOR ATTACK SHAPE STEVEN SPIELBERG’S SPECTACULAR, INSPIRING AND ACCLAIMED TALE ABOUT GROWING UP IN A TIME OF WAR.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
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May 29, 2008
#1
Empire of the Sun (EOTS) is like an earache, after you have had one once, you don’t want to have another. Seeing this film, I don’t want to see it again. Many films are like this. I, nor I believe anyone else needs to be constantly depressed, life’s realities do this enough. Movies should challenge and enlighten us, this film barely does this. EOTS teaches you the horror and look/feel of the China pummeled by the Japanese in WWII, fine. See to it that your country’s military is READY and you don’t let monsters like the Nazis or the butchers of Hirohito run rampage over the countryside. There is one glimmer of hope in EOTS, the boy admires the Japanese fighter pilots from a distance; if I were his age in a POW camp, I would, too. The answer however, is GOOD GUY fighter pilots in the form of U.S. Army Air Force P-51s which finally show up in the end of the movie in its best scene where the adult pilot flies by low, cockpit open to wave at our boy and cheer him up. Real men in real life will do that to inspire boys and let them know that they are not forgotten and that some day in the future their role/mission in life will be to be STRONG and be a protector, not a prisoner. Spielberg should have had Army Paratroopers jump into the camp like the 11th Airborne did at Los Banos to rescue internees, and not just drop food containers. That’s what REAL Americans do when their people are being held captive, we go back and rescue them.
The role of films should be to change us and pass on positive values, EOTS fails to do this and this is why it failed at the box office. I’d say re-shoot the movie starting off with the boy years later (the child actor is old enough now to do this) by a cockpit of a F-4 jet fighter as a man and then show the film as a flashback…end the film by having American Paratroopers land to free the camp and help re-unite the boy with his mother, then fast forward to the opening sequence with him years later taking off with his mother watching from a distance and flying off into the clouds…perhaps a faint shadow of a Japanese Zero and a P-51 flying underneath him reminding us that humans can transcend personal and national hatreds and soar; and in this there is plenty of glory for us all.
May 29, 2008
#2
One of the worst movies ever … unconvincing and exhaustively boring. Spielberg’s brilliant at popcorn movies like “Back to the future” and “The Duel”, the rest (seen “AI”?!) is shallow at best … i still wonder how he managed to NOT completely ruin “Schindler’s List”??
May 29, 2008
#3
This film will teach you what it mean for a director to
have technical talent but have no redeming ability get within
miles of brining an iota emphaty or warmth to HUMANS on film.
The movie tries for heartfelt but it is stuck in the
EDDIE HASKELL universe of false emotions and overbearingness.
If you want a hearfelt story about a kid growing up in a war
try THE TIN DRUM.
May 29, 2008
#4
One of the few DVD’s I truly regret buying. This film is full of overacting, poorly integrated scenes that have little or no apparent connection to each other, and an annoying misty quality to the cinematography. It is a prime example of the strategy that if you can’t make a good, small film, make a long film with lots of extras. It is amazing to me that anyone would have invested money to make this film.
May 29, 2008
#5
This movie was quite possibly the worst WWII movie I have ever seen. It had no conflict, and quite frankly, it was very BORING.