Empire of the Sun (DVD)

Jamie (Christian Bale) is a privileged, young boy living in the suburbs of Shanghai in 1941. His father is a rich businessman with a large house complete with servants allowing his spoilt son to attend prep school, sing in the choir and dream of growing up to be a fighter pilot. His dreams are shattered when Japanese forces invade Shanghai sparking an exodus during which Jamie gets separated from his parents. Returning to an empty house, he finds the servants ransacking the furniture but upon challenging them, rather than getting the respect he's used to, he gets a slap across the face instead. Eventually realizing that his parents aren't coming back, Jamie ventures into ...  Read the complete review

Empire of the Sun (1987) Cast List Jim Graham – Christian Bale Basie – John Malkovich Jim’s mother – Emily Richard Jim’s father – Rupert Frazer Mrs Victor – Miranda Richardson Dr Rawlins – Nigel Havers Maxton – Leslie Phillips Frank Demarest – Joe Pantoliano Music – John Williams Director – Steven Spielberg Running time – 146 minutes Certificate – PG (UK and USA) Based on the autobiographical novel by JG Ballard, Empire of the Sun is one of Steven Spielberg’s lesser known films. Although never a ...  Read the complete review

Released in 1988, Empire of the Sun is a brilliant epic movie set during the second world war. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the movie introduced a very young Christian Bale to the silver screen, who we all know by now has gone on to become a household name. The movie is set around the Japanese invasion of China, during the second world war. Jamie Graham (Christian Bale), a precocious and priviledged young boy, and his parents are forced to flee their home in a British occupied suburb of Shanghai due to the invasion. Amid the mayhem of the escape, Jamie is separated from his parents, and returns to his old house in hope that they will return there to be ...  Read the complete review

This is quite a strange film in my opinion and at the end of it all if you are like me you will think that you've watched a real load of incredibly boring rubbish but that the sound track was very good and brilliant in places. Not surprisingly then the sound track is composed by John Williams. The story is about a middle class English schoolboy, Jamie, who is living with his parents in Shanghai during the Japanese invasion of China in the second world war. With all the fighting going on the boy gets separated from his parents and the bulk of the film is then about him living off of scraps on the streets and in prisoner camps and ...  Read the complete review

This overly long but terrific movie tells the story of a privileged young Briton living the good life in Shanghai until the Japanese invasion during World War II. The boy (Christian Bale) ends up separated from his parents, and is shipped to a nighmarish life in a prison camp where he falls in with a seedy American wheeler-dealer (John Malkovich) who preys on the weaker prisoners. Along the way, the boy Jamie begins to forget who he is, his family and his upbringing. Physically, mentally and morally, the boy deteriorates as he grows older in the camp. He develops an admiration for the Japanese military, fascinated by the power he sees on display. ...  Read the complete review