Empire of the Sun Reviews

Honestly, I have seen this one only once and it was a while back but I really liked it. It seems to be one of more obscure features directed by Steven Spielberg (with a filmography of 30 movies, built up over 40 years including the Indiana Jones franchise, ‘Jurassic Park’, ‘Jaws’, ‘E.T.’, ‘Schindler’s list’, ‘Saving Private Ryan’, it is hardly surprising that some of his other movies tend to be overlooked). However, I think it is actually one of his best dramas. Indeed, even though it was again focusing on a young boy, like ‘E.T.’ , the whole thing still remained pretty bleak which was something rather unexpected with a Spielberg feature. Furthermore, there was this impressive performance by Christian Bale who was just only 13 years old back then. Even though Christian Bale has become one of the most dependable actors of his generation, we tend to forget that the guy has been around for already 25 years. Eventually, even though his performance in this movie was praised, he never become what you could call a ‘child-star’ and it took him 17 years to really breakthrough with ‘The Machinist’. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, I really enjoyed this flick and I definitely have to rewatch it when I get the opportunity.

''Learned a new word today. Atom bomb. It was like God taking a photograph.''

A young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation during World War II.

Christian Bale: Jim 'Jamie' Graham

Steven Spielberg adapts and directs Empire of the Sun, the acclaimed, timeless best-seller by J.G. Ballard. Tom Stoppard acts as writer for the film production. Why is Empire of the Sun such a lucrative favourite for me? Simply because it touches the heart and mind with it's endearing bringing to life of Jim, succeeded by new comer, the young Christian Bale.
This is loosely based upon history and captures the feel and time regarding the era, but remember this is an adaptation, a story and artful gander at colours and characters in equal measure.



What's really lovely when watching a Spielberg film is the level of detail and energy he draws forth from the places and cast he directs.
Empire of the Sun draws it's strength from its story, setting and character and propels forth a film that acts as a rightful tribute to a gloriously addictive book.
Sun is a gem of movie-making. Visually arresting from start to finish, given a sumptuous musical score by John Williams and some of the finest cinematography ever seen, it is hard to understand why the film is not as highly acclaimed as it ought to be?...nor is it fitting that it was nominated for six Academy Awards but received none of them.

''I can't remember what my parents look like.''

It's a sweeping epic, intent upon capturing your interest by showing us young Christian Bale whom certainly has one of the great child roles of a lifetime as Jim; Bale becomes the character so effortlessly that his final reunion with his parents brings a few tears to the eye. By that time, the viewer has been through so much with him, watching as he grows from spoiled rich kid to a wily boy who must fend for himself among the wolf-pack of prisoners interred by the Japanese.

It's the loving, touching story regarding one boy's survival during the outbreak of World War II when he is separated from his British parents during the evacuation of Shanghai. It is a spectacularly staged evacuation scene that is topped throughout by other scenes of visual splendour and poignant moments that stay in the memory long after the film finishes. The boy's fascination with the beauty of planes and the horrors of war are well documented, as is his strange fascination with the Japanese and his doomed friendship with a Japanese boy.

The film falls squarely on the shoulders of Christian Bale, so much so that the supporting players are never fully fleshed characters. However, all of them including John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson and Nigel Havers succeed in doing magnificently regarding their roles. Steven Spielberg's direction cannot be faulted. He has given us a close-up glimpse of war and its effect on people that was eclipsed by his later Schindler's List.
Technically, the film is a brilliant achievement in all of its World War II details. Christian Bale certainly deserved an Oscar for what has to be one of the strongest performances ever given by a child actor, with never a false step, results in being one word only. Perfect.

''I can bring everyone back. Everyone.''

This is a underrated film from Steven Spielberg. It is an epic war film with a lot of raw emotion, epic music, fantastic qualities of cinema. It was very emotional because obviously a war film but it was mostly the characters and what happened to them. This is a very inspiring film too because no matter how small or young you are, it is never too late to give up on hope. Also, when Jim is separated from his parents, he shows a huge sign of bravery by looking after himself and especially growing up without his parents in an unpleasant environment. It was bad luck to me that Jim was living in a camp in Shanghai and he is British. It felt like wrong place, wrong time and being enemy to the wrong people.


This is an extremely underrated child star performance from Christian Bale. I think that most people would remember him as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Patrick Bateman but this is a solid performance that in my opinion didn't get enough appreciation from critics just like Natalie Portman didn't in Léon neither. When I saw that Christian Bale was in this film especially when he was only 13 years old, I needed to see it as soon as possible. I needed to anyway because it's a Spielberg film. After seeing him in The Dark Knight, American Psycho, The Prestige and Batman Begins, I knew that it was him but couldn't believe it because he looks and sounds different. The only similarity is his mouth and the way he speaks. John Malkovich has always been good at playing that emotional and supporting character. Also, can be a really talented villainous actor when playing a villain. He makes me laugh always because of his facial expressions which are his best talent.


Steven Spielberg directs this film in such a great way. Spielberg has directed his epic films like David Lean did with a wide range of groups involving filmmaking. Empire Of The Sun introduced the epic style to Spielberg for him to make his best film Schindler's List. The way the script is written is unbelievable. It was very well done with a really good adapted script.


This isn't my favourite Christian Bale film but it is one of my favourite male child performances. It is a great Steven Spielberg film but doesn't beat Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, E.T., Indiana Jones 1 and 3, Jaws, The Terminal, Jurassic Park and Duel. The only thing that disappointed me was that it was too long. There could have been at least 10-20 minutes cut scenes or made scenes a bit shorter. Apart from that, it is a very good film.