Empire of the Sun

Director: Steven Spielberg

Overview

Based on J.G. Ballard's autobiographical novel, Empire of the Sun stars Christian Bale as a spoiled young British boy, living with his wealthy family in pre-World War II Shanghai. During the Japanese invasion, Bale is separated from his parents. With the help of soldier-of-fortune John Malkovich, Bale learns to survive without a retinue of servants at his beck and call. By the time Malkovich and Bale are tossed into a Japanese prison camp, the boy has picked up enough street-smarts and developed enough intestinal fortitude to regard his imprisonment as an exciting adventure. The story ends during the 1945 liberation: on the verge of manhood, the 13-year-old Bale will never again be the pampered, privileged brat whom we met in the early scenes.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/03/2009
UPC:	0883929091539
Original Release:	1987
Rating:	PG
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Time:	2:32:00
Sales rank:	9,349

Special Features

Closed Caption; Behind-the-scenes documentary The China Odyssey: Empire of the Sun, a film by Steve Spielberg; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Christian Bale	Jim Graham
John Malkovich	Basie
Miranda Richardson	Mrs. Victor
Nigel Havers	Dr. Rawlins
Joe Pantoliano	Frank Demerest
Leslie Phillips	Maxton
Masato Ibu	Sgt. Nagata
Emily Richard	Jim's Mother
Rupert Frazer	Jim's Father
Peter Gale	Mr. Victor
Takatoro Kataoka	Kamikaze Boy Pilot
Ben Stiller	Dainty
David Neidorf	Tiptree
Ralph Seymour	Cohen
Robert Stephens	Mr. Lockwood
Hiro Arai	Japanese Sergeant/Airfield
J.G. Ballard	Guest at Costume Party
Maggie Cartier	Actor
Jane Feinberg	Actor
Mike Fenton	Actor
Kong Guo-Jun	Chinese Sergeant/Airfield
Yuriko Matsubara	Actor
Paul McGann	Lieutenant Price
Ann Queensbury	Mrs. Pym
Shi Rui Qing	Shopkeeper
Judy Taylor	Actor
Zhai nai She	Yang
Ge Yan Zhao	Merchant
Guts Ishimatsu	Sgt. Uchida
Emma Piper	Amy Matthews
James Walker	Mr. Radik
Jack Dearlove	Singing Prisoner
Anna Turner	Mrs. Gilmour
Ann Castle	Mrs. Phillips
Yvonne Gilan	Mrs. Lockwood
Ralph Michael	Mr. Partridge
Sybil Maas	Mrs. Hug
Eric Flynn	British Prisoner
James Greene	British Prisoner
Simon Harrison	British Prisoner
Barrie Houghton	British Prisoner
Paula Hamilton	British Prisoner
Peter Copley	British Prisoner
Barbara Bolton	British Prisoner
Francesca Longrigg	British Prisoner
Keiron Jecchinis	American Prisoner
Gary Parker	American Prisoner
Ray Charleson	American Prisoner
Burt Kwouk	Mr. Chen
Tom Danaher	Col. Marshall
Marc de Jonge	Frenchman
Susan Leong	Amah
Nicholas Dastor	Paul
Edith Platten	Paul's Sister
Shirley Chantrell	Chinese Cook At Detention Center
John Moore	Mr. Pym
Sylvia Marriott	Mrs. Partridge
Frank Duncan	Mrs. Hug's Father
Ronald Eng	Mr. Chen's Wife
Za Chuan Ce	Shopkeeper
Lu Ye	Merchant
Guo Xue Liang	Merchant

Technical Credits

Steven Spielberg	Director,Producer
Vic Armstrong	Stunts
Charles Bishop	Art Director
Gavin Bocquet	Production Designer
John Boyde	Sound/Sound Designer
Michael Carr	Songwriter
Rick Carter	Production Designer
Maggie Cartier	Casting
Colin Charles	Sound/Sound Designer
Harry Cordwell	Set Decoration/Design
Allen Daviau	Cinematographer
Tony Dawe	Sound/Sound Designer
Norman Dorme	Art Director
Paul Engelen	Makeup
Jane Feinberg	Casting
Mike Fenton	Casting
Michael Ford	Set Decoration/Design
Maurice Fowler	Art Director
Ye Mao Gen	Special Effects
Huang Qia Gui	Art Director
Fred Hole	Art Director
Industrial Light & Magic	Special Effects
Michael Kahn	Editor
Kathleen Kennedy	Producer
Chris Kenny	Associate Producer
Harry Link	Songwriter
Frank Marshall	Producer
Yuriko Matsubara	Casting
Menno Meyjes	Screenwriter
Dennis Muren	Special Effects
Michael Pangrazio	Special Effects
Antonio Parra	Special Effects
Norman Reynolds	Production Designer
Bob Ringwood	Costumes/Costume Designer
Michael Roberts	Camera Operator
Robert Shapiro	Executive Producer
Manning Sherwin	Songwriter
Tom Stoppard	Screenwriter
Jack Strachey	Songwriter
Judy Taylor	Casting
David Tomblin	Asst. Director
David Watkin	Special Effects
Kit West	Special Effects,Special Effects Supervisor
John Williams [composer]	Score Composer

Scene Index

Disc #1, Side A -- Empire of the Sun
1. Foreword [1:12]
2. The Choirboy [3:05]
3. Luckier [3:24]
4. Upward Dreams [1:38]
5. Partygoer Procession [3:56]
6. Hospitality [2:12]
7. Engaging the Enemy [5:13]
8. Shanghai: December 8, 1941 [2:48]
9. Lost in the Crowd [4:27]
10. Plunderers [4:12]
11. Home Alone [4:25]
12. English Boy Surrenders [5:04]
13. Making Frank's... [2:03]
14. Shanghai Jim [5:10]
15. Journey to Opulence [3:22]
16. New Occupants [1:55]
17. Chow Time [6:44]
18. The Truck to Soochow [4:34]
19. One With the Planes [2:42]
20. Kindred Spirits [1:34]
21. Tricks of the Trade [3:48]
22. The Antidote [:26]
23. New Word Pragmatist [2:09]
24. The University of Life [3:59]
25. Night Bombing [3:56]
26. Reprisal [2:39]
27. Setting the Traps [3:22]
28. In America Now [6:45]
29. Nagata's Revenge on... [2:18]
30. Lords of the Yangtze [3:34]
31. Basie Returns [4:12]
32. Kamikaze Dawn [1:39]
33. Bombs and Rapture [3:30]
34. Return to the British Dorm [5:01]
35. Broken Promise [1:45]
36. Failed Mission [2:18]
37. March to Nantao [1:46]
38. The Olympic Stadium [1:46]
39. "Pretend You're Dead" [2:15]
40. Heavenly Light [1:55]
41. Reunions [2:59]
42. "I Can Bring Everyone..." [4:10]
43. "I Surrender" [3:47]
44. Tired Eyes [2:00]
45. End Credits [4:06]
Disc #1, Side B -- Empire of the Sun / Special Features
1. Introduction [2:40]
2. International Settlement [2:45]
3. Christian Bale [2:23]
4. Shanghai Occupied [4:16]
5. Cruelties of War [3:31]
6. A Western City [5:14]
7. Jumping Back 50 Years [2:38]
8. Ballard's Memories [3:35]
9. Almost Like a Movie [2:25]
10. Planestruck [6:51]
11. Coming of Age [4:57]
12. Rapture Sequence [4:38]
13. Biggest Adjustment [2:39]
14. End Credits [:30]

Menu

Disc #1, Side A -- Empire of the Sun
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Disc #1, Side B -- Empire of the Sun / Special Features
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Editorial Reviews

Empire of the Sun, Steven Spielberg's beautiful tale of World War II victims, was at best faintly praised as another Spielbergian tale of childhood adventure. But this earlier work by the director of Schindler's List emerges on reexamination as a celebration of enduring innocence and imagination in the face of the horrendous desperation and brutal reality of war. Like a deceptively simple symphony, its joys are revealed in repeat experiences, the subtleties that lie beneath the wide-eyed set pieces that often define Spielberg's work. Jim (Christian Bale) is the privileged child of wealthy British merchants in Shanghai in the years before World War II. He idolizes the pilots and aircraft of the war between Japan and China and dreams of soaring through the clouds, blissfully ignorant of the danger so close to his home. But when the Japanese army storms the port city, Jim is separated from his parents and faced with the bleak reality of life alone in a war zone. Falling in with an American scrounger named Basie (John Malkovich), Jim braves the hostile streets of Shanghai before being captured and dragged to the forbidding prison camps of the Japanese army. Jim's struggle to find his parents becomes secondary to the need to save himself and those around him. Adapted for the screen by Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love) from J. G. Ballard's autobiographical novel, Empire of the Sun is not only one of Spielberg's most soulful movies, but also among his best.

Barnes & Noble - Matthew Johnson

Those looking for the source of the full-fledged artist behind Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan need look no further than this relatively forgotten Spielberg effort from 1987. Brilliantly utilizing the kids'-eye-view approach honed in E.T. to decidedly different effect, Spielberg captures the terrors and thrills of a wartime childhood separated from every element that had previously allowed life to make sense. A young Christian Bale gives a deeply impressive performance, nicely holding his own against an equally memorable John Malkovich, but it's the tone of the film -- a sense of dreadful wonder in the midst of extreme circumstances, and a detachment that makes Bale's environment seem as alien to viewers as it does to his character -- that makes the most lasting impression. Though not seen as such at the time, this is a major step forward for Spielberg that is well worth rediscovery.

All Movie Guide

There isn't a moment in the film that is blandly or routinely directed. And in some of the movie's big set pieces, especially his staging of an American attack on a Japanese airfield, you feel his technical mastery in every frame, and the sheer raw energy he packs into his compositions can make you feel breathless, intoxicated by motion and speed. Hal Hinson

Washington Post

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