Rating: 
Summary: Pure Brilliant
Review: I saw this film many, many years ago when I was young and it was the first film that truly moved me. I didn't just shed a tear, but I sobbed and sobbed! And most recently watching it as an adult, I still found the film just as powerful and moving. The most touching scene to be where Christian Bale sings the Japanese anthem across the fence looking at the Japanese soldiers. Although I cannot comment on whether the film correctly depicted the history of the War, which has been the source of criticism towards the film. The acting, directing, cinematography and settings are all just fantastic. This is my kind of film, there are many painful scenes and happy ones, either way, both were extremely moving. I found great pleasure in Christian Bale's recent comeback to box-office hits, especially in American Psycho. As he proves he is not merely a one-hit wonder. This film, without a doubt, is in my top 5 films of all time.
Rating: 
Summary: Spielberg's worst: read the papers to be depressed
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest movie ever made
Review: This is the best movie I have ever seen. What a amazing story about the effects of war for all societies. I can't believe this movie isn't available on DVD. I've seen it at least 20 times. And I'm ready to watch it 50 more times. So, come on.
Rating: 
Summary: A Lyrical Triumph!
Review: Just read a few of the reviews for this Spielberg opus, and amgratified that so many have found a place in their hearts for this special movie. A long time fan of Spielberg's, I have seen and been awed by his WW II trilogy: Empire, Schindler's List and Private Ryan. I own Ryan on DVD, and Empire on VHS... A comparison worth noting: both Private Ryan and Empire depict a search/quest against the panaramic sweep of the greatest war ever fought. For Tom Hanks, it's his singular mission to find and bring back alive the last surviving son of a family of four young soldiers. For Christian Bale, his need to re-unite with his separated parents...and while Ryan ascends to the heights of major epic, Empire endures in the mind because it is really such a small movie, focusing on this at once terrified but magnificently enobled little boy.
Rating:
Summary: A Story of Courage, Hope, and Survival
Review: This movie is awesome. EMPIRE OF THE SUN is the true story of an upperclass boy who is oblivious to the world around him and obsessed with airplanes. Instead of continuing in his oblivion when he finds himself separated from his family in World War II China, he somehow digs deep within himself and matures into an alert and intelligent boy, not only helping himself survive but helping others around him survive also. The screenplay, cinematography, and motion picture soundtrack are all awesome. This movie is a rare gem.
Rating:
Summary: An overlooked work of art...
Review: Steven Speilburg's early worked is, now, completely ignored due to his recent works (schindler's list, amistad, saving private ryan). When i sat down to watch this i figured it was a dumb film, by the time i was finished i was crying, it literally won my heart. john malkovich is brilliant and christian bale is unforgetable. i can't express my feelings towards this film. it's plot is full of character development and twists. It is a string of tragedies leading to a center happiness not able to be forgotten by an individual. it is definutely on my top ten list. GO SEE IT! ~
Rating: 
Summary: 3 *'s for the movie; 5 for the"Cadillac of the Skies" scene!
Review: This deeply moving, 2.5 hour drama, though slow at times, qualifies as a sweet prelude to Schindler's List. My favorite part is when young Jim Graham, imprisoned by the Japanese, receives a front seat for one spectacular WWII air raid, as the P-51 Mustangs ("Cadillacs of the Skies") bomb the heck out of the enemy airfield adjacent to the Soochow Labor Camp, where Jim is being detained. Many fans of Citizen Kane (even though I'm not one of them) will see definite references. I was later reminded of the aforementioned scene when P-51's came to the rescue of Capt. Miller and his men in Saving Private Ryan. Check it out!
Rating:
Summary: Hauntingly Beautiful
Review: I first saw this movie on cable when I was a young child. I therefore viewed the situations with a child's attitude, similar to Jim's. I did not know what an atom bomb was, so I still thought he DID see Mrs. Victor's soul going up to heaven. About 15 years passed since I initially watched the movie, yet the whole time, certain images stuck with me, in addition to the music. I would find the choir boy's song in my head, years after seeing the film. (get the soundtrack; also incredible). Now in my 20s, I watched the film for the first time again recently and found myself deeply moved. I am able to watch and appreciate the film from both an adult as well as a child's perspective, which gives it much more meaning than I thought possible. This movie is outstanding and Christian Bale is simply too outstanding to attempt to explain. Empire of the Sun is more than a "favorite" movie; it has deeply affected my life.
Rating:
Summary: A Forgotten Classic
Review: The first time I ever saw this film was just last year when I was 15 years old. I had never even heard about it until I watched the Making of Saving Private Ryan. This documentary played a clip of some of Steven Spielberg's movies set during World War 2. When I heard the beautiful John Williams' score play on my TV and a boy watching a lone fighter plane soar across the runway, I was immediately captivated and sat in awe as this boy cheered on the fighter plane. I immediately rewound the tape and read the title of this clip: Empire of the Sun. I quickly ran to my local Blockbuster and rented the movie not even knowing what the film was about and was witnessed to the most amazing film I had ever seen! The performances were top notch and the performance from the young Christian Bale, who plays the young boy, Jim, forced in a Japanese Intern Camp, is the greatest performance by a child I have ever seen, exceeding that of such names as Henry Thomas (E.T.) and young oscar nominee Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense). The movie itself is a visual masterpiece with never a dull moment. This movie contains some of the most memorable and beuatiful scenes I have ever seen anywhere. The story itself is full of drama, action, and suspence that captures your heart and never lets go even after the end credits are rolling! As usual, John Williams delivers with one of his greatest scores ever. The visual effects are astounding and perfectly executed to enhance the storytelling of the movie. I disagree with some of the negative reviews that plague this underrated epic. Many people before its release expected it to be this huge blockbuster stemming off as an adaptation of a book by the same name. How can anyone expect a movie about a boy torn from his parents and forced to live in a Japanese Prison Camp, get cursed and beaten at and forced to eat bugs and potatoes for years to be a huge blockbuster. Many people attacked it for its lack of commercial success. While this may not be the most historically accurate film in the case of how horrific the conditions of the prison camps really were, this would only destract the audiance from what the film should be and is, a film that begins tragically but ends up being a coming of age heartwarming epic drama about a boy forced to live and grow up fast under the harshest of conditions and yet triumphs against all obstacles.
Rating:
Summary: A must for DVD!
Review: Reginald D. Garrard's review of Empire of the Sun - is dead on target and I agree with his analysis completely. This has been on my top-10 wish list for DVD from the start. An emotionally powerful, and extraordinarily beautiful tale of a boy separated from his parents by war. The acting and film craftsmanship are nothing short of stunning. You're right Reg. The critics really blew it on this one.
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