Spielberg's under-rated masterpiece, with arguably the best child acting performance ever - from Christian Bale. The DVD release doesn't live up to its 'Special Edition' claim but you should buy this one for a great transfer of a great movie, if not the packaging or extra's!
Jacket Blurb
Steven Spielberg's film 'Empire of the Sun' is an inspiring, action-packed epic of a small boy in a great war. That boy is Jim Graham, a young Britain whose unconquerable spirit soars high and free above the harsh confines of a Japanese internment camp during World War II. Through his eyes we see the fascination and horror of war. And we see a child's hold onto childhood weaken as his struggle to survive grows fiercer.
Based on J.G. Ballard's memorable bestseller, this first major Hollywood studio production ever to shoot in the People's Republic of China earned 1987 National Board of Review awards for Best Picture and Director, as well as a special citation for Outstanding Juvenile Performance for Christian Bale as Jim.
Film Review
It is hard to understand how this epic, visually stunning story from Steven Spielberg could have tanked so badly at the box office. Seemingly, audiences weren't prepared for a serious Steven Spielberg after the more juvenile-oriented fare that had preceded it. Admittedly this is not a 'feel good' story, and some of the scenes are harrowing, but it is certainly one worth two hours of anybody's time, and repeated viewings pay off several strands that on first viewing may appear confusing or are too subtle to be noticed.
Some critics have complained about the unbelievable sentimentality and sheer fantasy of the movie in certain scenes - I think they've totally missed the point. Spielberg is not pretending to give us a view of reality - indeed, there are frequent clues throughout the movie that what we are seeing is the fantasy version, a re-remembering of what happened as seen through the eyes of a child. Clues are subtle, but deliberate: the same actors appear in slightly different roles, different actors develop the same mannerisms as others as they take on roles that have been vacated in the young boy's life (see the tooltips to some of the screen captures on the right for some specific examples). It's hard to remember when Spielberg has been so subtle, so grand and so consistent in his directorial vision as he has been in this movie. It's an under-rated classic!
The cinematography, as one would expect for an epic set during war in China, is first class. The epic sweep of the British and Japanese in Shanghai and the onset of war is beautifully portrayed. But Spielberg is always careful to ensure we see the world through young Jim's eyes. Incidents are downplayed, or take on an almost dream-like quality, in an attempt to stifle the real horror that is the reality of what's happening, all to reinforce the notion that this is a story seen through the eyes of a child, presumably as remembered in later life.
Christian Bale is nothing less than astonishing as the lead character Jim (loosely based on JG Ballard's real life experiences - - see the link at the top of the left-hand column of this review for an interesting comment on the movie as written by the book's author at the time of this DVD release). Bale is on screen for virtually the whole of the running time of the movie, and his performance is near faultless throughout, playing the precocious and rather irritating survivor to tremendously believable effect. Spielberg has a reputation for being good with child actors of course, but it's quite clear that the talent Bale had, even at this young age, is beyond the norm.
John Malkovich gives an effortlessly good performance as Jim's morally dubious friend, Basie, and Nigel Havers surprises (I'm not a fan of this usually 'one note' actor!) with a strong performance as the camp doctor, effectively Jim's surrogate father figure. Even veteran 'Carry On' actor Leslie Phillips turns in a credible and moving performance as one of the more elderly Prisoners of War that Jim takes under his wing.
The only aspect of the movie I didn't enjoy was John Williams' score. This is not his usual 'play it by numbers' orchestral offering, and indeed I had to check the credits to see who was behind the score. With a strong choral structure, the vocals too often take away or distract from the picture where they should be enhancing it and on the several occasions one is 'taken out of the moment' in this movie it always seemed to be down to the intrusive music rather than any momentary lapses in acting or direction.
DVD Review
The DVD presentation of this film has lost it a mark in my overall rating of seven out of ten. Recently, the term 'Special Edition' has become a meaningless phrase that effectively says 'We're going to jack the price up without giving you anything extra', and this DVD is, unfortunately, a classic example. For your hard-earned money you get one miserable TV documentary and a trailer - and that's it: No chapter index leaflet, no slipcase, not even an animated menu - what on earth is 'special' about this, other than the rather high asking price?
Picture and Sound
The picture is anamorphic widescreen at 2.35:1 and a first rate transfer although there is quite a lot of noise, particularly in the darker scenes - hardly surprising given this is some 20 years old now. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack makes good use of surround during the music and action scenes, if not exactly being an 'Impress your neighbours' sound showcase.
Documentary Featurette
A fifty-minute TV documentary, The China Odyssey makes up the second disc in the package and, for this viewer, gave some fascinating looks behind the scenes, in particular demonstrating the somewhat contradictory nature of Spielberg. There are numerous scenes of him bonding with Bale and giving him excellent direction, and yet when interviewed or talking to colleagues he always refers to Bale as 'the kid', as if this is just another 'actor' whose name he can't be bothered to remember. There's a wonderfully captured action scene where Bale forgets his direction, meaning an expensive explosives scene has to be re-shot, and the seething, barely controlled anger of the director, together with the obvious and somewhat panicked guilt of the actor are all too apparent. Documentary gold! This featurette is presented in 4:3 aspect ratio and the picture quality is rather poor and not far off poor home video quality - certainly there has been no attempt at any kind of digital restoration of this material. The trailer for the movie is the only other extra.
Final Analysis
This is a wonderful movie, very well presented on DVD, that will reveal hidden depths on subsequent re viewings. That it failed at the box office is nothing short of a crime. But the DVD loses a mark for its high price and claim to be a 'special edition' when, as far as this purchaser is concerned, it's as close as it's possible to get to a 'vanilla' release.
The movie: 8/10 - Excellent.
The DVD: 7/10 - Disappointing but it gets a 'Very Good' rating for the quality of the movie transfer.
