DVD : Empire of the Sun

Rating: - A poor excuse for a movie
I logged onto the amazon.com website the day after seeing this movie in hopes of finding that a majority of reviewers would share the sentiment as displayed in the title of my own review. Boy was I wrong, and I really can't figure out what I'm missing here. Maybe it's the fact that I can't relate to being a spoiled rich kid. Maybe it's the fact that I like my movies presented at slightly above a snail's pace. Maybe it's the fact that upon any sort of character development I like to become emotionally attached to the story and actually care what will happen next. It's a bad sign to me when I find myself wishing that the other characters in the movie would shoot/beat/abandon the lead character at every opportune moment. Oh well. My only suggestion is that if you're not like me, go ahead and buy/rent this one. However, if any one of the above facts apply, stay far, far away.

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Rating: - In days of Magic and youth lost, there was also a great war ragging.
This movie is discriptively beautiful and always surprising. When you had thought you've seen every war movie, depicting every point of view, you find out you were missing yet another. That of an estranged young british boy (played magnificiently by the prodigy christian beale, you really will be surprised), who watches from an internment camp the japanese airforce send forth its brave pilots, and then the slow decay, leading to the surrender of their forces. An epic tale of surprising depth.
The young protagonist doesn't see the enemy in the sky, from the British or the American. He see's traits that he admires, that of bravery and stoicism. In his confines he looks up from his personel hell, and see's something from his dreams, encapsulating his deepest desires of freedom, A fire spitting fighter plane! He watches great battles in the air, in which even the camp is set in the battle, where mustangs are seemingly playing in the sky, as he did with his toy planes. Making playful circles and tipping their wings boyishly. He even imagines that a pilot salutes him dispite being in the heat of the balletic dog fighting.
The boy slowly decays on the outside, his clothes shreaded and his face dirty with ages of dirt, but you see the energy in his eyes and his actions, waging his own personal war within. He lives years in the camp while others pass, and makes a new family. All of this works from the real passion of the actors and juxtaposing soundtrack. From the harsh reality of the war, you have the soft, angelic chorus' from John williams that works impecably to resemble the spirit of the film.
Everything works in this film. I can't think of a better child acting performance. Spielberg was granted with a wonderful gift, and he seemed inspired to make this film. One of the most unfamiliar Spielberg films, and definatly his most underrated film.

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Rating: - Christian Bale
This is the first movie I have seen Christian as a young actor. This movie was so heart-wrenching, that I cried throughout the movie it is every bit worth more than 5stars. Now that Christian plays the new Batman it is weird to see him all grown up.
k

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Rating: - Beautifully directed, beautifully acted
Would you believe, the first time I saw this movie, I couldn't sit all the way through it? My husband had rented it, and about a third of the way through, I begged him to turn it off because it was too depressing. A couple of years later, I watched Christian Bale in another movie, and adored his portrayal of his character. I found out that he was the young star of "Empire of the Sun", and ran out to rent the movie again. I am so glad I did. Bale's performance was so exceptionally superior to anything I'd ever seen by any actor!!! The entire movie was mesmerizing, and I thought the story was told very elegantly and sensitively. The movie as a whole was beautiful, but Spielberg was able to draw stellar performances from the entire cast, especially the young Christian Bale. Many scenes have stayed with me, but most notably, the scene in which Jim reveals to the doctor that he can't remember what his parents look like. It was so heart-wrenching that I tear up just thinking about it. I am so glad that I gave "Empire of the Sun" a second chance! It is now one of my favorite movies, it turned me into a die-hard Christian Bale fan, and it proved that, even though not all Steven Spielberg movies are big money makers, it still takes a great director to tell a beautiful story!

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Rating: - King Rat befriends a teenager
Insipid, banal, trite--words to accurately describe this movie escape me. I did watch the entire movie--all 2 and a half hours--but it never really went anywhere. I honestly can't think of a thing to recommend this movie!(Perhaps the scene of the Kamikaze pilots being toasted before their take off--but even it is wasted) For a really good movie about the Japanese occupation of China I recommend "Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre"--a far superior and grittier movie than this nonsense!