Empire of the Sun (Special Edition)
Starring: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers, Joe Pantoliano, Leslie Phillips, Ben Stiller, David Neidorf, Burt Kwouk, Paul McGann, Peter Copley, Rupert Frazer, Peter Gale, Masato Ibu
Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Empire of the Sun (Special Edition) Reviewed by Paul Heath

EMPIRE OF THE SUN tells the true story of a twelve year old boy, played brilliantly by a young Christian Bale, who is caught up in 1940's Shanghai as China is plunged into World War II. On the day of Pearl Harbor, which effectively brought the United States into the war, the International inhabitants of the city are taken captive and sent to detention camps across China. In the process, young Jamie and his parents are split up as they make their way to safety through the streets of Shanghai. The young boy finally makes his way to a holding camp through meeting two American Seamen, played by John Malkovich and Joe Pantoliano.

Most of the movie is unusually seen through the eyes of the civilians caught up in the midst of war, rather than the soldiers fighting it. The film hardly touches on the politics and concentrates on the survival of life in that day. Spielberg somehow manages to weave an almost magical childhood adventure out of the atrocities of the time, and contains moments that remind me so much of his movies prior to this. We have the obvious child focussed story (which is based on the real-life experiences of novelist JG Ballard). There's the sheer scale of the film itself, and this is an epic movie using huge sets packed with thousands of extras, and in this pre-CGI era, it's simply breathtaking. It also shows promise of his later work on SCHINDLER'S LIST and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. We also see Spielberg's sentimental side come out, and a scene that touched me was about halfway in where Bale's character walks up to a Japanese plane in wonder, awe and excitement. Without spoiling anything, three Japanese airmen simply walk up behind him and Bale turns and salutes, and they salute back. A simple, touching moment, and classic Spielberg. Another stand-out scene to look out for is where Bale's Jamie returns to the family home. The director uses a simple technique of telling a story, which turns out to be one of the most effective and brilliant scenes that I think I've ever seen on the screen. You'll see what I mean when you catch the movie. A hint - it involves flour.

Another Speilberg trait is that he tends to attract a superb cast of great character actors, and then extract career best performances for every single one of them. This is evident here. For example, John Malkovich provides one of his best (but did this dude ever have hair), as too do Pantoliano and Bale himself, who you appreciate just how good this guy is as an actor, and from such an early age.

For a war movie, EMPIRE OF THE SUN doesn't feature many battle sequences or set pieces - as I said, it's not that kind of movie. It's more of an emotional journey through war, and a story of survival told through the eyes of a young boy. It's main attribute it the fantastic cast (look out for a young Nigel Havers, and even Ben Stiller), headed by a career best (still) from Bale, and the wonderful almost flawless direction from Spielberg in his first major departure from fantasy and adventure. It's a film that you have to see, and this release still holds up as it approaches its 20th anniversary. Classic film. Classic Spielberg.

The 20th anniversary release of EMPIRE OF THE SUN is released as a two disc special edition, and the two hour twenty minute film fills the first disc and is presented in glorious wide-screen and Dolby Digital 5.1. There are also a couple of multi language options, subtitles and scene selection.

The special edition comes in to play as you throw in the second disc, which while still sparse on extra features, does feature a good 45 minute behind the scenes feature. The documentary, narrated by Martin Sheen features interviews and behind the scenes footage. It's here that we get to see the master at work on the huge, wonderful sets of the film. We get to see Bale talking to camera, and Malkovich trying to learn the apparent difficult Chinese language. There's also a little background into the history of mid-forties China, and an interview with JG Ballard who wrote the novel on which the film is based. It's a wonderful, nostalgic look behind the scenes, and it's great to Spielberg hard at work on possibly one of his best cinematic achievements. As you watch, you get the sense that the man is building bridges and the groundwork for what cam just six years later, the multiple Oscar winning SCHINDLER'S LIST.

EMPIRE OF THE SUN as a movie, is outstanding. EMPIRE OF THE SUN as a Special Edition DVD falls short of average. Sure, the 45 minute documentary is a joy and a wonderful accompaniment to the film, but it's not good enough on its own. Surely there's more material out there that exists for this wonderful movie. Even some deleted scenes wouldn't go amiss. Plus there's also the lack of a Spielberg commentary, as with all of his releases, which would have definitely made this a must. The omission of anything other than the trailer and 45 minute featurette makes this special edition for a very special movie a little less special; if you get my drift.

Still, EMPIRE OF THE SUN remains one of the better war/ adventure movies of the last twenty years, and if you don't already own a copy, then the special edition will make a worthy, and near essential edition to your collection.

GRADE: B-

Paul Heath