Empire of the Sun

[Rudie Obias]

any thoughts?  opinions?

[Grand Epic]

I think it's really underappreciated. Not as good as Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan, but still really good.

The scene where the US planes attack the camp still gives me goosebumps.

[Pwaybloe]

I really liked "Empire of the Sun" too, but it has been a LONG time since I've seen it.  I remember that one scene where Christian Bale is staring on one side of the fence and watches the Japanese pilots have a drink together before they start their kamikaze mission.  Great stuff.

That reminds me.  Did anyone else like "Always?"  You gotta like Richard Dreyfuss.

[MacGuffin]

That reminds me.  Did anyone else like "Always?"  You gotta like Richard Dreyfuss.

I have a soft spot for that film. Audrey Hepburn is the perfect angel.

[cowboykurtis]

a childhood favorite -- it always upset me when he threw his mouse against the wall.

[dufresne]

The scene where the US planes attack the camp still gives me goosebumps.

one of my all time favorite shots...

[Spike]

any thoughts?  opinions?

I quiet liked it, but it also has it's boring moments. But Christian Bale and John Malkovich are great in it.

[mutinyco]

One of the most beautifully composed films I've ever seen. Each shot is exquisite. Most people fault it because they don't relate to Jim's sense of naive wonder -- they mistake it for sentimental fluff. Which it isn't. The film is simply from his imaginative point of view.

[Gamblour.]

One of the most beautifully composed films I've ever seen. Each shot is exquisite. Most people fault it because they don't relate to Jim's sense of naive wonder -- they mistake it for sentimental fluff. Which it isn't. The film is simply from his imaginative point of view.

But when he salutes and starts singing to the Japanese pilots...I wanted to fuckin puke. Spielberg has too many of these moments. That scene was really great, but the singing made it stupid. It's hard for me to like kids in movies, especially when they try and make "adult" decisions or do symbolic things. "Signs" is a prime example.

[mutinyco]

I actually think the scene where he starts singing at dawn, as the kamikazes are getting ready to fly is gorgeous. It leads to one of the best shots in the film -- the plane exploding across the sun -- not unlike a tearing down of Spielberg's most famous childhood image from E.T.

[Gamblour.]

I actually think the scene where he starts singing at dawn, as the kamikazes are getting ready to fly is gorgeous. It leads to one of the best shots in the film -- the plane exploding across the sun -- not unlike a tearing down of Spielberg's most famous childhood image from E.T.

See, I thought that if it had just been the Japanese pilots singing, it would've been very moving, because we would have seen the dedication and honor they hold wih their role. But instead the kid had to sing, and it ruined it. Everything after that is so great, the plane exploding was really fucking a.

[Wesabeck]

Did anyone catch Ben Stiller in this film?  He is one of Malkovich's buddies.  I do like this film and feel it is very underated.  The moment that really did it for me was when Christian is pounding on the dead kids chest and his eyes move, and at the end when he sees his parents.  Good stuff.  I hate the flasetto singing, it gets on me nerves.

[mutinyco]

The thing about that scene is that it's the first time Jim doesn't belong to anybody. He left the British dorms. Then he was kicked out of the American dorms. His parents are missing. And he just kind of reverts to something from his previous life. And these pilots are like gods to him. As he lost himself in delusion the attack occurs, shattering him back to reality and admitting he can't remember what his parents look like anymore.