Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
JG Ballard's autobiographical novel, about his experiences in the WWII Japanese concentration camps in China, is a mild version of the events he witnessed; Spielberg's is milder still. young Jim Graham (Bale) is Ballard, an obnoxious expat brat separated from his parents as the war overwhelms Shanghai. His world of balsa-wood models and servants is blown apart and replaced by prison camp brutality. Stripped of its sci-fi trappings, Ballard's text is about what shits we may become in order to survive. Spielberg includes a strand of populist heroism, yet even this fails to dent the awful message. And the budget makes itself seen, as does Bale's superlative Jim.Author: JG
Cast & crew
Director: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall
Cast: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers, Joe Pantoliano, Leslie Phillips, Masato Ibu, Emily Richard, Rupert Frazer full cast
Genre(s): War
Duration: 152 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
Holiday gift guide
Instructions on how to get your own customized soda machine (and other, slightly more rational gifts for your film-loving friends).
Holiday film preview
Are you more interested in seeing the Daniel Craig movie, the Steven Soderbergh movie or the Freddy Rodriguez movie? Answer carefully.
Boyle's orders
The director of Slumdog Millionaire talks about the joys of filming on the cheap in India after having worked under Hollywood's thumb.
Time and again
Wong Kar-wai spruces up his underseen martial-arts epic, Ashes of Time.
Mergers and acquisitions
A new deal between the Underground Film Festival and IFP pays off.
Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema
The films we previewed offer very few reasons to kvetch.
What do you think?
Post your review now