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Release Date
Dec 9, 1987 (USA)
DVD Release Date
• R1: May 27, 2003
Budget $38,000,000
MPAA Rating
PG
Running Time
2 hours, 34 minutes
Country USA
Studio Amblin Entertainment, Robert Shapiro Productions
More info on IMDb.com
Other Titles
• Empire of the Sun
• Das Reich der Sonne (1988)
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Genre: War, Drama, World War II, Coming Of Age, Prison, Epic, Period Piece, Military, Teenage, Political, Culture Clash, On The Road, Biography, Surreal, Betrayal, Cult Classic
Plot: Steven Spielberg’s EMPIRE OF THE SUN, based on the autobiographical novel by J.G. Ballard, stars Christian Bale as Jim Graham, a British schoolboy separated from his upper-class colonial parents when the Japanese sweep into Shanghai during World War II. Temporarily orphaned, Jim attaches himself to Basie (John Malkovich), a fast-talking American opportunist determined make a buck off the spoils of war. Later, when the two are interned in a prison camp, Jim's boyish fantasies are fueled by the grace and daring of the Japanese fighter pilots whom he comes to idolize despite their enemy status. Spielberg's visually spectacular wartime epic is a testimony to the human will to survive and a child's ability to find wonder even in the midst of horror. Thirteen-year-old Welsh actor Christian Bale is brillant as Jim in his feature film debut. Spielberg himself identified more with Jim, a boy who is obsessed with flying and who experiences the death of his innocence, than with E.T.’s Elliott. After a year of negotiations with the Chinese, Spielberg and his crew were allowed to film in Shanghai, which was virtually unchanged since World War II.
More Plot Descriptions
 Discussion forum for this movie
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| Written by |
J.G. Ballard
Crash, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Aparelho Voador a Baixa Altitude | |
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| Cast |
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 | John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich, Con Air, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy |
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 | Leslie Phillips
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The Jackal |
 | Ben Stiller
There's Something About Mary, The Royal Tenenbaums, Meet the Parents |
 | Nigel Havers
Chariots of Fire, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, A Passage to India | |
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| Music By |
John Williams
Saving Private Ryan, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Schindler's List |
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Movie Database
In Theaters
