Not the film I remembered

Rating: 3/10 (25 October 2005)

I saw 'Empire of the Sun' a year or two after it came out, and at the time, I was absolutely blown away by it. So I watched it again last night. I can't say a word against the cinematography. Visually, it's a superlative film. For the most part, the acting is terrific. But to me, this is a feel-good movie masquerading as a gritty war epic. See Jim make the best of a bad situation! See Jim learn Japanese and ingratiate himself with the guards! See Jim's dreams come true as a B-51 flies so close to him that he can even see the pilot even waving at him! I felt nauseous at the end, not because of the magnitude of suffering and death depicted, but because in spite of it, the movie is nothing more than yet another paltry triumph-of-the-human-spirit-over-adversity flick. There's nothing uplifting or inspirational about war.