Christian Bale is brilliant.

Rating: Null/10 (27 November 2002)

8 out of 10
Empire of the Sun is a powerful drama that tells the story of young James Ballard (Christian Bale), a British child who was trapped in WWII China as the Japanese quickly took power. This is probably among Steven Spielberg's least well-known works, probably because of its box office failure and lukewarm critical response, but it's one of his better ones (which says a lot) and definitely his most underrated film to date.
Spielberg's direction is typically first-rate; most of the film's quality actually hinges on Christian Bale's performance, and thank God he doesn't disappoint. As a matter of fact, his riveting turn is the strongest display of acting I've ever seen from a child performer (yes, even better than the supremely talented Haley Joel Osment). With Bale at the center, what could have been a lousy WWII drama is instead an emotionally effective and quite uplifting tale that never fails to grip you from beginning to end. A definite must see for drama fans.