8mm Forum: Empire Of The Sun

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Topic: Empire Of The Sun

Graham Ritchie
Film God

Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006

posted March 07, 2013 05:19 PM

Catching up on some old movies lately was this one.

I first watched it at the cinema on its release way back the the 1980s I thought at the time it was ok, but nothing great. Given time, the interest of "Empire Of The Sun" has grown. I think this was the first film that a very young Christian Bale starred in.

Well, its now made it to Blu-ray [Cool]

and its not bad either, with good picture 1.78:1 and sound. I wonder why it was never made in the Scope format, that would have been good.

So if you feel like a visit back in time I recommend this 1980s Steven Spielberg film [Smile]

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Jonathan Trevithick
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 569
From: Gold Coast Australia
Registered: May 2012

posted March 08, 2013 12:54 AM

Graham, I watched the blu-ray last week. Very moving and surely one of Spielberg's most underrated films.
I saw it in Warner West End when it originally came out in the UK. It was a gorgeous print. I think it may have been a 70mm presentation.
Anyway, it has always been a firm favourite since.
I worked briefly with actor Leslie Phillips a few years after its release while I was working as a film runner. We chatted about the movie and he was very proud to have been a part of it.
Personally, I like the ratio in which it was filmed. I don't know why Spielberg chose not to shoot in Scope (as with "The Color Purple" before). Perhaps he was thinking ahead to its video release which would have mutilated his vision when shown in pan and scan.

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Alexander Vandeputte
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 243
From: Belgium
Registered: Nov 2009

posted March 08, 2013 03:00 AM

Empire of the Sun was Steven Spielbergs tribute to David Lean and as such I remember that a 65mm shoot was considered at some point. The fact that, when they decided to shoot 35mm, they did not shoot it in cinemascope, might have had something to do with the DoP's dislike for anamorphic lenses.
I agree that this remains a very underrated picture. I too saw a gorgeous (window boxed) 70mm print of it.

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Adam McCreath
Film Handler

Posts: 52
From: Ottawa, Canada
Registered: Jan 2013

posted March 08, 2013 06:29 AM

I too remember seeing this in theaters back in the day. I had to revisit this film recently myself having been reminded this was one of Christian Bail's first feature rolls. I'm a big fan of American Psycho which I also saw in theaters; hated it as first but love it now; one of Bails' best film roles; forget Batman, bring back Patrick Bateman!

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted March 08, 2013 01:52 PM

This is very well made movie and I have always enjoyed it. It was also the first time I saw one of my favorite actors of this modern age, John Malchovich. He has continued to shine greatly in Hollywood, (though I will always think he was at his best in "Of Mice and Men", playing poor ole "Lenny").

I still have the ole letterboxed laserdisc version of "Empire".

--------------------
"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Graham Ritchie
Film God

Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006

posted March 09, 2013 01:23 AM

I think Steven Spielberg did miss a golden opportunity with this film not to capture the location shooting in both Shanghai and Spain in Scope. One scene in particular where the airfield is being attacked by P-51 Mustang aircraft could have been captured much better in the Scope format.

However the sound of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine is impressive. Somebody out here owns a Mustang, and any every so often it flies over our house I run outside to see it. The sound of that Merlin V-12 engine is really something.

Graham. [Smile]

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Ken Finch
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 543
From: Herne Bay, Kent. U.K.
Registered: Oct 2011

posted March 10, 2013 12:06 PM

Hi, I purchased this on VHS after seeing it in the cinema, as I thought it was one worth repeated watching. It is in "widescreen" 1.78-1 format. Still looks good through the video projector today despite being on a lower quality format.Ken Finch [Smile]

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