**CHRISTIAN BALE'S BEST?!** Empire of the Sun (1987) Reaction/ Commentary: FIRST TIME WATCHING 

The "religious" ceremony was preparation for a kamikaze mission... Those were teens on their way to their deaths.

This movie is ridiculously underrated. Barely anyone has seen it haha. Thanks for reacting to it

This is one of the best movies ever made! Christian Bale was only 12 or 13 in this role that he absolutely crushed!

This seriously made my year, it’s one of my favorites and I can’t tell you how glad I am that you enjoyed it! When I was first introduced to it, I couldn’t understand how I’d never heard of it before and why it wasn’t talked about more often. If I’m not mistaken, it’s supposedly Spielberg’s favorite work. Hoping that your reaction will help get this movie more attention! Thank you for another phenomenal video! 👏👏👏

This movie is based on the book o the same name, which in itself, was based on a true story that happened to the author.

I couldn't be more glad that you reacted to this film, it is immensely underrated. I see it as a story of loss of innocence. I remember my mom walking in on me watching this film and she was like, "Hey that kid kinda looks like Batman!" and I was like, "Um, cuz it is, mom! 😐"

My parents showed my brother and I this film in our youth, specifically to show us how good our lives were. I had zero idea that this was Christian Bale. Mind blown!

I have to say alot of reactors all choose the same movies over the course of a week but you sir really make some very rare and good pics aside of the mainstream. respects for that.

Oh and that is John Malkovich as Basie. Christian Bale was 13 when he made this. We are the same age so I knew immediately. 👍🏻 Leo DiCaprio is also the same age as us, but was 19 when he made What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?…

This is my all time favourites film shame not many reactors, react to this Christian bale acting in this is brillent for his age

Finally! Finally a videoreaction of this movie.

I'm so glad to see someone react to this movie. It seems so few reactors ever do and it's such a fantastic movie. Same with Dangerous Liasons. Also amazing movie with fantastic performances by Malkovich and Glenn Close. No one watches it. It's a shame. That said, what a movie this was. Christian Bale gave a superb performance. My favorite he ever did.

Empire of The Sun is based on JG Ballard’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. David Lean (Bridge of the River Kwai) was due to direct it, with Spielberg producing it. Lean later explained, "I worked on it for about a year and in the end I gave it up because I thought it was too similar to a diary. It was well-written and interesting, but I gave it to Steve." Spielberg was attracted to directing the film because of a personal connection to Lean's films and World War II topics. He considers it to be his most profound work on "the loss of innocence". For the sequence where Suzhou Internment Camp is attacked, the P-51s were flown by Ray Hanna (who was featured in the film flying at low-level past the child star with the canopy back, waving), his son Mark and "Hoof" Proudfoot. It took over 10 days of filming to complete due to the complexity of the planned aerial sequences, which included the P-51s actually dropping plaster-filled replica 500 lb bombs at low level, with simulated bomb blasts. Ben Stiller (Dainty) conceived the idea for Tropic Thunder while performing in Empire of the Sun. Yes, it was Joe Pantoliano (Cypher in The Matrix & Francis in The Goonies) who played Frank Demarest

Bale was 13 and Dicaprio was 19 in those movies.

I identified with the kid because of his journey by himself. Spielberg's movies almost show the relation between father and son, so it was a great screenplay about a child who tries to survive and grow up fastly. Some lines breaks my heart, especially when the boy learns about the real life.

This FILM held the record for the most extras hired and used in a single shot. It’s the scene where he gets separated from his parents. Some one has already told you about the Kamikaze ceromony. The look on the faces of the two kids that were flying to their death was so heart breaking. I choreographed a Winter Guard show to the choral piece of the sunrise ceremony and end credits. It was so beautiful! The music shows a kid-like quality, a child’s nursery rhyme almost, but in a hollow emptiness of mind, body and especially soul. Remembering the days long past that he will never know that feeling again. I hoping JW would win the Oscar but at least he was nominated! Another good WWII FILM is “Hope and Glory.” The tag line is “A World at War. A Boy at Play.”

"P-51, Cadillac of the Skies!" Very underrated Spielberg film.

Finally! Someone doing this great movie!

The song he sings saluting the Japanese pilots is Suo Gan, a Welsh lullaby, and form what I understand, among the oldest unchamged songs known.. I saw this when it came out; I was 13. Been my favorite movie ever since, one of my favorite songs. I always thought it wa sone fo the best uses of a song ever in a movie. Another detail that many miss is the very end scene. Even when I was very young, I realized how much older Jamie was than his parents. My other recommendation for a shamefully underwatched Spielberg film is Munich.

It was incredible that, as you mentioned, essentially a major film rested on the shoulders on a relatively untested young actor. It certainly showed the full transition from a spoilt brat all the way through to a shrewd and resourceful survivor. A great film on many levels and is one of my favourites. You asked about why did he leave the Scouts because he was now an atheist? At least in the UK one of the lines from the promise you had to swear to was 'On my honour I promise that I will do my duty to God and the Queen', at least when I joined. I also read once that when the Chinese housekeeper slapped Christian on the face, Steven Spielberg told her to slap him for real. He wanted a better reaction as Christian wasn't expecting to actually be hit! Anyway, a nice reaction once again. I'm glad that you enjoyed it and thanks for covering a range of films.

I saw this in theaters with my dad when it came out. I was 7. It has a permanent spot in my head.

One of Bale's best performances!

ok haven't watched this video yet because work but awesome that you are doing this movie

Yes. Gone With the Wind is worth watching. Read the book as well. Trust me.

Perhaps my favorite movie all-time. The scene on the rooftop, (P-51, cadillac of the sky...Horsepower!), absolutely destroys me. I don't know why. Chritian Bale is completely unaffected by the camera. Immersed! How did he do this?

I saw this in cinemas at the same age as the lead character. I became a fan of cinema because of Empire of the Sun.

I so love this movie. If you are interested, you should read up on the "Shanghai International Settlement".. There was a British settlement there in which Jim lived in. It was like taking a neighborhood from London and dropping it into China. When Japan attacked China, the settlement was wiped out. The camp, where Jim lived, was set up to protect the airport. It was where Kamikaze pilots were trained and then flew from. The pilots are only shown the bare minimum of how to fly a plane. They weren't taught how to land. t wasn't necessary if all they were going to do is just crash into something. His friend had volunteered to be one. The majority of the pilots did so only to provide for their families. The movie "The Last Emperor" is another really good movie. It is about Aisin-Gioro Puyi who became the Last Emperor of China. It beat out "Empire of the Sun" with 9 Oscar wins.

The powerful cinematography of Jamie with his hand on the Zero Japanese Fighter was so utterly stunning . The transcendence and mutual respect from Jamie towards fighter pilots regardless of anything else was so powerful. We also take for granted that aviation is established today . Obviously in those days it would have been so much more magical , and the pilots of the day would have been super hero and held a mystical place (status)in the mind of a kid . The film is my favourite Bale movie . I really enjoyed your reaction buddy. I wish you well . Lots of love to the USA from London England . (Family over the pond)

14:07 more of the Dark Knight energy

This is based on a semi-biographical novel by J.G. Ballard who had a brief part at the costume party…I think he was dressed as the Father Christmas character.

Really enjoyed the reaction thanks!

One of the few movies that cause me to weep whenever I watch it.

22:39 A very young Ben Stiller

@Thor Reacts...You’ve finally made it to the film that caught my interest in cinema! That shot of the boy facing the pilots...magical 🖤🌹🖤🧛🏻‍♀️

This is a wonderful and brilliant movie but, very underrated. It's also one of my favorites. Everything about it is what cinema is all about. Christian Bale's performance exemplified all of the naivete and idealism of childhood. That prevented him from truly realizing the situation he was in and kept him from becoming cynical and hopeless as many of the adults did. He maintained the essence of youth even while witnessing the hardship of life and death. This movie is very emotional and seeing it through the eyes of a child makes it even more moving. The ritual Jamie saw the Japanese pilots performing was one for the kamikaze pilots who were going up to die by crashing their planes into American warships. The Japanese boy was killed because he was a Japanese soldier. It was war and he could have gone on to kill American soldiers perhaps as a kamikaze pilot. What this movie doesn't really show was the absolute savagery of the Japanese that most of the adults in the camp probably knew all too well. The emotion of that scene comes from viewing it through the eyes of a boy.

Amazing film. I had little interest in seeing it first run, but after seeing Bale's performance in "Velvet Goldmine" my curiosity was peaked. I'm glad I tracked down a copy.

Anyone here saw "Mio, my Mio" with 13 year old Christian Bale? It's a Swedish/Russian fairy tale movie.

This is one of my favorite movies. I haven't seen anyone react to it. Thanks so much. And I love your calm voice and thoughtful commentary. 🙂💛

This is probably the best child acting of all times. Bale is extremely talented.

Yes. I would love a reaction to Gone With the Wind

Thank you for choosing this film. I have always loved this one. It was awesome on the big screen. I agree that it is the best performance by a child in any movie that I have seen. I never forgot Cristian Bale after this. As far as Gone With the Wind goes, it is an awesome film on the big screen but watching it on anything smaller it turns into a long, ponderous soap opera. If it ever shows at the theater and you have a chance to see it. Do so. Getting the full impact via TV or laptop is not possible.

Ben stiller was in this movie and great cast and story. WOW

I watched this as a teenager back when Netflix was a subscription service that sent you DVDs in the mail. It remains one of the most powerful movie experiences I've ever had. Fantastic.

If you want to see war through a young person's eyes and a fantastic performance watch "Come And See" it was the film inspired Spielberg when making both Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List and is still considered by many the greatest war movie ever made but usually comes with warning's due to it's brutality, it'd make a great reaction video, it's likely what inspired him when making this too seeing it has several similarities.

In Japanese he said "We are all friends, it's just war to be blamed" (boku tachi wa minna tomodachi desu yo ne, senso no sei desu." at 24:00

One of my favorite films and my favorite autobiographical film to date.

Happy to see you reacted to this. I've been suggesting it all over for some time 🙂 I didn't notice you recognize one of the American prisoners as Ben Stiller...

I was 12 when i watched this and i can still remember all of it as such an incredible but terribly underrated movie.

I'm so happy to see others that remember this masterpiece... Makes me cry every time

Too few films show the suffering of civilians in war. For that alone, this one is worth watching.

How can anyone never have seen Empire of the sun? It's a masterwork. I'll remember it my whole life.

So many reactors don’t watch this masterpiece My favorite Spielberg movie Love it so much!! Great reaction

Too bad it flopped in the theater but I really enjoyed a child’s POV of war.

My favourite Spielberg movie.

The little master is a taipan. He starts out a spoiled kid and grows up thanks to some no nonsense American men. Lucky indeed. When I was a kid, we learned about WW2 in school. What I took away from the whole thing was that some people hate jews, for some reason. Something about money. And the most important thing, the secret of Life, is knowing when to leave a place. You mustn't allow sentiment to prevent you from leaving a place when you are in dire peril. All of those sentimental ideas won't mean a thing when you are being beaten, shot, put in a ghetto, or exterminated. This lesson translates smoothly to people who aren't even Jewish. I suspect it's some kind of universal axiom.

There’s still so many Spielberg films you have to see! Sugarland express (1974), Always(1989)

Watching this movie at 1 am was like some kind of spiritual experience, one of the best movies I've ever seen, it's free on RU-vid and I highly recommend it

My absolute favorite movie of all time. I've never seen anyone react to it. Thank you

And Spielberg's 1941 is an awesome film. It is supposed to be a comedy and it is only slightly amusing but it is very entertaining and stunning to look at and listen to. The production values from cinematography, sets, choreography of dance and stunts is superb. John Williams score is a great one as well.

It is such a great movie, but when I say about it to other people they never heard about it. Watched this as a teen and I was mesmerised.

Most of knew Christian from American Psycho and Batman, and the first time I saw him was in this movie precisely and in that year of its release, and his good performance at such a young age caught my attention, and at that moment I said, If this boy survives the excesses of childhood fame, he will be a great actor as an adult and that's how it was, in this movie I saw a lot of potential for Christian to become a great actor, Bale really captivated me in this movie, after years him I lost track, I didn't find out about his other movies until American Psycho and Batman and I remembered him and it was a pleasure to meet that actor again in his adulthood.

This based on a truw autobiography. It's NOT fiction.

And the goofy candy bar joke guy is ben stiller

I’ve seen this movie so many times. So many. Several parts of this movie still & always haunt me. Love this film.

Gone with the Wind is a war and romance movie 4 hrs. great movie.

a very very underrated Spielberg war drama

1941(1979) is Spielbergs only attempt at comedy and it’s pretty decent I think you’ll enjoy!!

I loved this movie so much I learned the choir song I was such a geek lol so powerful Spielberg is just a genius n Christian bale's acting skills are just amazing in this. Deffoz 1 of the best movies I have seen will always stands the test of time as many of Spielberg classics.

I majored in Eng in college w/ graduate minor in media arts for 3 yrs, and Spielburg was the most interesting to study, and i did papers on him. I didnt realize how this magic worked until my daughter argued w/ me why 5 yrs ago mastering her Cello for the City Orchestra was so important to her. As an artist you feel it at that moment, and you have to be it now or pour it out at once as soon as you can. I used to play the guitar and be part of a $#!TTy band and i can relate to what shes saying. This movie has moments where you feel real movie magic.

You should react to other WWII movies that took place in the Pacific.

A lot of people did not know Ben Stiller was in this movie.

Thank you for reviewing one of my favorite movies! (Did you see young Ben Stiller too?) This movie makes you feel all the different emotions that happen when going through a war. Can't recommend this movie to others enough.

Awesome 🎉

My Mother had a similar experience to this boy as a Japanese girl born in Taiwan during Japanese occupation and then the subsequent and current occupation of Taiwan by China she was deported to Japan in her early twenties losing both parents and a brother during the war. During the struggle to extract the Japanese from Taiwan my Mother was not allowed to leave the capitol city of Taipei because she was a government employee so she lived in Taipei during the British bombings and saw a lot of death and experienced a lot of starvation

Díky! Or thank you for nice reaction

I'm so glad you reacted to this! I first saw it when I was almost a child and it gained a place in my heart. I cried so much! I still cry watching it to be honest. I think this film is not as popular as it should. One of Spielberg's best imho. And talking about war and the Far East... I think you never reacted to Studio Ghibli "Grave of the fireflies". That is a true masterpiece, I recommend it! ❤️

Yay.. Nobody reacts to this movie and I'm always shocked people don't know about it. It's one of my favorites

This MAY have been before he started cussing out his directors, film crews, and cast mates. Or maybe not. Seemed like a cute kid anyway.

It is Steven Spielberg Underated Masterpiece...sadly Cristian bale didn't won and Oscar for this?

I was like, take the family photos on the piano with you! Worthless to others, priceless to you! That was Ben Stiller as that other dude in the American house! That was the legend Ray Hanna waving to him, him and his son Mark along with ‘Hoof’ Proudfoot are piloting legends, and the latter two died in accidents flying those, at least they went doing what they loved and were here to do too He sent the suitcase off as a symbol of leaving his childhood, identity, life up to that point, behind… I mean, I think it’s both, she went just before and she’d have done that for him/them And well said, man! Do you take any recommendations at the moment?(: Have a good one!

What type of terrier is Wolfie Thor?

Have you ever seen LEO in GANGS OF NEW YORK? Classic. Another great performance from Leo

This was Ben Stiller's first movie. He called his character a loser and a hater in this review.

I remember when this came out. It was hugely popular and everyone I know watched it. It’s so sad and tragic and real. I showed my kids and they like it too. What great actors, what great acting. Years later I watched The Newsies and Christian Bale sings in that as the lead. It’s fun compared to this. Christian Bale does excellent in historical roles. He dives deep.

This movie just goes to show how precious civilization and order is. After the British left and the Japanese took over everyone started stealing and murdering and the Japanese themselves were barbarous.

Do you think you'd be willing to react to Saving Private Ryan? That movie's incredible

Gone with the wind is definitely worth watching. It's a long one.

and now you must watch NEWSIES!

The beginning is a little complicated. This movie begins in the autumn of 1941, 4 years into the second Sino-Japanese war. Japan had conquered much of China and committed absolutely horrendous atrocities such as the rape of Nanking. But at the same time, they had respected the enclaves of European powers. Hong Kong was British and the Japanese did not move on it. This would change in December 1941. The US had cut off oil shipments to Japan as well as shipments of iron and other materials necessary to the Japanese war economy In an attempt to make them pull out of China or at least negotiate. Japanese wanted to continue the war and decided to take the resources they wanted by conquering the Dutch East Indies, and Malaysia. To do so, they would have to neutralize the Philippines and the British Naval base at Singapore. This meant war with The Americans, British, and Dutch. But the British trade and diplomatic community in Hong Kong had no understanding of this. The new things were bad. And the city was overrun with refugees. They could also see that the Japanese were preparing for something. When the Japanese took over IndoChina from Vichy France, many Europeans saw the writing on the wall. The Japanese were no longer going to respect the European possessions in the area. Of course, the Japanese would end up conquering Singapore in what became the worst British defeat in history. This is absolutely one of my favorite movies. I don't know why it isn't better known.

Perhaps you could research the events and then watch the movie again, the absolute power of the japanese, the humiliation and suffering of the chinese under their rule, the fate of the kamikaze pilots and why they were so "willing" to die for someone they were not allowed to even see or hear, it will give you a much broader understanding of what you are watching. Childhood is a luxury nobody can afford in wartime. Although fictionalized it is partly based on english writer J.G. Ballard's memories of living with his parents in Shanghai. The empire of the sun is a usual "name" for Japan, they are the most distant part of Asia, the sun rises there first.

Good Earth is a black and white movie-war and trying to live. Please, check it out. Award winning.

A true story

oh god... lets comment on the chauferr..

This is my ALL TIME favorite movie! I'm 47 yrs old. The movie is based on the book written by JG Ballard. I don't mean any disrespect but this kid is not living in fiction. The "kid" is going through the real Japanese invasion of China. So the "help" is Chinese and not happy with rich English. This movie is first degree experiences and many other historically founded experiences. Obviously it's a movie, but it's one that should be observed with some sort of critical analysis. Not just youtube reaction. History deserves analysis from everyone's point of view. There are multitudes on this era. Why are you treating it like fiction. I despise war. I imagine you do also. I'm disappointed in this channels disconnect.

Read the book. (It’s better.)

Gone with the Wind is a great film. One that you'll never forget if you watch it. I'd love to see your reaction to it and National Lampoon Vacation.

Spielberg's best

I wonder how many children must be going through a similar situation today in the Ukraine and in other parts of the globe.

🐶 ♥ 🤗 🕃

Close to the halfway mark, leading towards the bottom of my least favorite of Spielberg's body of work As usual, expertly filmed and shot (Daviau) and scored by John Williams...acting is professional (a little too stilted and Downton Abbey-ish) . I kind of want to like Bale, but his performance just doesn't age well, a little too precious and a lot of irritating pandering out for the heartstrings. I think the stars of the movie are the score, the cinematography and barely, John Malkovich. Movie is too long by at least a half hour and I don't mind long , epic style movies, just not this one as much as I wanted it to be a classic.