Empire Of The Sun (PG)

Spielberg's most underrated movie pairs him with his most unlikely source material: a semi-autobiographical novel from the master of chilly psychological exegesis, JG Ballard. It's an unusual but surprisingly effective marriage, with cinema's arch sentimentalist unable to soften Ballard's look at his time in a Japanese internment camp. The result is the director's most effective, desperate exploration of the death of childhood.

DVD Extras:

The disappointment here, as ever with Spielberg DVDs, is the lack of a commentary, but single extra The China Odyssey is excellent. A 49-minute Making Of, it includes snippets with Ballard, but is most fascinating because it shows Spielberg at work, equally at home staging the "Cadillac of the sky" bombing sequence or coaxing the right expression out of a then 13-year-old Christian Bale, whose performance must rank as one of the best ever by a child. As Spielberg observes: "Veritable Steve McQueen, this kid!"

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