Empire of the Sun
Movie Quote Quiz

Maxton: I heard you resigned from the Scouts.
Jim: I've become an atheist.

Basie: Jim, didn't I teach you anything?
Jim: Yes! You taught me that people will do anything... for a potato.

Jim: If the Americans land, the Japanese will fight.
Dr. Rawlins: You admire the Japanese?
Jim: Well, they're brave, aren't they?
Dr. Rawlins: That's important, is it, Jim?
Jim: It's a good thing if you want to win a war.
Dr. Rawlins: But we don't want them to win, do we. Remember, we're British.
Jim: Yes. I've never been there.

Jim: Amatus sum, amatus es, amatus est.

Jim: I can't remember what my parents look like.

Jamie: Help me, I'm British.

Jim: I was dreaming about God.
Mary Graham: What did he say?
Jim: Nothing. He was playing tennis. Perhaps that's where God is all the time and that's why you can't see Him when you're awake, do you think?
Mary Graham: I don't know. I don't know about God.
Jim: Perhaps He's our dream... and we're His.

Jim: Are you with the American Fleet?
Frank: American Fleet! Looks like you lost your shirt kid.

Jim: Would you like a Hershey bar?
Nina: Oh yes, please.
Jim: So would I kid, have you got one?

Basie: What did you say your name was boy?
Jamie: Jamie and I'm building a man-flying kite and writing a book called Contract Bridge.
Basie: Jim. A new name for a new life.

Continuity mistake: When James is eating at home alone, he flips his spoon into his water glass. In some shots it's leaning against the right side of the glass, and in other shots it's against the left side.

Krista

More mistakes in Empire of the Sun

Trivia: When Jim returns home after losing his parents, his nanny slaps him. The actors had practiced a fake slap and fake reaction, but Spielberg and the actress playing the nanny conspired to make the slap real when the cameras were rolling, so Christian Bale's reaction would be genuine. Therefore, Bale is really being slapped, and his shocked reaction is no act.

Krista

More trivia for Empire of the Sun

Answer: I don't think anyone disliked Jim or was mean to him. Basically, he's a somewhat annoying, overly-active kid that the adults, who are in a very dire situation, simply didn't have much patience or the inclination to deal with. Also, the adults are mostly upper-class British, and in that era and before, they tended to be stricter with and more dismissive of children.

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