Continuity: 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.
Great sites
Mistakes
As the family is piling into their car to go to the costume party, Jim, who is carrying a large, balsa sailplane, accidentally snaps the tail and it falls sideways. In subsequent shots the tail is upright. See more...
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. See more...
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Christian Bale, Joe Pantoliano, John Malkovich, Leslie Phillips, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers (add more)
Empire of the Sun mistakes
Visible crew/equipment: When Jim returns to the party with his father after he met the Chinese soldiers, you can see the microphone at the bottom of the screen.
Continuity: Jim passes twice by the same part of the Gone With the Wind poster.
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.