Advantages: Technically superb, a very intimate portrayal of war at it's most cruel
Disadvantages: None

...Empire of the Sun is one of JG Ballard's more accessible books. Semi autobiographical, it tells the story of a young boy, Jim, and his experiences in Shanghai during World War Two. Ballard was the same age as Jim and was also interred for the duration of the war. How many of the events in the book are taken directly from his experience is not entirely clear but the fact that he is informed by first hand experience gives the book a chilling authenticity. The book is written entirely from the boy's point of view; all events and situations are described in Jim's own words and grounded in his own experience. Ballard makes no attempt to interject any adult interpretations or provide a retrospective opinion and maintains the integrity of the style throughout. This is no mean feat and is a clear indication of Ballard's talent as a writer... Read review

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Advantages: Beautiful, Heartwarming!
Disadvantages: None!

...Released in 1988, Empire of the Sun is a brilliant epic movie set during the second world war. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the movie introduced a very young Christian Bale to the silver screen, who we all know by now has gone on to become a household name. The movie is set around the Japanese invasion of China, during the second world war. Jamie Graham (Christian Bale), a precocious and priviledged young boy, and his parents are forced to flee their home in a British occupied suburb of Shanghai due to the invasion. Amid the mayhem of the escape, Jamie is separated from his parents, and returns to his old house in hope that they will return there to be re-united. As the days and weeks go by, with no sign of his parents returning, and with every last scrap of food having been consumed, Jamie is forced onto the streets of Shanghai... Read review

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Advantages: Great addition to any CD collection
Disadvantages: Does not live up to the hype their first album produced

...It has been a long time since I wrote review so I hope this goes alight. Lets just cut to the chase. I thought I would hark back to one of my favourite type of reviews, the album review. Since I last lurked the halls of Ciao I have become interested in the new wave of bands. The likes of The Feeling, Keane and Scissor Sisters are reviews that I no doubt will do in the coming months but for this review Kasabian's latest offering Empire will provide the viewer with written joy. ~ Brief history ~ Kasabian first hit the big time with the album Kasabian (wonder how long it took to think that up) released September 2004 and is the bands first general release album. The singles Reason is Treason, Club Foot, L.S.F (Lost Souls Forever), Processed beast and Cutt Off may be familiar to some. It is because of the music being used... Read review

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Advantages: Successful, professional, knows its market
Disadvantages: Brash, trivial, scurrilous, simplistic, self-congratulatory

...It is, I think, a good idea to confront one's prejudices from time to time, and it would be hard to be more prejudiced than I am against The Sun newspaper. I hardly ever see The Sun in the usual way of things, let alone read it, yet if you asked me to describe it I would have no difficulty in trotting out at least a dozen derogatory adjectives, the most polite of which you will see listed as "Cons" in the summary points above. The fact that The Sun is part of Rupert Murdoch's media empire only serves to redouble my bias against it. The trouble is that I'm such a sad case of bleeding-heart liberal that I'm not truly content to live with knowing I'm prejudiced. So when I saw that the Ciao competition for May was for reviews on sun-related topics, I decided it was time I bought a few issues of The Sun and made a serious attempt... Read review

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Advantages: Very playable
Disadvantages: Very time consuming

...The popularity of the game Age Of Empires, which was a million-plus seller, easily justified the logical sequel. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings takes the us into the Dark, Feudal, Castle, and Imperial ages of A.D. history and adds more depth and gameplay to the already rich AOE than I could describe in any review. Taking place in a more recent epoch of human history, Age of Empires 2 is able to do something that wasn't really feasible in AOE; that is, to add character to an otherwise impersonal style of gameplay. In the single player campaign mode, you can take on the role of a trusted confidant/aid/advisor to William Wallace (training campaign, Scotland), Joan of Arc (France), Frederick Barbarossa (Germany/The Holy Roman Empire), Saladin (The Saracens), or Genghis Khan (Mongolia, and almost everywhere else). Each campaign... Read review

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Advantages: probably the best low budget film ever
Disadvantages: a bit dated now

.... It took me 3 years to find the film on video and then the video machiene broke down and i bought a dvd player!! Now i can't see Empire because they haven't released it on DVD yet. I was charged 9.99 from HMV. And the rating is a 12. It lasts around 86 minutes. The sun describes it as " This is a must see movie". And for once i agree with the sun. (ignore the SFX evaluation it doesn't have any)... Read review

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Advantages: Superb performance by Christian Bale; John Williams' memorable soundtrack
Disadvantages: Not quite the epic it sets out to be

...Empire of the Sun (1987) Cast List Jim Graham – Christian Bale Basie – John Malkovich Jim’s mother – Emily Richard Jim’s father – Rupert Frazer Mrs Victor – Miranda Richardson Dr Rawlins – Nigel Havers Maxton – Leslie Phillips Frank Demarest – Joe Pantoliano Music – John Williams Director – Steven Spielberg Running time – 146 minutes Certificate – PG (UK and USA) Based on the autobiographical novel by JG Ballard, Empire of the Sun is one of Steven Spielberg’s lesser known films. Although never a blockbuster like many of his other pictures, it certainly ranks as one of his best (in my opinion at least). This is a production that I feel fully justified in calling a “film” rather than a movie; as a piece of art it is nothing short of excellent. This perhaps is why it was never a blockbuster – but that is the price... Read review

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Advantages: Poltically motivated lyrics, innovative music, great songs
Disadvantages: some say too similar to other rage albums (I disagree), not for the faint of heart

...Rage Against the Machine started in the early 1990's, playing in the underground LA rock scene. They had an (at the time) unique mix of rap and hard rock, with Zack De La Rocha's politically motivated lyrics being rapped ferociously. Tom Morello is widely seen as one of the most innovative guitarists in history - he has made sounds that you would not think possible with a guitar (many people, wrongly, assume that Rage have a DJ - it's all made by instruments!). They signed onto Sony (some say this is hypocritical considering the political nature of Rage, however their argument has always been that they need to spread their word) and released 'Rage Against The Machine' in 1991 (or 1992) which was a huge success and is still regarded as a legendary album. This is the band's second album,'Evil Empire', released in 1996. Nowadays, the band... Read review

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Advantages: Probably the best British novel about WWII
Disadvantages: Just too sad at times

...Sometimes, re-reading a favourite book, one suddenly makes a new connection, gains a new insight and this will add another piece to the jigsaw in one's mind. A little bit more of the overall pattern, the big picture slips into place. What one thinks, how one sees things, becomes just a little clearer. Do you know what I mean? When it happens to me, it makes me smile. So it was when I finished re-reading Empire of the Sun. As I reached the final page, I was thinking of the similarities between Ballard's mesmerising, autobiographical novel of the Second World War and Boy, the memoir of childhood written by Roald Dahl. At first glance, these books have nothing in common. Yet, if one looks a little deeper, then they are as close as two best friends are. Both great writers in their fields, both concerned with dysfunction and regarded... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Believable account of a child in wartime
Disadvantages: There are some points where time jumps are erratic

...There are books in this world that are read, and the reader feels as if they’ve read it somewhere before. You know the kind I mean. The one’s that seem so familiar that you need to double-check the blurb on the back of the cover to make sure. This doesn’t make a book bad, but it doesn’t really make it original. I picked up Empire of the Sun and began to read…and read…and read…. When I’d emerged from my fantasy world, having lived and felt the plot within the novel, I pondered for a while. I felt enlightened and somehow a little wiser than I was before I’d read the novel, because I’d experienced something new. Empire of the Sun is original. It’s exciting. It’s sad. It’s life-changing. It’s written so well that I had finally found a novel... Read review

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