Empire of the Sun

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

Continuity mistake: 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.

Continuity mistake: When Jim finally recognizes his mom, he hugs her with his arms outside hers. In the following shot from behind Jim, his arms are under his mom's.

Continuity mistake: As the internees begin the long march they leave through an arched gateway. A bonfire burning outside the gates changes sides from one shot to another.

Continuity mistake: When Jim's mother (Mary) is sitting on the bed talking to Jim, she lights up a cigarette and holds it in her left hand. As she continues to talk you can see cigarette smoke rising above her hand off-screen. When Jim's Dad comes in and Mom gets up off the bed the cigarette is gone and a glass of water is now in hand.

robsuttonjr

Continuity mistake: When the food Basie is preparing on the boat is shown for the first time, there are pieces of meat on the pan. In the next shot, they are all gone.

Continuity mistake: When Jim is in bed and tells his mum about God, his hands swap between crossed over his tummy or next to his head, depending on the angle.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: When Jim's car approaches the beggar on the sidewalk, in the wide angle Jim is sitting on the far right. In the close-up he is sitting on the far left.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: When Jamie is about to steal the soap, he places the boots on a plank right next to a beam. In the next shots the beam is much further away.

Continuity mistake: When the Doctor is reading the lesson to Jim and he plays with the stethoscope, the paper by the edge of the table changes positions between shots.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: When Jim is by the window flashing his torch, the position which he holds it swaps from waist level to head level between shots.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: After Jim grabs the marbles, a boy with brown hair stands up, and a blonde one stays on the floor. When the angle changes they've swapped positions.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: When the mosquito net is being put by the dead man's bed, the shoes on the floor keep changing position between shots.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: Heading for the costume party, the blood splatter on the window changes size and looks between shots.

Sacha

Visible crew/equipment: When Jim returns to the party with his father after he met the Japanese soldiers, you can see the microphone at the bottom of the screen. (More recent transfers address this and make sure it is not seen).

Dr Wilson

More mistakes in Empire of the Sun

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

More quotes from 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

Question: Can anyone who speaks Japanese tell me what Jim says to the guard who's beating up the doctor? He says a few lines, then bows. The guard seems embarrassed and walks away.

Krista

Chosen answer: The first time, Jim says "Nanika no machigai desu. Bokutachi wa minna tomodachi desu yone. Senso no sei desu." This roughly translates to "There has been some sort of mistake. We are all friends aren't we? It is the war's fault." The second time, Jim only says "Nanika no machigai desu. Bokutachi wa minna..." and then gets pushed aside. "There has been a mistake, we are all...". I hope that helps.

More questions & answers from Empire of the Sun

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