Repeat Viewing - Now on YouTube!

So you've been a fan of this blog for over a decade now, but to be perfectly honest, the thing that irks you the most about it is all the words. All the long, pretentious words with all the letters that need to be read. In this fast-food, rerun, post-modern, pro-capitalist social construct that we term 'society', who's got time for reading? Not me! Well, fret no more. Now you can enjoy the pop culture ponderings and analytical ramblings of Repeat Viewing in audio visual form on YouTube. Come join us in the 21st Century and watch our very first blog to video adaptation, a deep dive into your favourite childhood coming of age Spielbergian motion picture, with just a sprinkle of wartime atrocities and casual brutality - 1987's Empire of the Sun.

 

View-Master Mock-Up: Empire Of The Sun

1987 was a banner year for movies. It's easy to overlook the impact that this year had on popular culture and the film industry, especially when years like 1985 and 1994 continue to hog the metaphorical limelight. But take a look at some of the watershed moments on 1987's CV. In no specific order:

• Predator
• The Lost Boys
• Robocop
• Lethal Weapon
• Full Metal Jacket
• The Untouchables
• Raising Arizona
• The Princess Bride
• Wall Street
• Good Morning Vietnam
• Evil Dead II

And also, these:

• Can't Buy Me Love
• Mannequin
• The Running Man
• Dirty Dancing
• Spaceballs
• Near Dark
• Project X
• Some Kind of Wonderful

The list goes on and on. One particular favourite of mine is Steven Spielberg's adaptation of JG Ballard's Empire of the Sun. Check out my comparison between the novel and the film here. Or just take a quick look at this imaginary Empire of the Sun View-Master reel set that I spent far too much time designing over the past week.

More merchandise for films that never existed can be found by clicking the CUSTOM TRADING CARDS, CUSTOM READ-ALONG RECORDS and CUSTOM VIEW-MASTER tabs at the top of the page.

Empire of the Sun: A Novel To Film Comparison

Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun is an often overlooked, underrated film in a career of culture defining highs (Harrison Ford murdering a sword wielding assassin in a Cairo marketplace) and groan inducing, eye rolling lows (Eric Bana's sweaty orgasm in Munich). Made between Indiana Jones sequels, Empire of the Sun is a tonally difficult film - its Boy's Own high adventure jarring with scenes of pubescent sexuality and wartime atrocity. 

Jim is writing a book on contract bridge and designing a man flying kite.
He can recognise and name every WWII era aeroplane and would be on
ADHD medication or diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome if he was a
student at your kid's school.

J.G. Ballard's semi-autobiographical novel of the same name has sat unread on my bookshelf for many years. After a recent trip to Japan and resurgence of interest in the period, I decided it was high time I read the book. Having read Schindler's Ark, I assumed Spielberg would have stuck reasonably close to the source material. I expected the film to have merged characters and the story to be streamlined. What I didn't expect was just how dark and 'post-apocalyptic' the novel was. Like the film, the novel is a fictional account of the author's childhood experience, detailing the events of the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and subsequent internment of its ex-pat population. Unsurprisingly, the novel tends to have a lot less Spielbergian kid friendly hijinks than the film, and a lot more detailed observations of starvation and pus dripping facial sores.