10 Most Visually Stunning War Films Of All Time
8. Empire Of The Sun (Allen Daviau)
Such is the breadth and strength of Steven Spielberg's catalogue as a filmmaker, it isn't too surprising that he's covered WWII from various angles throughout his career. Though Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List remain his acclaimed masterworks focused on the European theatre, he mad his first serious foray into the genre on the opposite side of the world, with Empire of the Sun.
Based upon J. G. Ballard's semi-autobiographical novel of the same name and featuring a then-unknown Christian Bale, it follows the story of Jim Graham, a teenager who finds himself interned in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp following their invasion of China. Dealing, as Spielberg called it, in "the loss of innocence", it was oddly fitting that he would reunite with the man who helped shoot his most virtuous feature to date, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Allen Daviau.
The veteran cinematographer passed away in April this year, but left behind a sterling legacy - and much of the haunting power conveyed by this tale comes from his atmospheric lensing, capturing the vivid smoke-strewn skies and vistas, as well as the quietly horrific eruption of far-off light signalling the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.