A British schoolboy is separated from his upper class colonial parents when the Japanese sweep into Shanghai during World War II. Temporarily orphaned, Jim attaches himself to Basie, a fast-talking American opportunist determined make a buck off the spoils of war. Later, when the two are interred in a prison camp, Jim's boyish fantasies are fueled by the grace and daring of the Japanese fighter pilots who he comes to idolize despite their enemy status. Spielberg's visually spectacular wartime epic is a testimony to the human will to survive and a child's ability to find wonder even in the midst of horror