Empire of the Sun by J.G Ballard was a superb book, no doubt. I always felt the film was kind of lacking something, the performances by John Malkovich and Christian Bale were excellent but I don't think the book nailed the spirit of the book (impossible to do I guess).

An old childhood WW2 film that I love is 'Hope and Glory', written and directed by John Boorman. The film has so much character to it and i always enjoy the experience when i re watch it now and again, check the film out fellow ivysists I recommend it.