"Empire of the Sun" was filmed at Elstree Studios in the United Kingdom, and was filmed in Shanghai and Spain. After a year of negotiations with Shanghai Film and China Film Studio in 1985, the main creative staff was allowed to start filming for three weeks in early March 1987. The Chinese government allowed the crew to change some characters to traditional Chinese, temporarily closed some blocks for filming, and used more than 5,000 local extras.
The aircraft used by Spielberg during the filming of the film included three full-scale replicas of the A6M Zero fighters and three P51D Mustang fighters stored in the UK. Due to the complexity of aerial shots, their shots took a total of 10 days to complete. They also included shots of fighter jets dropping 500 pounds of plaster bomb replicas after flying low, but the explosion on the shots was simulated. A certain number of large-size aircraft models were used in the film, but the effects of some shots were disappointing. Spielberg personally extended the film’s contract terms, using full-size aircraft and pilots when filming in Spain. Model.
Industrial Light and Magic designed and produced the visual effects passages in the film. The scenes of the atomic bomb explosion in Nagasaki used computer graphics. Norman Reynolds was hired as the film's art director, and Vic Armstrong served as the stunt coordinator.
