Emperor (2012) | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

31%

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89 Reviews

46%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Following the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, Gen. Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox) must determine whether Emperor Hirohito should be hanged as a war criminal.

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Emperor

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Critics Consensus

Despite a typically strong performance from Tommy Lee Jones, Emperor does little with its fascinating historical palate, and is instead bogged down in a cliched romantic subplot.

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Critics Reviews

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Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

metro.co.uk

The history is sketchy, the central questions unresolved, the romance is tepid and [Matthew] Fox is a weak, uninteresting lead.

Rated: 2/5

Sep 6, 2017

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Donald Clarke

Irish Times

Emperor will do well enough. But if you want a more nuanced take on the same events, check out Alexander Sokurov's extraordinary The Sun

Rated: 3/5

Oct 11, 2013

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

Hokey monologues about the finger of historical blame are interspersed with perfume-ad flashbacks to idyllic days of love; you half expect Andrew Lloyd Webber to descend from on high to provide a few touching show tunes.

Rated: 2/5

Oct 6, 2013

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Katie Smith-Wong

Flick Feast

Emperor is ultimately let down by the uninspiring plot and mostly weak performances.

Rated: 1/5

Nov 21, 2019

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

While this sounds like a deliriously ripe scenario for intrigue and melodrama, Webber's film contains neither, instead deciding to saddle it with a deadening war time romance.

Aug 8, 2019

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Amon Warmann

CineVue

The solid performances fail to elevate the tedious storytelling.

Rated: 2/5

Mar 5, 2019

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Audience Reviews

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Andy M Interesting topic for a film. If you have a special interest in WW2, Japanese history or Historical movies in general then it's worth a watch. However don't expect to be on the edge of your seat or even to be all that entertained. The film has a B story line about General Fellas' pre war relationship with a Japanese national, very boring and ultimately didn't seem to enhance the film in anyway, it almost seemed like they added it in to pad the movie out. Ultimately it's wasn't a bad film. Just a bit dull. Rated 2.5/5 Stars • Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 08/18/24 Full Review Bulgantamir B I liked the main idea of the movie Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/06/24 Full Review Бавуу Э Following the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, Gen. Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox) must determine whether Emperor Hirohito should be hanged as a war criminal. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/06/24 Full Review Bahad j I felt like the characters in this movie could feel the happiness and difficulties that they faced in real life. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/05/24 Full Review Bryce R If you love history than this movie is for you! Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/21/24 Full Review Rian N It just alright. Learned something new about the Japan history with Emperor. Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Emperor

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Cast & Crew

Peter Webber Director Matthew Fox Bonner Fellers Tommy Lee Jones Gen. MacArthur Eriko Hatsune Aya Shimada Nishida Toshiyuki Gen. Kajima Masayoshi Haneda Takahashi

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Emperor

Emperor: Official Clip - 10 Days