Top 10 Best Christian Bale Performances
Fresh off taking an Oscar home for his highly acclaimed supporting performance as Dicky Eklund in The Fighter, Christian Bale can finally savor the respect from his peers that many of us felt he was long overdue for. While he has been displaying incredible range and versatility for decades, putting together a respectable resume since being cast in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun in 1987, the British actor didn’t became a household name until he was cast as Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins (2005). Looking back at his career, Christian Bale has been part of so many great movies in the last decade so believe me when I say it was difficult to trim it down to 10 movies.
10. The Dark Knight
Castor: The sequel to Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins was one of the biggest box office hit in history and received massive critical acclaim. Whatever the scope and intensity the first movie was able to achieve, Nolan outdid himself in The Dark Knight, a taut superhero epic that managed to shine in all aspects of film-making. Let’s face it, the late Heath Ledger managed to completely outshine Christian Bale as the Joker, quite a rare feat in itself. Nonetheless, Bale was still very good, remaining true to the essence of Nolan’s Batman and continuing to build on the character he firmly established in Batman Begins.
Sam: It’s a bruising performance and he does it exceedingly well. At this point in the series I couldn’t see anyone else playing Bruce Wayne. I’m a bit surprised you have this one at #10 Castor.
9. Harsh Times
Castor: Like him or hate him, one thing that you can always say about Christian Bale is that he is fully committed to his character in every single one of his movies. While David Ayer’s Harsh Times received mixed reviews upon its release, Bale’s performance as the mentally unstable Jim Davis received nearly unanimous praise. It’s a flashy role but the actor is able to infuse mixed emotions to his bitter character, building layers of depth that make his supposedly unlikable character strangely compelling.
8. The Prestige
Castor: Christian Bale plays Alfred Borden, a magician involved in an all-consuming rivalry with his rival Robert Angier, played by Hugh Jackman. Quite unlike most of the roles he is known for, Bale gives a remarkably understated performance in this intricate story directed by Christopher Nolan.
Sam: Ahh, yes this is very underrated performance from Bale in an underrated picture by Christopher Nolan. Who doesn’t love a good magician story infused with some human-drama?
7. Rescue Dawn
Castor: Werner Herzog and Christian Bale team up to bring to life the amazing survival story of Dieter Dengler, a US Navy pilot captured during the Vietnam war. Once again, Bale gives a compelling and physically harrowing performance of a complex and real-life character who never calls it quit. Who can forget the scene in which he is snacking on massive live worms?
6. 3:10 to Yuma
Castor: A remake of the 1957 classic, Sam Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma sees two cinematic powerhouses in Christian Bale and Russell Crowe face off. When you have two actors like those, it’s easy for the movie to become overpowered by their performances but somehow, both turned down the mega-wattage a bit to deliver one of the best westerns since Unforgiven. Showing off his versatility, Bale delivers a restrained performance as Dan Evans, a farmer down on his luck and simply seeking to sustain his family.
Sam: James Mangold’s 2007 beloved picture didn’t do much for me. Bale in particular felt distant, which is odd considering his impressive resume. Not an awful performance, it just certainly wouldn’t make any “top list” for me. But hey, what’s the point of a list without disagreement, right Castor?
Continue to the Top 5 Christian Bale Performances >>
Pages: 1 2
44 Comments
Oooh, this is a great top ten and probably an easy one to do as he’s sooo good in so many roles. I guess if we’re talking about ‘favorite’ as in watchability value, I’d say my fave Bale role is as Batman/Bruce Wayne. I also love him in The New World even though he’s in there for only 20+ minutes.
FYC Laurel Canyon, where he doesn’t play the crazy guy. Just the emotions he conveys through his eyes shows more talent than two actors combined.
Oh yeah, he was great in Laurel Canyon. He looks like himself too, which is rare in most of his movies.
Thank you! I said the same thing about “Laurel Canyon”, to Castor when I finished my commentary. Also I loved him in “Public Enemies”.
Laurel Canyon almost made it, it was #10 for a while until I had to push it out of the top 10.
Public Enemies was so disappointing I forgot nearly everything about it already…
Not a fan of Public Enemies, or Bale’s very forgettable performance in it…
Yep, same sentiment about Public Enemies, in general the movie was disappointing despite the promising trailer. Even Bale who’s usually good in bad movies aren’t particularly memorable here.
Here’s an alternate top 5 list of performances of Christian Bale that I liked and I think people should check out.
1. “The New World”-Bale’s arrival as John Rolfe with this quiet yet curious persona about Pochahontas is truly mesmerizing. He doesn’t get a lot to do but he does help the story in bringing Pocahontas back to life following the departure of John Smith.
2. “Metroland”-A father/husband in the 1970s who gets a visit from an old friend as he reflects on his life in the late 1960s before he met his wife. It’s a nice little film where Bale even gets to do a bit of full-frontal nudity.
3. “I’m Not There”-As the least humorous of the Bob Dylan personas, Bale definitely sells the role as a man who is very serious about his politics and what he’s singing only to disappear and then reinvent himself as a Christian priest singing Christian songs.
4. “Little Women”-While he’s playing one of Winona Ryder’s romantic interests early in the film as well as a friend. I think it’s a charming role that he does and it’s also him being very quiet and good-looking.
5. “Velvet Goldmine”-Not a great film but he delivers an amazing performance as a glam rock fan who becomes a journalist. There’s some great scenes of him being excited about this Ziggy Stardust-figure while there’s an amazing and shocking scene of him masturbating to a naked picture of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers while listening to a cover of Brian Eno’s “Baby’s On Fire”.
I also want to mention “All the Little Animals” where he plays a tormented animal lover who befriends John Hurt as well as “Equlibrium” which is a fun guilty pleasure if you don’t take the film very seriously.
The man is a great actor and I wish he can go back to some less-Hollywood driven films.
Oh I’m soooo glad someone finally mentioning his role as John Rolfe!! I feel like I’m the only one enamored by his performance in that. He was sooo good that I was more in love with him in his 20+ minute scene than w/ Colin Farrell in the entire movie. People only see Bale in his bad ass/psychotic roles but his tender and romantic scenes here (and in Little Women) proves he can be a romantic leading man. I sure wish he’d do more of those roles.
Props for mentioning Metroland as well, Steven, his first collaboration with Emily Watson. Which brings me to another one of my fave Bale role: John Preston in Equilibrium.
I enjoyed Christian Bale in The New World, it’s the kind of role I was hoping he would get back to doing when he was attached to Terrence Malick’s upcoming romantic drama. Sadly, he dropped out
However, as you said, he doesn’t really get to do anything at all so I had to take that into account for this list.
I’m so bummed out that Bale was replaced by Ben Affleck in that Malick’s romantic drama. Y’know that photo you posted of Affleck + McAdams, I kept imagining Bale in that photo next to her instead. Oh he’d be sooo good in that. I wonder if he bailed to do that Nanjing movie? I’m curious about that one too, but I really want to see him in a love story for once.
I think when he realized he wouldn’t need to lose 50 lbs for the movie then he dropped out
But seriously, yes bummed out but how many times did I mention that in the past 3 months lol
The man is great at doing accents, I know that much. The Boston accent is notoriously hard to pin down (just ask Kevin Costner) and he nailed it in The Fighter.
I’m so glad you put American Psycho at #1 Castor. It remains his greatest performance in my opinion, despite the accolades for The Fighter. He is great in The Machinist too. A role that I think must be included though is for Laurel Canyon. A subtle, reserved performance that gets forgotten about because he is often so showy. I became a fan of Bale after watching American Psycho, Laurel Canyon, The Machinist and Batman Begins in pretty quick succession. But I have really lost interest in the guy more recently. At this point in his career I don’t think he has delivered enough really quality performances to round out a top 10. But American Psycho stands alone at #1.
Bale deserved at least an Oscar nod for his work in American Psycho. Glad you agree
Whenever I meet someone who is a big Bale fanatic I like to make obscure references to his brief role in Henry V because everyone overlooks it. Fair enough since he spends half of it hunched over Branagh’s shoulders, but still… I like Bale but I think people really go overboard with praise for him. Nobody does skinny, nor over the top characters, like he does, I’ll give him that. But I don’t buy him as an everyday kind of guy, and judging by his general roles (3:10 to Yuma exception) he doesn’t either.
That’s definitely the main reason I want to see him go back to playing regular type of guys as you put it, like in The New World or 3:10 to Yuma to a lesser extent.
Bale is kind of a tweener. Not an outright leading man who can carry a movie to box office success on his name alone (ala Will Smith, Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise), but not simply a supporting guy either.
I also wouldn’t consider him one of those preternaturally gifted actors (ala Daniel Day-Lewis, Mickey Rourke or the late Heath Ledger) but he is absolutely one of the most committed and maniacally dedicated actors working.
I guess the shortest way to put my thoughts on Bale is this: I’m never excited to see him, but when I do, I’m never disappointed.
“I’m never excited to see him, but when I do, I’m never disappointed.”
The perfect summary of Christian Bale, for me.
Are you kidding me? If there’s one preternaturally gifted actor in the whole wide world, than it’s Christian Bale. He never went to drama school and he was a complete actor at the age of 12. He does accents like no other actor I know and has a presence that can make the screen implode… did you really watch The Fighter? Or Harsh Times? Or Psycho? Just because he’s maniac and dedicated as you say that doesn’t mean he’s not preternaturally gifted.
Me, I’m always excited as hell to see him and never disappointed. but this might be because I’m female and can also appriciate his preternatural beauty…
OH snap! Rick, we await your response
Bale not gifted? What planet are you from? The praise he gets from his directors in doing difficult scenes in one take or recalling instructions given weeks before without review is a gift. Not to mention him nailing various accents! He’s right up there with Daniel Day-Lewis with his many talents. I hope they work together some day.
He plays a ‘regular guy’ in Metroland and Laurel Canyon convincingly IMO. He said himself he gravitates towards ‘obsessive’ kind of people, hence his body of work, but when he does get a role of a regular guy, he also does that really well.
Hard to disagree with the top three here. Personally I think Bale in AMERICAN PSYCHO is the best English language performance of that entire decade. In all his movies, he brings an intensity that is second to none.
It’s hard for me to decide between those top three. All three were excellent performances and Fighter and Machinist show exactly how dedicated he is to his craft as a method actor. I think at any given point I could swap those three around as my favorite performances. Maybe with The Machinist getting top billing a bit more often than the others.
Great list, though and all of these were very fine performances from Bale. The man is truly great. I too think The Prestige is a bit underrated. Just a great movie (as if Nolan has ever done anything bad or even average).
And thank you Sam!!! Finally. Someone to agree with me that The Fighter is overrated. I’m sorry, it just wasn’t “movie of the year” material like many people make out. The part that saved that movie for me was the acting.
Indeed, the vast majority of Hollywood actors would be happy to have one performance like any of those three in their career so it speaks of how good he is. Thanks for dropping by JL.
I still have a lot of catching up on Bale’s movies
There are still many I haven’t seen yet
The truth? I dug him as Laurie in “Little Women.” But I’d still rank that performance outside his top 10.
The way he goes all-out for movies like “The Fighter” and “El Maquinista” worries me. He’s one of those actors who gets so deep into the characters that I wonder how he can crawl back out and live his normal life every day.
Doesn’t it? It’s always a bit of a shock to see him in interviews and just in general outside movies and him not behaving like some crazed psycho ah
The Prestige is such a well-written and cleverly scripted film. and definitely my favorite Nolan film. I know it’s sacrilegious, but I don’t love Inception of The Dark Knight but I adore The Prestige. The mise-en-scene and cinematography are actually meaningful in the film and it holds your attention until the last shot. Hugh Jackman (Huge Jacked-man) proved in that film, as well as the otherwise disappointing The Fountain, that he has considerable range as an actor. Both leads are perfectly desperate and selfish and all of the twists in the script are well-earned. I’ve read the novel and Nolan definitely personified the motifs and themes much better than I thought possible. The visual language in The Prestige is beautiful. Also, American Psycho rocks. Rant: over.
Greg, we are on the same boat. I didn’t think Inception was all that exceptional, it was entertaining but and well made but nothing more. I also am one of the few who prefer Batman Begins over TDK. I absolutely love The Prestige myself, great movie indeed.
Thank god that public enemy and terminator didn’t make the cut!
Wasn’t that a terrible year for Mr Bale?
yeah man! American psycho rocked! i also loved the machinist and his performance in The Fighter too! He does good work in Batman as well. I liked it. Great actor indeed.
Fantastic list that!! No Question.
I have always been a fan of Mr Bale. He is amazing how he throws himself into every role. Maybe he should try and do the skinny ones for a for years then the fat ones? All that yoyoing can’t be good for the body!!
I Actually forgot how skinny he was in The Machinist. Your image makes me feel ill!!
Thanks for putting it together!
Thanks Custard
He certainly was so skinny in The Machinist that it was almost distracting. Then, there is that scene in which you can count every single one of his ribs…
Yikes!! That is just mental!
Put me right off my breakfast LOL
I would insert Velvet Goldmine in place of Harsh Times. I found his performance in that film to be far superior. The problem I had with Harsh Times is that Bale was so over-the-top in moments where he did not need to be. He kept reminding me of Denzel’s horrible performance in Training Day.
This is great. Haven’t seen The Machinist or American Pyscho yet, but I cannot wait. I will say it again to support you Castor, yes BB is better than TDK, and is certainly a juicier role for Bale.
I like Rescue Dawn a lot, may have bumped that up a bit, but solid list all-together.
I really enjoyed his performance in Harsh Times. Agreeably surprised to see it on the list!
It’s a completely overlooked performance indeed but he is so good I had to mention it.
Wait, no Equilibrium? I guess it’s the best performance considering he was directed not to emote. Sigh.
Meant “I guess it’s not the best performance…” Sorry. First time using the Internet.
I like Equilibrium but as you said, not the most expressive performance out there (not his fault by any means). The movie could have used a much bigger production budget.
Trackbacks