17 best movies by transformer actor Christian Bale

It is ironic that his first role is more familiar to the Soviet public, and not to audiences from America or Great Britain. In the Soviet-Scandinavian film "Mio, my Mio" Bale got the role of Yum-Yuma - the main character's best friend. But then his parents went to the United States, where the actor was waiting for Hollywood fame.

1. Empire of the sun

USA, 1987.
Drama, historical.
Duration: 153 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 8.

Young Jim Graham is lost during the Japanese invasion of China during World War II and without his parents ends up in a prison camp. Now the boy will have to fight for survival and keep his dignity with all his might.

Christian Bale played his first major role at the highest-grossing director of all time, Steven Spielberg. The 12-year-old actor did an excellent job with a difficult dramatic image and even received an award from the US National Council of Film Critics.

But the first test of fame was not easy for Bale. He almost gave up cinema. However, after a couple of years he still played in the film adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry V", and then even played the role of Jim Hawkins in the next version of Treasure Island.

2. News Sellers

USA, 1992.
Musical.
Duration: 121 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 0.

Jack Kelly works as a street newspaper seller. He is already a professional and even took to teaching friends. However, the young men soon learn that the two largest publishing houses have entered into an agreement and raised the wholesale price of newspapers. Friends decide to fight for their rights. And a small protest turns into one of the largest strikes.

Unfortunately, the film flopped. But even critics have admitted that the matured Christian Bale's acting in Newssellers is at its best. It was just that the genre of the musical was then completely uninteresting to the viewer.

And yes, in this movie you can see young Bale singing and dancing.

3. Swing kids

USA, 1993.
Drama.
Duration: 112 minutes.
IMDb: 6, 8.

Three students live in Hamburg in 1939. During the day, they, like most of those around them, are members of the Hitler Youth. And in the evenings, friends gather to listen to forbidden American melodies in the rhythm of swing and dance. Soon the father of one of them is arrested, and the students themselves are under the supervision of the SS.

This film was criticized by many for being too dark and emotional. But all the same, the acting ensemble played perfectly. Moreover, Bale used the dance skills he had learned on the set of News Sellers.

Around the same years, the actor had the opportunity to get into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts or the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, but his parents insisted that he continue to develop his career. Christian Bale himself said that he regrets such a decision.

4. American psycho

USA, Canada, 2000.
Drama, thriller.
Duration: 101 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 6.

Patrick Bateman is considered almost perfect. He is energetic at work, looks after himself and tries to help people. But one day he meets a homeless person and impulsively kills him. This awakens his hidden passion for violence, which can no longer be stopped.

The role of a handsome psychopath was another breakthrough in Bale's acting career. Rumor has it that Leonardo DiCaprio was eyeing this film, but director Mary Harron insisted on her vision. As a result, the picture became cult largely thanks to the protagonist and the scene where he first dances and then kills Jared Leto's character with an ax.

5. Equilibrium

USA, 2002.
Dystopia, drama, action.
Duration: 107 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 5.

After wars and international conflicts, people came to the conclusion that emotions are the cause of most of the troubles. Then scientists invented "Prosium" - a medicine that overwhelms most of the senses. Along with emotions, books, music and other works of art were banned. Agent John Preston is looking for those who hide literature, but at a certain moment he himself begins to experience forbidden emotions, turning into a terrorist.

Equilibrium has undeservedly remained in the shadow of other dystopias. But here you can see Bale, skillfully handling a sword and a machine gun. And the story itself, at least somewhat similar to "451 degrees Fahrenheit" and "V means vendetta", does not lose its relevance.

6. The machinist

USA, Spain, 2004.
Psychological thriller.
Duration: 101 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 7.

Trevor Resnick hasn't slept for a year. He turned into a living skeleton and stopped distinguishing dream from reality. He is tormented by nightmares in reality, but lately they have become more and more influencing everyday events. Trevor realizes that he is gradually losing his mind.

With this film, the famous transformations of Christian Bale's body began. For the role, he lost 30 kg and brought himself literally to exhaustion. In the years that followed, Bale adhered to the principle that an actor should look exactly like the character he was playing. Without any computer graphics and overlays.

7. Batman Begins

USA, Japan, UK, 2005.
Superhero action movie, neo-noir.
Duration: 140 minutes.
IMDb: 8, 3.

As a child, Bruce Wayne witnessed the murder of his parents. After training away from home, he returns to his hometown and sees that the streets are filled with criminals, and the police are powerless. Wayne decides to fight injustice. To do this, he invents an alter ego for himself - a superhero in a bat costume.

Bale's collaboration with director Christopher Nolan has taken superhero cinema to the next level. And the main character and the whole setting no longer resemble the gothic stories of Tim Burton.

Christian Bale's Batman is livelier and more realistic than all his predecessors. For this role, the actor managed to quickly pump up, and in him it is no longer possible to recognize the skinny hero of "The Machinist".

8. Prestige

USA, UK, 2006.
Drama, thriller.
Duration: 130 minutes.
IMDb: 8, 5.

The two illusionists were once partners and close friends. But competition and a love triangle made them bitter enemies. Now everyone is ready not only to disrupt the opponent's performance, but also to endanger the lives of his loved ones.

Collaboration with Nolan continued in another genre. This film has a great cast. Bale was joined by Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson. And therefore "Prestige" captures not only a twisted plot, but also amazing characters.

9. Train to Yuma

USA, 2007.
Western, action movie.
Duration: 122 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 7.

Civil War veteran Dan Evans agrees to help transport arrested criminal Ben Wade, whose gang has terrorized the neighborhood. Soon, Wade's accomplices begin to hunt for a small group of escorts.

As it turns out, Bale feels as confident in westerns as he does in more modern genres. At the same time, an important distinctive feature was added to his hero. He is not at all a typical gallant hero without fear, but a war invalid who has lost a leg. And it makes the character more realistic.

10. The Dark Knight

USA, UK, 2008.
Superhero action movie, neo-noir.
Duration: 152 minutes.
IMDb: 9, 0.

Batman continues to clean up Gotham. Now he faces a new enemy - the crazy criminal Joker. The psychopath terrifies not only ordinary residents of the city, but also hardened criminals. Bruce Wayne will have to team up with Attorney Harvey Dent and Commissioner Jim Gordon to deal with the madman.

Bale returned to the continuation of the story of modern Batman. And thanks to Nolan's talent and amazing cast, The Dark Knight has become the most critically acclaimed superhero film ever.

eleven. Johnny D

USA, 2009.
Drama, crime, biography.
Duration: 140 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 0.

Robber John Dillinger has become a legend and a hero for angry US citizens. FBI Director John Edgar Hoover declares him the main enemy of the state and makes his best agent Melvin Purvis responsible for capturing the gang.

Not getting lost against the background of Johnny Depp is not an easy task for any actor, despite the fact that the role of the villain in this film is more vivid. But Christian Bale managed to add his charm to Purvis without making the character too positive and stereotyped.

12. Fighter

USA, 2010.
Drama, sports, biography.
Duration: 116 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 8.

After a series of failures, boxer Mickey Ward returns to the ring. He is trained by his half-brother Dicky Eklund, who ruined his boxing career due to his addiction to drugs. The support of his brother and his beloved woman, along with the will to win, helps Ward to break through to the pinnacle of success.

Once again, Bale had to lose weight for the role of drug addict Dicky. For the sake of the credibility of the image, he went on a strict diet, although the contract did not require it. Even Mark Wahlberg, who played the lead role, worried Mark Wahlberg is worried costar Christian Bale has an eating disorder due to a colleague's physical condition.

But Bale's efforts did not go unnoticed. The actor received an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

13. The Dark Knight: The Rise of a Legend

USA, 2012.
Superhero action movie, neo-noir.
Duration: 164 minutes.
IMDb: 8, 4.

Batman and Commissioner Gordon put things in order in Gotham. But suddenly they have a new enemy - the most dangerous criminal in the history of Bane. Using his strength and cunning, he seizes power in the city, and even Batman himself cannot resist him.

In the final part of the trilogy about the Dark Knight, Christian Bale, once again gaining muscle mass, played an elderly, tired Batman and partly anticipated the image of Ben Affleck in Batman v Superman.

14. American Scam

USA, 2013.
Crime, black comedy.
Duration: 138 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 2.

Fraudsters Irving Rosenfeld and Sidney Prosser work in pairs, and even fall in love with each other. They sell fake paintings and make unofficial loans. One day, an FBI agent comes to them under cover of Richie. Having discovered the heroes' fraud, he begins to blackmail them. Then Syd decides to have an affair with Richie.

Once again, Bale has changed beyond recognition. In the film, based on a real investigation, a handsome Hollywood man reincarnated as a fat balding con man. But this role also earned him nominations for Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and other film awards.

15. Selling for a fall

USA, 2015.
Drama, biography.
Duration: 130 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 8.

The movie is based on real events. Back in 2005, several businessmen and analysts predicted the collapse of the mortgage insurance market and the future economic crisis of the year. They managed to profitably play on this and even made money on the collapsed economy.

Bale is very fond of filmmakers based on real events. The talent for reincarnation helps the actor to fully get used to the role of his prototype. Although he didn't have to change too much outwardly for the role in The Falling Game.

16. Foes

USA, 2017.
Drama, western, adventure.
Duration: 134 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 2.

During the Civil War, Captain Joseph Blocker, who hates Indians, is ordered to deliver the dying leader of the Yellow Hawk and his family to their homeland. They make their way through lands where hostile tribes live. And somewhere along the way they meet a distraught widow, whose whole family was killed by the Indians.

Christian Bale's return to the Westerns was again unconventional. This is a slow and dark story in which the actor has embodied a very ambiguous image - his hero can even cause hatred. But Bale's talent made it possible to show a person convinced of his righteousness.

17. Power

USA, 2018.
Drama, comedy, biography.
Duration: 132 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 1.

George W. Bush invites Dick Cheney to become his vice president. A unique gift of persuasion, a sharp mind and connections help him to take control of the state into his own hands, while remaining in the shadows.

For another biographical story, Christian Bale gained weight again, becoming really like the real Dick Cheney. For this image, he has already received another Oscar nomination.

True, after that, the actor said that he would no longer get fat or lose weight for new roles. According to Bale, it was bad for his health.