Christian Bale: His Top 10 Movies, According To Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score

There are a handful of actors that will go down as the years pass by as the defining performers of a generation. People like Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson, like Ingrid Bergman and Meryl Streep, like Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo Di Caprio, and someone who earns a place as perhaps the finest of this generation is Christian Bale.

There are few, if any, method actors as transformative and dedicated as Bale, and he has become a constant critical hit. But, audiences do love him, as proven by his high marks on Rotten Tomatoes’ Audience Scores. Here’s a look at that here with his ten highest rated movies based on their Audience Scores.

10 The Big Short (2015) – 88%

The Big Short is one of 2015’s best features but it’s also one of the decade’s most underappreciated movies. Thankfully, it scores quite well on Rotten Tomatoes.

Bale plays the eccentric Michael Burry, one part of the ensemble who seen the fast approaching financial collapse coming. Bale gives a great performance, one of many, in a movie with a fantastically written script, sharp comedy throughout, and lots of well detailed, easy to understand information.

9 Henry V (1989) – 89%

Henry V is not a movie anyone would immediately expect to jump onto a Christian Bale best movies list. It is one of Bale’s earlier roles as a minor character and child, but a movie that is very well-reviewed despite not having a massive audience.

Christian Bale plays the son of one of the supporting characters, John Falstaff. Kenneth Brannagh’s movie is seen as one of his best Shakespeare adaptations, containing a slew of great performances.

8 The Fighter (2010) – 89%

It is hard to believe Christian Bale has never received a Best Actor Oscar before, despite being so consistently one of, if not the very best. He does, however, have a Best Supporting Actor statue, this coming for his role in The Fighter.

2010 had some unbelievable movies, including a couple that will define the decade such as The Social Network and Inception, and The Fighter was another great one. It had three excellent performances from Bale, Mark Whalberg, and Amy Adams, and is heralded as a great boxing drama.

7 Empire Of The Sun (1987) – 90%

It is easy to forget about Empire Of The Sun, considering the many classics Spielberg has given. and it is also easy to forget Spielberg directed Bale, considering how young Bale was here.

Spielberg has talked about how proud he is of Bale following his success after they collaborated on this film, which, on Rotten Tomatoes, is much more popular with audiences. It is an arguably underrated piece of both Bale and Spielberg.

6 The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – 90%

The Dark Knight Rises is the third entry into one of the finest film trilogies of all time, and perhaps the best in the comic book genre. Nolan’s masterwork was spearheaded by Bale’s role as Batman, which he played amazingly again in this film.

Rises is often deemed the weakest of the three, and that has merit, but it does not make it a bad movie. In fact, it’s still pretty fantastic. The performances from Bale, Hardy, and the supporting cast are on point, Hans Zimmer’s score is immaculate, and Nolan’s direction is, as always, a joy to watch.

5 The Promise (2017) – 92%

The most surprising entry on this list is without a shadow of a doubt this 2017 flick by Terry George, which, despite its phenomenal cast, sits at 50% on the Tomatometer, with other critic sites not deeming it great either.

The movie has a great cast, with Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac, and Charlotte Le Bon in the leads. Despite what the critics say, a lot of audience reviews talk about how invested they were in the story, a testament to the critic/fan divide. Although it must be said, the movie only has around 11 thousand reviews, much less than most on this list, even less than Henry V.

4 The Prestige (2006) – 92%

Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan have not exclusively collaborated on the Dark Knight trilogy. In between the first two Batman entries, Nolan released The Prestige, with Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman in the leads.

It is a brilliant period piece in which both Bale and Jackman shine in a rivalry with each other. The story challenges the audience like a lot of Nolan’s work, and is full of ambitious yet smart twists and turns along the way.

3 Batman Begins (2005) – 94%

Bale’s first outing as the Caped Crusader in Batman Begins helped the film become one of the very best superhero origin films of all time, and one of the best superhero films in general, that has become a bit overlooked due to its sequel.

Bale is fantastic in this movie both as Batman and as Bruce Wayne, capturing the nuances of both in what is a hard task for what was such a risky movie back in the early 2000s. The dark, gritty nature of it all is phenomenal, and Christopher Nolan deserves praise for what he manages to do to kick-off the iconic trilogy.

2 The Dark Knight (2008) – 94%

Of course, The Dark Knight will always be seen as the superior film generally speaking, and perhaps the most brilliant comic book movie of all time. It gets the nod over Batman Begins on this list by way of a superior critical score, and more reviews.

There is not much to say about The Dark Knight that has not already been said; it is, quite simply, a masterpiece. Everything works in cohesion beautifully from the music to the direction to the performances to the sheer iconography of it all.

1 Ford V Ferrari [Lé Mans ’66] (2019) – 98%

Ford V Ferrari has a lot going for it that puts it top of this list. On top of being an exceptional film, one of 2019’s best, it did recently come out and has around 25 thousand reviews at the moment of writing.

Christian Bale delivers another high caliber performance alongside the also fantastic Matt Damon, with James Mangold’s assured, reliable direction helping to make this perhaps the finest racing movie of all time.