The 37 Best Christian Bale Movies to Watch

The English actor Christian Charles Philip Bale is a perfect definition of versatility and good looks. The critics have defined Christian Bale as the perfect person in acting during his generation even after. Bale movies have never disheartened his devotees by any means. So here is a list of movies of Christian Bale which one can opt for watching anytime.

Also, the list of awards Bale has achieved represented his successful career, as well as the right choice of movies by Bale and his popularity. Bale has received Academy Awards, Golden Globes; along with this, he has also featured in the Times 100 list of 2011.

The movies are Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Knight of Cups, The Promise, Out of the Furnace, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Terminator Salvation, The Secret Agent, Harsh Times, Velvet Goldmine, Newsies, The Portrait of a Lady, American Psycho 2000, The Flowers of War, Vice, Laurel Canyon, Shaft, Empire of the Sun, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight Rises, Reign of Fire, 3 10 to Yuma, American Hustle, The Big Short 2015, Rescue Dawn, Ford V Ferrari, The Dark Knight, The Machinist, Little Women, Public Enemies, Hostiles, The fighter.

The Best Bale Movies of All time to Binge On Now:

1. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

Although it seems almost impossible given how intense and serious, he is as an actor that he would provide a voice for a PG-rated animated film, viewers were surprised to discover Christian Bale as a voice actor in the beloved 2004 film Howl’s Moving Castle.

In this wildly imaginative movie, played by Bale, the title character is a teenage girl named Sophie who is cursed by a witch, turning her body into that of an elderly woman. Sophie is presented with a dire choice that will determine her fate when she meets the magician Howl at his enigmatically floating castle.

2. The Prestige (2006) 

The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan and arguably starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as the two main magicians, was made between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

Bale had the opportunity to portray two distinct characters who pass for one in the tale of rival magicians at the turn of the 20th century. It takes more deception than anything the characters do on stage for Nolan to allow Bale to play twins Alfred and Freddy Borden in secret.

3. Out Of The Furnace

• Director: Scott Cooper
• Writers: Brad Ingelsby, Scott Cooper
• Cast members: Casey Affleck, Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Zoe Saldana.
• IMDb ratings: 6.8/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 53%
• Platform Available: Netflix

Out of the Furnace, the movie depicts the struggle of Russell Baze, who is the main protagonist of the story. The story shows in a precise way how Baze balances his dying father and his job at the steel mill. His life became more worsen when his brother Rodney disappears unexpectedly.

4. Equilibrium (2002)

Equilibrium, a science-fiction dystopian movie that was released in 2002 and takes place after World War III, combines futuristic technology with martial arts to create a movie that is reminiscent of The Matrix. Bale portrays John Preston, a Cleric who holds a high position in the totalitarian society of 2072, in this oft-forgotten box office flop.

5. Terminator Salvation

• Director: McG
• Writers: John Brancato, Michael Ferris
• Cast members: Sam Worthington, Christian Bale, Moon Bloodgood, Anton Yelchin.
• IMDb ratings: 6.5/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 33%
• Platform Available: Prime Video

This movie is the fourth part of The Terminator Franchise. The movie explains the power of the machinery that has captured the world. However, in the film, John Connor tries to jot down a strong human antagonist to vanquish the machines. However, Christian Bale plays a very prominent role in this film.

6. The Secret Agent

• Director: Christopher Hampton
• Writer: Christopher Hampton
• Cast members: Bob Hoskins, Jim Broadbent, Christian Bale, Patricia Arquette, George Spelvin.
• IMDb ratings: 5.7/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 50%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime, Netflix

In the movie, Verloc is the main character. Verloc is a person who runs a pornography shop, but actually, he is a spy who works for the Russian government.

The foreign organization has hired him to look into the political constraints. In this film, Christian Bale has to portray the role of Stevie, the stepson of Verloc. However, after the release of the movie, critics have commented that even in supporting roles, Bale has not disappointed his fans.

7. Harsh Times

• Director: David Ayer
• Writer: David Ayer
• Cast members: Christian Bale, Freddy Rodriguez, Terry Crews, Eva Longoria.
• IMDb ratings: 6.9/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 48%
• Platform Available: Hulu, Amazon Prime

Jim Luther Davis, who is a Gulf War veteran, has a dream to join the police department in Los Angeles. However, he was selected from that department, and later, he finds a job in the Department of Homeland Security.

8. Velvet Goldmine

• Director: Todd Haynes
• Writer: Todd Haynes
• Cast members: Jonathan Rhys Myers, Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale, Toni Collette.
• IMDb ratings: 7/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 58%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime Video

In this film, you can see the characters in a 1970s glam rock look. In the movie, Arthur Stuart, a journalist who has interviewed a famous musician Brian Slade.

Once Slade predicts his death on stage and later falsifies his death story. However, this kind of story arrived in front of everyone, and he has deemed a fraud. After a long time, Stuart unfolds the reality of the rock star’s fame.

9. Newsies

• Director: Kenny Ortega
• Writer: Harvey Fierstein
• Cast members: David Moscow, Christian Bale, Luke Edwards, Robert Duvall.
• IMDb ratings: 7/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 39%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus

Newsies film depicts the New York City newspaper delivery boys’ struggle, Jack Kelly, David Jacobs, and Les Jacobs. Their protest started when their publisher Joseph Pulitzer make some rules which are not in their favor. However, during this protest, Bryan Denton, who is a journalist, helped them a lot to secure their rights.

10. The Portrait Of A Lady

• Director: Jane Campion
• Writer: Henry Jams
• Cast members: Nicole Kidman, Barbara Hershey, John Malkovich, Christian Bale.
• IMDb ratings: 6.2/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 45%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime Video

The original story of the film is adapted from a classic novel composed by Henry James. In this film, the classic has portrayed the precise character of Edward Rosier.

Edward is a young art collector who wants to get married to Pansy. Pansy is Isabel’s friend. The movie is about the main protagonist Isabel Archer. After the death of her parents, she went to England to live with her relatives.

11. American Psycho (2000)

• Director: Mary Harron
• Writer: Mary Harron, Guinevere Turner
• Cast members: Willem Dafoe, Reese Witherspoon, Samantha Mathis, Jared Leto, ChloëSevigny, Christian Bale.
• IMDb ratings: 7.6/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 69%
• Platform Available: Netflix, Disney Plus

The original story of the film American Psycho has adapted from a novel by Bret Easton Ellis. This psychological thriller movie speaks the story of Patrick Bateman.

He is an investment banker who lies low his psychopathic situations from everyone. However, later Patrick Bateman lost his psychological balance, which leads to many unwanted situations in real life.

12. The Flowers Of War

• Director: Zhang Yimou
• Writer: Liu Heng
• Cast members: Ni Ni, Huang Tianyuan, Christian Bale, Xinyi Zhang, Xiting Han, AtsuroWatabe.
• IMDb ratings: 7.6/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 41%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime Video

The Flowers of War film depicts the war between China and Japan. The movie shows how an American safeguards a group of Chinese students and prostitutes from Japanese soldiers.

13. Vice

• Director: Adam McKay
• Writer: Adam McKay
• Cast members: Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell.
• IMDb ratings: 7.2/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 65%
• Platform Available: Hulu

The film is an autobiography of the US Vice President Dick Cheney. The story depicts the former lifestyle as well as the huddles of the career of Dick Cheney. However, the critics have also provided some good responses about the movie.

14. Laurel Canyon

• Director: Lisa Cholodenko
• Writer: Lisa Cholodenko
• Cast members: Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale, Frances McDormand, Alessandro Nivola.
• IMDb ratings: 6.4/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 68%
• Platform Available: Netflix, Disney Plus

Laurel Canyon film starts when Sam and his fiancée, Alex, moved to Los Angeles with his mother, Jane. However, later the situation turns when both Sam and Alex start interfering in Jane and her boyfriend’s matter.

15. Shaft

• Director: John Singleton
• Writer: Kenya Barris, Alex Barnow
• Cast members: Samuel L. Jackson, Vanessa L. Williams, Christian Bale, Jeffrey Wright.
• IMDb ratings: 6.4/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 66%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime Video

This Action film shows a murder investigation by Detective John Shaft. He goes through a murder case which took place by a rich wealthy lad Walter Wade Jr. The critics have appreciated the action skills of Christian Bale in Shaft (2000) Walter Wade Jr character.

16. Empire Of The Sun

• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Writer: Tom Stoppard, Menno Meyjes
• Cast members: John Malkovich, Christian Bale, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers.
• IMDb ratings: 7.7/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 62%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime Video

In light of J. G. Ballard’s personal novel, which depicts the story of a boy, James Graham. This film is also having a war background. After getting detached from his parents, a young British boy named Jamie took shelter in a Japanese camp in Shanghai to step into the new world. So, all the while, this movie brings spirit and dignity to the viewers.

17. Batman Begins

• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Writers: Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer
• Cast members: Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman.
• IMDb ratings: 8.2/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 84%
• Platform Available: Netflix, Disney Plus

After the death of his parents, Bruce Wayne has decided to learn martial arts. However, for this, he travels to the East, to Henri Ducard. His main motive to learn martial arts is to fight against injustice. Nonetheless, to fight against the people who have some aims to destroy the city, for them Bruce returned to Gotham as Batman.

18. The Dark Knight Rise

• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Writers: Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, Bob Kane
• Cast members: Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Christian Bale.
• IMDb ratings: 8.4/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 87%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime, Netflix, Fubo, FX Now, DirecTV.

After defeating the bad energy, Bruce Wayne brought peace of eight years in Gotham city. Gradually this peace came to an end when a terrorist Bane attacked the city.

Due to this Batman, Bruce Wayne was forced to come out of his shell, which gives a perfect definition to the title The Dark Knight Rises. Bruce Wayne Batman is the main character of the dark knight trilogy.

19. Reign Of Fire

• Director: Rob Bowman
• Writers: Matt Greenberg, Gregg Chabot, and Kevin Peterka
• Cast members: Izabella Scorupco, Matthew McConaughey, Gerard Butler, Christian Bale.
• IMDb ratings: 6.2/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 42%
• Platform Available: Vudu, Apple iTunes, YouTube, Google Play Movies, Microsoft Store, DIRECTV, FandangoNOW, Amazon Video as download or rent it on Vudu, Apple iTunes, Google Play Movies, YouTube, DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, FandangoNOW, Amazon Video online.

The Reign of Fire movie story begins when a group of the military team tries their level best to save Earth from the dragons who have invaded the planet. Quinn Abercromby is the main protagonist of the movie.

20. 3:10 to Yuma

• Director: James Mangold
• Writer: Michael Brandt and Derek Haas
• Cast members: Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Been Foster, Peter Fonda.
• IMDb ratings: 6.2/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 42%
• Platform Available: Netflix

3:10 to Yuma film describe a revenge story, Ben Evans. The movie describes how Ben Evans takes revenge on Ben Wade because of his evil deeds.

21. American Hustle

• Director: David O. Russell
• Writer: Eric Warren Singer, David Russell
• Cast members: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence.
• IMDb ratings: 7.2/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 92%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime, Netflix

The film’s story begins when Irving and Sydney, two con artists, are forced to be in a sting operation with an FBI agent.

Related: The 20 Best Jennifer Lawrence Movies of All Time

22. The Big Short

• Director: Adam McKay
• Writers: McKay and Charles Randolph
• Cast members: Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt.
• IMDb ratings: 7.8/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 88%
• Platform Available: Netflix

The Big Short depicts the marketing strategy of the US in Wall Street. However, along with some finance experts, Michael Burry got to know the unstableness and collapse in the US market.

Moreover, after noticing the flaws, they try their level best to make the US corruption-free. Even the movie has received a positive response from the critics as well as the viewers. Bale played the character of Michael Burry in this movie.

23. Rescue Dawn

• Director: Werner Herzog
• Writer: Werner Herzog
• Cast members: Steve Zahn, Christian Bale, Jeremy Davies, Pat Healy.
• IMDb ratings: 7.3/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 90%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime, Microsoft store

Bale plays Dieter Dengler, a movie fighter pilot who was shot by his enemies and got caught by peasants. It’s the true essence of the original military background. However, later with five peasants, Dieter executes an escape plan.

24. Ford V Ferrari

• Director: JanesMangold
• Writers: Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller
• Cast members: Matt Damon, John Bernthal, Christian Bale.
• IMDb ratings: 8.1/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 92%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, and iTunes

The movie’s story revolves around Carroll Shelby, an automotive designer, and Ken Miles, who is a car driver. However, to fight against the Ferrari race cars, both of them join hands and make excellent vehicles.

25. Thor: Love and Thunder

• Director: Taika Waititi
• Writer: Taika Waititi
• Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Taika Waititi.
• IMDb ratings: 6.3/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 63%
• Platform Available: Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix

Gorr, as well as his daughter, absolutely adore, among the last of their kind, struggle in a desolate wasteland. Love dies notwithstanding their devotion to their deity, Rapu. The deity Necrosword summons Gorr to Rapu’s lush realm. Rapu brutally mocks and disregards Gorr’s plight, causing him to renounce the god and strangle him. Gorr accepts the Necrosword and slaughters Rapu, vowing to kill all gods. Following this, the children return to New Asgard, where Valkyrie and Sif start training them, and a memorial to Foster is built. Thor embraces Love, who decides to join him in his heroics, each wielding Mjolnir alongside the other Stormbreaker.

Home in Omnipotence City, a convalescing Zeus appears in a mid-credits scene.

26. The Machinis

• Director: Brad Anderson
• Writer: Scott Kosar
• Cast members: Michael Ironside, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christian Bale, John Sharian.
• IMDb ratings: 7.7/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 77%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime, Netflix, Microsoft store

The movie is about Trevor Reznik and some strange activities going on in his life. Bale plays the role of Trevor, who suffers from insomnia and has not slept for months. Along with Trevor, Reznik also noticed that a strange man follows him everywhere he goes. However, critics have also ratified this movie wholeheartedly.

27. Henry V (1989)

• Release date: 6 October 1989 (UK)
• Director: Kenneth Branagh
• Music director: Patrick Doyle

One of the best film adaptations of a Shakespearean work is widely regarded as Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 version of the classic play Henry V. One of actor Christian Bale’s earliest acting roles was in the movie, in which he played Robin, a luggage boy involved in the conflict between England and France.

28. Amsterdam

• Director: David O Rossell
• Writer: David O Rossell
• IMDb: 6.1/10
• Cast: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor Joy, Zoe Saldana.
• Rotten Tomatoes: 32%
• Platform: Hotstar

Burt Berendsen was assigned to fight during World War I by his emotionally distant wife’s parents in 1918. Burt makes friends with African American soldier Harold Woodman whilst also positioned in France. Harold and Burt are given medical treatment after being injured in battle by Valerie Vandenberg, an idiosyncratic nurse who creates art out of shrapnel deleted from soldiers, who they also befriend.

After the war, the three live in Amsterdam together and become good friends until Burt returns to New York City to meet his wife. Harold, who fell in love with Valerie and started a shaky loving relationship with her, also travels to New York to pursue his dream of becoming a barrister.

29. Public Enemies

• Director: Michael Mann
• Writer: Michael Mann, Ronan Bennett, and Ann Biderman
• Cast members: Johnny Depp, Billy Crudup, Christian Bale, Stephen Graham.
• IMDb ratings: 7.8/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 95%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime, Netflix

The story of the movie revolves around a robber John Dillinger. However, because of many reasons, no one was able to have caught him. So, to find out Dillinger dead or alive, Melvin Purvis was hired.

30. Knight Of Cups

• Director: Terrence Malick
• Writer: Terrence Malick
• Cast members: Christian Bale, Teresa Palmer, Freida Pinto, Natalie Portman.
• IMDb ratings: 5.7/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 47%
• Platform Available: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video

The movie Knight of Cups depicts the life of a well-known scriptwriter in Los Angeles, Rick. However, after the death of his brother, he became vulnerable as his death started haunting Rick. To obtain his peace of mind, he traveled around the world and met different kinds of women.

31. I’m Not There (2007)

• Release date: 21 November 2007 (USA)
• Director: Todd Haynes

It would have been impossible for one actor to accurately portray Dylan because of his elusive public persona, which developed and changed over the course of his extensive career.

By focusing on six of Dylan’s various personalities—Jude Quinn (Cate Blanchette), Woody (Marcus Carl Franklin), Billy the Kid (Richard Gere), Robbie Clark (Heath Ledger), Arthur Rimbaud (Ben Whishaw), and Jack Rollins (Christian Bale)—Todd Haynes’ 2007 film “I’m Not There” took a daring approach to the subject of Dylan’s life.

32. Hostiles

• Director: Scott Cooper
• Writer: Scott Cooper
• Cast members: Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Ben Foster, Timothée Hal Chalamet, Christian Bale.
• IMDb ratings: 7.2/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 71%
• Platform Available: Netflix

Hostiles movie reveals how an Army Captain, Joseph J. Blocker helped Yellow Hawk, a war general, to go back to his residential land.

33. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

• Director: John Madden
• Writers: Shawn Slovo, Louis de Bernières
• Cast members: Nicolas Cage, Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz, John Hurt.
• IMDb ratings: 5.9/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 28%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime, Microsoft Store

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin movie is set up in a World War II background. The story depicts the responsibility of a fisherman towards his motherland. In this movie, Christian Bale appears as Mandras. However, he is a fisherman and a fighter as well who leaves his love for his fiance behind to fight for his motherland.

Along with this captain, Corelli has received an order to monitor Cephalonia’s Greek Island as he is the Italian invasion force leader. However, later he fell in love with a lady who is already engaged to Mandras.

34. The New World (2005)

• Release date: 13 April 2006 (India)
• Director: Terrence Malick
• Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki

In “The New World,” directed by Terrence Malick, the history of America’s colonization is reimagined as a sweeping love epic with breathtaking visual splendor.

Malick does a good job of portraying the indigenous people in the movie, which is more interested in telling a story of love, loss, and kinship than in giving the audience a history lesson. Christian Bale gives one of his most thoughtful and subdued performances; he doesn’t show genuine happiness until the movie’s conclusion.

35. The Fighter

• Director: David O Rossell
• Writers: Scott Silver
• Cast members: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo.
• IMDb ratings: 7.8/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 91%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime Video

Micky Ward is a Lowell, Massachusetts-based welterweight boxer. Micky was becoming a “steppingstone” for other athletes to destroy on their way up, attempted by his mother, Alice Ward, but instead received training from his older half-brother, Dicky Eklund. Dicky, a former boxer who endured a fight with Sugar Ray Leonard in 1978, has developed a crack cocaine addiction. He has been caught on camera for an HBO docudrama about his “comeback,” which he believes is about his “comeback.” Dicky and his mom see Micky train after he is released from prison. Assuming everything is normal, Dicky readies to spar with his brother, but Micky notifies him that he is no longer permitted due to Micky’s contract with his current team.

36. The Promise

• Director: Terry George
• Writers: Terry George, Robin Swicord
• Cast members: Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, Christian Bale.
• IMDb ratings: 6/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 51%
• Platform Available: Amazon Prime

This movie has a world war set up. In that background, a brilliant medical student Michael, gets to know a beautiful dance instructor Ana when he shifted to Constantinople. Michael’s heart stuck to Ana despite knowing about his boyfriend, Chris. From there, the rivalry between Michael and Chris turned on.

37. Exodus: Gods And Kings

• Director: Ridley Scott
• Writers: Adam Cooper, Bill Collage
• Cast members: Joel Edgerton, Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, John Turturro.
• IMDb ratings: 6/10
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings: 31%
• Platform Available: Netflix

The makers of the movie have put on biblical mythology to everyone. In the story, Moses, who is a former general, raises his voice against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses. However, Moses has planned to release thousands of Hebrews from Egypt to acquire freedom.

Hopeful this list of movies will help everyone to find out their favorite movie of Bale. He has taken part in many movies that are adapted from many novels. None the less he has never let down anyone in any of his characters in his movies. He is such a person who can pull off every character gracefully. Bale is a complete description of grace and talent.