Christian Bale has been in a few action movies before, mainly Equilibrium and Reign of Fire. Neither of which were very good, but he was a badass in both. This summer he’s in his second Batman movie, and there will definitely be a third to cap off the trilogy. And now, he’s signed on for the three movies in the “new” Terminator trilogy as John Connor.
So is it safe to say that Christian Bale is now the biggest action star in the world? I mean, the man will be playing Batman and John Connor in three movies each. That’s impressive.
When has been being a great actor been that important to being an action hero? Stallone, Willis, Schwarzenegger―none of them are particularly good actors.
First of all, Bruce Willis is a very good actor, and a great Movie Star.
Second of all, Schwarzenegger and Stallone aren’t examples of anything other than Schwarzenegger and Stallone. They’re aberrations. They’re the product of a strange period in cinema history - the 80’s - in which big, dumb, ugly actors who up until then were typecast as heavies suddenly found themselves headlining movies. By 1995 the situation corrected itself, and Hollywood returned to its natural state in which actors were movie stars first, “action heroes” second.
Incidentally, the biggest movie star today, without a doubt, is Will Smith. Nobody else comes close. He’s the only actor in who can successfully “open” action, comedy and dramatic blockbuster movies equally.
I don’t think actors who play superheroes are really “action stars,” in any traditional sense. The Arnies and the Slys and the Bruce Lees were action stars because they possessed physical qualities and skills which made them interesting to watch “in action.” An action star is someone who can project a dynamic, badass quality on screen. Most all of the current superheroes are about a kind of dualism between an essentially ordinary (at least physically ordinary) seeming character and the larger than life, CGI spectacular they transform into. The CGI provides the adrenaline in those movies, not the actor himself. The actor’s job is to provide humanity and accessibility to the cartoon. Toby McGuire is not an action star. Robert Downey Jr. is not an action star. Ed Norton Jr. is not an action star. That’s not really their role. Their role is to make you like the cartoon and care what happens to it.
I think the advent of CGI has cleared the field of a lot of the old school kinds of action stars. Th big ones who are left, I think, are the martial arts guys – Jackie Chan, Jet Li, etc. They can still do something that Toby McGuire can’t do.
Even with the Batman movies and the recently announced Terminator: John Connor movies, I still think of Bale more as an actor (and a good one) than as an action star.
I saw a list a while back that had him at the top – in terms of gross revenue for salary paid. Turned out Damon was the most cost effective star you could get.
When I think of the term ‘action star’, I think of an actor with physical presence but a narrow acting ability - your Stallones, your Seagals, Van Dammes and Schwarzeneggers (I’d hesitate to say Willis as I think old Bruce is an accomplished and versatile actor in his own right).
While Bale has starred in action movies, I wouldn’t bestow upon him the title of ‘action star’ as i believe the title cheapens his genuine talent.
I have never really considered material artist stars to be action heroes. I consider them to be a separate category. There are not really a lot actions stars left. People like Cruise do too many other things to an action star.
Vin Diesel is the closest I can think to action star that is working today. There is also The Rock and Paul Walker. But are these any of these people stars?
OK, but what about Johhny Depp? He starred in one of the most successful action series of all time (PotC), and he is by no definition an “action star”. The same thing could be said about, say, Matt Damon or Keanu Reeves. *Those * are today’s action heroes. No Hollywood studio is goiing to give a $100 million movie to a slab of meat like Vin Diesel. They’ll go with someone who can actually act.
Just look at the past. Who were the biggest action stars, pre-1980? Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner, Kirk Douglas, Sean Connery, Charlton Heston, John Wayne. Not the most “sensitive” types, of course, , but they weren’t what you’d call thugs. They were just good, tough actors,who could be as badass as they needed to be, and they’re the ones Hollywood had headline their action movies.
I think that’s the status the industry is returning to. The action hero is dead - and good riddance.
I would say that Depp’s POTC character is really more a comedic character than an action hero. He plays the character for laughs, not for thrills.
Matt Damon’s Bourne character is closer to the kind of 70’s action heroes you referred to. I think we can probably put Daniel Craig in that category too (he’s got a bit of a Steve McQueen quality). Keanu, I think has still been the benficiary of landing in a major CGI franchise. Though he does have a few genuine, conventional actioners to his name, it’s still hard for me to see him as an action star. I think an action star has to be somebody I don’t instinctively feel I could beat up myself.
Harrison Ford WASN’T a huge star when he appeared in “Star Wars.”
Will Smith WASN’T a huge star when he appeared in “Independence Day.”
Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss didn’t become huge stars even after “Jaws.”
Robert Downey was fine in “Iron Man,” "Tobey Maguire was fine in “Spiderman,” and Christian Bale was fine as “Batman Begins,” but NONE of those guys was THE reason their movies were hits.
I think people go to action movies for an event, not for any particular star. Sometimes, if the stars make enough good choices and good movies, fans will get in the habit of following them. But I don’t think that Harrison Ford was the reason “The Fugitive” was a hit. It’s more likely that Ford got offered likely hits because he was already so prominent.
Same with Christian Bale. Good actor, sure, but almost nobody races to see any movie just because he’s in it. But he’s had enough success that he’s now on the short list for lead roles in potential blockbusters.
Mine too. Lock stock and two smoking barrels, the Transporter, Crank, the list goes on and on. Snatch was one of my favorites. That one he did with the flame from fantastic 4 was excellent too. He’s a great actor.
Christian Bale is awesome too. The Machinist was an excellent fim.
That would be Mister Nobody to you! Besides, I don’t race down to the theater when his movies come out – I just make a point to see them.
Bratty kid in “Empire of the Sun”? I guess so. Wasn’t that the part he was supposed to play? (just kidding!) I think that he has some serious acting chops. One jarring thing about him, though, is his normal speaking voice. He’s played so many Americans, it’s disorienting to hear him speak with a British/Welsh accent.