Christian Bale has travelled far from his humble beginnings in the tiny county district of Pembrokshire, Wales. Hes been to the past, the future, to Gotham and back and hes taken us along for the journey every step of the way. Bales been at the acting game for many years now, with his first notable international appearance being as Jim Jamie Graham in Steven Spielbergs Empire of the Sun in 1987. The rest is not quite history, but that was certainly a healthy start. It wasnt what youd call a meteoric rise to prominence. Nearly two decades isnt exactly a short career but over those years Bale has been continually honing his craft down to razor sharpness, to the point that today, he could easily be considered one of Hollywoods top personalities. From Bateman to Batman, Christian Bale has provided us with some truly mind-blowing performances across his illustrious career; hes also provided us with some less than great ones, albeit not quite so many. And with the worlds eyes turning on him once again with the recent release of The Dark Knight Rises, this list just felt right. So lets skip the chatter and get right to the prestige five of Bales on-screen performances that blew our mind and five that didnt.