46 replies to this topic

[Judo chop]

Being an enormous Kilmer fan at the time, I was one who was most excited to see Kilmer as the new Batman. I actually think he could have been the best of the bunch. Kilmer as the playboy Wayne run-amok, in the manner that BEGINS brought to the character? I can totally see it.

It’s a terrible waste and a terrible shame, that bat-anvil that they tied to Kilmer’s utility belt.

[dodge]

I'm not sure that Bale is "the bomb" is Batman. He's good but, unlike Craig as Bond, doesn't convince me that he's doing it any better than others would.

Sure, he's a lot better than the other recent Batmen, but that isn't saying much because Keaton, Kilmer and Clooney were all horrendously miscast.

Bale's a serviceable Batman, that's all. If for some reason the series had to lose either Bale or Nolan, I'd rather see Bale go.

You went into this film with almost Dodgeian high hopes. If the film let you down, I hope you'll reconsider giving Bale his due. The verdict is still out on Craig, who gave a magnificent performance in CR--can he not only do it again, but raise the ante in QoS? For me, Bale's done just that with TDK. And the strictures placed on him are far more severe than those faced by Craig. Bale's completely humanized an inherently absurd character. I can see Bale doing Bond every bit as well as Craig. But a good man knows his limits, as Dirty Harry said--and...Dan in a batsuit just doesn't compute. I think Bale's closer to the mark of bridging the great divide between Ace Actor and Movie Star. Craig's always gotta have something happening on his face. But Bale can be compelling simply being on the screen. Come on, props to both of them.

[dodge]

The normal timber of his voice wouldn't suggest that he's capable of such a gravelly bass. Bravo if he is, though.

I've got a tenor voice myself (like Bale), with a very limited low range, but I can pretty much replicate the Bale Batman sound no problem. In terms of pitch, his Batman voice really never gets particularly low. Certainly nothing near what a genuine bass voice is capable of. It's just really raspy.

Have any of his previous performances evidenced such range?

Well, no, but that's to be expected since it's such a forced sound. It's not at all natural, hence Bale losing his voice.

Delving more deeply into this....

Bale's Batman voice too much?
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Monday, August 4th 2008, 12:17 PM


Christian Bale plays Batman in "The Dark Knight."
Though "The Dark Knight" has been a bona fide cultural event, boasting rave reviews and boffo box office, it hasn't been immune to criticism. Some have quibbled with its political undercurrents, and others have criticized a muddled theme.

But here's the critique most widely held: Why does Batman talk like the offspring of Clint Eastwood and a grizzly bear?

Donning the costume for the second time, Christian Bale has delved deeper into the lower registers. As Bruce Wayne, his voice is as smooth as his finely pressed suits. But once he puts the cape on, the transformation of his vocal chords is just as dramatic as his costume change.

Particularly when his rage boils over, Bale's Batman growls in an almost beastly fashion, reflecting how close he teeters between do-gooder and vengeance-crazed crusader.

"The Dark Knight" hauled in $43.8 million to rank as Hollywood's top movie for the third straight weekend, fending off "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," which opened a close second with $42.5 million. It has earned $394.9 million in just 17 days, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Though much of the voice effect is Bale's own doing, under the guidance of director Christopher Nolan and supervising sound editor Richard King, the frequency of his Batman voice was modulated to exaggerate the effect.
Critics and fans have noticed.

"His Batman rasps his lines in a voice that's deeper and hammier than ever," said NPR's David Edelstein.

The New Yorker's David Denby praised the urgency of Bale's Batman, but lamented that he "delivers his lines in a hoarse voice with an unvarying inflection."

Reviewing the film for MSNBC, Alonso Duralde wrote that Bale's Batman in "Batman Begins" ''sounded absurdly deep, like a 10-year-old putting on an 'adult' voice to make prank phone calls. This time, Bale affects an eerie rasp, somewhat akin to Brenda Vaccaro doing a Miles Davis impression."

Before the similes run too far afield, it's worth considering where the concept of a throaty Batman comes from.

In his portrayal on the '60s "Batman" TV series, Adam West didn't alter his voice between Bruce Wayne and Batman. Decades later when Tim Burton brought "Batman" to the big screen in a much darker incarnation, Michael Keaton's inflection was notably — but not considerably — different from one to the other.

But it was a lesser-known actor who, a few years after Burton's film, made perhaps the most distinct imprint on Batman's voice. Kevin Conroy, as the voice of the animated Batman in various projects from 1992's "Batman: The Animated Series" right up until this year's "Batman: Gotham Knight," brought a darker, raspier vocalization to Batman.

Conroy has inhabit the role longer than anyone else and though animated voice-over work doesn't have the same cachet as feature film acting, there are quarters where Conroy is viewed as the best Batman of them all — certainly superior to Val Kilmer or George Clooney.

The animated series are notable because they drew on the DC Comics of Batman as envisioned by Frank Miller, whose work heavily informs "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight." (Bale and Nolan were unavailable to comment for this story.)

As Batman has gotten darker, his voice has gotten deeper. As some critics suggest, Bale and "The Dark Knight" may have reached a threshold, at least audibly.

[Harmsway]

Interesting. I had no idea it was modified. Seems unnecessary to do so.

[dodge]

Interesting. I had no idea it was modified. Seems unnecessary to do so.

I just started rewatching Batman Begins last night and will get back to you when I've finished watching. What's relevant is that Bale's voice does hit the lower register in the early scenes and it doesn't sound modified at all. So, what I'm wondering now is if Wayne's somewhat higher timber is meant to be the disguise. If so, very clever and very nicely done.

[dodge]

Am halfway through watching BB and offer this tentative update...


As Batman, Bale's voice is much the same as in TDK but without any suggestion that it had been enhanced: none of that super-resonance or vaguely echo-like quality. I preferred it to the TDK voice, but must say I wasn't put off, as some were, by the change.

In early scenes in BB, Bale's voice as Bruce Wayne has more bottom than I had recalled. And this strengthens my admiration for the acting job he's done, reinforcing the sense of the later Bruce Wayne/playboy/bilionaire as Bruce's second persona.

The three voices of Bale's character...?

[dodge]

Let us now take a very brief moment to reflect on how Bale's commitment to his craft far and away outweighs Craig's:

Still fresh from The Machinist, it became necessary for Bale to bulk up to match the powerful physique of Batman. He was given a deadline of six months to do this. Bale recalled it as far from a simple accomplishment: “…when it actually came to building muscle, I was useless. I couldn’t do one push up the first day. All of the muscles were gone, so I had a real tough time rebuilding all of that.” With the help of a personal trainer, Bale succeeded in meeting the deadline, gaining a total of 100lbs (46kg) in six months. He went from about 130lbs to 230lbs.However, by the time shooting began Bale's weight had dropped to 190lbs.(Bale is 6'0" tall).

Bale had initial concerns about playing Batman, as he felt more ridiculous than intimidating in the Batman suit. He dealt with this by depicting Batman as a savage beast in his portrayal. To attain a deeper understanding of the character, Bale read various Batman comic books. He explained his interpretation of the young boy: “Batman is his hidden, demonic rage-filled side. The creature [Batman] creates is an absolutely sincere creature and one that he has to control but does so in a very haphazard way. He's capable of enacting violence — and to kill — so he's constantly having to rein himself in.” For Bale, the most gruelling part about playing Batman was the suit. “You stick it on, you get hot, you sweat and you get a headache in the mask,” he said. “But I'm not going to bitch about it because I get to play Batman.”

Bale was eager to reprise his role of Batman in The Dark Knight. He was confident in his choice to return in the role because of the positive response to his performance in Batman Begins. He trained in the Keysi Fighting Method, and performed many of his own stunts. He did not gain as much muscle this time, because of the storyline in which Batman builds a new suit that allows him to move with more agility.

source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Bale

[MkB]

100lbs in 6 months?!? I wonder how his skin survived this

[dodge]

100lbs in 6 months?!? I wonder how his skin survived this

Hopefully, there'll be no long-term ill effects. A while back, some magazine ran a feature on Tom Hanks, arguing that his extreme weight shifts had ruined his appearance. The photos they showed looked shockingly convincing.

In any case, I hope Bale never goes to Machinist lengths again. I was kept from seeing the film because his skeletal appearance was so damned disgusting. I kept thinking of Olivier's answer to Dustin Hoffman, who'd asked him how he, Olivier, had done a particular scene without method acting himself half to death (eating a live cockroach or running 30 miles to get out of breath). LO answered, "My dear boy, what I do is called acting."

[Safari Suit]

Hey dodge, I thought this might interest you :

http://enewsi.com/ne...hp?itemid=13773

[Andrew]

Hey dodge, I thought this might interest you :

http://enewsi.com/ne...hp?itemid=13773

Someone's bitter...

This is the same Robert Downey Jr. that has done so called "art films" in the past, right?

[Judo chop]

Nah. The article claims Downy “insists that Batman is too complicated”, but that’s not really what he says as quoted. When what he really says is that he’s too simple. He just sounds like a self-deprecating buffoon, as usual. He’s a goof. I take that all in stride.

[dodge]

Hey dodge, I thought this might interest you :

http://enewsi.com/ne...hp?itemid=13773

Thanks for the quote, Safari. The truth of the matter is actually more sinister. Marc Forster--standing behind Downey and hoping to deflect criticism of his own troubles in editing Bond--took the opportunity to practice his ventriloquistic flair. Marc himself gave the speech he made to seem from Downey. But Iron Man will still be back, despite the jealous voodoo.

[dodge]

Commitment...Intensity...


In "The Dark Knight," he refused to use a stunt double for his fight scenes, and that's actually Bale himself, in full Batsuit, standing there on the edge of Chicago's Sears Tower. When the Joker cackles, "You're just a freak - like me," you get the feeling he wasn't only talking about Batman.
source: ttp://www.nypost.com/seven/07272008/news/regionalnews/bales_dark_truth_121823.htm

Plus: Confidence and economy...

"He's got a fire, and he understands acting at its core," says "3:10 to Yuma" director James Mangold. "Part of Christian's power I think is the economy with which he delivers his choices and that he doesn't work too hard, and he has the confidence in his own physicality and just the kind of lightning streaming out of his eyes. Sometimes, he has to do no more than just that."
source:
http://www.backstage...t_id=1003637980


I dig that economy. And it makes Bale a much harder actor to peg than other great actors who need do DO more.

[dodge]

And somebody, at least believes, that Bale might even be better than Craig as James Bond:

"I think Christian would make a great Bond, and this video proves it! Clips from Equilibrium, Batman begins and American Psycho."

the link: http://www.metacafe....n_bale_as_bond/

Maybe Bale/Batman is the American Bond?

[Andrew]

Maybe Bale/Batman is the American Bond?

Bale is Welsh.

[dodge]

Maybe Bale/Batman is the American Bond?

Bale is Welsh.

Yes, he is. I meant that Batman, as acted by Bale, may be the American Bond. Sorry for the confusion.