Movie: The Machinist

[Animeniax]

This is a movie from 2004 starring Christian Bale. Man, what a weird movie. It's kind of slow but the pay off is worth it. If anyone ever doubted Bale's "actor's mentality" or how seriously he takes his craft (like after the recorded tirade on the Terminator set), go rent this movie and you'll earn a whole new respect for the guy.

[rockmanj]

I've heard nothing but good things about it, but never got a chance to check it out.

[Munsu]

I've always been on the verge of watching the movie but never get in the mood to do so. I'll see what I can do about it in the coming days.

[Animeniax]

I've always been on the verge of watching the movie but never get in the mood to do so. I'll see what I can do about it in the coming days.
I'd recommend you don't watch it if you're in a particularly good mood or a particularly bad one that day. A film like this could either ruin your good day or put you over the edge.

[Board of Command]

I watched this about a month ago. It was pretty creepy and confusing, but it all came together in the last moments.

[Killa-Eyez]

Nice montage. Couldn't guess the plot at all with certainty, though it had crossed my mind multiple times. I like it when movies aren't that predictable. F'ed up story but a good watch. Indeed better acting skills involved compared to his other work.

DAMN was he skinny! :eek: You think he became that just for the movie?

[Animeniax]

Nice montage. Couldn't guess the plot at all with certainty, though it had crossed my mind multiple times. I like it when movies aren't that predictable. F'ed up story but a good watch. Indeed better acting skills involved compared to his other work.

DAMN was he skinny! :eek: You think he became that just for the movie?
I think so. He filmed this in 2004, a year before he filmed Batman Begins. But he filmed Reign of Fire in 2002 when he was still buff, followed by a futuristic war movie called Equilibrium in 2002. I could see him losing weight for the futuristic war movie though. I'll have to watch it and see.

[shinta|hikari]

Equilibrium is a must watch. One of my favorite action movies ever.

[Animeniax]

Equilibrium is a must watch. One of my favorite action movies ever.
Was Bale buff or scrawny in this movie?

[shinta|hikari]

Buff. It is an action movie.

[Animeniax]

I guess that answers our question about whether or not Bale lost weight specifically for The Machinist. Very dedicated to his art.

However, in a futuristic war movie, it would make sense that the humans are malnourished, as food might be scarce without replicators like they had on Star Trek. So he very well could have been scrawny in that movie, preparing himself for the super scrawniness you see in The Machinist.

[rockmanj]

No, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/53457/christian_bales_weight_loss_for_the.html?cat=40 He definitely shed weight just for that role, then bulked up for Batman. I'm sure he shaved a few years off of his life. And Equilibrium was good, and he was in very good shape for that one (FYI).

[shinta|hikari]

Rapidly losing weight is usually safe with expert care, but what he did for The Machinist is just extreme. Well, as long as he did it through sheer dedication (strict but proper dieting and exercise) and not drugs, he should be fine.

[rockmanj]

But then he gained 100 pounds in 5 months right after that. That cannot be healthy.

[Animeniax]

Yeah that's pretty amazing growth, 100lbs in 5 months. Usually that kind of rapid gain requires steroids, though if he's returning to his natural weight, then adding 30 more lbs, it wouldn't be that difficult.

I wonder if it was 100lbs, because then he'd be 220lbs in the Batman movie, and at 6ft tall, he didn't seem quite that massive in the movie.

[rockmanj]

I'm just going by the article.

[Animeniax]

Yeah I know, I was amazed when they mentioned the 100lbs in 5 months in the article. From the way the article was written and the numerous typos, I figured they fudged the numbers on the weight gain, probably rounding up, as I doubt they had an actual weight on Bale after he bulked back up.