2009's Terminator: Salvation remains mired in controversy as it's one of the most heavily criticized entries in the franchise. The film performed poorly at the domestic box office, critics gave it mediocre reviews across the board, and McG's departure from the traditional trope of John Connor stopping Judgement Day wasn't well-liked either. Although, the thing people remember the most about Salvation is Christian Bale's on-set tirade.
For anyone who doesn't know, Bale laid into cinematographer Shane Hurlbut during a heated confrontation on the set of Terminator: Salvation. Bale was shooting a scene at the time when Hurlbut interrupted to check lighting equipment in the background, an action which he repeated several times. Bale then broke character to berate the movie's cinematographer, verbally crucifying him in front of everyone. Well, it wasn't that bad, but Bale earned quite a reputation following the July 2008 incident.
What Happened After Bale's Meltdown
Coverage on Bale's outburst painted him in the worst light possible. The leaked audio seemed to cast a dark shadow on his acting career that could've potentially ended it right there and then. Fortunately, that didn't happen thanks to Bale's castmates. They came to his defense during a Q&A with the Associated Press, where most of them conveyed genuine responses to the alleged incident. No one made excuses for the Batman actor, though several did explain how intense acting can be in the heat of the moment. Bale ultimately apologized for his actions on the Salvation set, which should put the issue to bed, but it's impossible to bring up the film without thinking of the actor's tirade.
What's funny is the Bale incident has now made Terminator: Salvation an infamous piece of cinema. Actors have walked off of sets before, forced movies to shut down, none, however, are as memorable as Bale letting loose.
The other reason it's gained so much notoriety is 2008 and 2009 were big years for the internet. Social media flourished with Facebook becoming the new place to connect and reconnect with friends. YouTube became ultra-popular and super successful as a video-hosting site in the 2000s, . Smaller sites like Myspace also made the footage all the more accessible. Altogether, that gave the leaked audio of Bale an even bigger platform to spread across.
While the audio being unofficially released was troublesome for Bale at the time, the situation would've likely drawn much more criticism had a crew member from McG's set managed to record video of it. The cameras were presumably rolling as Bale melted down, though no one would dare release the footage. If anyone has a copy, it's McG, but he's unlikely to share the clip. He'd probably get sued by Christian Bale, as well as every party previously or currently affiliated with the Terminator franchise; the list includes James Cameron and every director involved since.
Footage or not, Christian Bale's antics on the Terminator: Salvation set have made the movie one that people will remember for ages. It won't be for the most profound of reasons but at least Bale made McG's entry in the franchise a tad more interesting than the lackluster Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines and subsequent follow-ups.
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