Christian Bale got a lot of bad press for a temper tantrum he had while filming Terminator: Salvation. Fine, let directors of photography trash talk him behind his back, but he deserves a lot of praise from writers for another revelation that’s recently come out. When he was originally offered the role, he said he would only accept it if the director “could refine the script to the point where it could be read on stage without any special effects and still be a compelling story.”
Terminator_Bale
In short, Bale felt that the only way the movie would be worth starring in is if the dialog and the story carried as much impact as the multi-million dollar special effects budget. As a writer, I dream of a day when Hollywood is filled with actors who feel that way. Imagine if every actor and director went into every project demanding that storytelling trump spectacle.
What shocks me most when I see a movie with amazing special effect and lackluster dialog or a mediocre story arc is how foolishly money is spent in the process of making movies. Movie makers think nothing of dropping millions of dollars to make every explosion look cool and every car chase breathtaking. When the car comes screeching to a halt, though, the character development sputters to a halt and the relationship between the two main characters turns into a clunker. Why? Writers are cheap. Trust me, I know. We work for so little. Even truly talented writers rarely make a fortune at their work. So why not shave off some extra money off the crash-and-blow-em-up budget and hire a few more writers to really polish that script?
Bryn Greenwood 
So true. The movies that are have heart-stopping, gut-wrenching special efforts coupled with a fabulous script make the greatest movies at all. It’s awesome to know that actors are beginning to realize this and are making their voices heard. I love that the writers are stepping it up, too. We need another Dark Knight this year.
It’s the same with books. The best books I’ve read have been beautifully written with great action.
Having worked on scripts where FX starts to take over dialogue and character development, this gives me a whole new respect for Mr. Bale.
If brilliant artist temper tantrums lead to quality movies, I’m for ’em.
Some actors demand a particular brand of water or they won’t leave their trailer. Bale demands a good script. I know who I’d prefer to work with.
Given the number of writers who are typically hired to rewrite and polish a typical big-budget Hollywood film…you got me. It’s not that they won’t hire writers and spend money (sometimes lots) on writers. I can’t just say that they hire bad writers, though a lot of times I think that they do. It’s more that Hollywood films are written to such a rigid formula any more that it tends to squeeze out any actual quality. Most of the writers (and executives) are people for whom the majority of their thoughts on writing come from other movies, not from their own lives or observations on real peoples’ lives. It’s all very incestuous and inbred, and you know what happens with too much inbreeding – you get teh Stoopids.
LOL @ cinematic inbreeding, but not so much laughing at what it portends for my movie-going.
Example: Steven Seagal.
Action?
Dialog?
Nothing but crickets chirping on that last one…
Wait, what’s Steven Seagal an example of? I’ve never seen any of his movies, but he always seemed like a bit of a ‘bag when he was on all the Japanese talk shows when I lived there.