With a barrage of green-lit scripts flooding into his mailbox, Bale was quickly back in action, this time pitting his wits against Johnny Depp in Michael Mann's 'Public Enemies'. The film follows Bale’s character, FBI Special agent Melvin Purvis, as he chases down Johnny Depp's legendary gangster, John Dillinger, in the crime-ridden 1930s.

Another genre for Bale and another smash hit, continuing a run of form that would that would leave Husain Bolt panting in its wake. But with so many big budget studio pictures under his belt in recent years, it’s about time that Bale returned to his independent roots.

'Public Enemies' was released on DVD on November 2 2009 - check out our review here!