Tales of tantrums can get exaggerated in the telling, but having now heard the audio, we can safely say Christian Bale's Terminator Salvation freakout on a DP who wandered into his shot is certifiably insane.

Obtained by TMZ and recorded, they say, for insurance purposes, it starts off with a bang—a threat launched at cinematographer Shane Hurlbut to "kick your fucking ass. I want you off the set you prick!"—and then continues for several solid minutes of shouted and profanity-laced invective, mockery, more pledges of physical violence, interspersed occasionally with Hurlbut's muted apologies and meek entreaties from the crew for the Dark Knight star to possibly cool down and stop threatening to injure them. (One response from Hurlbut in particular displeases him so much, you can literally hear Bale charging at him.)

We're trying to think of another example that even comes close, and failing. This makes the legendary David O. Russell/Lily Tomlin I Heart Huckabees flareups seem like yoga class, and generally makes us rethink the entire Momzo the Clown affair. The only silver lining we can come up with is that Bale wasn't nominated for an Oscar. The Academy is notoriously unsympathetic towards DP-beaters.