Batman bales out of Hong Kong poison stunt

Heath Ledger warns Christian Bale of the dangers of swimming in Hong Kong. Click on image to enlarge.

Even Batman balked at leaping into Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, one of the world’s most polluted bodies of water. Christian Bale, who resumes his caped crusader role in ‘The Dark Night’ currently filming in China's former British territory, was scripted to leap from a low-flying Hercules transport plane into the harbor - until the filthy state of the waters (the 'Fragrant Harbour' is one third urine, apparently) prompted the crew to scrap the scene.

According to Hollywoodgrind.com, an unnamed official with the production house said: "When they checked a water sample, they found all sorts of things, salmonella, and tuberculosis, so it was canceled. Now the action will cut to inside a building."

The South China Morning Post reported that the "plane made four circuits while crews carried out aerial filming using two helicopters. The high point of yesterday's filming was the sight of black smoke pouring from one of the helicopters."

The Guardian reports: "Hong Kong has one of the worst marine environments in the world, said Bill Ballantine, a renowned marine biologist who recently visited from New Zealand. 'Everybody tells me if you can remember what it was like in 1960, there's hardly anything left in terms of fisheries and the habitat also is very degraded,' he said.

"The government has begun cutting the levels of effluent in the harbour, with stage one of the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme, but officials admit the water is not yet ready for swimmers. They say Stage Two, beginning in 2009, will improve matters considerably."

Of course, it could have been Bale's stunt double who was required to make the plunge into the poisonous drink. Either way, director Christopher Nolan probably made the right call.