From ambitious, mind-bending sci-fi movies to murder mysteries and war epics, Christopher
Nolan has put a unique stamp on Hollywood during his two-decade career as a director
— and proved that ambitious, original ideas can make just as much box office bank as comic
book superheroes.
"If you're good at something never do it for free."
With a level of critical and commercial success that most filmmakers never come close to,
Nolan's only real competition in the industry is himself.
But how do his movies stack up against each other?
Here's our ranking, starting with number ten.
Following
Even Christopher Nolan's worst movie is pretty darn good.
But more than anything, it stands as a testament to his early promise as a filmmaker.
Clocking in at just over an hour, this super-short movie revolves around a man whose hobby is
following strangers — which it turns out is pretty weird when you're doing it in real
life and not on Twitter.
"When it stopped being random, that's when it started to go wrong."
With a narrative that jumps around between the future and present, it's no surprise that
critics see Following as a harbinger of the great work Nolan would produce in years to
come.
Insomnia
Nolan's breakout as a filmmaker came with Memento in 2000 — but it's the movie he
made after that one that's next in our reverse ranking.
This suspenseful crime thriller is a remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name,
and Nolan used his Alaskan setting to spectacular effect.
And in addition to the kind of intricate plot that would become a trademark of his work,
the director also proved that he could wrangle a talented cast of A-listers; Insomnia is
led by Al Pacino and Robin Williams, who delivered one of his most chilling performances.
The Prestige
Smart, mysterious, and featuring a totally underrated cameo by David Bowie, this period
piece pulls off one of the best twists in modern cinema.
The story follows a pair of dueling illusionists, played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale,
as they battle to rule the magic scene in late 1800s London.
Hey!
Where'd he go?
We won't spoil the big reveal, but let's just say that this movie has a lot up its sleeve,
making it a memorable and ambitious entry into Nolan's catalogue.
The Dark Knight Rises
The final entry in Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is a fantastic film.
It's just not as good as the first two, which is why it's here on the bottom half of the
list.
Nolan brought his series to a rousing end by turning the entire city of Gotham into
a war zone, with imposing bad guy Bane, played by Tom Hardy, as the villain-in-chief.
Along with Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, The Dark Knight Rises brought a brand of spark
and wit the franchise had been missing.
And even if the formula was arguably stretched a bit thin by now, the director still managed
to send his Batman out with a bang.
Interstellar
Nolan walked a tightrope with this sci-fi flick, combining a space adventure with a
metaphysical message about the transcendent power of love.
Ambitious!
But Nolan worked hard to get the science right and create a stunning blockbuster spectacle,
while also never losing touch with his story's heart.
At the middle of it all is a mission to save humanity — and a poignant performance by
Matthew McConaughey as a hero on the verge of a life-changing sacrifice.
Memento
We're into the top five, with the movie that first put Nolan on the map — and a textbook
example of what makes him such a great filmmaker.
Starring Guy Pearce as the world's most unreliable narrator, it forces the audience to piece
together its story one tiny detail at a time, backwards, using only a bunch of polaroids
and tattooed clues on the skin of its protagonist… who hasn't the foggiest idea how his own story
began.
"Look, I'm sorry I don't remember you.
It's nothing personal."
Fortunately, nobody has amnesia when it comes to recognizing Memento as Nolan's first cinematic
masterpiece.
As both writer and director, he showed Hollywood he had the chops to take big, original, high-concept
ideas and turn them into something critics and audiences alike would rave about.
Batman Begins
"He's here."
"Who?'
"The bat man!"
This superhero franchise was in shambles when Christopher Nolan's pitch for a back-to-basics
approach put it back on track, and reinvented the genre in the bargain.
Batman Begins nailed the classic character's origin story and introduced a whole new generation
of fans to the Dark Knight — and it put Batman back on top of the box office for the
first time in ages, proving that its director had the chops to helm blockbusters that were
so much more than simple popcorn flicks.
Inception
Let's be honest: for most directors, setting an action-packed heist film inside multiple
sub-layers of an increasingly complex dreamworld would have resulted in a mess of epic proportions.
But for Christopher Nolan, that premise made for a mind-bending masterpiece.
With an all-star cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, and Ellen
Page, Inception may still be the director's most remarkable project: a dizzyingly complex
story and jaw-dropping visual effects extravaganza in one.
What might be most impressive, though, is that Nolan is one of few directors who Hollywood
would dream of trusting with a non-franchise picture this ambitious.
Dunkirk
Despite the uncountable number of World War II movies that have come out of Hollywood,
Christopher Nolan still managed to give the military conflict a fresh spin with this story
about the daring real-life evacuation of Allied troops from the French city of Dunkirk.
Instead of a big, sweeping battlefield epic, Nolan got right up close to the action with
multiple perspectives across three different timelines — featuring a talented ensemble
cast that included a few familiar faces from Gotham City.
Critics were seriously impressed, and this inspirational film is the director's best
yet… with one exception.
The Dark Knight
If Nolan's Batman trilogy is the best superhero franchise ever made, this movie is its crown
jewel.
"Hiiiii."
The late Heath Ledger stole every scene with a mesmerizing, Oscar-winning performance as
the Joker, and Christian Bale was in full command of the caped crusader's cowl — not
to mention his memorable bat-voice.
"WHERE ARE THEY?!"
Critics and audiences alike loved The Dark Knight, and many people were furious when
it was snubbed in the Best Picture category, and for good reason: it's not just one of
the best superhero movies of the past decade, it's one of the best movies, ever, period
— and that's why it's number one on our list of Nolan's greatest hits.
No clowning.
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