- 17 hours ago
From mind-bending thrillers to Oscar-winning epics, few filmmakers have shaped modern cinema quite like Christopher Nolan. Join us as we rank every film in his legendary filmography to crown his ultimate masterpiece! Our countdown includes "The Dark Knight," "Oppenheimer," "Inception," "Memento" and more! Which Christopher Nolan film reigns supreme in your eyes? Let us know in the comments below!
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00But what's your opinion?
00:02Once it's used, nuclear war, perhaps all war, becomes unthinkable.
00:11Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're ranking all 13 of Christopher Nolan's feature films
00:17to find out which one is his magnum opus.
00:19From heady sci-fi movies to gritty comic book dramas,
00:23these are some of the best movies of the century, so this will definitely be a challenge.
00:27Let's get started.
00:28You think all this can last?
00:30There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne.
00:34You and your friends better batten down the hatches.
00:38Number 13. Following.
00:41For those with a taste for plucky, independent storytellers,
00:44Christopher Nolan's debut feature has quite a bit to offer.
00:48Sure, Following definitely shows its age thanks to its $6,000 budget,
00:52but Nolan makes supremely confident use of every single penny.
00:56It's sort of an unconscious collection.
00:58A display.
00:59What do you mean display?
01:01Well, display.
01:02Each thing tells something very intimate about the people.
01:05We're very privileged to see it.
01:06It's very rare.
01:08Centering on a writer who follows strangers around to get inspiration for his novels,
01:12the movie introduces some of the director's biggest trademarks right off the bat.
01:16Between the protagonist's conflicted psyche and, of course, the movie's non-linear structure,
01:21following may seem rather predictable and amateur when compared to his more mainstream movies.
01:26This bald guy is dangerous, is he?
01:27Oh, Christ, you are a nosy bastard.
01:30Dangerous like hell?
01:31Dangerous like criminal-type dangerous.
01:33The payoff may not necessarily be worth the build-up with this one,
01:37but it is nevertheless an engaging watch,
01:40not to mention a critical text to understanding Nolan's signature style.
01:44He said something about you being a witness to an incident that happened in this very room.
01:49Well, he was very precise about exactly how and where I should take care of things.
01:53There's something about a blood-stained carpet that you've got stashed away to back up your story.
01:59Should it ever be time?
02:01Number 12.
02:02Tenet.
02:03While we always welcome the challenge of unpacking Nolan's most cerebral movies,
02:07Tenet may be the hardest box to unlock.
02:10When the nameless protagonist is recruited by the titular group,
02:13we're plunged into a trippy thriller in which the action moves both forward and backward through time.
02:30For a seasoned filmmaker like Christopher Nolan,
02:33incredible staging and state-of-the-art visual effects are to be expected.
02:37But Tenet undercuts a lot of its momentum with a story that's too confusing for its own good.
02:43You've known me for years.
02:46For me, I think this is the end of a beautiful friendship.
02:50But for me, it's just the beginning.
02:51Keeping track of the story's many moving pieces is hard on its own.
02:55And the movie does itself few favors thanks to its oddly produced sound design.
03:00There are some ideas worth exploring,
03:02but you'll definitely need subtitles in order to understand them.
03:24Number 11.
03:26The Dark Knight Rises.
03:27The final entry in his Dark Knight trilogy reaffirms Nolan's track record for terrific endings,
03:32even with the stumbles it takes along the way.
03:35Due to the unprecedented hype surrounding its predecessor,
03:38The Dark Knight Rises can't help but pale in comparison.
03:41So you came back to die with your city?
03:45No.
03:47I came back to stop you.
03:53But it still meets the moment thanks to the committed ensemble and glorious use of IMAX photography.
03:59Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy absolutely chew the scenery as Catwoman and Bane respectively.
04:04And you would be hard-pressed to find a superhero movie with this much ambition.
04:25It's an emotionally satisfying conclusion to be sure,
04:28but it's also one that's so overstuffed with characters and plot holes that it can't help but be scrutinized.
04:42Number 10.
04:43Insomnia.
04:44Not only is this Christopher Nolan's only remake,
04:47but it's also the only one he didn't write.
04:49For that reason alone,
04:51Insomnia may be the director's most un-Nolan movie.
04:54But given his exceptional talent,
04:56that is no reason to turn away from it.
04:58I know this isn't easy for you,
05:00but I'm trying to get you to understand
05:01we're in the same situation here.
05:04You didn't mean to kill Hap anymore
05:07than I meant to kill Kate.
05:09But that's kind of hard for them to believe.
05:11So that's why we need each other.
05:13Al Pacino and Robin Williams lead this taut procedural
05:16in which a sleep-deprived detective
05:18finds himself being surveilled by a small-town murderer.
05:21The pair's game of cat and mouse is palpable,
05:24as both are closely guarding major secrets that threaten their survival.
05:27You call a man an accident?
05:29It took you only a fraction of a second to kill your partner.
05:32Does that make it any more of an accident, Will?
05:38Is this an accident?
05:44She wanted to be.
05:45Even though it's light on Nolan's typical flourishes,
05:48Insomnia is nevertheless an intriguing mystery
05:51worth seeing through to the end.
05:52More importantly,
05:54it confirmed his ability to work within the Hollywood system,
05:57allowing major studios to take chances on his one-of-a-kind ideas.
06:01Let's search this place.
06:02What are we looking for?
06:03For the dress.
06:04What dress?
06:04Ellie's.
06:05Ellie's?
06:06Kay's dress.
06:07Rambling, Will.
06:08Ellie's here.
06:09Thank God you got me taking care of us.
06:11She saw the dress.
06:12What us?
06:12We're in the same boat.
06:13Where'd you get us?
06:14Don't talk to me about us.
06:16Number 9.
06:17Batman Begins
06:18Speaking of Nolan's big break in studio filmmaking,
06:21the superhero genre solidified its comeback
06:23once he signed on to reimagine the Caped Crusader's origin story.
06:27Batman Begins leaves few stones unturned,
06:29giving us a new take on Gotham City
06:31that's both grounded in reality,
06:33yet steeped in characters who stay true to their hand-drawn counterparts.
06:37What the hell are you?
06:42I'm Batman.
06:43That's especially true of Bruce Wayne,
06:45as Christian Bale fully commits to the character's physical intensity
06:49without sacrificing his psychological trauma.
06:51Without reinventing the superhero wheel,
06:54Batman Begins works because of this balance,
06:56possessing an emotional gravitas
06:58that you rarely find in blockbuster movies nowadays.
07:01Where were the other drugs going?
07:04I never knew.
07:05I don't know.
07:06I swear to God.
07:07I swear to me!
07:12Not to mention,
07:13its emphasis on practical action
07:15leaves you eagerly anticipating the story that's to follow.
07:18But hold on, we're getting ahead of ourselves.
07:36Number 8.
07:38Dunkirk
07:38Nolan fans knew that his take on war would be something special,
07:42but few were expecting Dunkirk to completely flip the genre on its head.
07:46Spinning three different stories out of the Dunkirk evacuation of 1940,
07:51it engages with the Allied defeat from land, sea, and air at different rates of time.
08:17It's a shockingly brilliant way for Nolan to expand upon his typical fascinations,
08:22giving us characters to root for despite how little we actually know about them.
08:26What's more is that it's one of his most absorbing movies from a theatrical standpoint.
08:30Maybe he killed him.
08:31You're killing him.
08:32Halloween.
08:32How hard is it to find a dead Englishman on Dunkirk Beach?
08:35He didn't kill anyone.
08:37He was just looking for a way off the sand like the rest of us.
08:39On top of Nolan's direction, Hans Zimmer's unrelenting score
08:43and the masterful cinematography make it a grand yet claustrophobic experience
08:47worthy of both Steven Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock.
09:07Number seven, Interstellar.
09:09Easily Nolan's most emotional movie to date,
09:12Interstellar is also a marvelous spectacle with enough visual grandeur to match its big thematic swings.
09:18Matthew McConaughey leads the way as an astronaut searching for a new world for humanity to inhabit
09:23while also hoping to reunite with his daughter.
09:26Everybody ready to say goodbye to our solar system?
09:30To our galaxy?
09:34Here we go.
09:39The actor's newfound relevance as a dramatic force gives Interstellar a serious edge,
09:44as do the intense situations he finds himself in when the mission is thrown for several loops.
09:55Rand Doyle, back to the ranger now.
09:57We're not leaving without her data.
10:01Back here now.
10:02We do not have time.
10:04The second wave is coming.
10:06We're in the middle of a swill.
10:08I got it.
10:09Get your ass back to the ranger now.
10:12While some believe Nolan bites off more than he can chew in Interstellar,
10:16especially with that mind-bending climax,
10:18it remains a modern epic in the truest sense.
10:21With amazing visuals and hyper-accurate science,
10:24it is a depiction of space travel that inspires wonder and fear in equal measure.
10:28They're us.
10:32What I've been doing for Murph,
10:33they're doing for me,
10:35for all of us.
10:37Cooper, people couldn't build this.
10:39No.
10:40No, not yet.
10:42But one day.
10:44Not you and me,
10:46but a people.
10:48A civilization that's evolved past the four dimensions we know.
10:53Number six.
10:54The Prestige.
10:55When Christopher Nolan makes a movie about magicians,
10:58you just know he's going to stage the whole thing like one elaborate trick.
11:01That is exactly what he does in The Prestige,
11:03which pits Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale against one another
11:06as rival illusionists torn apart about tragedy in Victorian-era London.
11:11Your method for the transport of men.
11:13Fallon wouldn't tell me.
11:14In fact, he doesn't seem to talk at all.
11:16You have my notebook.
11:18Useless without the key word.
11:21Write down your method, Mr. Borden.
11:23Describe it in full.
11:24Revenge and jealousy consume the two leading men
11:27as they become obsessed with learning the other one's secrets.
11:30Despite its dark themes, however,
11:32The Prestige is just as willing to lean into the more ridiculous side of showmanship
11:36if it means completely fooling the audience.
11:54In many ways,
11:56it's a personal statement about Nolan's fondness for misdirection,
11:59with the movie's elaborate structure and shocking twists
12:02propelling it to endless rewatches as a result.
12:04You were a felon
12:08for a whole time.
12:10No.
12:12We were both felon.
12:14And we were both boredom.
12:19Number five, The Odyssey.
12:21With a massive scope,
12:23a who's who of A-list talent,
12:25and a generations-old story,
12:27we'd say The Odyssey is the kind of epic Hollywood doesn't make anymore.
12:30This is very much Christopher Nolan's take on the genre, though.
12:34And nobody does it quite like him.
12:37After years of war.
12:47No one could stand between my men.
12:50He approaches this classic tale in a way that's pure Nolan,
12:53from the dialogue,
12:54to the action,
12:55to the way he makes a mythical setting feel almost grounded.
12:58Yes, even the Cyclops.
13:04With Nolan's filmography being synonymous with scale,
13:07it's surreal to think it took him this long to tackle swords and sandals.
13:11The combination of this director and material
13:14proves to be a match made in heaven
13:16as our hero journeys to Hades and back.
13:25I think it's asleep.
13:27Number four, Memento.
13:28Since we're discussing inventive stories and jaw-dropping twists,
13:32Christopher Nolan may not be a preeminent filmmaker
13:34had he not conceived of this trippy thriller.
13:37Not only is Memento a good reminder
13:39that he can still dazzle audiences on a smaller budget,
13:41but the mesmerizing collision of narratives
13:43make it one of the most unique mysteries ever made.
13:47So where are you?
13:48You're in some motel room.
13:50You just wake up and you're in a motel room.
13:53There's the key.
13:55It feels like maybe it's just the first time you've been there,
13:57but perhaps you've been there for a week, three months.
14:03It's kind of hard to say.
14:05I don't know.
14:06Guy Pearce gives one of his greatest performances as Leonard,
14:09a man with amnesia searching for his wife's killer.
14:12Memento shows us his disorienting state of mind firsthand,
14:15telling us the primary story in reverse
14:17while interspersing them with details presented chronologically.
14:20Remember Sammy Jankis.
14:24I met Sammy through work.
14:26Insurance, I was an investigator.
14:28I'd investigate the claims to see which ones were phony.
14:30It's a brilliant move from Nolan and editor Dodie Dorn,
14:33who make Memento an intelligent yet thoughtful work
14:36about the value of our memories
14:37and how easy they are to manipulate.
14:40You think I just want another puzzle to solve?
14:43Another John G to look for?
14:46You're John G.
14:50So you can be my John G.
14:52Number 3.
14:53Inception.
14:54A tentpole for the sci-fi and heist genres,
14:57Inception sees Nolan stretch his imagination to its limit
15:00while keeping things remarkably digestible
15:02for even the most casual moviegoer.
15:04With Leo DiCaprio leading a team of thieves
15:06who steal information from people through their dreams.
15:09The strength of Inception is the time it spends
15:11explaining its complicated mechanics.
15:13You create the world of the dream.
15:15We bring the subject into that dream
15:18and they fill it with their subconscious.
15:21How could I ever acquire enough detail
15:24to make them think that it's reality?
15:26Well, dreams, they feel real while we're in them, right?
15:30It's only when we wake up that we realize
15:32something was actually strange.
15:33Once Cobb's team has infiltrated their latest target,
15:36the movie trusts our familiarity enough
15:38to let the layered story
15:40and groundbreaking visual effects take it from there.
15:42Between that unbelievable hallway fight
15:45and, of course, the heavily debated ending,
15:47Inception's legacy has already spoken for itself.
15:59Like a puzzle daring us to solve it,
16:01it is far too easy to call it
16:03one of Nolan's most re-watchable movies.
16:17Number 2. Oppenheimer
16:19Scoring Nolan his first Oscars
16:21for Best Director and Best Picture,
16:23Oppenheimer earns that recognition
16:25completely off its own merits.
16:27The towering biopic does the unthinkable
16:29by turning discussions of nuclear physics
16:31and American politics
16:32into a theater-worthy thriller.
16:35Even though you brought quantum physics
16:36to America, which made me curious.
16:38What have you found out?
16:41You're a dilettante, a womanizer,
16:43a suspected communist.
16:45I'm a New Deal Democrat.
16:46I said suspected.
16:48Far more than just a recreation
16:49of the Manhattan Project,
16:50it is a haunting portrayal
16:52of one man's determination
16:53to change the world
16:54and the regret he's left with once he does.
16:57And now I am become death.
17:01The destroyer of worlds.
17:12Killian Murphy's work in the lead role
17:14is nothing short of spectacular,
17:16but Oppenheimer's hefty ensemble
17:18and unforgettable imagery
17:19also contribute to Nolan's supreme vision.
17:21It may be a sobering look
17:23at the entire world's loss of innocence,
17:25but you could argue it's also the movie
17:27that Nolan was born to make.
17:28You all thought that I had lost
17:31the ability to understand
17:32what I'd started.
17:35So the award really wasn't for me.
17:38It was for all of you.
17:42Now it's your turn
17:44to deal with the consequences
17:47of your achievement.
17:49Before we continue,
17:51be sure to check out
17:51WatchMojo's 24-hour livestream.
17:53All of your favorite videos
17:55in one place,
17:5624-7.
17:57Always on,
17:58always live.
17:59Are you not entertained?
18:01Number one.
18:02The Dark Knight.
18:03If defining a genre
18:05makes you a hero,
18:06then completely transcending one
18:08makes a legend.
18:09I believe
18:10whatever doesn't kill you
18:12simply makes you
18:13a stranger.
18:18Taking cues from Heat
18:19and The Godfather,
18:20The Dark Knight
18:21is not only a far cry
18:22from Batman's pulpy origins,
18:24but also a thematically rich reckoning
18:26with the state
18:27of 21st century society.
18:29We have Heath Ledger's
18:30timeless performance
18:31as the Joker
18:32to thank for much of that,
18:33but nearly every scene
18:34in The Dark Knight
18:35is dripping with iconic dialogue
18:36and fantastic performances.
18:48The Battle for Gotham's Soul
18:50is a hard-hitting crime epic
18:51that's eerie in its realism,
18:53though Nolan pulls off
18:54some of his most impressive
18:55action sequences
18:56for good measure.
19:09Throw everything together
19:10and you have
19:11Nolan's finest achievement
19:13and one of the very best
19:14movies ever made.
19:35What's your favorite
19:36Christopher Nolan movie?
19:37And more importantly,
19:38how would you rank his movies?
19:40Put a smile on our face
19:41and let us know
19:42in the comments.
Comments