ALL CHRISTOPHER NOLAN MOVIES RANKED

ALL  CHRISTOPHER  NOLAN  MOVIES  RANKED 

In this vast world of Hollywood, many directors have given us some of cinema’s greatest flicks. There have been numerous iconic directors such as Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, etc. But when I think and wonder, “Who is that one director who has never made a bad movie?” There is only one person that comes to mind. Christopher Nolan. He is not only a movie director, but a true filmmaker. His films will engross you and keep you hooked. And call it fanboying, but I don’t think that Christopher Nolan has ever made a bad movie.

So, here in this article, I have ranked all 12 of his movies. Have a good read.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12) Following

This movie was Christopher Nolan’s first ever! In fact, many Nolan fans haven’t even heard about it, much less watch it. It is a black and white movie, only about 1h10min long. Although it has such a short runtime, it engrosses you so well that it feels the movie was at least 2 and a half hours long.

I have kept it at the lowest position mainly because it might have been his least successful film. The reason was because it wasn’t released worldwide in cinemas, but rather only on DVDs. Nevertheless, Following predicts all of the tropes that Nolan would go on to use in most of his movies later on. Nonlinear storytelling, good background music, novel storylines, etc. It foresees the oncoming of one of the greatest directors of this century.

 

11) Insomnia

Probably one of the lesser known Nolan movies. But this is also one of the very few movies where Robin Williams, the happy-go-lucky and witty actor, has played a negative role. There is no protagonist and antagonist per se, but looking at the storyline, one could say that Al Pacino is the good guy and Robin Williams is the bad guy.

As the title suggests, insomnia plays a crucial role in the story. A detective (Al Pacino) is sent to a small town in Alaska to investigate a murder when he is caught in a web of crimes that all connect to one criminal. (Robin Williams).

The tone of this movie is extra dark (just like most of Nolan’s movies) but the location and the storyline actually supports it. I have given it a particularly lower rating because as compared to most of Nolan’s works, Insomnia falls short. Nevertheless a good mystery and thriller movie, it is probably the only Nolan movie for which you don’t actually have to wrack your brains to follow the story.

 

 

 

10) Batman Begins

I have to say. I am a huge Batman fan and it feels almost criminal to put this movie so low on the list. But again, Christopher Nolan has a habit to outdo himself every time he makes a film. And that is what he did with the next two Batman movies.

Batman Begins is almost perfect in every aspect except two things. Christian Bale’s voice and the title of the movie. Apart from that, it is not like your normal superhero movie with heavy CGI and over the top action. It rather feels like a fast paced action thriller and a detective movie of sorts. It ‘begins’ relatively slowly but soon picks up the pace and ups the stakes. It can certainly be counted in one of the best superhero movies to be ever made and again, a Nolan movie that you can actually follow and understand.

 

 

 

9) Dunkirk

Okay, hear me out. Dunkirk was not a bad movie by any means. It had a good storyline (No offence) and the acting and pacing was perfect. At some points it was difficult to keep up with the movie because of its non-linear storytelling but keeping that aside, Dunkirk is a fine movie. It captures the emotion and keeps you hooked. Every scene is important. You can’t get bored while watching this movie, that’s for sure.

But…It is a world war movie. And being a world war movie, I cannot help but compare it with other world war movies. And when I compare it with other world war movies, I realise that it is not the best world war movie out there. When you have films such as Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List, Inglourious Basterds, Casablanca, The Pianist, Jojo Rabbit, etc. You can’t help but wonder, “Can Dunkirk be included in one of best world war movies ever made?” Maybe. Maybe not. At this point there are just too many WW2 movies out there for us to compare.

 

 

 

8) The Dark Knight Rises

Again, being a staunch Batman fan, I feel nauseous seeing The Dark Knight Rises being given such a number. But let me remind you, I am making a list of the best Nolan movies and not the best Batman movies. Had this been a list of ‘top 10 Batman movies of all time’, The Dark Knight Rises would probably be on number 3 or 4.

This time, Christopher Nolan too failed to make a better sequel. It was almost impossible to make a movie that outdoes The Dark Knight, and understandably so, Mr. Nolan suffered from his own success. Hollywood has always had a problem with making sequels (rightly predicted in Back To The Future Part 2). Nolan’s Batman movies broke that stereotype. The Dark Knight was way better than Batman Begins. And so was The Dark Knight Rises. But can we say that the Dark Knight Rises was better than The Dark Knight? No. Probably not. Could we have said that had Heath Ledger still lived? Yes. Probably yes.

Nevertheless, The Dark Knight Rises still remains to be one of the best superhero movies out there. At least better than today’s Marvel movies. (Offence meant to be taken)

 

 

 

 7) Memento

Such an iconic movie. I had never seen anything like this. In fact I don’t think anyone could have ever thought of such a unique idea for a movie. Kudos to Jonathan Nolan for cooking up such a mind-blowing storyline.

Memento is the movie that made Christopher Nolan who he is today. It was his second movie and it really rose him up the ranks. The plot twists were something that even the protagonist never saw it coming. I would pay to watch a sequel of this movie for sure.

The only reason why I am putting it lower than it deserves to be is because of its non-linear storytelling technique. Its unique for sure. But very very difficult to follow. There’s a lot of things happening at the same time and I had a hard time keeping up with it. But I guess that’s the beauty of it isn’t it? You really understand how the protagonist feels too.

 

 

 

6) Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan’s recent and hopefully not the last – the epic drama movie about the father of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer was released when Christopher Nolan had already become a big name and his fans were scattered all around the world. And that shows in the movie too. It was big budget and filled with some of the biggest names in Hollywood like RDJ, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Gary Oldman, Casey Affleck and of course, Cillian Murphy.

It was one of the best biographical movies I have ever watched and quite a few scenes in the movie were really poetic.

 

 

5) The Prestige

According to me there are two kinds of plot twists in cinema. The first one is the kind of plot twist that is right in front of your eyes yet you cannot see it. And when it is revealed you suddenly realise how cunningly the filmmaker deceived you. The other kind of plot twist is something that you weren’t expecting to happen at all. It was something that was just impossible to predict, so you don’t really feel silly at the end. The Prestige has both of the above.

Another fabulous thing about this film is that it is the perfect movie recommendation for anyone of any age. Be it your friends, your siblings, parents, relatives, teachers, colleagues, or even strangers on the internet. It is the ultimate movie recommendation of all time. I always recommend this movie when I run out of actual ‘movie recommendations’.

The Prestige is certainly overlooked and criminally underrated. And also one of the very few movies that does not need a sequel.  

 

 

 

 4) The Dark Knight

And here comes what is generally considered Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus. One of the most iconic movies of the 21^st Century. The Dark Knight is not only considered as one of the best superhero movies of all time but also one of the greatest Hollywood movies of all time as well as the best Batman movie of all time.

Although here I would like to say one thing. The reason for The Dark Knight’s success cannot only be attributed to Christopher Nolan. Heath Ledger’s performance is what really drove the movie.

In this movie-making business, I feel that there are only 3 types of actors. First are the ones who are bad actors. As simple as that. Second, are the ones who are good actors. Actors such as Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, etc. They are really good at acting. No doubt about that. But somehow somewhere in some scenes you can tell that they are ‘acting’. It is difficult to explain but these kind of actors can portray a character really well but you can tell that they are just acting as that character.

Then, there are method actors. People like Daniel Day Lewis, Christoph Waltz, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, etc. When these people act, they don’t portray a character. They ARE the character. It is as if they were born as the character and have been living their entire lives as that character. Heath Ledger was one of those kinds. He was Joker. Period. When he was on set there was no one called Heath Ledger. He was Joker.

But ultimately it was Ledger’s hardcore dedication that led to his demise. The role of the Joker killed him. Nevertheless, he gave us one of cinema’s greatest performances ever. The Dark Knight is truly iconic.

 

 

3) Inception

If you ever look at any movies that have a really good storyline, you realise that it almost always end up being an adaptation of a book. Always. There are innumerable examples such as The Shining, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Godfather, Lord of The Rings, Forrest Gump, etc.

But when I saw Inception and found out that it was not a book adaptation, I was baffled. Inception has single-handedly trumped the heist movies genre. I love it when Hollywood combines two very strikingly different genres. In Inception, science fiction, action and heist has been combined together.

This film has a certain vibe to it. When you watch it, you feel a certain sense of relaxation. A sense of calm washes over you. The reason for that is the stakes of this movie are not actually very high. Had Cobb actually failed the mission, the worst that could have happened was Saito’s business would have faced backlash and Fisher’s empire would have continued to grow. That’s it. No world ending, no characters dying, no destruction, just two business rivalries competing with each other inside a dream.

That also means that this movie doesn’t really have an antagonist. In fact (SPOILER ALERT!) I actually felt bad for Fisher at the end of the movie. Even though he had nothing to lose, he was wrongfully brainwashed and made to walk away from his legacy. But that’s just it. Inception doesn’t try to be more than what it can be. It stays in its lane and remains a heist movie till the end. Maybe Cobb’s personal life was a bit of a mess but that’s just it. I loved Inception.

  

  

 

2) Tenet

If someone were to ask me, “What is the one movie that is absolutely flawless?” I’d say Tenet. I don’t think Christopher Nolan should have made Tenet. This movie is way ahead of it’s time (No pun intended). The audience simply cannot grasp the depth and gravity of Tenet. It is a masterpiece. I have seen many people making fun of this movie because it was too complex to understand. I agree with you. But this movie was not supposed to be understood.

Quentin Tarantino once said, that he always makes his movies for himself and everyone else is invited. Tenet is to Christopher Nolan what all Tarantino movies are to Tarantino.

I really think that this movie should deserve a sequel as it is too grand to be left standing alone. An entire franchise can be made just on Tenet’s logic. It has the potential to overtake Marvel as the highest grossing and most loved science fiction franchise. Everything in Tenet is absolutely well-thought of and pitch perfect. The story, the music, the location, the acting, the pacing, the cinematography, the screenplay, even the title itself has a meaning.

If any other filmmaker were to make Tenet, they’d spend years trying to replicate Nolan’s work and still fall short. 

 

 

 

1) Interstellar

Okay. Here is the truth. Interstellar is my most favourite movie of all time. Many people say that they cannot just choose their favourite movie because there’s just too many of them to love. But I have it different. Interstellar is my most favourite movie.

When I finished watching Interstellar, I had to breathe for a few moments. Take in what I had just watched. Really think about my future for a while. Ponder about the universe.

If you tell me that you didn’t like Interstellar, I get it. It is not everyone’s cup of tea. You need a good knowledge of science and you need to be a lover of space. Christopher Nolan really let himself loose when he made Interstellar. He let his intrusive thoughts win and portrayed exactly what the audience wanted to see at that moment. At no point in the movie do you feel that it is not using its entire potential. Even the music composed by Hans Zimmer compliments the style of Interstellar. I personally feel that this is the greatest science fiction movie ever made. This is the movie that definitely needs a sequel.

 

 

 

So that was it folks. Leave a comment if you agree/disagree with my list and give me suggestions on whose filmography should I do next?