Upon the announcement of Christopher Nolan’s latest upcoming release, a Warner Brothers ‘event’ – as they put it themselves – to be released in Summer 2020, it only seems fitting to explore his extraordinary catalogue of films. One of the most critically acclaimed directors of all time, and the 6^th highest grossing director of all time, Christopher Nolan is one of the iconic directors of our time. His ability to make smart and challenging blockbusters have led to him to gain a mass following, and huge support from critics, led him to become one of the leaders of his generation, and be the only director working who would be trusted with over $100m to make a film such as Inception.

In a career spanning just over 20 years Christopher Nolan has crafted a collection of 10 incredible films, with 5 of them being selected in Empire’s 100 Greatest Movies, and three being selected in BBC’s 100 Greatest Film’s of the 21^st Century. He has created his own style of film-making and is a leader in the production of IMAX films and is surely going to continue to guide the way for more innovation and ground-breaking filmmaking. Undoubtedly he will go down in history as one of all the all time great directors, and it only seems fitting to explore his incredible filmography.

In celebration of this man’s fine work I have decided to make the definitive – or at least, my definitive – ranking of his ten films. It was extremely difficult and I imagine if I did this again next week it would be entirely different.

10 – Following

Nolan’s directorial debut is a smart neo-noir thriller. At a run time of 70 minutes, Nolan creates an exciting film in a short space of time. As precisely filmed as Nolan’s films ever are, Following put his name on the map as a filmmaker, with its dark story, precisely filmed scenes and Nolan’s classic non-linear structure. With a tiny budget, Nolan was able to show the talent he is, and although bottom of this list, it is a great piece of film-making, and an exciting debut that paved the way for an incredible career.

9 – Insomnia

Nolan’s forgotten film. His first big budget film is often lost in his collection of works, however, his remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name stands firm as a solid piece of work. Following the critical success of his second film, 2000’s Memento, Nolan’s follow up may seem like a slight disappointment, however, with stellar performances from Al Pacino and Robin Williams, and the great direction of Christopher Nolan it is a good film that showed that Nolan was more than capable of handling a big budget. It also showed his ability to make blockbuster movies that were more than just ‘popcorn flicks’, he had continued to make smart, thrilling movies, and although it may not stand up in the same vein as his best pieces of work, it has paved the way for Nolan’s smart blockbuster films that followed.

8 – Batman Begins

A new era of superhero films began with Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Gone were the cheesy, childish superhero films that had been so common, and Nolan introduced a dark and gritty superhero film, exploring what made Batman who he is and why. It was a superhero film that had a sense of realism not seen before, and Cristian Bale’s performance as Bruce Wayne provided an exploration of the character not seen before. Nolan mixed his film-making style with the superhero genre to create the beginning of a trilogy that will go down in history. It is apparent, though, the difference in quality between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, at this point Nolan was still a director learning his craft, especially in big budget films, but it was one of the best, if not the best superhero origins movie of all time.

7 – The Prestige

2006’s The Prestige is one of Nolan’s most forgotten films. A brooding, twisting thriller, his follow up to Batman Begins showcased his own storytelling abilities, alongside his brilliance as a director. His story of two magicians locked in a battle to beat to the other leads to thrilling results, and an unexpected science-fiction thriller that has an twists and turns at the end, leading to many surprise revelations. Both actors performances are solid and the cinematography throughout is superb, but it lacks slightly what the next six films possess, and that is Nolan’s stunning direction that can leave the audience in awe. Smart and exciting, Nolan manages to turn a magician tale into a thrilling sci-fi, however, it is his last film on the list that is simply good, and not extraordinary.

6 – The Dark Knight Rises

At this point in the list is becomes almost impossible to list each film. Every one of the films to come is Christopher Nolan at his best, and this is no exception. However, it falls at the bottom of this top portion of films for a few reasons. The third act of the film is the weakest of the trilogy, with the resolution of the three films not being entirely satisfactory. Aside from that Nolan has created some of the best scenes in his directorial career and created a genuinely dark thriller, with an incredibly well acted villain in Bane – played by Tom Hardy. The opening plane scene is an example of Nolan at his best, creating an incredible action scene without the use of CGI, and ending up being one of the best scenes in the film. It is a film that explores a number of themes that affect modern day society everyday, and explores our governments and political systems. The film is thrilling, dark and visually incredible, Christopher Nolan proved that superhero movies can be anything that they want to be, and, sitting in 6th on this list just goes to prove the quality of Nolan’s films.

5 – Dunkirk

Dunkirk is Christopher Nolan at his best, his directing is incredible in this war movie that avoids all of the cliches and tropes of war movies in years gone by. Nolan does not glorify the war, does not try to create heroes, simply choosing to show one of the greatest moments of unity and strength in history. He is in total control of his craft, from land to sea to air and creates a thrilling piece of visual cinema. At times almost a silent movie, the focus is entirely on the visual spectacle that Dunkirk is. With one of his shortest running times, and completely different to his usual storytelling, Dunkirk is almost completely different to a Nolan film, but at the same time everything that he does perfectly. Separated into three sections over three time periods, Nolan still managed to explore the events in his own non-linear style, and prove that film audiences don’t need to be shown simple blockbusters every time, instead something clever can be done with a film of such a large budget. It is his incredible direction that leads Dunkirk to be one of the great war movies of all time. Although it could possibly be seen as Nolan’s attempt to pander to award shows, it is not the case, and instead, Nolan simply made a visual masterpiece and one of the all time great war movies, breaking the mould of the films that preceded it.

4 – The Dark Knight

Possibly Nolan’s most iconic film, The Dark Knight is the greatest comic book film of all time, and one of the best films of all time also. From incredible directing, to one of the best acting performances of all time from Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight is everything that Hollywood can be. Similarly to The Dark Knight Rises, neither films are really superhero films, instead thrillers with incredible character studies throughout. It’s in the title itself, The Dark Knight is one of the darkest comic books films released and is what made it so special, not childish in any way, no gimmicks, simply an incredible piece of action with possibly the greatest villain of all time. No longer was The Joker a villain that wasn’t taken seriously, instead, Heath Ledger turned it into the most iconic villain of our time with the best performance of the twenty first century. The Dark Knight is a film that provides genuine moral questions and creates genuine threat throughout, from Batman’s choice between Harvey or Rachel, to the finale between the two ships, it explores what is right and wrong and feels more than just a superhero movie, it is a juggernaut of a film that provides some of the most iconic scenes in film history.

3 – Inception

Inception is a tour-de-force of a film, from action to drama, Nolan creates one of the smartest films of our time. Inception is Nolan’s best piece of storytelling and narrative structure to date, with the layers of dreams create an abundance of stunning worlds. Led by an all star cast Inception creates thrills from the very first scene, with Leonardo DiCaprio at his best throughout. In this film Nolan proved himself to be on of the most iconic directors of all-time with his use of practical effects rather than CGI, with the most iconic example being the fight scene in the hotel, with Nolan using a genuine revolving room powered by a jet engine. It’s exploration of dreams makes it a unique blockbuster film, and shows his quality to be trusted with a budget of $160 million to make such an ambitious film that, in the hands of another director, could have been a complete failure, but, instead, Christoper Nolan was in complete element. With stunning direction and cinematography, and Hans Zimmer’s deft touch on the score, it is a spectacle from start to finish. A film that takes multiple views to wrap your head around, it is smart, exciting and stamped Nolan’s name in the history of film-making.

2 – Memento

Memento was the film to put Christopher Nolan on the map. One of his most personal films to date, Memento is a psychological thriller that takes an audience on a journey that they probably won’t understand until the closing scenes. The film’s structure is one of his main features, with two different timelines, the colour scenes coming at the end of the story and the black and white coming at the start, but both are shown side by side, as we learn less and more about the story, respectively. The reveal at the climax is one of the smartest conclusions to a film in recent times, with both sides of the story coming together as one to reveal what is really happening, yet, there are still two potential truths, and it is up the audience to decide what they believe. Nolan’s best screenplay, and one of the all time great screenplays, and is something entirely different to what he is widely known for, but it began his exploration of narrative structure and how it can be changed. It is smart, thrilling and one of the all-time great films, and, incredibly, only his second film, sparking one of the greatest careers in film of all time.

1 – Interstellar

Interstellar is Nolan’s most ambitious films he has created to this date, yet, at the same time his most simple. In terms of storytelling it a simple tale of a father looking to provide a future for his family, and a story of a father and daughter’s relationship, but it is everything around that which makes it so ambitious, and Nolan’s greatest film. No other director making films right now would be trusted to make a film like Interstellar, which just proves Nolan’s quality, and incredible fan base. It is a visual spectacle, with stunning direction and cinematography, and of course, Nolan using practical effects at every turn possible. Not only that but Matthew McConaughey puts in a performance of a lifetime to create his most human film to date, which is ironic given the subject of the film. Upon release critics had a lukewarm response to the film, but as the years have gone on its brilliance has been widely applauded, from the acting to Nolan’s masterful directing. Hans Zimmer’s beautiful score adds to each scene, raising the tension entirely, creating some of the best scenes in cinema, from the water planet, to the docking scene, which are both visually stunning, and completely enthralling through both the music and directing. It is the best film I have seen in cinema and is one of the all-time great films, truly Nolan’s best work, and continued to prove he is one of the best directors of all time.