NOTE: I’m bumping up this year-old poll given yesterday’s news.
Over 150 critics voted on the best films directed by Christopher Nolan. The top vote-getter was the most obvious choice, and the biggest film of his career.
The blockbuster “The Dark Knight” topped the list. The ‘Batman’ movie, starring the late Heath Ledger, changed the industry when it was released in 2008, and catapulted Nolan’s career in ways that are still being felt to this day.
One look at the IMDb Top 250 and you notice that 2014’s “Interstellar” has an incredible 8.6 rating. That’s good enough to be the 25th greatest film of all-time on that list. And yet, the sci-fi epic barely made a dent in the poll, managing to only amass five votes from the 100 critics polled. This only further shows the disconnect between Nolan fans and critics.
In our critics poll, “Memento” came in at #2, but the biggest surprise was 2006’s underrated “The Prestige” finishing at #3 — that film has clearly built up a major fanbase in the decades since its release. Rounding out the top 5 were “Dunkirk” (#4) and “Inception” (#5).
Two Nolans did not garner a single vote: 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises” and 2021’s polarizing “Tenet.” In fact, even his 1998 debut “Following” was mentioned three times, not to mention 2002’s “Insomnia,” which garnered two votes. Speaking of “Insomnia,” Nolan has been on the record as saying that it’s the“most underrated” work of his career.
During his historic career as a filmmaker, film critics have not always been on-board the Nolan train. That’s why the glowing reviews for “Oppenheimer” clearly mean something — it’s the most critically acclaimed film of his career, and one can easily see it topping a similar poll a few years from now. It has to also be noted that not every critic polled has seen “Oppenheimer.”
On a lighter note, a major Nolan detractor, National Review’s Armond White, decided to include “Man of Steel” as his pick, but “only because Nolan is listed as producer”.
Critics who participated were asked to submit just one pick that they deemed to be Nolan’s best film. “The Dark Knight” ended up being mentioned on 25% of the lists.
POLL RESULTS:
1. The Dark Knight (2008) — 30 votes
2. Memento (2000)— 23 votes
3. Dunkirk (2017) — 18 votes
4. The Prestige (2006) —17 votes
5. Inception (2010) — 13 votes
6. Oppenheimer (2023) — 13 votes
7. Interstellar (2014) — 5 votes
8. Following (1998) — 3 votes
9. Batman Begins (2005) 2 votes
10. Insomnia (2002) — 2 votes
FULL LIST OF CRITICS:
Thelma Adams (AARP), Kaleem Aftab (BFI), Carlos Aguilar (The Wrap), Ethan Alter (Yahoo Movies), Jeff Ames (Coming Soon), Jeffrey M. Anderson (SF Examiner), Fernando Andres (BFI), Edwin Arnaudin (mxArts), Michael Atkinson (The Village Voice), Nicolas Bell (IONCINEMA), Alex Billington (First Showing), Chuck Bowen (Style Weekly), Liz Braun (Toronto Sun), Matt Brunson (Film Frenzy), Jim Brunzell (Festival Director), Christopher Bumbray (JoBlo), David Cairns (Criterion), Zach Caruso (Freelance), Erik Childress (eFilmCritic), Daryl Chin (Film Comment), Nick Clement (Variety), Laura Clifford (Reeling Reviews) Adam Cook (CinemaScope), Ben Croll (The Wrap), Freja Dam (Sound Venue), Tony Dayoub (CinemaViewfinder), Peter DeBruge (Variety), Edward Douglas (Above the Line), Bilge Ebiri (Vulture), David Edelstein (Slate), Steven Erickson (Film Comment), Max Every (Slash Film), Marshall Fine (NYFCC), Jim Farmer (Festival Director), Scott Feinberg (THR), Daniel Fienberg (THR), Garth Franklin (Dark Horizons), Roger Friedman (Showbiz411), Jon Frosch (THR), Owen Gleiberman (Variety), Jaky Goldberg (Les Inrockuptibles), Bill Goodykoontz (AZ Republic), Karen Gordon (Freelance), David Greven (UofSC), Jason Guerrasio (Insider), Zaki Hasan (The Film Stage), Patrick Heidmann (Zeit), Barry Hertz (Globe and Mail), Matt Hoffman (Film School Rejects), Robert Horton (Film Comment), Peter Howell (Toronto Star), Andrea Hudson (Freelance), Jason Gorber (THAT SHELF), Matthew Jacobson (The AV Club), Richard T. Jameson (Film Comment), Mark Johnson (Awards Daily), Dave Karger (TCM), Elizabeth Karlin (Freelance), Don Kaye (Den of Geek), Peter Keough (Boston Phoenix), Jonathan Kiefer (Freelance), Robert Koehler (CinemaScope), Harry Knowles (Ain’t it Cool), Kevin Laforest (Extra Beurre), Joanna Langfield (The Movie Minute), Eric Lavallée (IONCINEMA), Marcos Levy (Freelance), Craig D. Lindsey (Nashville Scene), Wesley Lovell (Cinema Sight), Piers Marchant (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette), Eric Marchen (Rogers TV), Steven Mears (Film Comment), Amanda Mae Méyncke (Happiness Spells), Myron Meisel (LAFCA), Scott Mendelson (Forbes), Scott Menzel (We Live Entertainment), Jared Mobarak (The Film Stage), Rafael Motamayor (The Playlist), Matt Neglia (Next Best Picture), Michael Nordine (Paste Magazine), Brian Owens (Festival Director), Michael Patterson (Michael’s Telluride Blog), John Powers (Vogue), CJ Prince (The Film Stage), Mara Reinstein (US Weekly), Rene Rodriguez (Miami Herald), Timothy Rhys (MovieMaker), Jordan Ruimy (World of Reel), Nick Schafer (Slant Magazine), Christopher Schobert (The Film Stage), Niles Schwartz (Slant Magazine), Diego Semerene (Slant Magazine), Don Shanahan (Film Obsessive), Marlow Stern (The Daily Beast), Yael Shuv (Time Out Tel Aviv), Steven Shaviro (Professor), Viguen Shirvanian (Freelance), Alex Simon (Freelance), Amie Simon (Freelance), Jeff Simon (Buffalo News), Jeff Sneider (Above the Line), Tony Joe Stemme (Freelance), David Sterritt (Christian Science Monitor), Sara Stewart (New York Post), Ed Symkus (The Boston Globe), Bob Strauss (San Francisco Chronicle), Drew Taylor (The Wrap), Luke Y Thompson (The AV Club), Benjamin Tovias (Yedioth Ahronoth), Kent Turner (Film Forward), Mel Valentin (Screen Anarchy), Richard Von Busack (Freelance), Daniel Waters (Screenwriter), Max Weiss (Baltimore Magazine), Jeffrey Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere), Matthew Wilder (Filmmaker), Chuck Wilson (L.A. Weekly), Addison Wylie (Wire)