Writer and director
Christopher Nolan
Time, memory and practical effects, graded from Following to The Odyssey.
Christopher Nolan makes blockbusters about time and builds as much of them for real as a studio will pay for. The collection grades every film, ranks the set pieces, and follows the scores that drive them.
The set pieces
The sequences built for the biggest screen there is, ranked.
- The dockingInterstellar, 2014
- The hallway fightInception, 2010
- The truck flipThe Dark Knight, 2008
- TrinityOppenheimer, 2023
- The water planetInterstellar, 2014
- The interrogationThe Dark Knight, 2008
- The moleDunkirk, 2017
- Paris foldsInception, 2010
- The freeportTenet, 2020
- The bank jobThe Dark Knight, 2008
The scores
Half of a Nolan film is what you hear. These are the scores that carry the most weight.
- Hans Zimmer, 2014InterstellarA church organ, recorded in a church, pointed at space.
- Hans Zimmer, 2010InceptionThe brass that every trailer copied for a decade.
- Ludwig Göransson, 2023OppenheimerA solo violin under pressure, speeding up.
- Hans Zimmer, 2017DunkirkA ticking watch and a tone that keeps rising and never arrives.
- Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, 2008The Dark KnightOne held note for the Joker, and it is enough.