These 2 Unlikely Bond Films Are Christopher Nolan's Favorite

In some ways, he's an inheritor of an earlier age of Hollywood, before the advent of sprawling franchises and shared universes, when a film's director name was far more important in determining whether you'd like to watch it.

And Nolan's tastes in films are reminiscent of his own creations in some ways.

For example, he's a self-admitted big fan of James Bond films, but his personal favorites in this long-running franchise are not entirely conventional. His favorite Bond is Timothy Dalton, as Nolan also loves James Bond novels and feels that Dalton's version of the character is the closest to them.

Not surprising, as Dalton was also a fan of Ian Fleming's books, but his take on the character was not very popular, and his career as Bond short. But Nolan's favorite James Bond movies do not involve Dalton: they are The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).

As Nolan said about the former, "One of the first films I remember seeing was The Spy Who Loved Me and at a certain point the Bond films fixed in my head as a great example of scope and scale in large scale images. That idea of getting you to other places, of getting you along for a ride if you can believe in it…" (via)

Now, this is a fairly conventional take, as The Spy Who Loved Me was among the more popular Bond films. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), however, was a more controversial entry in the franchise. It was largely panned by critics at the time of its release, but over time the Bond fandom came to at least partially agree with Nolan's opinion.

"I think, 'Her Majesty' Secret Service' would be my favorite Bond. It's a hell of a movie, it holds up very well." (via)

And influence of James Bond's adventures is noticeable in Nolan's own films, particularly Inception ( 2010), Tenet (2020) – Tenet, in particular, is basically Nolan's own personalized attempt to make a superspy movie – or even his Batman trilogy.