Christopher Nolan is a vocal fan of the franchise, and here are his two favorite James Bond movies. Christopher Nolan is among only a handful of mainstream filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino who can sell a movie on their name alone. While Nolan is a little less on the sleeve about his movie influences, he's made no secret of his favorite films or filmmakers. He's cited the likes of Blade Runner and Heat as being hugely impactful on him and has professed his admiration for everything from Alfred Hitchcock to the Fast & Furious saga.
Christopher Nolan is also a huge fan of the James Bond movie franchise, which is plain to see from his filmography. While he put unique spins on both, 2010's Inception and 2020's Tenet are essentially his takes on a 007 adventure. They're both sleek, globetrotting adventures with huge setpieces and spy hijinks with Tenet, in particular, feeling like the director was getting the desire to make a Bond movie out of his system. Even his Dark Knight movies contained their share of Bondian elements such as unique gadgets or filming in unique locations
Nolan has stated many times he'd be open to directing a James Bond movie, but he would have to be allowed to put his stamp on the series and reinvent it. Christopher Nolan's favorite Bond actor is Timothy Dalton, who the director feels is still the closest to the 007 found in Ian Fleming's original novels. His two favorite James Bond movies, however, are 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me and 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
During a 2012 Q&A (via IndieWire), Nolan stated of The Spy Who Loved Me: "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 — in The Spy Who Loved Me the Lotus Esprit turns into a submarine and its totally convincing, and it works and you go “Wow that’s incredible.” The James Bond series was actually in trouble before The Spy Who Loved Me, as Roger Moore's previous outing The Man With The Golden Gun nearly ended the series after being poorly received.
The Spy Who Loved Me doubled down on the elements audiences wanted from the series; the action, the romance, the gadgets and humor, and is now considered one of the best of the series. The Spy Who Loved Me's influence can probably be felt the most in Tenet, with its mix of globe-hopping adventure and romance. Nolan's other fan-favorite is On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which was the first Bond adventure to arrive after Sean Connery had exited the role.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service cast George Lazenby as the new 007, and while it received mixed reviews upon release, it's now beloved by series devotees. During a 2010 conversation with Empire, Christopher Nolan said “I think, ‘Her Majesty’ Secret Service’ would be my favorite Bond. It’s a hell of a movie, it holds up very well." It's the fact the movie is a lot more emotional and textured than most of 007's other outings that made Nolan love it so much. "What I liked about it that we’ve tried to emulate in this film is there’s a tremendous balance of action, scale, and romanticism and tragedy and emotion. Of all the Bond films, it’s by far the most emotional."
It's that combination of elements that can be seen in Inception, particularly with the complex love story between Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard's characters. Christopher Nolan's favorite James Bond movies show his deep connection to the series, and how they helped shape his love of movies. For those reasons, it would be exciting to see what he could do with his own take on the character, which currently has a clean slate following Daniel Craig's departure with No Time To Die.