Christopher Nolan's Favorite James Bond Movie & Actor Are From Different Eras

James Bond fans are a finicky lot. Nowadays, the majority of them were introduced to the character via the movies, which invariably drove them to breeze through Ian Fleming's eminently readable novels. When they come out on the other side of that experience, they're either more nit-picky about the films or more open to the multitudes this licensed-to-kill MI6 agent can contain depending on who's writing him and, of course, who's brandishing the trusty Walther PPK (or, for a brief period, the newer Walther P99).

Even after reading the books, people's 007 preferences tend to be generational. Baby Boomers swear by Sean Connery, Gen X-ers have a soft spot for the quippy-corny Roger Moore, Gen X-ers who brooded their way through the '80s and '90s stick up for Timothy Dalton, and Millennials like Pierce Brosnan but absolutely adore Daniel Craig. Zoomers are still waiting for their Bond, and, thanks to the ongoing dispute between longtime 007 producer Barbara Broccoli and Amazon Studios, it looks like they'll be waiting for quite some time. But for those of us who've watched all of the movies on multiple occasions and spent hours arguing with friends and fellow 007 travelers over Fleming's secret agent, the Bond sweet spot is more elusive.

This is especially true of filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Steven Soderbergh, who've both held forth on the character (if you've never read the latter's appreciation of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service, please remedy this). And it's a deathly serious matter for Christopher Nolan, who's said his 2010 sci-fi/action flick "Inception" is basically his Bond movie. (I think "Tenet" is in the Bond groove too.) Given his age (54), you might think Nolan is either a Roger Moore adherent or, perhaps, an old-school Connery head. But while he's quite fond of both, his favorite Bond and favorite Bond movie may not be what you'd expect (although if you're a 007 devotee, you know exactly where this is going).

Nolan's all-time favorite James Bond movie is, in fact, 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." According to the filmmaker, "It's a hell of a movie, it holds up very well." If you're thinking this is an odd choice considering that its star, George Lazenby, is considered the worst Bond of the 62-year-old franchise, a) Lazenby is fine, if a little dry, b) Diana Rigg's Tracy is by far the best Bond love interest, and c) the massive action sequences are expertly staged, shot, and edited by director Peter R. Hunt.

As Nolan once expressed to Empire (via The Playlist):

"What I liked about ['On Her Majesty's Secret Service'] that we've tried to emulate in this film ['Inception'] 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. There's a love story and 'Inception' is kind of a love story as well as anything else."

As for Nolan's favorite Bond actor, it is not Lazenby. It's actually Dalton, whom Nolan believes is the closest anyone has come to embodying the rakish-and-ruthless 007 of Fleming's books. The only reason Dalton isn't more widely liked is due to the timing of his casting: Pierce Brosnan was set to inherit the role from Roger Moore after "A View to a Kill," but NBC forced him to come back for an unwanted fifth season of "Remington Steele." So, when "The Living Daylights" came out in 1987, many moviegoers couldn't help but compare Dalton to the very different Brosnan.

If these choices still aren't rubbing you the right way, you need to revisit "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," "The Living Daylights," and the first half or so of "License to Kill." Nolan knows his Bond, and these are superb choices.