Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Nolan's filmography

Following (1998)
Memento (2000)
Insomnia (2002)
Batman Begins (2005)
The Prestige (2006)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Inception (2010)
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Interstellar (2014)
Dunkirk (2017)
Tenet (2020)
Oppenheimer (2023)

Refn's fimography;

Pusher (1996)
Bleeder (1999)
Fear X (2003)
Pusher 2 (2004)
Pusher III (2005)
Bronson (2008)
Valhalla Rising (2009)
Drive (2011)
Only God Forgives (2013)
The Neon Demon (2016)

Two antithesis, and different directors: one work in imagery and visuals and the other is very plot and concept focused.

Which do you prefer?

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Comparison is the thief of joy, my friend

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Voted for Nolan only because I've only seen a couple of Refn's films, and one of them (Neon Demon) I absolutely hated.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

I haven't watched everything of Winding Refn, but Drive is the only movie of his, I think is great. I liked Pusher and Bronson, but everything after Drive including his two tv shows is pretenious bullshit. So Nolan without a doubt.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Refn has a more interesting visual vocabulary, Nolan makes better movies.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

I’m waiting for the John Lasseter vs. Lars Von Trier comparison thread.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Definitely agree with this, while choosing Nolan as my preference.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

What I've seen:


Uh, I guess Nolan.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Voted for Nolan since I’ve never heard or nor seen anything by the other guy.

… and The Prestige is one of my Top 10 favorite films.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

:lol: Exactly.

Gaspar Noe or Frank Capra???

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

I've seen all of those movies, except Following, and most of them multiple times.
I've just HEARD of two of those movies, and only seen one.

:crap:This is like comparing apples and kiwano.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Pretty easy choice. I like most of Nolan's stuff.

For Refn, I like some of his stuff but I have to be in a certain mood to watch.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

The battle of the Tom Hardys! BRONSON vs. BANE?

Overall I've enjoyed more of Nolan's work but on an individual basis, BRONSON is a movie I end up watching every year.

Also keenly awaiting the next poll James Ivory vs. Ruggero Deodato

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Nolan for the win.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

I’d trash all of Nolan’s films from existence for Drive alone.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Refn also did that series on PRIME called "Too Old to Die Young" or something like that. Came out pre-pandemic I think but it's such a grand undertaking, because each episode is about 80 - 90 minutes each and there are like 10 of them. He also recently did a show for Netflix called Copenhagen Cowboy, which looks to be more accessible at only 6 episodes.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Nolan's filmography I've seen:

Batman Begins (2005)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Inception (2010)
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Interstellar (2014)
Dunkirk (2017)
Tenet (2020)

Refn's fimography I've seen:
Nothing

I've not seen a Refn film (actually never heard of him before this thread) so it's Nolan by default - and I don't particularly care for his films (I've yet to see one I'd chose to watch again).

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

I've seen all of Refn's work from Bronson onwards and the entirety of Nolan's work. The Dark Knight and Drive are both in my top ten films of all time. While I think Refn's eye for visuals is fantastic, his films in general (outside of Drive) are much more abstract, to their own detriment. Just one or two more specifics in terms of what everything means would really push him into mainstream popularity, I think. His stories clearly have these... metaphysical motifs to them, but he just won't be overt with those aspects, which I personally find pretty frustrating (I'm sure others disagree). At the same time, refusal to fit into cut-and-dry boxes/genres is part of what I like about his work.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Haven't seen either of the TV work he's done but so far i think Refn is pretty damn great to see..he's getting better w/ every film. Quality of the films aside, his direction in them has been huge leaps from film to film. Watch Bleeder and then watch Only God Forgives. You could really barely tell, if at all even, that it's the same guy doing the films.

Nolan has managed to keep his quality decently well. He hasn't gotten worse at all in my eyes. His direction is great, just the writing sometime it's not up to his standards (looking at you Tenet). He's recently made his best film in 15 years, i hold the opinion that his lastest blockbusters were good but kinda flawed meanwhile Dunkirk and Oppenheimer were brillant less-commercial films with more work on the direction and writing rather than the spectacle. Not to mention his trifecta of 00s masterpieces: Memento, The Prestige and The Dark Knight.

I like Refn too but I go with my opinion that while he has good films in his filmography (favorites are Drive, The Neon Demon, Only God Forgives and Pusher III) that to me he's a bit more inconsistent, i thought both Lynchian's efforts like Valhalla Rising and Fear X weren't really well executed and left me cold.

Voted Nolan.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Weird comparison.

I've only seen Drive by NWR. He's never from what I can tell been a mainstream director. His movies are very small and have a more cult-like following. And before this thread popped up, I haven't heard his name mentioned in years.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Never seen anything before Bronson. I did read that the disastrous box-office Fear-X received bankrupted him and his company at that time.

Re: Christopher Nolan vs. Nicolas Winding Refn - Which director do you prefer?
 

Pusher = very good
Pusher II = good
Pusher III = great
Bleeder = decent
Fear X = bad film.

But it’s a totally different Refn, both in the characters and directing, they are more genre films with low budget.