Many of the best movies ever made are over three hours long. It’s not unusual for the greatest Best Picture winners to be longer than three hours, for example. Here is our list of 32 movies that prove that being long often means being great.
Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)
Epic in scope and epic in length are usually the first two things you think about with Lawrence of Arabia. Not only is it one of the best movies ever, it’s one of the longest. Clocking in at an astounding 227 minutes, the nearly four-hour movie never lags or gets boring. Peter O’Toole is brilliant as T. E. Lawrence and the cinematography is among the greatest ever seen on film. It’s truly a masterpiece.
The Right Stuff (1983)
One of the great injustices by the Academy was rewarding Terms of Endearment the Best Picture award in 1984 over The Right Stuff. History has since proven which of the two is more enduring, and it’s the one that is one of the best movies about the Cold War. With a running time of 192 minutes, it still feels too short to learn everything about the early days of the US space program. The pacing is perfect.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
The MCU’s Infinity Saga constituted a whooping 22 films, and the pinnacle of the story came in the 21st movie, Avengers: End Game, in 2019. Befitting its status as the endgame, as it were, this entry in the MCU cannon stretches out just over three hours. While it’s long for a superhero movie, it never feels bloated. While it’ll never be considered one of the best movies of all time by critics, fans certainly do.
Gone With The Wind (1939)
The longest movie to ever win the Best Picture Oscar is Gone With The Wind, at almost four hours long, if you include things like the opening overture and the intermission. It was a long day at the movies back in the ‘30s when this Civil War epic was released, but that didn’t deter anyone. To this day it is still the most financially successful film ever, when factoring in inflation.
The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013)
It’s hard to believe director Martin Scorsese and the cast of The Wolf Of Wall Street managed to keep up the frenetic pace of that movie for three hours. It’s a white-knuckle ride through the ups and downs of the main character, Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, that never gives the audience a chance to catch its breath.
Oppenheimer (2023)
The 2024 Best Picture winner, Oppenheimer is truly a masterpiece. On its surface, a three-hour movie about theoretical physics and congressional hearings sounds about as fun as a root canal, but in the capable hands of director Christopher Nolan, it just pops off the screen. Across the three hours, only a few minutes of which is the actual bomb going off, the movie takes audiences on an amazing journey and never lets up.
Schindler’s List (1993)
The 195-minute epic Schindler’s List might be director Steven Spielberg’s greatest achievement, and that is really saying something, given Speilberg’s amazing career. Not only did the director make it long, but the decision to make it black and white was also bold. It certainly proved that audiences in 1990 were able to handle all of it, most importantly the weighty nature of the film. It’s a movie that is really hard to watch twice, but everyone needs to see it once.
The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King (2003)
To its fans, there is no better cinematic trilogy than Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. The finale of the series The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King took home the Oscar for Best Picture which was as much a tribute to the whole franchise as it was reward just it. With a runtime of just over three hours, it’s the longest of the trilogy and for many, the best.
Dances With Wolves (1990)
Kevin Costner has made a few epics in his career, but his first was Dances With Wolves. Costner directed and starred in the Civil War-era epic that clocks in at one minute over three hours. It was an enormous hit when it was released in 1990, making hundreds of millions on a $22 million budget. It cleaned up at the Oscars as well, taking home seven of the 11 that it was nominated for, including Best Picture and Best Director for Costner.
Malcolm X (1992)
Spike Lee’s most ambitious movie to this day is 1992’s Malcolm X, starring Denzel Washington as the titular character. At 202 minutes, it’s also Lee’s longest movie. The movie is a deep dive into the life and politics of Malcolm X, the controversial Civil Rights leader in the 1960s. Washington, and the rest of the cast, is brilliant and Lee’s direction is perfect for the subject matter.
The Godfather Part II (1974)
It’s rare in this world that a sequel meets or, in some opinions, surpasses the original, but The Godfather Part II falls into that category. While the original Godfather is long, with a running time of just under three hours, The Godfather Part II is almost 3 and a half hours. It has a lot of story to tell, jumping back and forth between Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) and a young version of his father, Vito, played by Robert De Niro.
Ben-Hur (1959)
In the golden age of Hollywood, sprawling epics weren’t unusual, but Ben-Hur stands out for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the insane chariot race that even many decades later is one of the most exciting things ever filmed. It’s rare for a film to go longer than 3 and a half hours, but Ben-Hur does.
The Irishman (2019)
Martin Scorsese is usually considered one of the finest directors of the last five decades, and while The Irishman isn’t one of his best, it’s still really, really good. It’s also one of his longest, clocking in at 209 minutes as it tells the huge story of mobster Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) and the murder of Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).
The Deer Hunter (1987)
Have you ever wondered what it was like to attend a Russian Orthodox wedding…in real time? That’s what you get with The Deer Hunter. Okay, so it’s not really “real-time” but it sure feels like that. Still, the movie, with a runtime of 184 minutes, is one of the most intense movies in the history of film and one of the best movies about Vietnam. It’s a harrowing journey for every character in the movie and for audiences along for the ride.
JFK (1991)
Oliver Stone’s JFK is not the most historically accurate movie ever made, but it is endlessly entertaining. The all-star cast and wild story made for a very fun movie. So fun, in fact, that viewers hardly notice the three-hour-plus runtime.
Killers Of The Flower Moon (2023)
Director Martin Scorsese loves to make long movies. His 2023 masterpiece Killers Of The Flower Moon is no exception. There is a lot of story to tell in Killers, so the director needs every bit of the 206 minutes it takes to tell it. The acting performances are amazing and the period set pieces are beautiful. All in all, it’s everything you want from an epic.
Gandhi (1982)
Ben Kingsley’s performance in Gandhi is fantastic. Playing a mythical figure like Mahatma Gandhi can’t be easy, but he brings everything to the role. The film itself is one of the best biopics ever produced, and with a runtime of 3 hours and 11 minutes, it gives audiences everything about the Father of India’s life from a student in London to the leader of the most effective non-violent uprising in human history.
Titanic (1997)
A huge boat deserves a huge movie, and there is none bigger than James Cameron’s Titanic. The insanely popular movie, which won 11 Oscars and has made over $2 billion at the box office will forever be considered as one of Hollywood’s greatest triumphs. The gaudy box office numbers are matched by the film’s length, which totals 3 hours and 15 minutes. Interestingly, the actual Titanic took less time to sink, at 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Cleopatra (1963)
At over 4 hours long, Cleopatra is epic in every single way. The production was legendary, as it was way over budget and took way longer than it was supposed to take. Elizabeth Taylor is amazing, as are Richard Burton and Rex Harrison. The movie was a huge hit, but only a moderate financial success because of the budget overruns, but it is truly one of the best of old-time holidays.
Gettysburg (1993)
One of the longest movies ever produced by Hollywood is Gettysburg, the Civil War epic that tells the story of one of the most important battles in United States history. It is revered by Civil War buffs and historians for it’s accuracy in portraying the battle from both sides of the conflict. With the theatrical release coming in at 4 hours and 12 minutes and the directors cut adding another 20 minutes or so, it’s a movie that takes commitment, but that commitment is rewarded.
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Director David Lean is no stranger to long movies. The scope of many of his movies is huge and Doctor Zhivago is no exception. Long heralded as a true Hollywood classic, Doctor Zhivago isn’t the best of Lean’s movies, and it hasn’t aged as well as some of his other films, but it’s still a fantastic movie even at 192 minutes.
The Green Mile (1999)
This one is the most surprising in the list, because it doesn’t feel like a 3-hour+ movie, but it is. The Green Mile is beloved by many, especially Stephen King fans, who rank it among the best of the many movies adapted from his books. Michael Clarke Duncan shines in this movie, along with the rest of the great cast, in a story that pops all the way through its long runtime.
Magnolia (1999)
Paul Thomas Anderson is not afraid to make a long movie, but surprisingly the only one of his films to surpass the three-hour mark is Magnolia. It’s a movie that has a lot of story to tell, so the runtime is justified and the acting performances along make it all worth it.
Avatar: Way Of The Water (2022)
Avatar: Way Of The Water’s 3 hours and 12 minute running time didn’t intimidate audiences, who turned out in droves to see the follow-up to also wildly popular Avatar. The movie made more than $2 billion at the box office, which is just incredible for a movie of its length.
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
No one ever expects a comedy to run more than three hours, but It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is well over in some of its versions. There have been multiple versions released, but the longest is the 197-minute version released by the Criterion Collection in 2014. The original version released in theaters was a mere 159 minutes long.
Spartacus (1960)
Despite their epic nature, Stanley Kubrick’s films are typically right around a tight two hours. The one exception is Spartacus, starring Kirk Douglas and Sir Laurence Olivier. The film, with its legendary “I am Spartacus” scene, is the longest of Kubrick’s career at 3 hours and 17 minutes.
Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
Reaching just under the 3-hour mark, Judgment at Nuremberg is a minute short of the mark meant for this list, but it’s such an epic movie, that we couldn’t leave it off. Director Stanley Kramer brought in an all-star cast including Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster, among others, to tell this important story of the Nazis on trial after World War Two.
Hamlet (1996)
Hamlet is probably William Shakespeare’s most revered work and Kenneth Branagh’s treatment of it on film is worthy of the play’s status. It’s a truly epic production with an unbelievably talented cast including Branagh as the titular Prince of Denmark. It’s also just over four hours long, as the first and to-date only full version of the play put on film.
Che (2008)
Depending on how you count Che, it’s either two movies, Part 1 and Part 2, each about a hundred and 135 minutes long, or, as director Steven Soderbergh intended, one 267-minute movie. The scope of the movie is, obviously, huge, as it follows the revolutionary life of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, played by Benicio del Toro. It’s a serious commitment, but worth it, like so many of the movies on this list.
The Seven Samurai (1954)
Akira Kurosawa is easily the most influential and revered Japanese filmmaker in history and one of his most loved films, The Seven Samurai, is also one of his longest. The movie runs 207 minutes and there is never a dull moment. It’s easy to see why Kurosawa has had such an effect on those who have followed him.
Ryan’s Daughter (1970)
Though it was not as critically acclaimed as his other films, David Lean’s Ryan’s Daughter is still a really good movie. Audiences thought so too and despite the long running time, 195 minutes in the original theatrical release, it thrived at the box office.
Logistics (2012)
Thought to be the longest movie ever made, the documentary Logistics has a full running length of 35 days and 17 hours. It follows, in reverse chronological order, a product made in China, shipped to Sweden, and purchased in a store, in real-time. From the store to the truck to the container ship to the Chinese factory. If it sounds boring, well, yeah, much of it is, but it’s completely fascinating and there are shorter, edited versions available online to get a sense of the scope.
Usually, when filmmakers set out to produce an epic three-hour movie, they have a story in mind that needs that long to tell. Not everyone loves them, but as these movies prove, it often works.
