It got me thinking about really long movies, and the marathon movie outings I’ve had. I saw a rerelease of Lawrence of Arabia (187 minutes) in the late 90s that included an intermission, as the original release would have had. I know I saw Kenneth Branagh’s (in)famously all-the-words Hamlet (240 minutes) in cinemas during its 1996 theatrical release, and I don’t remember an intermission but it must have had one. (The Los Angeles Times review at the time says it did.) And I’ve happily sat through Titanic (194 minutes) at least four times theatrically, and that never had an intermission.
I don’t recall the running time of any of these movies putting me off.
How long does a film have to be before it’s too long for you to sit through? Tell us about the really long films you have endured, either at home or in theaters.
Maybe this is a bit of a moot question now that we’re all mostly watching movies at home, where it’s easy to stop it for a few minutes and far less disruptive than popping out of a cinema showing for a toilet break or to top up on snacks. (I never run out in the middle of a cinema showing, not even for a second, because I don’t want to miss even a moment of a film, but I have no problem with pausing a film at home, for obvious reasons.)
Vulture has a list of “The 33 Best Movies Over 3 Hours Long” — updated last year with the note that at-home pandemic viewing makes them go down easier — if you need a reminder of marathon movies.
loaded question: how long does a film have to be before it’s too long for you to sit through?
loaded question: how long does a film have to be before it’s too long for you to sit through?
loaded question: how long does a film have to be before it’s too long for you to sit through?
Today I learned, via Mental Floss, about the existence of the longest movie ever made, the 2012 Swedish documentary Logistics, which is 857 hours long. Honestly, it sounds amazing, and I kinda do want to watch it... though I might fast-forward through some of it. (You can rent it on Vimeo.)
It got me thinking about really long movies, and the marathon movie outings I’ve had. I saw a rerelease of Lawrence of Arabia (187 minutes) in the late 90s that included an intermission, as the original release would have had. I know I saw Kenneth Branagh’s (in)famously all-the-words Hamlet (240 minutes) in cinemas during its 1996 theatrical release, and I don’t remember an intermission but it must have had one. (The Los Angeles Times review at the time says it did.) And I’ve happily sat through Titanic (194 minutes) at least four times theatrically, and that never had an intermission.
I don’t recall the running time of any of these movies putting me off.
How long does a film have to be before it’s too long for you to sit through? Tell us about the really long films you have endured, either at home or in theaters.
Maybe this is a bit of a moot question now that we’re all mostly watching movies at home, where it’s easy to stop it for a few minutes and far less disruptive than popping out of a cinema showing for a toilet break or to top up on snacks. (I never run out in the middle of a cinema showing, not even for a second, because I don’t want to miss even a moment of a film, but I have no problem with pausing a film at home, for obvious reasons.)
Vulture has a list of “The 33 Best Movies Over 3 Hours Long” — updated last year with the note that at-home pandemic viewing makes them go down easier — if you need a reminder of marathon movies.
(You can also discuss this at FlickFilosopher.com, if you prefer.)