Ever watched a movie that seemed to drag on forever? Or how about a film that had a major plot moment partway through that seemed like the climax, only for you to realize it wasn’t anywhere near done? Good or bad, these movies made fans say “there’s still an hour left” partway through the film.
If you’re a fan of long movies then this list could lead to some great recommendations to check out. For those of you who don’t like it when a movie goes on a bit too long, though, you’ll find some solace knowing others felt the same way about these iconic movies.
Long movies can be well paced and feel short… Good or bad, these ones made us go, “wait, there’s still an hour left?” at some point during the show.
Australia
There’s one point in the movie Australia that just feels like the ending, even though it’s not actually the plot of the movie. It starts off showing the life of a cattle farm; kind of a western style film. You settle in with the characters, get some story, and the movie seems to end…
But it’s not the ending! Australia is actually a World War 2 movie, and that’s the point where that part of the plot starts.
Pearl Harbor
It’s an iconic film, yes, but Pearl Harbor isn’t loved by everyone – mostly because it’s long. I can’t describe the movie better than this review quote of the film: “They packed a two-hour movie into three hours.”
Jurassic World Dominion
It’s not as long as some of the other movies on this list but at two hours and twenty-four minutes Jurassic World Dominion still runs longer than the typical two hours of most movies.
Even worse, someone said the movie “felt like it was 6 hours long”. Meaning it was both too long and boring for fans.
Titanic
This is made worse if you watched it for the first time on VHS because you had to switch tapes halfway through. It was easy to forget while watching that Titanic was a movie about a ship that sinks, not just a love story.
Parasite
Parasite is one that makes the list for good reasons, not bad ones. Partway through Parasite has a tone shift that makes you realize there’s a lot more story to tell. That’s part of why this one’s such a popular film!
Into the Woods
I love musicals and Sondheim, but this one definitely went on way too long. Of course, the actual live version is even longer, so it’s no wonder the movie followed suit.
In all fairness, though, the musical is still way better live. They cut out so much in the film version!
King Kong (Peter Jackson’s Version)
Peter Jackson is a man known for making long movies so it’s no surprise that his take on King Kong was a slow burn. We all seemed to have a collective realization around the 2 hour mark of this movie: King Kong hasn’t even gotten off the island yet.
Oppenheimer
I personally disagree with this one (Oppenheimer felt a lot quicker than I was expecting), but I can understand why folks felt this way.
The first two hours or so is about creating the Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb. The last hour is about the consequences of the project and the next part of Oppenhiemer’s life. If you came for the former, the latter could easily feel boring and unncessary.
The Batman (2022)
While I liked this movie I definitely felt that it could have wrapped up a little earlier than it did. There’s one scene in particular (an arrest inside a café) that feels like it should be the end, but instead The Batman just keeps on going.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Along with being nearly two and a half hours long, A.I. has multiple “fake” endings that leave you wondering exactly when this film will end. Still a great movie, though.
Avatar: The Way of Water
I feel like everyone forgot how long the first Avatar movie felt when they watched The Way of Water because I’ve seen this one come up a lot. Visually stunning, yes, but it goes on way too long without much happening.
Barbarian
Another positive addition, Barbarian has a moment in the film that makes the viewer go, “wow, things are just getting started!”. Unlike most of these movies, Barbarian isn’t particularly long in duration; but the major tone shift gives us the “I can’t believe there’s still an hour left” feeling anyway.
Honorable Mention: Lord of the Rings, Return of the King
This is one of my all time favorite movies but I really wanted to include it because of how odd the ending of this film was. Or I should say, “endings” since there were about seven of them altogether.
I’m pretty sure everyone in the theatre thought it was over when the first screen fade happened. Thankfully it wasn’t and we got to see some closure for everyone involved in the story.
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