Suddenly finding yourself with lots of free time? In possession of a murder of minutes, a bounty of hours, a gaggle of extra days, wondering how to fill them all up? Sounds like you could go for a movie – a really loooong movie. Well, we’ve sifted through the backend of cinema history, from the silent era all the way up to the present, and collected and ranked the 100 best-reviewed movies that run three hours or longer (Certified Fresh movies listed first) to vanquish those pesky waking moments.
The director who takes the most advantage of your attention span? No surprise: It’s Martin Scorsese, with six films on this list, including 2019’s The Irishman. Other directors with multiple entries are legends known for their predilection for epic storytelling: Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai, Red Beard); David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago); Oliver Stone (JFK, Malcom X); and Stanley Kubrick (Spartacus, Barry Lyndon). Of course, Francis Ford Coppola gets a couple in there: There’s The Godfather, Part II (though not The Godfather, which is three minutes shy of three hours), and Apocalypse Now Redux over regular ol’ vanilla Apocalypse Now, which runs a swift 2.5 hours.
Now Redux underscores an interesting point. It’s included because the film had a national theatrical release, and got its own separate Tomatometer score from the original movie. Other director’s cuts that clear the 3-hour mark, like Watchmen or Kingdom of Heaven, or extended editions like Lord of the Rings, are excluded because they don’t have their own Tomatometers, and never saw major release.
Meanwhile, Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 were cut from the list: You had to buy two tickets, meaning two separate movies. (But Grindhouse is in because one ticket at the box office got you the whole sleazy shebang.) This Kill Bill rule applies in excluding other potential candidates like the Nymphomaniac volumes, or Steven Soderbergh’s Che: Though it screened at Cannes as a single release, in America it was split in two, requiring two purchases, making them two movies.
Then we arrive at European films like Scenes From a Marriage or The Best of Youth, which were originally presented as TV miniseries before being edited into singular entities. Those count. Again, it’s all about how the movie was packaged and exhibited for consumption in North America. And finally, we put in a minimum requirement of 10 Tomatometer-approved critic reviews and ratings for each movie to keep this guide from trending too obscure.
Are longer movies better? We wrote an article exploring the notion. Something must be keeping these filmmakers in the edit bay, piling on the celluloid. With a movie like Avengers: Endgame, the appeal of a long runtime is apparent: It’s got dozens and dozens of colorful characters eager to pummel each other, and had to wrap up a 22-movie story arc. Titanic‘s got a sinking boat. King Kong has a big ape.
But some of the other movies’ hooks aren’t as obvious. Films like Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev or Bela Tarr’s Satantango use their generous runtimes to explore new dimensions in cinema, to build something mystical and mysterious within viewers, culminating close to a rapturous experience. And a few of the documentaries, such as Shoah or O.J.: Made in America (which had an awards-qualifying theatrical run), need the space to do right by their topics.
Recently, we’ve added Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, Christopher Nolan’s biopic thriller Oppenheimer, Spanish-language heister The Delinquents.
With all that said, it’s time to get real comfy on that couch: Check out the 100 best movies 3 hours or longer! —Alex Vo
SEVEN SAMURAI (1954)
100%
#1
Critics Consensus: Arguably Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, The Seven Samurai is an epic adventure classic with an engrossing story, memorable characters, and stunning action sequences that make it one of the most influential films ever made.
Synopsis: A samurai answers a village’s request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits,… [More]
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba, Seiji Miyaguchi
Directed By: Akira Kurosawa
O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA (2016)
100%
#2
Critics Consensus: O.J.: Made in America paints a balanced and thorough portrait of the American dream juxtaposed with tragedy and executed with power and skill.
Synopsis: Director Ezra Edelman examines race and celebrity through the life of O.J. Simpson. Beginning at the emergence of his football… [More]
Starring: O.J. Simpson
Directed By: Ezra Edelman
WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED: A HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR (2021)
100%
#3
Critics Consensus: Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror takes a fascinating deep dive that’ll leave like-minded viewers making numerous new additions to their streaming queues.
Synopsis: WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED is the first feature-length documentary on the history of folk horror, exploring the phenomenon from… [More]
Starring: Piers Haggard, Lawrence Gordon Clark, Jeremy Dyson, Alice Lowe
Directed By: Kier-La Janisse
FANNY AND ALEXANDER (1982)
100%
#4
Critics Consensus: Ingmar Bergman conveys the sweep of childhood with a fastidious attention to detail and sumptuous insight into human frailty in Fanny & Alexander, a masterwork that crystalizes many of the directors’ preoccupations into a familial epic.
Synopsis: As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny (Pernilla Allwin) and Alexander (Bertil Guve) enjoy a happy life with their… [More]
Starring: Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, Erland Josephson, Gunn Wållgren
Directed By: Ingmar Bergman
SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993)
98%
#5
Critics Consensus: Schindler’s List blends the abject horror of the Holocaust with Steven Spielberg’s signature tender humanism to create the director’s dramatic masterpiece.
Synopsis: Businessman Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) arrives in Krakow in 1939, ready to make his fortune from World War II, which… [More]
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall
Directed By: Steven Spielberg
THE LEOPARD (1963)
98%
#6
Critics Consensus: Lavish and wistful, The Leopard features epic battles, sumptuous costumes, and a ballroom waltz that competes for most beautiful sequence committed to film.
Synopsis: As Garibaldi’s troops begin the unification of Italy in the 1860s, an aristocratic Sicilian family grudgingly adapts to the sweeping… [More]
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon, Paolo Stoppa
Directed By: Luchino Visconti
CHILDREN OF PARADISE (1945)
98%
#7
Critics Consensus: Strong performances abound, and Carne’s wit and grace are evident in this masterful (if long) French epic.
Synopsis: In this expansive drama, the lovely and enigmatic Parisian actress Garance (Arletty) draws the attention of various men in her… [More]
Starring: Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur, María Casares
Directed By: Marcel Carné
THE GODFATHER, PART II (1974)
96%
#8
Critics Consensus: Drawing on strong performances by Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola’s continuation of Mario Puzo’s Mafia saga set new standards for sequels that have yet to be matched or broken.
Synopsis: The compelling sequel to “The Godfather,” contrasting the life of Corleone father and son. Traces the problems of Michael Corleone… [More]
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro
Directed By: Francis Ford Coppola
THE RIGHT STUFF (1983)
96%
#9
Critics Consensus: The Right Stuff packs a lot of movie into its hefty running time, spinning a colorful, fact-based story out of consistently engaging characters in the midst of epochal events.
Synopsis: This adaptation of the non-fiction novel by Tom Wolfe chronicles the first 15 years of America’s space program. By focusing… [More]
Starring: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid
Directed By: Philip Kaufman
THE LAST OF THE UNJUST (2013)
96%
#10
Critics Consensus: Documentarian Claude Lanzmann brings the ghosts of the Holocaust back to vivid life once again The Last of the Unjust, a dense and haunting investigation into complicity and moral quandary.
Synopsis: Benjamin Murmelstein, the only Jewish elder to survive World War II, fought with Adolf Eichmann week after week for seven… [More]
Starring: Benjamin Murmelstein, Claude Lanzmann
Directed By: Claude Lanzmann
THE IRISHMAN (2019)
95%
#11
Critics Consensus: An epic gangster drama that earns its extended runtime, The Irishman finds Martin Scorsese revisiting familiar themes to poignant, funny, and profound effect.
Synopsis: In the 1950s, truck driver Frank Sheeran gets involved with Russell Bufalino and his Pennsylvania crime family. As Sheeran climbs… [More]
Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Anna Paquin
Directed By: Martin Scorsese
RRR (2022)
95%
#12
Critics Consensus: Intoxicatingly over the top, RRR pulls out all the stops to make the absolute most of its 187-minute runtime.
Synopsis: Freedom fighters Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju join forces against British colonialists in the 1920s…. [More]
Starring: N.T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgan, Alia Bhatt
Directed By: S.S. Rajamouli
LAGAAN: ONCE UPON A TIME IN INDIA (2001)
95%
#13
Critics Consensus: Lagaan is lavish, rousing entertainment in the old-fashioned tradition of Hollywood musicals.
Synopsis: The year is 1893 and India is under British occupation. In a small village, the tyrannical Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne)… [More]
Starring: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne
Directed By: Ashutosh Gowariker
SHORT CUTS (1993)
95%
#14
Critics Consensus: Robert Altman’s ensemble drama deftly integrates its disparate characters and episodes into a funny, poignant, emotionally satisfying whole.
Synopsis: Many loosely connected characters cross paths in this film, based on the stories of Raymond Carver. Waitress Doreen Piggot (Lily… [More]
Starring: Andie MacDowell, Bruce Davison, Julianne Moore, Matthew Modine
Directed By: Robert Altman
JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES (1975)
95%
#15
Critics Consensus: Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles offers a lingering, unvarnished, and ultimately mesmerizing look at one woman’s existence.
Synopsis: Jeanne Dielman (Delphine Seyrig), the widowed mother of a teenage son, Sylvain (Jan Decorte), ekes out a drab, repetitive existence… [More]
Starring: Delphine Seyrig, Jan Decorte, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Yves Bical
Directed By: Chantal Akerman
HAMLET (1996)
95%
#16
Critics Consensus: Kenneth Branagh’s sprawling, finely textured adaptation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece lives up to its source material, using strong performances and a sharp cinematic focus to create a powerfully resonant film that wastes none of its 246 minutes.
Synopsis: In the only unabridged film version of the classic play, here updated to the 19th century, Prince Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh)… [More]
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Julie Christie, Billy Crystal, Gérard Depardieu
Directed By: Kenneth Branagh
ANDREI RUBLEV (1966)
95%
#17
Critics Consensus: Andrei Rublev is a cerebral epic that filters challenging ideas through a grand scope — forming a moving thesis on art, faith, and the sweep of history.
Synopsis: An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev (Anatoliy Solonitsyn). Drifting… [More]
Starring: Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolay Grinko, Nikolaj Sergeev
Directed By: Andrei Tarkovsky
AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019)
94%
#18
Critics Consensus: Exciting, entertaining, and emotionally impactful, Avengers: Endgame does whatever it takes to deliver a satisfying finale to Marvel’s epic Infinity Saga.
Synopsis: Adrift in space with no food or water, Tony Stark sends a message to Pepper Potts as his oxygen supply… [More]
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth
Directed By: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (2003)
94%
#19
Critics Consensus: Visually breathtaking and emotionally powerful, The Lord of the Rings – The Return of the King is a moving and satisfying conclusion to a great trilogy.
Synopsis: The culmination of nearly 10 years’ work and conclusion to Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy based on the timeless J.R.R. Tolkien… [More]
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen
Directed By: Peter Jackson
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
94%
#20
Critics Consensus: The epic of all epics, Lawrence of Arabia cements director David Lean’s status in the filmmaking pantheon with nearly four hours of grand scope, brilliant performances, and beautiful cinematography.
Synopsis: Due to his knowledge of the native Bedouin tribes, British Lieutenant T.E. Lawrence (Peter O’Toole) is sent to Arabia to… [More]
Starring: Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif
Directed By: David Lean
