Though movies with three-hour-plus runtimes weren’t unusual in the 20th century, they are far less frequent in modern-day cinema. However, when a movie of that length is developed in the 21st century, it’s usually needed to depict an epic story featuring dozens of actors or an intimate love story between two complex characters.
As the superhero genre continues to dominate the box office and profitable streamers like Netflix help filmmakers create and distribute their passion projects, three-hour movies will keep being released as long as the viewer desires them. Between epic comic book movies, decades-spanning gangster dramas, and highly celebrated foreign art films, these movies have made the most use out of their exceedingly long runtimes.
King Kong (2005) - 7.2
For some critics and viewers, King Kong does not warrant its excessive runtime. Some believe that there were many subplots that led nowhere, such as Ann Darrow's side narrative as a struggling actress or Jimmy's meandering subplot on the SS Venture.
Yet with a relatively high user rating on IMDb, the majority of the film's viewers had no problem with the length of the movie. The story expertly captures why the human characters are on the expedition to Skull Island. The movie contains two adventures for the price of one: Kong facing off against dinosaurs on the island and Kong wreaking havoc in Depression-era New York. Unlike most monster movies, King Kong utilizes its runtime to garner sympathy for its titular character. And though Skull Island features some fascinating nods to Apocalypse Now and is part of a movie universe, Peter Jackson’s King Kong is still the best because its three hours are used so well.
Blue Is The Warmest Color (2013) - 7.7
Surprisingly enough, most of the three-hour movies that were released in the 21st century are huge blockbuster movies or are at least funded by giant movie studios. However, Blue Is The Warmest Color is one of the few indie movies that reach that 180-minute runtime, and it’s one of the most critically acclaimed movies of the past 10 years. The movie won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013 and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2014.
Blue Is The Warmest Color features one of cinema's most realistic depictions of a romantic relationship as it follows the trials and tribulations of a young gay couple. Unlike other long movies, Abdellatif Kechiche's romantic drama keeps its focus on the two leads. As a result, the film is an intimate epic that captures in detail the joys and sorrows of falling in and out of love.
The Irishman (2019) - 7.8
The Irishman is Martin Scorsese’s late-career masterpiece that depicts the rise and fall of the Pennsylvania mob from the 1950s to the 1990s. The filmmaker is quick to try out new advancements in the industry, and that continues with this gangster epic, the director’s most ambitious movie to date.
Scorsese made one of the most beautiful 3D movies of all time with Hugo, and now, he used state-of-the-art de-aging techniques to convey the passage of time. The Irishman was a perfect combination of advanced visual effects, an incredible story, and a cast of established actors. Joe Pesci came out of retirement to work on the movie and was nominated for an Oscar for his efforts. The long runtime allowed Pesci, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and the rest of the cast to fully develop their characters so the audience could invest in their narrative arcs and understand the film's main theme of moral corruption.
Winter Sleep (2014) - 8.1
At almost three hours and 20 minutes, Winter Sleep is an epic drama that depicts the differences between the rich and the poor in Turkey. The film follows a wealthy former actor who owns a hotel in Cappadocia and rents out the rooms to the much poorer people in the region.
Just like Blue Is The Warmest Color just one year before, Winter Sleep won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014. The film uses its three hours to convincingly paint a portrait of a man in the throes of a mid-life crisis. In addition, Winter Sleep provides a rare portrait of modern-day Turkey and shows how the nation's bureaucracy crushes the soul of its citizens, including the main character.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) - 8.1
Though Warner Bros. had always been competing with and playing catch-up to Marvel when it came to their cinematic universe, there was one thing the studio did completely different. WB made a habit out of releasing directors’ cuts of the DC movies on Blu-ray months after they were released in theatres. That’s what happened with Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, but Zack Snyder’s Justice League took it to another level.
Warner Bros. gave Snyder an extra $70 million to fulfill his vision years later after he was removed from the project. And though some might think Zack Snyder’s Justice League was a waste of money, the experiment was a critical and streaming success. Compared to the theatrical cut’s 6.1 on IMDb, the four-hour rerelease is rated higher because it fixes so many of the original film's plot holes such as how Superman was resurrected and why Aquaman joins the team. The Director's Cut also allowed Snyder to fully realize his vision of the DCEU: bleak, somewhat hopeless, but with an undercurrent of hope and optimism.
The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013) - 8.2
Scorsese is very much known for making huge sprawling epics, but he had surprisingly never made a movie that was three hours long before 2013. The Wolf of Wall Street is exactly 180 minutes and tells the true story of Jordan Belfort, a Wall Street wunderkind who is slowly undone by his greed and addictions.
The result was masterful, as no other director could have walked the tightrope between social satire and glorifying bad behavior as well as Scorsese. The director uses the long runtime to create a convincing portrait of late 1980s American greed as the audience witnesses Jordan's temptation to consume more drugs and commit fraud to fund his lifestyle. And as the movie never once feels overlong, it has made fans desperate for the original cut of The Wolf of Wall Street, which ran over four hours and contains even more Reagan-era detail about the financial industry and the shady machinations that control America's economy.
Avengers: Endgame (2019) - 8.4
The final battle in Endgame delivered on its promise of uniting every MCU hero in one oversized movie. This was only possible due to the movie's three-hour runtime, which was just enough to include all the fan-favorite heroes, villains, and relationships that audiences loved over the past decade.
Given that there are so many story arcs to wrap up and is the culmination of everything that has happened over the course of 12 movies, the film never once outstays its welcome. A large part of the film's success is the deft handling of its oversized character. The Russo brothers provide each main character with a moment to shine such as Captain Marvel's climactic slugfest with Thanos. It’s a significant achievement in cinema history, and between the fan service, the emotional pull, and the absolute spectacle of it all, Avengers: Endgame is irresistible.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003) - 8.9
Peter Jackson's The Return of the King is clearly popular with audiences given its 8.9 rating on IMDb. The movie was a critical success as well, becoming the second sequel to ever win Best Picture at the Academy Awards with the first being The Godfather Part II almost 30 years beforehand. A large part of this success is due to its long runtime.
At three hours and one minute, the concluding movie in Jackson's epic cinematic trilogy successfully concluded narratives and character arcs that were developed in the past two films. For example, Frodo was allowed to finally complete his quest to reach Mount Doom and destroy the Ring while Gollum finally attained his "precious" object of affection before perishing in Doom's lava. Even though it has been criticized by some for having too many endings, The Return of the King provided satisfactory closure for everyone who had been enthralled by the Lord of the Rings saga since the first film's debut in 2001.