Movies need to strike a very delicate balance when it comes to length. Too short, and the story doesn't have time to fully develop, but too long, and the risks of pacing issues and unnecessary bloat significantly increase. Therefore, most movies nicely settle somewhere around the 90-130 running times. 90 minutes for "lighter" movies like comedies, 130+ for more epic films that need more time to develop its characters, story, and world.
And then there are these absolute behemoths that run over four hours in length. Making a movie of that length consistently entertaining is a tall order indeed, but it can be done. These are the ten best movies that are over four hours in length, according to IMDb.
Warriors Of The Rainbow: Seediq Bale (2011) - 7.5
Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale is a Taiwanese historical drama produced by John Woo. The movie comes in two parts with a combined running time of 276 minutes, or 4:36. It tells the story of the Musha Incident, a major uprising in which the Seediq Indigenous people of Taiwan rebelled against Japanese rule and oppression. The Japanese proved victorious, killing 644 of the roughly 1,200-strength army of the Seediq.
Carlos (2010) - 7.6
Carlos is technically a miniseries, although it has been released and shown as a full-length film. This is a French-German film about Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal who was convicted on sixteen murders and is now serving three consecutive life sentences.
Those are the only murders that he's been convicted of, though Carlos himself claims to have killed over 80 people. The full five-and-a-half-hour film was shown at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival where it earned significant critical acclaim.
Gettysburg (1993) - 7.6
As the title quite obviously suggests, Gettysburg is an epic account of the Battle of Gettysburg, perhaps the most famous battle of the American Civil War. The movie was adapted from a historical novel called The Killer Angels and stars a wonderful cast, including the likes of Jeff Daniels, Sam Elliott, and Martin Sheen. This is the definitive account of the Battle of Gettysburg, running a prolonged 254 minutes—four hours and fourteen minutes. The Director's Cut runs even longer at 4:31.
1900 (1976) - 7.7
Robert De Niro starred in some truly epic movies throughout the 1970s, including The Godfather Part II, The Deer Hunter, and 1900. The latter is a historical drama that takes place in Italy in the first half of the 20th century during the conflicts between fascism and communism.
De Niro plays a landowner named Alfredo Berlinghieri while Gérard Depardieu stars opposite as his peasant friend. 1900 is one of the longest commercially released films ever made, with the uncut version running an astounding five hours 17 minutes.
Hamlet (1996) - 7.7
Watching over four hours of dense Shakespeare is certainly tough, but Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet remains one of the best adaptations of the Bard's plays. Branagh directs and stars as Hamlet, and, while the movie's setting was updated to the 19th century, all of Shakespeare's original text remains unchanged. Despite earning critical acclaim, the movie was not a box office success. That's not necessarily a surprise, considering the movie runs at a hair over four hours.
War And Peace (1966) - 8.3
Sergey Bondarchuk's War and Peace is so long that it was originally released in installments. The movie is an adaptation of Tolstoy's epic novel, and it remains one of the best. This was the most expensive movie made in the Soviet Union, with a budget equivalent to $70 million today. The money was well worth it, as the seven hour-plus epic ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Once Upon A Time In America (1984) - 8.4
Once Upon a Time in America is a famous case study in butchered theatrical releases. American distributors feared that the movie wouldn't make any money, owing to its 250-minute running time.
So, they decided to cut it down to a much more palatable 139 minutes. But, they also rearranged the scenes into chronological order, completely butchering the intended tone and sequence of events. The full 250-minute extended cut is now available on DVD and Blu ray.
The Best Of Youth (2003) - 8.5
Released in its native Italy under the title La meglio gioventù, The Best of Youth is a family saga epic that follows two brothers from 1966 to 2003. Their lives take different paths throughout the course of the movie as they are pulled into major political events in post-World War II Italy. It was theatrically released as two three-hour films, with its full length running an ambitious 400 minutes, or six hours and 40 minutes.
Sátántangó (1994) - 8.5
Sátántangó is adapted from the Hungarian novel of the same name, written by László Krasznahorkai. The movie has received widespread praise since its release, even scoring the rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie's critical reception proves the amazing talent of filmmaker Béla Tarr, as the movie runs at an unbelievable seven hours and 19 minutes.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (Extended) (2003) - 8.9
Easily the most popular film on this list, The Return of the King is the epic to end all epics. The movie was theatrically released with a 201-minute runtime, and, even with that, it managed to score well over $1 billion at the box office.
However, the extended cut has since become far more prevalent and popular, and that runs at a very exciting four hours and 12 minutes. It's perhaps the most visually wondrous four hours ever put to screen.