Long movies often make for a great viewing experience, but even the best lengthy films could have been even better if they were a bit shorter. Though the early days of cinema featured shorter movies, the length of feature films began to grow through each new era. As movies added reel after reel, moviegoing became a modern spectacle.

The Golden Age of Hollywood ended with the collapse of the studio system, and many of those aforementioned spectacle films helped usher in its demise with their hyperinflated budgets and overhead costs. Movies began topping out at three or more hours in length, and intermissions were adopted to give audience members some relief.

The length of films seems to fluctuate with the times, and the modern era of superhero blockbusters has helped the overall length of movies creep to heights not seen in decades. It’s not unusual for the average film in the 2020s to be well over two hours long, but not every movie earns that bloated running time.

Even good films can be too long, though it doesn’t detract from the overall experience. There have been tons of excellent movies that are just a little (or sometimes a lot) too long, but the quality of their parts makes up for the staggering length of the whole. Nevertheless, these movies should have made a few more cuts.

10

Killers Of The Flower Moon (2023)

The films of Martin Scorsese are diverse and beloved, but the director does have a habit of making epic-length features. Killers of the Flower Moon was one of the rare times that Scorsese’s long-winded approach to filmmaking was somewhat tiring, though the true crime epic is still an excellent movie.

Anchored by amazing performances, Killers is certainly a worthy addition to Scorsese’s filmography, but its length sometimes detracts from the effectiveness of its narrative. It lulls between being a тιԍнт thriller and an extended character piece, but it doesn’t neatly fall into either category. A few strategic cuts would have тιԍнтened things up and made it more thrilling overall.

9

Midsommar (2019)

The one genre that is hardest to justify an extended running time is horror, and things usually fall apart the longer it stretches on. Ari Aster’s Midsommar was yet another example of “elevated horror” in the late 2010s, and critics adored its clever use of terror in the midday sun.

At a whopping 147 minutes, the folk horror struggles to get to the point quickly, and the length doesn’t do much to increase the dread. Since the characters are somewhat underdeveloped, the movie mostly relies on stretching out the horror sequences to their absolute breaking point. Midsommar‘s length would have been more tolerable if its time was used more effectively.

8

Patton (1970)

Biopics have the task of summarizing the life of their subject succinctly, but Patton did a great job of the former by ignoring the latter. George C. Scott’s triumphant performance is one of the best in cinema history, and the complicated American icon was brought to life with an unflinching eye for detail by a nearly perfect screenplay.

Many of the moments in Patton only serve to reiterate points already made earlier, and a lot of its nearly three-hour length seems to be stretching for the sake of spectacle. Cutting things down to a more manageable two-and-a-half hours would have greatly benefited the film. It’s hard to believe, but Patton could have been even better with some editing.

7

JFK (1991)

Clearly very invested in the subject, director Oliver Stone put his heart and soul into 1991’s JFK. The conspiracy-laced political thriller left no stone unturned, and deeply examined the aftermath of the ᴀssᴀssination of President John F. Kennedy. Because the plot is so complex, it needed a longer running time to get all of its details across on screen.

Stone’s vision became a three-and-a-half-hour epic, and it’s still one of the longest films ever released theatrically. The self-indulgent running time is used to build a compelling cast of characters, but that length is still self-indulgent. It’s impossible to say what could have been cut, but the movie could have been just as effective if it was much shorter.

6

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Decades after the release of Blade Runner, a legacy sequel arrived that hoped to continue the fascinating story of the ’80s cult classic. The sequel was more epic and complex than its predecessor, and modern film technology allowed for even more visually-pleasing looks at the future. Perhaps hoping to avoid the confusion of the original, 2049 is much longer.

Given an extra hour, the sequel tells a richer story, and has more time to dedicate to its characters too. However, the film is also guilty of navel-gazing, and the 163-minute running time is not used effectively. Further cuts could have helped streamline things and make them more conventionally cinematic, but fans seem to like it the way it is.

5

Wicked (2024)

When adapting popular musicals to the big screen, movies often find themselves well over two-and-a-half hours in length in order to encompᴀss the entire show. Wicked also had an exaggerated running time, and the spectacular toe-tapping movie helped to revive interest in musicals as it brought the colorful whimsy of the stage show to even bigger heights on screen.

The only difference between Wicked and other musical films was that it split the show in half, only covering the first act. Despite that, it’s still 160 minutes, which is only slightly shorter than the entire stage musical. Wicked is a great modern movie musical, but it didn’t need to be so long when split into two halves.

4

Funny People (2009)

Judd Apatow helped to reinvent comedies in the 2000s, and he is no stranger to stretched-out running times. Funny People showed another side of Adam Sandler as he plays a terminally ill stand-up comic who is reevaluating his life. Though it wasn’t the first time Sandler had played a dramatic role, it offered a nice blend of humor and heart.

Unlike other Apatow films, Funny People goes on too long, and needs serious trimming. Two hours is almost too much, but an extra half hour often belabors the points and drags out a lot of its more emotional aspects unnecessarily. It’s still a great dramedy, but it could have been a classic with some edits.

3

It Chapter Two (2017)

Adapting Stephen King’s 1,000-page book into one film would have been impossible, so the modern movies smartly opted for a duology. It Chapter Two was all about the adult characters, and followed up on their earlier adventures as seen in the first chapter. It’s also about half-an-hour longer, but not for the better.

The sequel is still a fun movie with more than a few effective chills, but its extra length doesn’t help to serve the story. It is too married to the concepts of King’s novel for its own good, meaning it holds onto details that should have been left on the cutting room floor.

2

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Keanu Reeves was reinvented when he stepped into the тιтle role in the John Wick series, and it helped usher in a new era of action blockbusters. By the time John Wick: Chapter 4 rolled around, the series had become legendary, and the fourquel had a lot of interweaving stories to connect. Thus, it became the longest installment by far.

Unfortunately, Chapter 4 isn’t served by its extra half-hour, and is guilty of dragging at parts where it should have been exciting. An action film should always feel fast and thrilling, but the so-called final chapter got a bit bogged down. It’s still a strong enough film to overcome those flaws, but a shorter cut would have worked wonders.

1

King Kong (2005)

Fresh off capping the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson returned to direct a modern remake of King Kong. The 2005 film paid homage to the original while expanding certain ideas and improving many scenes with state-of-the-art CGI technology. Somehow, the giant ape movie ended up becoming a three-and-a-half-hour spectacle.

No individual part is flawed, and the project was clearly a labor of love for Jackson. However, its self-indulgence lessens the impact of the action/adventure aspects of the story, while giving way too much time to character building. Movies have no set limit on length, but King Kong‘s overall running time is a detriment to the final product.