Why are movies so long now?

[tfinch2]

Over the last couple of weeks I have watched This Is 40, Django Unchained, Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, and a couple of others. Jesus H Christ does every movie have to be 2 hours and 30 minutes now? And they were all probably 30-45 minutes too long. Anyone else annoyed by this trend?

I used to try to focus on movies and not do anything else, but it seems like I can't make it though a movie without multitasking since they are so fucking long and some parts are just mind numbingly boring.

 

[purbeast0]

i like long movies that are good movies. i usually don't want them to end and they go by fast because they are good.

ive seen 3 out of the 4 you mention (havent seen this is 40) and those movies definitely felt long though and i felt parts of them dragged on.

but i watched the hobbit and that movie flew by. same with the dark knight rises.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Long movies are great if they use their time well. I don't notice the length at all if they're good.

It's like a good song. I love my 10+ minute songs and my 20+ minute songs because they're awesome and I don't want it to end.

 

[nickbits]

I agree with you 100%. 90 minutes is plenty. 2-3hr is way too long.

 

[tfinch2]

Long movies are great if they use their time well. I don't notice the length at all if they're good.

I agree with this. But I am noticing the length more and more with recent movies because they are needlessly longer than they need to be.

I would imagine some are longer to pack more ads in.

 

[spaceman]

the hawbit coulda used some editing

 

[arrfep]

i like long movies that are good movies. i usually don't want them to end and they go by fast because they are good.

ive seen 3 out of the 4 you mention (havent seen this is 40) and those movies definitely felt long though and i felt parts of them dragged on.

but i watched the hobbit and that movie flew by. same with the dark knight rises.

Exactly what I was going to say.

I'm an escapist. If the movie takes me someplace great, I want to stay there as long as possible. TDKR is a great example. The extended versions of LOTR movies also. I have no problem spending 4 hours watching an enjoyable, well-paced movie.

 

[kranky]

I don't ever remember seeing a movie over 2 hours long where I WASN'T thinking "When is this going to be over?" It's to the point now where I will just avoid them as I know I'm going to be annoyed.

 

[JEDI]

Over the last couple of weeks I have watched This Is 40, Django Unchained, Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, and a couple of others. Jesus H Christ does every movie have to be 2 hours and 30 minutes now? And they were all probably 30-45 minutes too long. Anyone else annoyed by this trend?

I used to try to focus on movies and not do anything else, but it seems like I can't make it though a movie without multitasking since they are so fucking long and some parts are just mind numbingly boring.

your being reamed by ticket prices.
theaters owners would make more $ by churning 90min movies but movie companies want to make u feel like yur getting your $ worth.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Makes the file size bigger, making it harder to illegally download. :biggrin:

 

[roguerower]

As long as I'm watching it at home I don't care how long it is. If I'm in a theater, anything over 90min starts to feel like it's dragging on.

 

[Wyndru]

The longer you are in the theater, the more popcorn you eat :awe:

 

[IronWing]

Good to see a reversal of short movies that make you feel like you got ripped off.

 

[Mixolydian]

That's why I don't go to movies. They are too fucking long. At least if I watch them at home I can pause it to get up and walk around or take a break.

 

[boomhower]

Two hours seems like the sweet spot to me. 90 minutes can feel rushed and much more than two hours gets tiresome unless it's an unusually good movie which is exceedingly rare these days.

 

[IronWing]

Do theaters do intermissions for long movies?

 

[Wyndru]

Do theaters do intermissions for long movies?

I've never seen one in the theater.

Drive-in's have them in between the movies though, with dancing hot dogs and everything!

I'm so glad my area has Drive-In's still, it's dirt cheap.

 

[RaistlinZ]

You guys have short attention spans. I remember seeing Schindler's List in the theaters when I was a kid and I was intrigued for the full 3 hours 15 minutes.

You can't go longer than 90 minutes? Really? That's sad.

 

[Doppel]

Agree, OP. Most are too long now and as such I rarely sit down to watch a movie anticipating to watch it in one sitting. I Just don't want to sit/lie down for 2.5 hours like that, so I split 'em up.

Hobbit was, to my surprise and predictive failure, not so bad. It didn't feel brutally long. The worst offenders are not sci-fi or action movies actually but comedies. I've seen some comedies recently that were well past the two hour mark and I'm like wtf, a comedy movie should be 90 minutes. These movies are just not edited properly.

I read an article a few months back and it said movies are legitimately getting longer, it's not in our imagination.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

but i watched the hobbit and that movie flew by. same with the dark knight rises.

Wow, I thought that was at least 40 minutes too long for the amount of ground covered. It dragged and dragged. The other OP mentioned felt slowly paced too, any one of them could have been made better by trimming at least 15 minutes of fat.

 

[Doppel]

Cut! Moviegoers are begging for a bathroom break as holiday films stretch to three hours
http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/movies/cut_vij5LsptbZtvptzmXMuX1H

-------

Ebert: “No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough.”

 

[zCypher]

Maybe our attention spans are just shrinking. I see myself enjoying TV series more than movies these days. derpaderpityderp.

 

[ViRGE]

Cut! Moviegoers are begging for a bathroom break as holiday films stretch to three hours
http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/movies/cut_vij5LsptbZtvptzmXMuX1H

Exactly! I don't need an intermission because of my attention span; I need an intermission because my legs need to stretch and my bladder needs to compress.

 

[zerocool84]

Wow, I thought that was at least 40 minutes too long for the amount of ground covered. It dragged and dragged. The other OP mentioned felt slowly paced too, any one of them could have been made better by trimming at least 15 minutes of fat.

Same, Hobbit definitely could have used some time cut. I was waiting for it to end.

 

[Mixolydian]

I don't need an intermission because of my attention span;

I do. :\