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  4. 'Killers of the Flower Moon' clocks in at 3 hours and 26 minutes. Here are 21 other movies over 3 hours long.

'Killers of the Flower Moon' clocks in at 3 hours and 26 minutes. Here are 21 other movies over 3 hours long.

Gabbi Shaw   

'Killers of the Flower Moon' clocks in at 3 hours and 26 minutes. Here are 21 other movies over 3 hours long.
"Killers of the Flower Moon."Courtesy of Apple
  • Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" is almost 3 1/2 hours long.
  • The legendary director has multiple movies over three hours long, including "The Irishman."

This year, there have been multiple movies clocking in at three-plus hours long, from "Killers of the Flower Moon" to "Oppenheimer."

The reaction to these lengthy running times ranges from overjoyed to begging for an intermission. But this isn't an unprecedented move: There have been many movies throughout cinematic history that have clocked in at three hours or more, including some of the highest-grossing movies of all time, like "Avengers: Endgame" and "Avatar: The Way of Water."

If you ever have a spare afternoon, here are 22 films that will eat up a significant chunk of your day.

'The Wolf of Wall Street': 3 hours

"The Wolf of Wall Street."      Paramount Pictures

"The Wolf of Wall Street," directed by Martin Scorsese, is based on the true story of Jordan Belfort and his escapades as the leader of a stock brokerage firm that ended up breaking federal laws. The movie was well-received by both critics and audiences, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

"'The Wolf of Wall Street' is a magnificent black comedy: fast, funny, and remarkably filthy," wrote The Atlantic.

'Oppenheimer': 3 hours

"Oppenheimer."      Universal Pictures

"Oppenheimer," one-half of the biggest movie phenomenon of the year ("Barbenheiemer"), stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.

The film follows Oppenheimer from his time as a university student in the United Kingdom through World War II and the atomic bomb detonations, the security clearance hearing that ended his career in politics, and the end of his life.

The Ringer wrote that the "level of shock and awe" exhibited in "Oppenheimer" is "breathtaking," yet sometimes also "taxing."

'Dances with Wolves': 3 hours, 1 minute

"Dances with Wolves."      Orion Pictures

Kevin Costner both starred in and directed the 1990 film "Dances with Wolves," which follows a Civil War-era lieutenant in the US Army who is positioned in a remote outpost on the western frontier. He eventually becomes part of a Native American tribe.

His directorial debut was applauded. Newsweek wrote, "Costner directs with the confidence of a Hollywood veteran well aware that entertainment comes before earnestness."

'Avengers: Endgame': 3 hours, 2 minutes

"Avengers: Endgame."      Walt Disney Studios

"Avengers: Endgame" didn't have an easy job to do — tie up a full decade of Marvel movies while simultaneously setting the stage for Phase 4. But somehow, it worked. It also managed to rake in nearly $2.8 billion at the box office.

As Insider's Kirsten Acuna wrote, "'Endgame' is an emotional punch straight to the gut," and "a very satisfying conclusion to this adventure that started back in 2008 with Tony Stark."

'The Deer Hunter': 3 hours, 3 minutes

"The Deer Hunter."      Universal Pictures

"The Deer Hunter" combined the star power of Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and Christopher Walken in a movie about the effects that the Vietnam War had on residents of their small Pennsylvania town.

The Hollywood Reporter called it "the great American film of 1978."

'Pearl Harbor': 3 hours, 3 minutes

"Pearl Harbor."      Buena Vista Pictures

Notorious 2001 flop "Pearl Harbor" only garnered a 24% on Rotten Tomatoes — probably for its less-than-stellar performances.

"For all the 118 actors listed, the movie offers almost no sense of authentic humanity," wrote the Associated Press.

'The Green Mile': 3 hours, 9 minutes

"The Green Mile."      Warner Bros.

"The Green Mile," based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, is about a death row inmate who appears to have supernatural healing powers.

The Montreal Film Journal called it "a wonderful picture with a deeply human core."

'Babylon': 3 hours, 9 minutes

Margot Robbie in "Babylon."      Paramount

"Babylon" is an epic story of Old Hollywood, following three characters, played by Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, and Brad Pitt, as they make their way in 1920s Los Angeles.

The film was divisive, with The London Evening Standard calling it a "disaster of biblical proportions," while the Wall Street Journal said it was one of the "richest and most ambitious films" of the year.

'Cleopatra': 3 hours, 12 minutes

"Cleopatra."      20th Century Fox

Real-life lovers Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton teamed up to play historical power couple Cleopatra and Mark Anthony in "Cleopatra."

Rotten Tomatoes said it best: "This colossal and opulent $60 million spectacular was epic in every sense of the word — an epic investment, an epic in the annals of Hollywood gossip, and, ultimately, an epic flop."

'Avatar: The Way of the Water': 3 hours, 12 minutes

"Avatar: The Way of Water."      Disney/20th Century Studios

Director James Cameron's long-awaited follow-up to 2009's "Avatar" (which itself is 2 hours and 42 minutes long) came 13 years later and is even more of a spectacle than its predecessor.

"The Way of Water" continues the story of Jake Sully and his love Neytiri, along with their blended family of biological and adopted children as they once again come up against the greed of the human race trying to exploit Pandora's natural resources.

Insider's Jason Guerrasio called the film an "astounding epic."

'The Right Stuff': 3 hours, 13 minutes

"The Right Stuff."      Warner Bros.

"The Right Stuff" is based on the true story of Chuck Yeager and his fellow test pilots who were chosen for Project Mercury, the first manned spaceflight.

"Rarely has a film made a historic accomplishment seem so vivid and personal," wrote The Hollywood Reporter. "It makes you wonder, quite suddenly, why there aren't more movies like this."

'Titanic': 3 hours, 14 minutes

"Titanic."      Paramount Pictures

The tragic love story of Jack and Kate, two passengers on the doomed RMS Titanic, was forever immortalized in this tearjerker.

Vox reviewer Alyssa Wilkinson watched the film for the first time ever in 2017 and found the movie is still effective.

She wrote that it "swept me off my feet almost from the get-go, a grand epic romance-disaster that reminded me, in the middle of my overstuffed-with-movies life, of what we mean when we talk about the power of cinema."

'Schindler's List': 3 hours, 15 minutes

"Schindler's List."      Universal

Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning drama is about the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German man who defied the Nazis and saved more than 1,000 Jews by employing them at his factory.

"With seemingly effortless grace and skill, 'Schindler's List' balances fear and exaltation, humor and horror, love and death," wrote The Chicago Tribune.

'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King': 3 hours, 21 minutes

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."      New Line Cinema

The final movie of "The Lord of the Rings" saga concluded with the entire Fellowship of the Ring working together to save Middle Earth from the evil all-seeing eye of Sauron.

Though its running time tired some people out — "Yes, the running time is long, and yes, those many endings in a slow, dreamy coda left me feeling spent — better spent than I can ever remember," wrote The Wall Street Journal — it became the first and only "Lord of the Rings" movie to win the Academy Award for best picture.

'The Godfather Part II': 3 hours, 22 minutes

"The Godfather Part II."      Paramount Pictures/IMDb

This follow-up to "The Godfather" combined the origin story of mob boss Don Vito Corleone with the rise of his son, Michael, in the rare sequel that's just as good as, if not better than, the original.

"One of the most ambitious and brilliantly executed American films, a landmark work from one of Hollywood's top cinema eras," wrote The Chicago Tribune.

'Malcolm X': 3 hours, 22 minutes

"Malcolm X."      Warner Bros.

Denzel Washington starred as the titular Malcolm X, one of the most famous and divisive leaders in Black history.

Newsweek wrote, "[Spike] Lee and company have performed a powerful service: they have brought Malcolm X very much to life again, both as man and myth."

'Barry Lyndon': 3 hours, 23 minutes

"Barry Lyndon."      Warner Bros.

"Barry Lyndon," directed by Stanley Kubrick, follows the titular character played by Ryan O'Neal for around 40 years of his life, as he rises from a lower-class gambler to the husband of a lady — and then back to a gambler.

As Rotten Tomatoes wrote, the film is "cynical, ironic, and suffused with seductive natural lighting."

'Killers of the Flower Moon': 3 hours, 26 minutes

"Killers of the Flower Moon."      Apple TV+

One of the most-anticipated movies of the year is "Killers of the Flower Moon," starring frequent Scorsese collaborators like Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, along with new additions like Lily Gladstone and Jesse Plemons.

The film is based on the real murders of members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma, also known as the Reign of Terror, in the 1920s.

"Killers," which premieres on October 20, has been called "grand, classic film-making" and "an American tragedy of the highest order" by The New Statesman.

'The Irishman': 3 hours, 29 minutes

"The Irishman."      Netflix

"The Irishman" reunited De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, and more of some of the most iconic actors of the last 50 years to tell the decades-long story of Union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino), mob enforcer Frank Sheeran (De Niro), and mob leader Russell Bufalino (Pesci).

Even though it's a hefty 3 1/2 hours, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "there are 209 minutes in 'The Irishman' and not one of them is wasted."

'Lawrence of Arabia': 3 hours, 36 minutes

"Lawrence of Arabia."      Columbia

"Lawrence of Arabia," based on the life of British solider T.E. Lawrence in WWI-era Middle East, is separated into two parts and even has an intermission.

"'Epic' is an over-used word in cinema, but David Lean's 1962, near four-hour journey with T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) into the Arabian desert is surely the gold standard for films grand in scale, design and delivery," wrote Time Out on the film's 50th anniversary.

'Ben-Hur': 3 hours, 32 minutes

"Ben-Hur."      MGM

Charlton Heston, one of the most legendary actors in history, starred as the titular Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince who is sold into slavery and must journey back home to Jerusalem, all the while meeting historical figures like Pontius Pilate and Jesus Christ himself.

The Telegraph wrote that "the story of how a man takes on the tyranny of the Romans, with all sorts of horrible consequences to himself and his family, is powerful and gripping."

'Gone with the Wind': 3 hours, 58 minutes

"Gone with the Wind."      Loews Cineplex Entertainment

This nearly four-hour sprawling story is about Scarlett O'Hara, a Civil War-era woman who lives on a Georgia plantation and deals with love, loss, and eventually is determined to start her life anew.

While the film has been criticised for its dubious portrayal of the Civil War and slavery, Time Out wrote "no one watches 'Gone with the Wind' for historical accuracy. What keeps us coming back is four-hours of epic romance in gorgeous Technicolor."

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