11 epically long films that won’t waste your time, ranked
11 epically long films that won’t waste your time, ranked
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In honour of Brady Corbet’s 215-minute epic ‘The Brutalist’ receiving 10 Oscar nods, The Independent’s culture team selects 11 other movies with mammoth runtimes that are worth the investment. Truly, there is nothing worse than a film that overstays its welcome – that horrible feeling of being in the cinema and checking your watch only to discover you’re less than halfway through. Even a great film will be hurt by an excessive runtime (Killers of the Flower Moon), let alone a bad one (ahem… Babylon).
![[Ian McKellen in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King']](https://static.independent.co.uk/2022/09/28/08/newFile-5.jpg)
That said, there are exceptions. In the right hands, a film can and should be allowed to sprawl for as long as is necessary. Take The Brutalist – the 215-minute epic starring Adrien Brody is as poignant as it is prolonged. Brady Corbet’s story of artistic struggle is so long that it comes with a 15-minute intermission, and yet it earns every second of its screen time.
![[Hazuki Kikuchi, Rira Kawamura, Maiko Mihara, Sachie Tanaka in ‘Happy Hour’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/23/09/shutterstock_editorial_14202680ff.jpg)
In honour of The Brualist, which has received 10 Oscar nods after cleaning up at the Golden Globes earlier this month, we’ve ranked 10 of the best movie epics across the ages. You may find there are some arguably glaring omissions – Ben-Hur, for example, is absent, as is Gone with the Wind – but these are the films we feel are worthy of your precious time.
![[‘Trenque Lauquen’ is a labyrinthine, genre-shifting viewing experience split into 12 sections]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/12/07/16/newFile-11.jpg)
(For the purpose of this list, a film must have a minimum duration of three hours in order to be eligible; sorry, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, your two hours and 59 minutes doesn’t quite cut it). 11. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) – 201 minutes.
![[LI Congxi (left) and Zhang Yu (right) in ‘An Elephant Sitting Still’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/23/09/shutterstock_editorial_14204134bn.jpg)
