Excluding quick bathroom breaks (because when you gotta go, you gotta go) what's the longest film you've seen without having to watch in parts?
For me it's either "Gone With The Wind" or "Zack Snyder's Justice League". Both the run times are very similar. I've considered watching "Dr. Mabuse the Gambler" which is almost 5 hours, but so far I haven't seen it.
I've seen Seven Samurai in a theater three times, and Lawrence of Arabia and Gone With the Wind once each on a big screen. I suppose those are the longest two I can recall now. The Irishman was quite long, that's another I saw in a cinema.
shareOh, another long one I've seen a number of times in one sitting is It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. And Return of the King, which was far, far too long.
shareI've seen Seven Samurai a few times at home and never realized it was actually this long (3:27). Maybe it was an edit but if not the film really must have kept me engaged.
shareEvery time I watch I'm astounded by how it seems to breeze by so quickly. It's my favorite film, in part for how perfectly paced it is.
shareThe Godfather II is 3hr 22min. The first one is 2hr 55min
I thought The Good, Bad, Ugly was over 3 hours but it's 2hr 28 min
A Bridge Too Far is 2hr 55min
Patton is 2 hr 52 min
My Fair Lady is 2hr 50 min
The Sound of Music is 2hr 52 min
I thought The Good, Bad, Ugly was over 3 hours but it's 2hr 28 min
They tried to cram too much into The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. That's what makes it seem so epic in nature. Sadly they left off some potentially really good story arcs to make up for that. More background on Angel Eyes, for one.
shareMine is probably Gone With The Wind.
Others are:
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
The Right Stuff
The Sound of Music
Giant
I'm kind of surprised no one has mentioned Cleopatra (1963, 4 hrs, 3 min). But then, I've never watched it either, so whatever.
And then there's this movie: Sleep (1964). https://moviechat.org/tt0187513/Sleep
Five hours, 21 minutes of watching someone sleep? Could there BE a more boring movie???
Andy Warhol also did an 8 hour film called "Empire" (1964) where he filmed the empire state building. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=py_WBhCxoKc
shareDoctor Zhivago. About 3H20. I love that film.
shareI once watched Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle on four consecutive nights. The last opera, Gotterdammerung, was 4 hours and 41 minutes. But that was a one shot deal; I don't think I've ever sat through any other performance over four hours, and I rarely have the patience to go past three hours.
shareIn person is different than watching a film, because you're pretty much forced to sit still.
shareThis wasn't in person, but on DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Nibelungen-Complete-Levine-Metropolitan/dp/B00006L9ZT
shareThat's just brave. How did you live to tell the tale?
shareIn one way it wasn't difficult. It's a good story, and nowhere near as ponderous as I had feared. For example, the opening scene of the first opera, Das Rheingold, is pretty funny. But it was somewhat tiring. Das Rheingold is 2:43, but the next two, Die Walkure and Siegried, are 4:04 and 4:13. So, about fifteen and a half hours total.
Doing it at home helps. First, the DVDs have English language subtitles. Also have pause-and-pee capability, and no need to dress up for the occasion.