comment #1

le corbeau says ...

Death attends a dinner party. Do you see 3 hours in that? I sure don't.

Every movie should be 90 minutes unless it can demonstrate otherwise.

comment #2

TL says ...

Meet Joe Black is one of the worst, most exhausting movie-going experiences of my life.

comment #3

Derby says ...

Not sure how long 'Rumor Has It…' and 'The Last Kiss' are, but those two are among the "...worst, most exhausting movie-going experiences of my life."

comment #4

Larry says ...

I agree that with most movies, if you can't say it in an hour and a half, it's because you did it wrong.

Meet Joe Black is some sort of experiment, where Brest decided to stretch out each scene by putting as much space in between each line as possible. Considering how dull the dialogue is it turned the film into a kind of water torture.

I've seen the full length Once Upon A Time In America, and I don't care what Pauline Kael says, it's okay but nothing special. Kingdom Of Heaven might have been improved by being longer, but I doubt it would have been a classic. Stone's Alexander was gonna suck no matter what was done with it.

comment #5

Noah says ...

I'm actually a fan of Meet Joe Black. I think it's an intriguing story that took the implications of its premise seriously. I thought Pitt and Hopkins were both great and I think that it was interesting to see a long running time attached to a film that wasn't "epic". It gave the movie room to breathe and if I am in the right mood when I watch it, I can get swept up in it. Of course, in the wrong mood, it can be torture.

comment #6

alynch says ...

Come on guys, I love long movies. Once Upon A Time In America is one of my all-time favorites. A 2.5-3.5 hour movie done right is cinema at its best.

comment #7

Rothchild says ...

Have you ever met someone that's seen Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut and doesn't feel it's a classic? I haven't.

comment #8

caslab says ...

I thought that Meet Joe Black's run time was right on . . . by the end of it, I completely understood how Anthony Hopkins character could embrace death . . .

comment #9

christian says ...

Have you ever met someone that's seen Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut and doesn't feel it's a classic?

I haven't met someone who's seen it...

comment #10

jeffmcm says ...

90 minutes is simply inadequate for some movies. Horror and comedy can be done in 90 minutes, but serious drama for the most part needs at least 100.

comment #11

Savant says ...

I own the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven and although Bloom's performance still seems not quite strong as it needs to be, the film is definitely flirting with "classic" status in the realm of period epics.

comment #12

Howlingman says ...

Some 90 minute movies feel twice the length, and some 3 hour ones feel half it -- it's usually a matter of pacing more then actual runtime.

And yes, the director's cut of KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is a near classic -- not quite LAWRENCE OF ARABIA but still a worthwhile investment of your time.

comment #13

Cadavra says ...

If you cut MEET JOE BLACK by half, it would still be longer than the original, DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY. And would still feel too long.

comment #14

BCU says ...

According to Robert Evans in "The Kids Stays in the Picture," Coppola offered to cut The Godfather down, but Evans insisted he keep in "all the family dynamics stuff."

comment #15

BNick says ...

I think you can actually have long movies that feel rushed if they're not done right. Return of the King felt very rushed towards the end (before the actual "endings" started), especially if you've read the books.

I would love to see a longer version of Gangs of New York. You know Scorcese has a 5-hour cult-producing cut hidden somewhere.

Also have to add my input on Kingdom of Heaven. I actually saw the Director's Cut before the original, and it's a totally different movie. The DC is really good but I wouldn't say classic.

comment #16

DavidF says ...

I don't see how anyone can describe Once Upon a Time in America as "nothing special."
If it didn't have one of the most botched releases in the history of Hollywood it would consistently be mentioned with The Godfather and Goodfellas as one of the best gangster films (IMHO).

I've never seen the theatrical version (would have made a neat DVD feature) but by all accounts it was an ungodly mess which was not only shorter but re-edited into chronological sequence, omitted character introductions and who knows what else.

I still have to see Kingdom of Heaven but I am most curious to do so. Note to self: Rent it alreay.

Knocked Up worked at over two hours and Toy Story works at 85. Dozens of great movies are in and around three hours so I really don't think any of this is a surprise.

Peter Jackson might have gone overboard on Kong but I don't think Return of the King was rushed at all. I would think anyone who read the books - in which the 2 main storylines are told totally separately - would appreciate the skill with which Jackson synchronized the timeline and action.

What would have felt rushed would have been the initial one-film and two-film LOTR versions that Miramax was pushing. I can't even imagine...

Lastly, Wells has certainly been guilty, over the last year, of pre-judging a movie saying, "I dunno - I hear it's 150 minutes and that usually means the director has gone wild, blah blah."

Hopefully we can all agree that, as with so many other things, it's not the length, it's how you use it and never discuss the former subject again.

comment #17

D.Z. says ...

The European cut of Brazil didn't really add anything important for me.

comment #18

The Hoyk says ...

I would add ALL THE PRETTY HORSES and THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS to the list of truncated frustrations. They are both over two hours and feel much too short.

Ebert said it succinctly:

"No good movie is too long. No bad movie is short enough."

comment #19

BNick says ...

The one-film Lord of the Rings would have been astonishingly bad. I would almost love to see it made just to see how they'd do it.

comment #20

christian says ...

"I would almost love to see it made just to see how they'd do it."

There's always the Bakshi version, which considering its origins has some cool stuff in it, including a great Gollum.

I saw the uncut ONCE UPON...AMERICA in the theater and while it's often mesmerizing with one of James Wood's best roles, the film is kinda harsh on the women and it's structurally messy. The best part of the film are the flashbacks to childhood, some of Leone's most lyrical set pieces. But I also love DeNiro and that coffee spoon for eternity...

comment #21

cbuckie says ...

I believe it was either Siskel or Ebert that once said "no good film is ever too long, no bad film is ever short enough"