Films - are they getting longer or is it just me?

Forums › Off topic › Films - are they getting longer or is it just me?

Geektastic

17943 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#191742 14-Feb-2016 23:12

It seems to me that just about every film I have watched over the last 18 months or so has felt as though it was about 30 minutes too long. The film will be romping along nicely and all of a sudden it will go through a patch for 5 minutes where it feels as though it is crawling and just as I am about to stand up and say "Anyone fancy a pint? Only it's going on a bit..." it finds another gear and gets back to it for a while.

Maybe it's just me - although Mrs Geektastic also agreed.

1 | 2

1512 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1492332 14-Feb-2016 23:30

ha! I feel the same pain, though I choose the right films to watch in cinema for long duration. But a mate and I watched the H8ful Eight a few weeks back and never looked at the duration before hand! and what a joy it was ! As long as the storyline is good and not weak then I can enjoy!

Geektastic

17943 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1492401 15-Feb-2016 08:49

joshhill96:

ha! I feel the same pain, though I choose the right films to watch in cinema for long duration. But a mate and I watched the H8ful Eight a few weeks back and never looked at the duration before hand! and what a joy it was ! As long as the storyline is good and not weak then I can enjoy!

Agreed - I have no problem with the film being long if it is necessary and if it works.

There does seem to be a trend just to make them long for the sake of it at the moment, almost as if directors or studios feel that it isn't a proper film if it isn't long.

Revenant just goes on way too long, for a start. Just how much footage of a man trekking across snow and ice alone is actually necessary to the plot of a man left for dead coming for revenge? It went on so long that the end was both a bit of an anti-climax and a relief at the same time.

timmmay

20580 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1492402 15-Feb-2016 08:52

I prefer them long. Actually I prefer TV series, where there's time for real character and plot development. 1.5 - 2 hours isn't much time really.

MikeB4

18435 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1492404 15-Feb-2016 08:52

They just seem longer especially Peter Jackson movies

RUKI

1402 posts

Uber Geek

#1492406 15-Feb-2016 08:54

No, that could be age, mate... When you are getting older - you may need to "wash you hands" more frequently, hence movies could feel being too long :-)

old3eyes

9120 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1492411 15-Feb-2016 09:00

joshhill96:

ha! I feel the same pain, though I choose the right films to watch in cinema for long duration. But a mate and I watched the H8ful Eight a few weeks back and never looked at the duration before hand! and what a joy it was ! As long as the storyline is good and not weak then I can enjoy!

The roadshow version that was not shown here is 20 minutes longer but it had an intermission..

Regards,

Old3eyes

Paul1977

5043 posts

Uber Geek

#1492416 15-Feb-2016 09:16

timmmay: 1.5 - 2 hours isn't much time really.

1.5 - 2 hours used to be the norm, but that just isn't the case for theatrically released movies any more. Aside from comedies, most studio movies are in excess of 2 hrs these days.

I watched Creed last night, and it had a running time of 133 minutes. For comparison, none of the previous 6 Rocky movies exceeded 2 hours (with the majority of them being considerably less).

Rocky 119 minutes

Rocky II 119 minutes

Rocky III 100 minutes

Rocky IV 90 minutes

Rocky V 104 minutes

Rocky Balboa 102 minutes

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29763 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1492430 15-Feb-2016 09:51

Maybe we're evolving to have shorter attention span. Before the days of iPhones/iPads/Ultrabooks, I could sit in the park and absorb the scenery for hours. Now I can't even find time to watch a 30 min WRC highlights.

In the past I felt the movies were too short (90-100mins) now I feel the movies are too long because I don't have time or I need to do something.

wasabi2k

2096 posts

Uber Geek

#1492441 15-Feb-2016 10:00

http://www.businessinsider.com/movies-are-getting-longer-2013-1 (2013)

http://www.randalolson.com/2014/01/25/movies-arent-actually-much-longer-than-they-used-to-be/

https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-average-length-of-movies-right-now-and-is-there-a-trend-going-up-or-down-Whats-the-trendline-been-like-over-the-last-10-years-Over-the-last-100-years

In short - it depends massively on what you watch. Stupid comedies remain short. There is more appetite for long movies in some cases.

You seem to be referring more to pacing - which will vary hugely on what you watch.

sidefx

3711 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1492442 15-Feb-2016 10:03

RUKI:

No, that could be age, mate... When you are getting older - you may need to "wash you hands" more frequently, hence movies could feel being too long :-)

Pretty much this I think. I also find as I get older by back and legs get quite uncomfortable sitting for extended periods. And other cinema goers seem put out when you stand up and stretch loudly. :-/

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." | Octopus Energy | Sharesies
- Richard Feynman

richms

28176 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1492444 15-Feb-2016 10:06

I have noticed my tolerance for time wasting bulls... padding has really dropped over the last few years.

Its why I cant stand 47 minute TV shows when it could have been 30, and most movies seem to have too much non action in them. I dont think it's a recent thing tho, going back and watching old movies also annoy me. Probably more so thanks to things with seek bars where I can easily skip past the drivel parts.

Richard rich.ms

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#1492486 15-Feb-2016 10:42

richms:

I have noticed my tolerance for time wasting bulls... padding has really dropped over the last few years.

Its why I cant stand 47 minute TV shows when it could have been 30, and most movies seem to have too much non action in them. I dont think it's a recent thing tho, going back and watching old movies also annoy me. Probably more so thanks to things with seek bars where I can easily skip past the drivel parts.

As an older person, I'd suggest that in good old movies much of the "padding" may have been plot and character development - often sadly lacking in modern "action" movies where back to back spectacular action/special effects seem to be used to hold the viewer's attention to lack of any credible plot, and one-dimensional stereotypes instead of real characters. Not saying I don't enjoy some such movies, but Tarantino-style where it doesn't take itself too seriously and with plot lines so predictable (or at least true to form), the movies are entertaining/amusing as parodies rather than anything to be taken seriously.

Attention spans have shortened. There's also a parallel IMO with music / audio and the "loudness wars". The quote "When there is no quiet, there can be no loud" is pertinent.

Lias

5589 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1492523 15-Feb-2016 11:50

I'm just going to leave this here:

http://runpee.com/

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup.

MikeAqua

7782 posts

Uber Geek

#1492532 15-Feb-2016 11:56

I've been thinking a lot lately "that movie needed more editing" so I would concur with the OP.

Mike

wasabi2k

2096 posts

Uber Geek

#1492533 15-Feb-2016 11:56

richms:

I have noticed my tolerance for time wasting bulls... padding has really dropped over the last few years.

Its why I cant stand 47 minute TV shows when it could have been 30, and most movies seem to have too much non action in them. I dont think it's a recent thing tho, going back and watching old movies also annoy me. Probably more so thanks to things with seek bars where I can easily skip past the drivel parts.

Old bond films - good lord - they feel like they are about 3 days long.

1 | 2