Some movies feel like they last forever, and not in a good way. Whether it’s a bloated blockbuster or a historical epic that just won’t quit, a bad long movie can turn a fun night into a real endurance test.
These 18 films all clock in at over two hours, but their runtimes are only part of the problem. Sit back, check the clock, and see if any of these marathon misfires sound familiar.
1. Wyatt Earp (1994)
Few things are harder to sit through than a slow Western that mistakes length for depth. Wyatt Earp runs for a punishing 191 minutes and somehow makes one of history’s most exciting lawmen feel like a chore to watch.
Critics called it a snooze, and it’s hard to disagree. Kevin Costner’s performance has its moments, but the film meanders endlessly.
By the time you reach the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, you may have already given up caring.
2. Les Misérables (2012)
Singing every single line of dialogue sounds like a bold artistic choice, until it exposes just how shaky some of those performances really are. The 2012 version of Les Misérables clocks in at 158 minutes of nearly non-stop live-recorded vocals.
Some cast members shine, but others struggle noticeably. The ambitious approach turned into a double-edged sword, making every weak note impossible to ignore.
What should have felt like grand theater often ended up feeling more like an uncomfortable audition stretched across two and a half hours.
3. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Harrison Ford put on the hat one more time, and the result was a 154-minute reminder that some franchises should quit while they’re ahead. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was widely panned as one of the worst-paced blockbusters in recent memory.
The action sequences feel exhausting rather than thrilling, and the story stumbles through a confusing plot involving time travel. Watching a beloved character struggle through a film this dull is genuinely painful for longtime fans of the series.
4. Caligula (1979)
Richard Roeper once called this film the Citizen Kane of awful, and that description has stuck around for decades. Caligula runs for 156 minutes of what critics describe as aggressively tasteless filmmaking that seems to revel in its own excess.
The film is a chaotic blend of historical drama and shocking content that pleases almost nobody. Even viewers who seek it out for curiosity usually regret the decision.
It manages to make ancient Roman history feel both offensive and remarkably boring at the same time.
5. Paint Your Wagon (1969)
Clint Eastwood singing. Lee Marvin singing.
A 154-minute Western musical that reportedly ended director Joshua Logan’s career momentum. Paint Your Wagon is a fascinating disaster that somehow got greenlit and somehow kept going long after it should have stopped.
Critics have called it pointlessly long and overwrought, and the musical numbers do little to help the sluggish pacing. Logan reportedly never quite recovered professionally from the film’s failure, which stands as a cautionary tale about Hollywood ambition running way ahead of actual quality.
6. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
It won the Academy Award for Best Picture, which is still one of the most controversial Oscar decisions ever made. At 152 minutes, The Greatest Show on Earth is frequently described by modern critics as melodramatic, short on real plot, and bogged down with clichés.
The circus setting offers some visual spectacle, but the thin story can’t support nearly two and a half hours of screen time. Retrospective reviews have been brutal, with many film historians ranking it among the weakest Best Picture winners in Oscar history.
7. Superman Returns (2006)
After years of waiting for a proper Superman comeback, audiences got 154 minutes of a hero who mostly watches things happen rather than actually saving the day. Superman Returns is regularly listed among the worst superhero films of its era.
Brandon Routh does his best with a script that gives him very little to work with. The film spends so much time being reverent toward the original Christopher Reeve movies that it forgets to be exciting on its own terms.
The pacing is torturous.
8. Eternals (2021)
Marvel’s track record of crowd-pleasing hits made Eternals feel like a guaranteed winner. Instead, the 156-minute film became the first MCU entry to earn a rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes, leaving audiences genuinely puzzled about what went wrong.
The huge cast of new characters gets introduced so quickly that it’s hard to connect emotionally with any of them. Long stretches of exposition replace action, and the grand cosmic storyline never quite comes together.
For a superhero movie, it’s surprisingly easy to feel completely detached from everything happening on screen.
9. Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
Ridley Scott directing a biblical epic with a massive budget sounds promising on paper. The reality was a dreary 150-minute retelling of Moses’s story that critics said failed to find any real emotional core despite all its spectacle.
Christian Bale plays Moses with a brooding intensity that never quite connects with the audience. The film also sparked controversy for casting white actors in Egyptian and Hebrew roles.
All the visual grandeur in the world couldn’t cover up a script that felt hollow from beginning to end.
10. Kinds of Kindness (2024)
Yorgos Lanthimos has made some genuinely brilliant films, but Kinds of Kindness at 164 minutes tested even his most devoted fans. Critics acknowledged the film is a challenging picture, which is often a polite way of saying it’s really hard to enjoy.
The anthology-style structure means viewers sit through multiple stories that feel deliberately uncomfortable and not in a rewarding way. Calling it not exactly an enjoyable movie to watch might be the understatement of 2024.
Patience is required in massive quantities, and even then, satisfaction is not guaranteed.
11. Dances with Wolves (1990)
Kevin Costner appears twice on this list, which tells you something. Dances with Wolves runs for 181 minutes and, while it won Best Picture, many viewers find it pointlessly long and overwrought on a rewatch decades later.
The scenery is undeniably beautiful, and the film’s heart is in the right place. But nearly three hours of slow, contemplative storytelling asks a lot from modern audiences.
Many who revisit it today find the pacing glacial and the runtime nearly impossible to justify compared to tighter, more focused films of the same era.
12. Cleopatra (1963)
At a staggering 248 minutes, Cleopatra is one of the longest major Hollywood productions ever made, and sitting through all four hours feels like a genuine physical challenge. Critics have described it as a slog that’s hard to sit through, which is a fair warning.
Elizabeth Taylor is magnetic, and the production design is jaw-dropping. But the story plods along at a pace that tests even the most patient moviegoers.
The film famously nearly bankrupt 20th Century Fox with its runaway budget, and the on-screen result sadly never justifies that extraordinary cost.
13. Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
Four hours. Two hundred and forty-two minutes.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is less a movie and more a commitment. Critics noted that despite its enormous length, the film constantly dumps DC universe exposition on viewers without earning any of it emotionally.
Dedicated fans celebrated its release after years of campaigning, but casual viewers found it exhausting. One critic bluntly stated it wasted a full two hours of their life, which implies even they only made it partway through.
Passion projects don’t always translate into watchable films.
14. Gods and Generals (2003)
Civil War history is genuinely fascinating, so it takes real effort to make it feel this tedious. Gods and Generals clocks in at 219 minutes in its theatrical cut, with director’s cuts running even longer, and it earns its spot on every worst-long-movies list without much debate.
The film is reverent to the point of paralysis, treating every historical figure with such solemnity that drama completely drains away. Battles that should feel urgent instead feel staged and lifeless.
History buffs may find small rewards, but most viewers will check out long before the credits roll.
15. Pearl Harbor (2001)
Michael Bay took one of the most significant tragedies in American history and somehow made it feel like a perfume commercial. Pearl Harbor runs for 183 minutes, and the romance subplot that dominates the first half feels like it lasts longer than the actual war.
The attack sequence in the middle is genuinely impressive filmmaking, but everything surrounding it is melodramatic nonsense. Critics and audiences alike felt the film disrespected its subject matter by burying it under soap opera drama.
Watching it today, the bloated runtime makes every flaw feel even more pronounced.
16. The Postman (1997)
Kevin Costner’s third appearance on this list confirms a pattern. The Postman runs 177 minutes and tells the story of a drifter who inspires hope by delivering mail in a post-apocalyptic America.
Critics found the pacing glacial and the story bloated beyond belief.
The film’s earnest sincerity might have worked at half the length. Instead, scene after slow scene piles on until the whole thing collapses under its own self-importance.
It won multiple Razzie Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Actor, all for Costner himself. A truly remarkable trifecta of failure.
17. Alexander (2004)
Oliver Stone tackled one of history’s greatest conquerors and produced a 175-minute film that critics said dragged through battles and political intrigue without much momentum. Colin Farrell’s blonde wig became almost as famous as the movie’s disappointing box office returns.
The film covers decades of Alexander’s life but rarely makes any of it feel thrilling or urgent. Multiple cuts and re-edits have been released over the years, suggesting even Stone knew something wasn’t working.
Unfortunately, tinkering with the edit couldn’t fix the fundamental problem of a story that never finds its pulse.
18. Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
By the fourth Transformers movie, viewer fatigue was already a well-documented condition. Age of Extinction runs for 165 minutes, and reviewers noted that the plot makes absolutely no sense while exhaustion fully sets in well before the ending arrives.
Mark Wahlberg replaced Shia LaBeouf, but swapping the lead actor couldn’t fix a franchise running on fumes. Explosions, robot fights, and loud noise fill every minute, but none of it adds up to anything meaningful.
Sitting through the whole runtime feels less like watching a movie and more like surviving one.