10 Epic Movie Marathons To Pass The Time Right Now

2. Middle-Earth: The Extended Editions

The Lord of the Rings is rightly regarded as a monumental achievement in cinema, and was received with universal critical acclaim and an unassailable reputation as one of the greatest trilogies that we'll ever see. The Hobbit, not so much.

Stretching out slim source material over almost eight hours never felt like the wisest idea, and it always seemed as though Peter Jackson's heart was never really in it, and he only stepped back into the director's chair because he had to after Guillermo del Toro departed.

In terms of both reviews and box office, The Hobbit never came close to matching The Lord of the Rings, but perhaps an epic return to Middle-Earth via the Extended Editions of all six movies can paint the prequel trilogy in a different light.

That being said, it isn't a task for the faint of heart, because the fantasy epics are long, long films. The Battle of the Five Armies clocks in the shortest at a brisk 164 minutes, while The Return of the King's 400 different endings stretching the Extended Edition of the concluding chapter to over four hours.

If you've got the patience and the attention span to attempt such an epic undertaking, then hunkering down to enjoy the longest versions of the Middle Earth franchise possible will keep you occupied for a butt-numbing 1218 minutes, or just over twenty hours.