20 Best Movies Over Three Hours Long
1. Seven Samurai (1954)
Runtime: 3 hours, 27 minutes
For many, Seven Samurai is the finest achievement of Akira Kurosawa's career, and is widely seen as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, a bold statement easy to justify given the action-drama's lasting effect on moviemaking.
Even ignoring its cinematic importance, though - its extensive battle scenes, rare multicam filming and arresting visual storytelling - Seven Samurai is just, well, an awesome spectacle, the kind of thrilling, innovative action flick that still feels fresh, daring and teeming with life even 70 years after its release.
The tale of seven samurai warriors who are hired to protect a village from encroaching bandits, Kurosawa's rich masterpiece follows a pattern well-known to modern eyes, but at the time proved to be something truly special; the story of human valour, honour, evil and heroism that still sings with a deft emotional touch.
The inspiration for a variety of films to come, from The Magnificent Seven to Star Wars, Seven Samurai is a gorgeous, bracing thriller, but also a one-of-a-kind viewing experience so inspired and timeless it will always find a way to lure new audiences in with its spell.