War is brutal, but presenting its story on screen is a cinematic challenge as well. How do you capture the exact scope and intensity of political conflict and armed battles within the confines of a conventional two-hour runtime? Well, for some filmmakers, the only way to do justice to the expansive, world-altering nature of war is to allow the story to unfold at a rather slow and grand pace.
The result? Some of the longest war movies in the history of cinema. The directors of these movies chose to leave behind brevity and instead plunge fully into the vast experience of those who lived through and defined our collective histories. Without time hindering them, these movies are able to convey the exact turmoil and the passage of days, weeks, or even years on the battlefield.
The movies in this list are nothing but a detailed visual account of a war. While some take a documentary approach and use archival footage, others stay on the frontlines, crafting an entire war from start to finish. No matter the style, each movie is definitive of the era it was made in. so, without much ado, let’s take a look at these painstakingly-long but truly glorious understandings of war and their lasting effects on history.
10 Doctor Zhivago (1965) – 200 minutes
Based on the 1957 novel of the same name written by Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago depicts an epic historical romance set during the tumultuous political aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917. We follow Yuri Zhivago, a physician and poet who falls for a young woman named Lara despite being married to another woman. As the rebelling factions clash with the counter revolutionary forces, Zhivago and Lara find their love tested by Zhivago remains faithful to his wife.
Epic in Scope, Intimate in Detail
Director David Lean is known for telling takes that are ripe with personal moments. But with Doctor Zhivago, he tries to portray a passionate love affair amidst the kind of conflicts that are tearing their country apart. The sweeping scenes of battle and mass upheaval add depth to the historical revolution. Leads Julie Christie and Omar Sharif deliver performances that linger through silences and small gestures. At nearly three and a half hours long, Doctor Zhivago remains one of cinema’s most breathtaking war movies of all time. Stream on Tubi
9 Exodus (1960) – 208 minutes
Exodus is adapted from the best-selling novel written by Leon Uris. It tells the gripping story of thousands of Jews — many of them Holocaust survivors – being held by the British at an internment camp. A decorated former captain in the Jewish Brigade in the British Army and Haganah agent named Ari Ben Canaan takes it upon himself to arrange a secret transportations to get the Jews out of Europe and into what would become Palestine.
Grand and Gritty In Equal Measure
While the length of Exodus may seem monumental, it is nothing compared to the decades-spanning true story it tells. Directed by Otto Preminger, the movie is a true spectacle of a production; its score of Jewish pioneers fighting to build a homeland for themselves amidst human turmoil is quite legendary. Big-name stars like Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, Ralph Richardson, Peter Lawford, and more play characters both noble and complex, propelling the cinematic masterpiece into an unforgettable one. Stream on Fubo TV
8 Lawrence of Arabia (1962) – 227 minutes
This one takes you to the Deserts of the Middle East during WWI. At the center of it is T.E. Lawrence, a British officer who had grown accustomed to and experienced with the region’s Arab culture. When he is set to aid the Arab tribes in revolt against the Turks and serve as a liaison between the Arabs and the British, Lawrence undergoes an immersive journey, one that includes him embarking on a daring camel journey across the harsh desert.
A Daring Journey Captured with Care
Even if Lawrence of Arabia is not technically the longest war movie out there, it is definitely the grandest, most adventurous historical war epic. With photography so stunning and scope so jaw-dropping, it mesmerizes new audiences even today. Director David Lean sets it at nearly four hours, allowing the natural majesty of the to overwhelm the audience, while the intricate sound design and Peter O’Toole’s captivating performances appear just as timeless. The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Rent on Apple TV
7 Gone with the Wind (1939) – 233 minutes
Directed by Victor Fleming, Gone with the Wind is one of the earliest war movies to ever win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It’s set against the Civil War and the Reconstruction era, and it follows a strong-willed Scarlett O’Hara, who finds herself smitten by Ashley Wilkes, a Southern man who is about to marry his cousin, Melanie. But Scarlett’s advances are turned down by Ashley. The movie documents the civil unrest, economic depression, and personal struggles marked by the war.
Immerses Viewers into Pre-War Georgia
Criticized early for its conventional portrayal of certain factions of society, Gone with the Wind eventually became a global phenomenon, marked by critics as the “single most beloved entertainment ever produced.” Fleming is at his absolute best when it comes to staging lavish sets and using special effects realistic enough to transport viewers to pre-war Georgia and experience the tragedy of the period through the eyes of Scarlett, the ultimate survivor and a woman with great endurance, played by Vivien Leigh. Stream on Max
6 Gettysburg (1993) – 254 minutes
Clocking at four hours for its theatrical cut, and approximately 4.5 hours for its director’s cut, Gettysburg is perhaps one of the most engaging war movies of all time. It documents the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War, which went on for three turbulent days in July 1863 and saw the Union and Confederate armies clash in an unforgiving battle. Not only did the event mark a turning point in history but it also ended up deciding the nation’s future.
Historically Accurate and Emotionally Moving
Gettysburg spared no effort to dramatize every facet of the events, from battlefield strategy and homefront tensions down to individual uniforms, the movie brought alive cinematic battle scenes and the gruesome realities of war through the retrospective lens of director Ronald F. Maxwell. It was filmed on a $20 million budget, and considering the attention to detail and historical accuracy, it is fair to say that the production put every single penny to good use. Additionally, Gettysburg won praise for Jeff Daniels’ performance. Rent on Apple TV
5 The Sorrow and the Pity (1969) – 259 minutes
The Sorrow and the Pity is a French documentary that examines the German occupation of France during the Second World War through interviews with many citizens. Apparently, while France’s Vichy government believed that they played a crucial role in resisting Nazi rule, the documentary reveals that in the small city of Clermont-Ferrand, high-ranking individuals had collaborated with the enemy out of fear and blatant antisemitism.
An Introspective Account of World War II
Divided into two parts, the movie contrasts Nazi propaganda of a rebellious collaboration with a town actually won through peaceful efforts. Director Marcel Ophüls, who intended for the four and a half-hour-long movie to be consumed slowly, conducted thousands of hours of interviews to construct an intimate analysis of France grappling with political conflicts and its ambiguous stance under Germany’s boot. The movie was released at a time when people were still living in turmoil, so it unsettled some and enlightened others. Stream on Kanopy
4 Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988) – 268 minutes
Centered around one man responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocents is this French-language documentary directed by Marcel Ophüls. It profiles notorious Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie through detailed archival research, tracing his relatively innocent childhood, his time at the Gestapo in Lyon, all the way to his apprehension and impending trial in 1987, which reopened old wounds. Barbie had eluded justice for decades while enacting brutal murders and methods of torture that broke and shocked many.
Visual Representation of ‘Leaving No Stone Unturned’
Once again, Ophüls clocks a well-researched and immersive documentary at over four hours, allowing all sorts of evidence, interviews and historical context to bring to life Barbie’s insidious actions and post-war evasions. Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie leaves no grip aspect of the war uncovered. Instead, it paints an uncompromising and unforgiving portrait of one man’s sheer monstrosities one last time in an award winning fashion.
3 Napoleon (1927) – 333 minutes
With a runtime of 5+ hours, Napoleon feels like a history lesson, but one that is informative and memorable. Directed by Abel Gance, the epic French silent film portrays the early life of French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte. Starting with his youth and rise to power and ending with a successful military campaign in Italy and pivotal victory against allied Russians, the movie acts as a documentation of several glorious moments in the titular character’s life.
With Napoleon, Gance pushed the boundaries of what was possible in filmmaking. Not only did he use techniques and expressive devices that weren’t mainstream in the 1920s, but he also made sure to bring Napoleon’s humanity to the surface. An early blockbuster, Napoleon was intended to become an ongoing series. But even though the project was never realized, the movie, according to critics, was “a rich feast of images and emotions.”
2 War and Peace (1966) – 422 minutes
An Oscar-winning Soviet production, War and Peace brings to life Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel. Apparently, the project was Russia’s attempt to upstage any and all adaptations of the book that came before it. It was released in four installments across two years, and it followed five aristocratic families during Napoleon’s disastrous 1812 invasion of Russia through the eyes of characters like Pierre Bezukhov, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky and Natasha Rostova.
Plays Out at an Unprecedented Scale
Navigating themes of patriotism, romance, and questions of freewill, Sergei Bondarchuk’s War and Peace is the only movie that has attempted a true recreation of Tolstoy’s masterpiece. A blockbuster that spans over seven hours, it required meticulously recreated battles (which turned out to be long and bloody but genuinely boundary-pushing spectacles) and nightmarish depictions of humanity in its darkest hours.
1 The Human Condition (1961) – 579 minutes
Co-written and directed by Masaki Kobayashi and based on Junpei Gomikawa’s novel of the same name, The Human Condition is a Japanese trilogy film that documents one man’s struggle before, during, and after World War II. As a pacifist and socialist, when Kaji is drafted, his belief clashes with the brutal and oppressive world and it gets harder by the day to endure the atrocities of war. Eventually, the country changes him in the most alarming ways.
One of the Greatest Anti-War Movies of All Time
The three movies included in this trilogy are subtitled No Greater Love, Road to Eternity, and A Soldier’s Prayer, and even though they seem like separate projects, when they were released in Japan, the theaters screened them subsequently over the course of one night. Thus, this 10 hour examination of one man’s compassion and commitment to peace stands out as one of the greatest meditations on our collective and innate humanity. Tatsuya Nakadai gives an outstanding performance as Kaji, and The Human Condition as a whole, brought post-war Japan to the screens through a vast lens. Stream on The Criterion Channel
