Discussion Length of Episode 7

Length of movies was also driven by physical median. Much like music has been. Now with blue ray you could put a 3.5h hour movie on one disc. I want to say the max length of a VHS was just over 2 h.

 

As long as it needs to be.

 

135-140 minutes maximum.

 

I agree with Kasdan about blockbusters these days- in both Desolation of Smaug and Battle of the Five Armies, I was wanting them to be over for the last 10 minutes.

If the number on the die is between 1-2, the movie will be 2 hrs. 10 minutes
If 3-4, then 2'20"
If 5-6, then 2'30"

Edit: Ignore the second and third dice.

 

I really hope the pace of the movie is good and it doesn't drag.

If it's over 140 mins from the crawl to the end fanfare it will probably be too long.

Editing and storytelling are becoming lost art in movies these days.

The best ones at the moment are curiously Pixar (which releases its movies through Disney).

Nothing wrong if it's under 120 mins.

Since JJ Abrams is using IMAX cameras to record we know that likely it won't exceed the current max. IMAX time of 2.75 hrs.

Prediction: between 110-150 mins.

As a side note: I love the LOTR trilogy and own both the theatrical and extended editions. The only movie that I think is overlong due to pace is ROTK (250 mins!) , but SW is different than Tolkien's world

EDIT: Autocorrect woes

 

I would say that is more of a pacing and content issue than a length issue. They tried to put way more content into the movies than was necessary, or was good, as well as had pacing issues.

 

Calling it now: 121 minutes from first title to end credits (This is a JJ fast and punchy movie after all)

 

Anyone know the "rules" of when we'll find out for sure what the running time is?

 

He's not using them for the whole movie. In fact, it's already known what was filmed in IMAX. I hope that's not spoiling anything.

Anyway, I think it'll be a minimum of 120 minutes and max. 150.

 

Longer than Episode IV, the shortest movie (around 125 minutes) but shorter than Episode II, the longest one (I think it's around 142). So I'm guessing 126-140 minutes. Pretty specific, I know.

 

Depends on how much stuff they need to pack in. If they have a lot, then it should be longer. If they can leave stuff out until the next movie, then keep it shorter.

 

Storytelling 101.

Keep the story simple and to the point.

Seriously that's why GL fired the editor of Star Wars (ANH) even though the first editor was supposed to be really good, the edit of the movie lacked flow and pace. GL then hired a second editor and co-edited (cut) the movie to make it tighter. He completely removed the whole Biggs story arc (toshi station) and other secondary points of the story to focus on the "Luke rescues princes becomes the hero" story.

 

^yep. This is the lost art of film editing.

 

I have no problem with long movies. I think SW benefits from being fast paced, so I wouldn't expect anything over 2 & a half hours. But as long as there's important content to be had, I don't care how long it is.

 

I'm all for a 6 hour film, as long as there is an intermission. 12 hours max though, for sleep.

 

I'm of the same.

I always get "extended versions" of certain films when I can. (LOTR/HOBBIT extended versions are the ONLY versions, in my eyes.) But there are films that don't make sense to be longer,with the pacing and whatnot (can you imagine like a three-hour extended version of...The Bourne movies?),. and SW is one of those IMO.

I'm actually very glad that it has the running time of

Spoiler

just a few minutes over 2 hours, which is consistent with the rest of the saga.

Not sure if that's really a spoiler but just in case, as a measure of courtesy...

I just hope that the timeframe doesn't make the film feel rushed. Running time is actually quite a delicate game of balance, if you think about it.

 

I only watch the Extended LOTR films,myself. The run time doesn't bother me, since I treat it more as a mini-series and watch an hour or two a night.

I admit, viewing the Star Wars films like that wouldn't really feel right. The episodes need to be watched in their entirety,IMO.

 

This. I believe your'e right about VHS. In college a friend of mine had the VHS of Braveheart (two tapes), the film cuts off right about the 2 hr. mark.

One thing to bear in mind about blu ray however, is although they can take a longer film (many hours, in fact), the longer the movie is the more data it uses up on the disc. This can hinder the audio/visual quality of the film. That is one reason I was glad the LOTR extended versions were still on 2 discs. I remember reading they said they could have put each part on just one disc, but it would've sacrificed the quality. Good move!

Agreed. IMO Certain movies are just meant to be enjoyed differently. LOTR and any other long film like historical epics seem meant to invest time in. You know, kind of like reading a book. Whereas other straightforward action/sci-fi movies-SW is included in this-are more meant to be enjoyed as a slam-bang adventure experience, in one sitting. The pacing is set up as such for those films.

I can't remember the last time I watched any of the LOTR films in one sitting. With the two discs for each extended version, I basically treat it as six movies, rather than 3. One disc at a time. Then again, sometimes it WILL take me multiple weeks to get thru all the SW movies. Having a full time job, two toddlers, and other specific weekly obligations doesn't make it easy, as I'm sure some on here probz understand. My only window to watch movies is after 9pm, once everyone else is asleep (assuming I don't also fall asleep)!

 

Well the two best films in the saga so far are the shortest.

 

So now it may be longer than we thought????

Spoiler

apparently it's been said now that it's actually 136 minutes...

Not sure how much truth there is to that...but I guess we'll see soon enough!