Why are they SO LONG?

I consider myself pretty well versed in pop/entertainment culture.  But classics are not my strong suit - hence #66: watch top movies. 

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm a classic movie fan. 

Our latest was Seven Samurai (1954).  Let's look at the tough things about it.

In Japanese

Subtitled

In black & white

From 1954

214 minutes long 

(Did you do the math?  That's over 3 1/2 hours!!)

The guy on the right = awesome

The guy with the sword on his shoulder = insane disaster case

I looked at the things that made it so classic, and honestly a lot of things they did were the first time they were done - which would have been cool in 1954, but are common now.  And 214 minutes of subtitles is a long time.  We didn't dislike it, there was no specifically terrible part, but ... I guess I like modern movies more.  But now I can appreciate Seven Samurai references and am one step closer to a full check!

Have you ever watched a 3+ hour movie with subtitles??