# "Slow" movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015 "2016-06-10T12:22:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/1 "2016-06-10T12:22:01Z")
I watched a a youtube video in which a young woman “geek” [watches _Blade Runner_ for the first time](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mwhZlV7yRo) and tells us her reaction and review. She seems underwhelmed. Tongue-in-cheek, she riffs on the inaccuracies in brands and tech in a movie set in 2019, and then calls it extremely slow. Slow? I wouldn’t speed up _Blade Runner_ one bit. It’s intended to be mesmerizing and strange, with a series of images of a dystopian future passing before us at a pace like a gumshoe film noir. The speed and timing of the film is a part of its genius. Then I thought about other similarly-paced movies which I love, and a lot of them are either Kubrick or Kurosawa movies. I _love_ this type of movie, as I’m all about brilliant visuals. Movies which contain frenetic editing and continual action are exhausting and boring to me. No one could call _47 Ronin_ fast, but that’s a favorite of mine. Also, _Alien_ takes its time before much action takes place, and even then, never reaches the over-caffeinated pace of a modern movie. What are some other “slow” masterpieces? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/2 "2016-06-10T12:29:52Z")
Just about every good movie would be slow by that standard. Obviously the young self proclaimed geek prefers to watch non-interactive video games. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/3 "2016-06-10T12:30:36Z")
I loved, [Locke](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/locke/). Entire movie takes place inside a car while the only actor on screen is driving. [Moon](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009075-moon/?search=moon), is similar in that there is only one actor on screen the entire movie. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/4 "2016-06-10T12:51:24Z")
Seems more like a vapid webblogger than a true “geek”. There are plenty of great slow-paced movies that don’t have MTV style rapid editing and CGI spectacle (although often lots of subtle CGI). QuickSilver already mentioned Moon. But also: Ex Machina Gattaca 2001 Donnie Darko Children of Men Sunshine Brazil The Thing Her 12 Monkeys Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind so on and so forth ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/5 "2016-06-10T12:52:47Z")
**OPEN SPOILERS FOR A 40-YEAR-OLD MOVIE** _Jaws_. Woman gets eaten at the beginning, then basically nothing happens for an hour, then Chief Brody, Quint, and Richard Dreyfuss go out on the boat, where mostly nothing happens for another hour, then there’s a flurry of activity before Quint gets eaten and Brody blows up the shark with a fire extinguisher. The end. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/6 "2016-06-10T12:59:38Z")
If a movie is slow in the sense that nothing useful is happening for more than 15 minutes, then there are no good slow movies. But if it’s slow in that it’s successfully developing characters or building tension or advancing a story, then Jaws is excellent, The Thing, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Titanic, Alien… ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/7 "2016-06-10T14:07:23Z")
My second all-time favourite film, “Being There”, unfolds like molasses in January, but is necessary for character and plot in this one, as it slowly, but surely, builds into a wonderfully skewed juggernaut of accidental power-climbing. Even Chauncey Gardiner’s delivery is slow. “The Last Picture Show” and “The Tenant” are also fine examples. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/8 "2016-06-10T14:36:18Z")
To be fair, the pace of movies has increased over the years. I find myself amazed sometimes when I watch an old TV show how slowly some were paced. long establishing shots. Driving. Turning. (I think part of that was padding to fill out the hour, but it did happen in movies as well.) Modern video story telling moves along a lot quicker. Sometimes it’s better, sometimes not. It isn’t just “MTV editing” with scenes no longer than 3 seconds - the general story moves faster, too. Modern audiences are more familiar with conventions, so a lot of expository scenes are no longer necessary. I wish I could think of a good example. Use theme songs for an example. Gilligan’s Island spells out the entire premise of the show. I think it runs a full minute. 2.5 Men’s theme consists of “Mennnnnn”. Themes are no longer necessary. ---
**Author:** ![oara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b77776/32.png) [@oara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oara)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/9 "2016-06-10T14:47:19Z")
Andrei Tarkovsky ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/10 "2016-06-10T14:55:20Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > To be fair, the pace of movies has increased over the years. Watch the pace of movies from the 30s some time, especially Warner Brothers pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/11 "2016-06-10T15:03:56Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > To be fair, the pace of movies has increased over the years. Hitchcock movies are glacial by modern standards. _The Trouble with Harry_ is about 14 hours long. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/12 "2016-06-10T15:23:44Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > **OPEN SPOILERS FOR A 40-YEAR-OLD MOVIE** > > _Jaws_. Woman gets eaten at the beginning, then basically nothing happens for an hour, then Chief Brody, Quint, and Richard Dreyfuss go out on the boat, where mostly nothing happens for another hour, then there’s a flurry of activity before Quint gets eaten and Brody blows up the shark with a fire extinguisher. The end. Last year, I saw Jaws for the first time. I found everything before the guys go out on the boat to be boring. However, I thought everything on the boat to the end was great. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/13 "2016-06-10T15:33:11Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I loved, [Locke](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/locke/). > > Entire movie takes place inside a car while the only actor on screen is driving. Yes, but very exciting. I was on the edge of my seat wondering if that concrete pour would go off as planned. It’s not often that a construction supervisor is the hero of the story. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/14 "2016-06-10T15:35:28Z")
Mary Poppins. It’s nice enough at the beginning but I don’t know if I’ve ever made it through the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/15 "2016-06-10T15:52:45Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Hitchcock movies are glacial by modern standards. _The Trouble with Harry_ is about 14 hours long. And Hitchcock movies are brilliant. _Psycho_ is really slow, but it’s considered one of the best films ever. The murders that are shown on-screen actually take the time it would take to die, and are excruciating-- like the murder in _Strangers on a Train_, one of the best on-screen deaths ever. Hitchcock himself says that he made mistakes in pacing in his early films-- he talks for length about one in _Sabotage_, for example, but I think that scene actually works better than comparable scenes in modern movies. I get so tired of people doing FX things just because they can-- I mean, the pacing of the original _Star Wars_ (now, _A New Hope_) is actually kinda slow for a sci-fi film, and the really expensive FX are doled out more mercenarily than people remember, but it’s one of the greatest movies ever made. Maybe this explains why I haven’t enjoyed new movies so much since about 2000. People think CGI can make up for anything, but it can’t. One of my favorite movies has no effects in it whatsoever. It doesn’t even have any camera motion. It’s called _Stranger than Paradise_. It was made in 1984, when lots of independent films were getting play, before Hollywood discovered them, and started making faux independent film. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > Last year, I saw Jaws for the first time. I found everything before the guys go out on the boat to be boring. However, I thought everything on the boat to the end was great. It didn’t rivet you to your seat when the girl died at the beginning? That’s one of the most effective, and scariest, scenes in all film. And it kept me watching. Also, Roy Scheider’s performance. He was perfect. Watching his Chief Brody struggle with, and make, every decision was very suspenseful, and great acting. And I was only 10 when I saw _Jaws_, but I was aware of those things on some level, so a 20-something weblogger can be as well. Now, there are fast-paced films from the earlier days of film-- the fast-talking screwball comedy where things just don’t stop happening was a genre. They never let up, and you can’t catch your breath. And there are even some pretty fast-paced silent films (and no, I don’t mean the ones run at the wrong speed). But it was a directorial decision, not a marketing decision. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/16 "2016-06-10T15:56:25Z")
A recent movie that made a lot of “Best Of 2015 Horror Movie” lists: **Bone Tomahawk**. A western with Kurt Russell, it takes its time getting there, but none of that time is wasted. Tell your young friend that there’s a difference between “slow” and “deliberate”. ---
**Author:** ![Willcross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Willcross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Willcross)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/17 "2016-06-10T16:03:25Z")
“The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford” starring Brad Pitt felt pretty slow to me but was a really really great movie. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/18 "2016-06-10T16:15:05Z")
[Europa Report](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2051879/) Slow and probably boring to anyone who isn’t of a technical mind. It’s a Sci-Fi movie with a very realistic approach as to what a manned mission to Europa might look like. Personally, it’s one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/19 "2016-06-10T16:29:37Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > To be fair, the pace of movies has increased over the years. I find myself amazed sometimes when I watch an old TV show how slowly some were paced. long establishing shots. Driving. Turning. (I think part of that was padding to fill out the hour, but it did happen in movies as well.) > > Modern video story telling moves along a lot quicker. Sometimes it’s better, sometimes not. It isn’t just “MTV editing” with scenes no longer than 3 seconds - the general story moves faster, too. Modern audiences are more familiar with conventions, so a lot of expository scenes are no longer necessary. > > I wish I could think of a good example. Use theme songs for an example. Gilligan’s Island spells out the entire premise of the show. I think it runs a full minute. 2.5 Men’s theme consists of “Mennnnnn”. Themes are no longer necessary. Compare the original Mad Max vs Mad Max: Fury Road. Or The Terminator vs Terminator: Genisys. Technology enables filmmakers to cram more and better effects at a much faster pace then they could 30 years ago. And audiences expect that. Sometimes it works. Sometimes no. The downside is that it makes it harder to create high-tension “slow burners” and market them like big blockbusters. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015/20 "2016-06-10T17:18:34Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > [Europa Report](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2051879/) That’s another one I was trying to remember. Have never been able to watch the whole thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-movies/757015.md?page=2)