My Top Ten Movies That Are 90 Minutes Or Less


Because sometimes, you like ’em short.

I’m sure we’ve all sometimes chosen what movie to watch based on whichever has the shortest running time. Life is busy and, for movie lovers, it isn’t always easy to find the time to devote to watching a film. And it seems that many of the most critically acclaimed films are at least two hours or more. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Well, luckily, there are some good ones to watch that don’t go to the lengths of Seven Samurai (which is an awesome movie that you really should watch when you have a spare three hours and 27 minutes). So, I’ve gathered some of my favorite cinematic quickies together in this list. And thanks to the hubby for this one as he’s the one who came up with the idea for the list (but, of course, I’ve done all the actual work. as always). ๐Ÿ˜‰

While scouring IMDB for running times, it soon became apparent that certain types of films tend to be the ones that are always short. Loads of animated movies, especially older ones from Disney, are under 90 minutes. Then there are all the old, silent films. Finally, a lot of horror films are also short. So I’ve decided to create two Top Tens as there are way too many short animated films & it’s always hard to know where to put them within a list of non-animated films.

So first, here are My Top Ten Animated Movies That Are 90 Minutes Or Less:

10. The Jungle Book (1 hr 18 min)
9. Yellow Submarine (1 hr 30 min)
8. Heavy Metal (1 hr 26 min)
7. TIE: Sleeping Beauty (1 hr 15 min) & Beauty And The Beast (1 hr 24 min)
6. TIE: 101 Dalmatians (1 hr 19 min) & The AristoCats (1 hr 18 min)

5. The Last Unicorn (1 hr 24 min if I cheat & go by the British version’s running time, which is always shorter anyway due to frame rates per second or something like that) ๐Ÿ˜‰

4. The Iron Giant (1 hr 26 min)

3. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1 hr 16 min)

2. Grave Of The Fireflies (1 hr 29 min)

1. TIE: My Neighbor Totoro (1 hr 26 min) & Toy Story (1 hr 21 min)

Now we have the list that more people will probably be interested in – here are My Top Ten Non-Animated Movies That Are 90 Minutes Or Less:

10. TIE: License To Drive (1 hr 28 min) & Before Sunset (1 hr 20 min)
9. The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari (1 hr 18 min)
8. Robot & Frank (1 hr 29 min)
7. Daft Punk’s Electroma (1 hr 14 min)
6. Videodrome (1 hr 27 min)

5. TIE: Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1 hr 30 min) & Freaks (1 hr 4 min)

4. This Is Spinal Tap (1 hr 22 min)

3. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1 hr 30 min)

2. TIE: City Lights (1 hr 27 min) & Modern Times (1 hr 27 min)

1. Stand By Me (1 hr 29 min)

Other Greats That You Can Watch In 90 Minutes Or Less:
I figured I’d list a lot – all of these are more short movies that I like as well. Use it for future reference if you’re short on time! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Animated:
Corpse Bride (1 hr 17 min), Alice In Wonderland (1 hr 15 min), Lady & The Tramp (1 hr 16 min), Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs (1 hr 23 min), The Rescuers (1 hr 18 min), Cinderella (1 hr 14 min), Peter Pan (1 hr 17 min), Bambi (1 hr 10 min), Pinocchio (1 hr 28 min), Dumbo (1 hr 4 min), The Lion King (1 hr 29 min), South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1 hr 21 min), Ghost In The Shell (1 hr 23 min)

Non-Animated:
Airplane! (1 hr 28 min), Ladies And Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1 hr 27 min), The Kid (1 hr 8 min), Brief Encounter (1 hr 26 min), Exit Through The Gift Shop (1 hr 27 min), Rubber (1 hr 22 min), The Wicker Man (1 hr 28 min), The Purge (1 hr 25 min), Rope (1 hr 20 min), Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (1 hr 28 min), Office Space (1 hr 29 min), Hobo With A Shotgun (1 hr 26 min), Scrooge (1 hr 26 min), Attack The Block (1 hr 28 min), Primer (1 hr 17 min), Circle (1 hr 27 min)

Horror:
Night Of The Creeps (1 hr 28 min), Tucker & Dale Vs Evil (1 hr 29 min), Zombieland (1 hr 28 min), What We Do In The Shadows (1 hr 26 min)

39 thoughts on “My Top Ten Movies That Are 90 Minutes Or Less

    • Thank you! ๐Ÿ™‚ Well, I suppose SOME thanks goes to my hubby. ๐Ÿ˜‰ It was a good idea for a list. We’re just always short on time so when we watch a movie together, we often check the running time first. The live action stuff is pretty all over the place – it’s funny how some of them seemed short but some didn’t. I’m sure I missed loads! Took quite a while to look things up for running times. ๐Ÿ™‚

  1. I think my favorite non-animated film would be a little 2010 gem called “Alamar”. I think its around 75 minutes. Fantastic little movie that’s well worth looking up.

  2. Two hour films are boring — all the best movies are under 90 minutes or over 3 hours. That’s my completely unsupportable contention for today, anyway.

    You’re so right about sometimes only wanting a quickie… *ahem* Glad I’m not the only person who sometimes selects films for their brevity and little else.

    Oh, and a good thing about really long movies: split them in half, you get two short ones — best of both worlds!

    • I think that’s party true, actually. I think there are a lot of good films between 90 minutes & 2 hours but a lot that are over two hours seem pointless. Not sure how many I’ve seen that are over three hours but I DID watch Seven Samurai over two nights. ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. Such an awesome list. I never realised now short The Nightmare Before Christmas is. This year I am adamant I am going to get Mr O to watch it. He promises every year and then pulls out.

    • Thanks! I love Bill & Ted. It should actually be higher on the list. It’s an all-time favorite. ๐Ÿ˜‰ I didn’t realize just how short so many brilliant animated films are. Just the Pixar stuff is long! Only Toy Story made it in under 90 minutes.

  4. Great post! Although most of the films on non-animated list are not for my taste but you’re right, films are so long. Now, when I’m doing my Christmas movies everyday, I tend to look the running time. Because, you know, to be honest, most of these films are not very good… ๐Ÿ˜€ The shorter the better.

    • You’re doing Christmas films? I love loads of Christmas films! The one I did notice is under 90 minutes that’s a favorite of mine is Scrooge. I almost put it on the list (I actually had way more listed at the end). The animated list here really is pretty great. Loads of great animated films are short. ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Thanks, Anna! The animated list is especially good – there are so many great animated films that are short. I keep meaning to dig my Heavy Metal DVD out since I’ve not watched it in years. Oddly, I’ve been wanting to watch it again since watching Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind. It reminded me of Heavy Metal in a strange sort of way. ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. Clever list. One of great things about animated films is they are usually around 70 minutes long. I dont mind a longer movie but it does feel like every film is 3 hours these days

  6. “This Is Spinal Tap” is my fave film of al time so I am pleased to see it on your list. ๐Ÿ˜€

    I have to say that this is an enlightening post as I didn’t realise how many of these films were so short – “Toy Story” is the big shocker for me, I had no ideas that was that short!

    • Yay! Always happy to hear that someone loves This Is Spinal Tap. ๐Ÿ™‚ My friend hated it so I’ve not talked to her since. Yeah, I didn’t realise Toy Story was that short. It’s the only Pixar that is! Other Pixars would definitely be on the list if they were under 90 minutes too. ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Thanks, Zoe! Oh man – I’m so behind on the blogs again. I hate December. So hectic! I certainly don’t have time for movies over 90 minutes this month. Except The Force Awakens next week. ๐Ÿ™‚

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