MTDb โบ Best of โบ A century in numbers
A century of movies in numbers
Three things the numbers say
- Films are longer than they were. The average 1980s film in this set runs 106 minutes; the 2020s average is 110. 4.1% of 2020s films run over 2ยฝ hours, against 3.2% in the 1980s. The longest decade on average is the 1960s (116 min), the shortest the 1940s (101 min).
- The 1950s rate highest (average 7.52/10). That is partly survivorship: only films people still vote on decades later clear the 500-vote bar, so old decades are pre-filtered for quality.
- History is the longest genre (130 min on average) and animation the shortest (84 min). By rating, documentary leads (7.39) and horror trails (6.30).
Runtime and rating by decade
| Decade | Films | Avg runtime | Median | Over 150 min | Avg TMDB rating | English-language | Top genres |
| 1920s | 15 | 73 min | 75 | 0.0% | 7.81 | 53% | drama, comedy, romance |
| 1930s | 28 | 97 min | 93 | 3.6% | 7.57 | 86% | drama, comedy, romance |
| 1940s | 55 | 101 min | 100 | 1.8% | 7.49 | 95% | drama, romance, thriller |
| 1950s | 108 | 108 min | 105 | 7.4% | 7.52 | 73% | drama, romance, comedy |
| 1960s | 170 | 116 min | 111 | 12.9% | 7.43 | 58% | drama, comedy, thriller |
| 1970s | 244 | 114 min | 111 | 7.0% | 7.12 | 75% | drama, comedy, thriller |
| 1980s | 532 | 106 min | 104 | 3.2% | 6.83 | 88% | comedy, drama, action |
| 1990s | 937 | 109 min | 105 | 4.3% | 6.73 | 87% | drama, comedy, thriller |
| 2000s | 1,832 | 106 min | 103 | 3.3% | 6.55 | 86% | drama, comedy, thriller |
| 2010s | 2,861 | 106 min | 104 | 2.1% | 6.57 | 82% | drama, comedy, thriller |
| 2020s | 1,306 | 110 min | 108 | 4.1% | 6.82 | 83% | drama, thriller, action |
Decades with fewer than 5 qualifying films are omitted. The vote threshold favours films that stayed in circulation, so early decades over-represent classics.
Genres: how long, how loved
| Genre | Films | Avg runtime | Avg rating |
| History | 439 | 130 min | 7.17 |
| War | 287 | 124 min | 7.15 |
| Western | 123 | 121 min | 6.95 |
| Drama | 3,758 | 114 min | 6.94 |
| Crime | 1,370 | 110 min | 6.73 |
| Action | 2,167 | 110 min | 6.58 |
| Romance | 1,371 | 109 min | 6.77 |
| Adventure | 1,615 | 109 min | 6.68 |
| Thriller | 2,475 | 108 min | 6.53 |
| Music | 233 | 107 min | 6.98 |
| Mystery | 879 | 107 min | 6.58 |
| Science-fiction | 1,133 | 106 min | 6.54 |
| Fantasy | 1,079 | 103 min | 6.69 |
| Comedy | 2,884 | 101 min | 6.57 |
| Horror | 1,243 | 100 min | 6.30 |
| Documentary | 79 | 97 min | 7.39 |
| Family | 975 | 92 min | 6.73 |
| Tv-movie | 76 | 87 min | 6.74 |
| Animation | 741 | 84 min | 7.09 |
The extremes
Best-rated films over three hours (61 qualify)
The Godfather Part II1974 ยท โ
8.6 ยท 3h 22m
Schindler's List1993 ยท โ
8.6 ยท 3h 15m
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge1995 ยท โ
8.5 ยท 3h 10m
The Green Mile1999 ยท โ
8.5 ยท 3h 9m
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King2003 ยท โ
8.5 ยท 3h 21m
Seven Samurai1954 ยท โ
8.5 ยท 3h 27m
Avengers: Endgame2019 ยท โ
8.2 ยท 3h 1m
Bound by Honor1993 ยท โ
8.2 ยท 3h 10m
Best-rated films under 80 minutes (347 qualify)
Michael Jackson's Thriller1983 ยท โ
8.3 ยท 0h 14m
Night and Fog1956 ยท โ
8.3 ยท 0h 32m
Hotarubi no Mori e2011 ยท โ
8.3 ยท 0h 45m
The Punisher: One Last Kill2026 ยท โ
8.3 ยท 0h 51m
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor2013 ยท โ
8.2 ยท 1h 17m
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse2022 ยท โ
8.2 ยท 0h 35m
Look Back2024 ยท โ
8.2 ยท 0h 58m
BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky2020 ยท โ
8.2 ยท 1h 19m
Method
Source: TMDB metadata for 8,088 feature films released 1920โ2026 with at least 500 user votes, excluding adult titles and TV series. Runtime averages exclude films with no runtime recorded. Ratings are TMDB user averages on a 0โ10 scale. Genre membership is TMDB's; a film with several genres is counted in each. Recomputed every morning from the live database, so figures drift slightly as votes accumulate. Reuse freely with a link to this page.