Movies Under 90 Minutes Part 10: Conclusion

 

Part Ten:

The Finals - The Best Movie Under 90 Minutes of All-Time is…?

 

Welcome to the grand conclusion of this series, as I not only crown one film the greatest of all time with a runtime of less than 90 minutes, but look back on the many movies throughout the competition that did not earn that title, though deserve further recognition just the same. 

First of all, I want to include a bunch of movies that I failed to mention at all in the genre eliminations, because for as much research as I did, I still left out so, so many good movies that were under 90 minutes, and some I neglected consciously, but a few I genuinely just missed, because there are way too many movies out there for one man to see! Christopher Nolan’s first movie, a black-and-white indie thriller called Following (1998), is only 70 minutes, and while it’s not one of his all-time best, it’s certainly his best movie that’s under 90 minutes…but then again, it’s also his only one. You know which comedy troupe has more than one movie shorter than 90 minutes? The Marx Brothers! I only mentioned Duck Soup, which is cited as their best comedic film, but they made other ones before that which were just as short, such as Horse Feathers (1932), and some hilarity historians identify other films of theirs as still holding up, too.

I didn’t cover that many short releases from more recent years, and that was by choice. The point of this exercise was to find the greatest movie of all time shorter than 90 minutes, and I just don’t see how a movie that came out only a few years ago could possibly rival something like Stand by Me which came out four decades ago and is still highly praised. It might seem unfair, but that’s just how I tackled it. Some recent films that have been acclaimed are the early-lead-role-for-Florence Pugh Lady Macbeth (2016), the thirty-years-in-the-making stop motion epic Mad God (2021), and the award-winning animated Latvia/France/Belgium production Flow (2024). There’s also The Squid and the Whale (2016), Don’t Breathe (2016), Shiva Baby (2020) and Migration (2023), but I’ve only seen one of those four, and that’s another reason for excluding certain films: I don’t have infinite time to watch every single movie on every list of decent ones that are under 90 minutes—my meditation on time (specifically, a lack thereof) is why I made this series in the first place.

Adam Sandler fans were probably bummed I didn’t mention Billy Madison (1995), at 89 minutes, and Jim Carrey fans likely lamented the lack of Liar Liar (1997), at 86 minutes. Another underrated under 90 comedy is Hot Rod (2007), from the guys behind The Lonely Island. They also made Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016), and kept that one under 90, too. Speaking of comedies, I’m not a big South Park fan, so I also didn’t include South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999), at 81 minutes. Ditto for SpongeBob, but big fans might think The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie (2004) should have at least been in the running. Oh yeah, and there's 9 (2009), which is often cited as underrated. One last mention for animation: I covered three of Don Bluth’s best animated films but forgot to mention All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), which is still considered a favourite of his by some.

One genre I omitted entirely was documentaries, for a couple reasons. I feel like they are kind of their own thing, separate from fictional filmmaking, for intending to present stories that are true or based on truth. Obviously there are so many good ones, but I’m not familiar enough with the genre overall to speak with any real authority about what the best of them are, regardless of runtimes. Some of the ones I considered when I first started writing this series and thought I might try to include the genre were March of the Penguins (2005), Blackfish (2013), and My Octopus Teacher (2020), which yes, are all animal-focused docs, but those are primarily the types I like to watch. There’s also Searching for Sugar Man (2016), at 86 minutes, and two others that come within seconds of qualifying but are just over 90, Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) and Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013). 

Back to the genres of fiction, there’s The Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night (1964), at 87 minutes, the dog lover's family flick Beethoven (1992) (also 87 mins.), the French sci-fi animated film Fantastic Planet (1973), which is 71 minutes, and the first animated adaptation of George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm (1954), at merely an hour and twelve minutes! One genre that was pretty packed was horror, but I somehow missed a bunch that were at least worth pointing out, even if they weren’t going to win. The Most Dangerous Game (1932) is the oldest, running a paltry 62 minutes, and there’s Duel (1971), one of Steven Spielberg’s first films, which is 90 minutes if you go by the theatrical version (the only version I’ve seen), but the original version that first aired on ABC was only 74 minutes. The Fog (1980) is usually identified as having a 90-minute runtime, but the actual time on the Scream Factory Blu-ray release is one hour, twenty-nine minutes, and thirty-seven seconds, so it incorrectly gets rounded up! But, is it really the best horror movie under 90 minutes? Of course not. It’s not even the best short horror movie from the 1980s. Five other shoutouts go to Videodrome (1983) (89 minutes), Night of the Creeps (1986) (88 minutes), Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) (83 minutes), and two of my favourite killer animal movies, Anaconda (1997) (89 minutes) and Piranha 3D (2010) (88 minutes).

Now, to briefly revisit some previous movies I covered in earlier parts, three of the horror movies I had initially thought would make it further in the competition were Frankenstein, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Creature from the Black Lagoon. While Frankenstein and Texas Chain Saw did make it to the genre eliminations round, Creature from the Black Lagoon just pales in comparison to so many of the other films from other genres. For horror-comedy, I went in expecting Tucker & Dale vs. Evil to make it as far as the quarter-finals, but it didn’t even beat Evil Dead 2 in the first round. I almost regretted not giving This is Spinal Tap a chance to compete in the genre eliminations round, but there was just no way it was going to beat something like The Lion King or Paths of Glory. Some of the animated movies that were toughest to eliminate initially were The Little Mermaid, Brother Bear, and Peter Pan, but that whole genre was tough to wrap my head around, because there is just such a diverse collection of films with so many different strengths that it became hard to objectively identify which ones were the best for what they each represented. I know that was the most bias-heavy genre for electing initial competitors, but I think I was quite generous in giving many of the miscellaneous competitors a chance to move into the next round, though I did expect more than one sci-fi movie to make it through—possibly Chronicle or The Day the Earth Stood Still.

I would’ve been surprised to see any films that weren’t already part of my Favourite Films Series make it beyond the quarter-finals, but the ones that did make it over the ones that didn’t were still surprising. As I narrowed the scope of greatest competitors, some unexpected eliminations in the quarter-finals and semi-finals were The Lion King (the only movie get a perfect CAWSPEEL score), The Naked Gun, which is one of my favourite comedies of all-time, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which I contest is still one of the best Disney classics in spite of being the very first. Speaking of CAWSPEEL, I’m going to look back on those scores for the two finalists, before I review both of them and pick which one is superior. There are reasons relating to quality as to why Fantastic Mr. Fox, Pinocchio, and Homeward Bound all scored one point less than Toy Story or Stand by Me, but those scores alone did not determine the finalists.

 

FINAL CONTENDERS

 

Toy Story and Stand by Me both got 39/40 with the CAWSPEEL system, but lost one point in two different categories. For Toy Story, I gave it a 4/5 for emotional impact, because it’s very difficult to think about the first Toy Story in isolation now that it’s part of an ongoing film franchise which should have stopped at the third entry. The Toy Story trilogy was, for a short time, one of the most perfect trilogies in all of cinema. Toy Story 3 is, ultimately, far more emotional, and a perfect ending. The climax, finale, and resolution of the first Toy Story are all perfect for the story being told in that film. Getting back at Sid for torturing toys is oh-so satisfying and scary and funny at all once, and then it launches right into the high-speed pursuit of the moving truck, and we get the emotional resolution of Woody and Buzz reuniting with Andy. The very end, teasing that Andy’s Christmas present, a new puppy, is going to cause future headaches for Woody and Buzz, is…fine. It’s not bad, not great, amusing enough, but emblematic of Toy Story’s overall greater strength being a comedy meant for general entertainment through amazing visuals and character designs over intending to tell a truly emotionally affecting tale. That is not to say it doesn’t get the audience emotionally invested—the whole Buzz realizing he’s just a toy really does hit, but in comparison to the only other movie left, no, it’s not as emotionally stirring overall. 

For Stand by Me, I gave it a 4/5 for sound/music, which is more on the technical side of things compared to Toy Story’s lost point. I didn’t take any points off for the visuals or sound of Toy Story; the music by Randy Newman fits perfectly, the voice acting is spot on, and the sound effects are memorable, but even in comparison to Toy Story 2 and 3, the first movie still looks pretty good to me, in terms of the details achieved in the animation. Yeah, it’s comparatively dated, but not as much as may be expected, and there was nothing significant enough to take it down in points in any of the other categories.

Visually, Stand by Me is fantastic, but to be honest, the music does not resonate with me all that much. When I say music, I mainly mean the original score by Jack Nitzsche. I like the song from which the movie gets its name when it plays at the end, and I like some of the other era-appropriate tracks we get to hear throughout, but when I think about everything great to do with Stand by Me, the music is one of the last things that comes to mind. That being said, sometimes a really noticeable soundtrack can be distracting, and one thing I like about Stand by Me’s music, despite it not really staying in my ear after the movie ends, is how well it fits most of the scenes and becomes like invisible set dressing, fitting what you are seeing and hearing from the characters without it overpowering the performances.

Previously, I pointed out Pinocchio was a very male-driven story, and the same can be said of Stand by Me, but one is a fantasy tale of many settings and locations featuring characters from many backgrounds and experiences, whereas Stand by Me tells a much more grounded story in a specific point in time about four kids and doesn’t deviate from that. Toy Story, for that matter, also doesn’t have many prominent female characters; we don’t get Jessie until Toy Story 2, and Sid’s sister is a pretty stereotypical supporting part. The remaining comparisons of weaknesses between Stand by Me and Toy Story are slim to none, at this point.

 

FINAL ELIMINATION

 

I did not have an answer to the question “what is the best movie under 90 minutes?” when I first asked it, and after two years of thinking about it, watching more and more movies, comparing and contrasting them, and analyzing each one, I finally have my answer. With that answer now in mind, I look back and find it surprising that it wasn’t more obvious from early on. I guess when there are just so many different movies that are so good for so many different reasons it can cloud one’s judgement, but as I have slowly eliminated movie after movie, being left with just two, it has led to this seemingly inevitable outcome.

Both Stand by Me and Toy Story are adventure stories, at their cores, but two very different adventures featuring a cast of characters who can’t even be compared, because one cast consists of four adolescent friends, and the other cast consists of several anthropomorphic toys, plus two young boys, one good, the other bad. I’ve looked at these movies’ strengths and weaknesses, and at the end of the day, only one can win. I can’t really use the prioritization matrix at this point, because I couldn’t simply pick one over the other as a priority to watch. Both are endlessly rewatchable, but one of them has something the other does not…

 

THE WINNER…

 

Stand by Me is the greatest movie under 90 minutes of all time! What it comes down to in the end, without thinking about anything else other than just Toy Story and Stand by Me, is the lasting emotional resonance and the access to pure nostalgia one has over the other. Toy Story taps into the nostalgia of childhood, but it’s not about Andy, really, it’s about his toys, and their experiences. Stand by Me taps into nostalgia for a specific point in one’s life, and in its simple premise (“you guys wanna go see a dead body?”) it explores the very concept that instigated this series in the first place: time. All of us only have so much time here on earth. The coming-of-age genre has always been a great place to explore the loss of innocence, the inevitability of growing up and getting older, and the formation of early friendships, but Stephen King’s story looks at the way a young life cut short by a tragic accident impacts four other young lives who are just getting started, with so much learning, growing, heartache, and discovery left to come.

The last lines of Stand by Me are devastating, as adult Gordie types them out on his word processor, marking the end of his story recounting the pivotal series of events from his childhood. “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?” Stand by Me has something more to say with the story it tells without it feeling forced or unnatural. The story is, indeed, about being human, and it’s a story I didn’t fully understand when I first saw it as a kid, but like any great movie, it gets better with age, with more time spent thinking about it, and more times seeing it play out from beginning to end. Stand by Me is not only the best movie with a runtime under 90 minutes, but one of the best movies from the entire decade in which it was made. It’s also a story out of time; though made in the 80’s, it’s a look back at the 1950s, which gives it a timeless quality Toy Story simply does not possess despite its fantastical nature.  

Is Toy Story the best computer animated feature film ever made? I don’t think so. It was the first, sure, and it holds up well, and it’s a great story, but being the first of your kind doesn’t automatically make you the best. It set the bar very high from the start, but it’s not as if that bar hasn’t ever been met or surpassed since. Is Stand by Me the best coming-of-age film ever made? That’s a tougher question, but it’s certainly in that conversation. For it being an example of an art form that’s all about a medium of moving pictures, Stand by Me acts like a snapshot of a moment in time, and shows how one moment can send ripples through your whole life. The human connection, the joy of life, the fear of death, and the inevitable passage of time, all coalesce. It’s a movie that will exist as a singular favourite of mine forever, on a deeper level than Toy Story will.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

It’s been a fun exercise recounting all of these movies spanning many decades and genres through the lens of their unusually short runtimes! It also took way longer than I originally expected, but I’m glad to have been thorough, and even more glad still that I have unintentionally created a resource of sorts for anyone looking for good movies to watch when in a pinch for time. As a fun little bonus to end off with (and because I haven’t done a CCC countdown list in a while), here are my top five movies from each genre, in no particular order. Remember, these are my personal favourites, unranked.

 

Top 5 Horror:

Frankenstein

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Creature from the Black Lagoon

Lake Placid

Re-Animator

 

Top 5 Horror-Comedies:

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil

Trick ‘r Treat

Zombieland

The Evil Dead

Evil Dead 2

 

Top 5 Comedies:

Office Space

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

This is Spinal Tap

What We Do in the Shadows

The Naked Gun

 

Top 5 Disney Animated:

Pinocchio

The Fox and the Hound

Lilo & Stitch

The Jungle Book

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

 

Top 5 Animated – Non-Disney:

Toy Story

Ice Age

The Iron Giant

The Land Before Time

Hoodwinked!

 

Top 5 Stop Motion & Live-Action/Animation Hybrids:

Chicken Run

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Dinosaur

Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey

 

Top 5 from Miscellaneous Genres:

Run Lola Run

Stand by Me

Paths of Glory

Rope

Once

 

So, what are some of your favourite movies under 90 minutes? Which ones did I get right, and which ones did I get wrong? Let me know, and who knows, maybe I’ll be inspired to revisit this topic one day. But, at this point, now that I’m finally done, I’ll have to find a new cinematic inquiry to explore. Perhaps I could figure out the best movies that are over three hours long? That one might take me a while…like, even longer than this one…