You may be embracing another weekend indoors, amid self-isolation regulations to curb the Covid-19 pandemic, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have some fun. So why not break the back of some of the longest, and most influential, movie series of all time?
With up to 25 hours and 18 minutes of screen time alone in the Star Wars franchise, we have rounded up something for everyone, from kids' favourites to action flicks, Bollywood comedies and a saga set in Middle-earth.
We have deliberately omitted the James Bond series at 26 movies (including the two non-Eon films), which add up to a total runtime of more than 54 hours.
Each of these series will keep you busy for hours, if not days. Just make sure you have enough popcorn in the house.
'Star Wars'
Total running time: 1,502 minutes (25 hours and 18 minutes)
There is, of course, controversy about the order in which you watch the Star Wars films. Whether you choose to explore the galaxy far, far away in the order in which they were made (as they are listed below) or in episodical order, as the purists would have it, the run-time remains the same. It will take you more than 25 hours to complete – that's approximately three full working days, discounting lunch.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (2h 5m)
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (2h 7m)
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (2h 14m)
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (2h 16m)
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2h 22m)
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2h 20m)
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2h 16m)
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2h 32m)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2h 15m)
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2h 22m)
'Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' trilogies
Total running time: 1,216 minutes (20 hours and 16 minutes)
Like Star Wars, JRR Tolkien fans believe the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies should be watched in story order, so you'd bring The Hobbit movies, which were made later, to the front of your viewing list. However, you don't necessarily need to have seen these to understand what is going on in Lord of the Rings. Regardless, they will keep you tied up for more than 20 hours, so if you're going to account for sleep, that's at least two whole days of entertainment.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (3h 28m)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (3h 43m)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (4h 12m)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (3h 2m)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (3h 7m)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2h 44m)
'Harry Potter'
Total running time: 1,180 minutes (19 hours and 40 minutes)
At almost 20 hours, you could spend nearly an entire day with Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts. If you were very keen to make your way through the entire eight-film series in one sitting, you'd need to get up at 6am to be finished by 2am, with only around 20 minutes throughout the day for breaks. So, we'd recommend a natural half-way break after The Goblet of Fire, and returning to the action the following day. That way, you still have 10 hours and 12 minutes of viewing on day one, and 9 hours and 28 minutes on day two.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2h 32m)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2h 41m)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2h 22m)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2h 37m)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2h 19m)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2h 33m)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part I (2h 26m)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part II (2h 10m)
'Police Story'
Total running time: 947 minutes (15 hours and 47 minutes)
Hong Kong cinema's Police Story series comprises six official films plus three spin-offs: Supercop, Supercop 2 and Crime Story. The films all star Jackie Chan, who considers the first movie, Police Story, his best in terms of "action and stunts".
Police Story (1h 39m)
Police Story 2 (1h 32m)
Supercop (1h 36m)
Crime Story (1h 47m)
Supercop 2 (1h 44m)
First Strike (1h 47m)
New Police Story (2h 3m)
Police Story: Lockdown (1h 50m)
Bleeding Steel (1h 49m)
'Rocky'
Total running time: 909 minutes (15 hours and 9 minutes)
The most famous boxing saga follows Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, comprising gripping dramas that have more heart that your average sports flick.
Rocky (2h 2m)
Rocky II (2h)
Rocky III (1h 40m)
Rocky IV (1h 31m)
Rocky V (1h 51m)
Rocky Balboa (1h 42m)
Creed (2h 13m)
Creed II (2h 10m)
Marvel's Avengers ensemble movies
Total running time: 624 minutes (10 hours and 24 minutes)
If you were to do an entire Marvel movie marathon, you’d be busy for 2,905 minutes, which is 48 hours and 25 minutes. So we have trimmed the list down to focus on Avengers ensemble movies only, without the character break-out films. All in, that still gives you a healthy day’s worth of entertainment, with a runtime of roughly 10 and a half hours. And when you’re done, there are another 19 movies to watch in the collection.
Avengers (2h 23m)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2h 21m)
Avengers: Infinity War (2h 40m)
Avengers: Endgame (3h 2n)
'Die Hard'
Total running time: 610 minutes (10 hours and 18 minutes)
If you're looking for action, you'll get it in spades in Die Hard. Bruce Willis stars as reluctant hero Detective Lieutenant John McClane in all five films. You'll want to brush up on the action to be ready for the sixth instalment, McClane, which Willis is rumoured to be starring in.
Die Hard (2h 12m)
Die Hard 2 (2h 5m)
Die Hard with a Vengeance (2h 11m)
Live Free or Die Hard – Die Hard 4.0 (2h 9m)
A Good Day to Die Hard (1h 41m)
'Golmaal'
Total running time: 580 minutes (9 hours and 40 minutes)
For some light-hearted movie fun, check the Bollywood comedy series, Golmaal. Made up of comedies of disaster, the films all star Ajay Devgn, Arshad Warsi and Tusshar Kapoor as Gopal, Madhav and Lucky. The gang are set to get together for a fifth time in Golmaal Five, which will be released next year.
Golmaal: Fun Unlimited (2h 30m)
Golmaal Returns (2h 15m)
Golmaal 3 (2h 35m)
Golmaal Again (2h 20m)
'Housefull'
Total running time: 574 minutes (9 hours and 34 minutes)
The popular Bollywood comedy series Housefull stars Akshay Kumar and Ritesh Deshmukh. The films have a reincarnation theme, with new stories and adventures but the same core cast each time.
Housefull (2h 24m)
Housefull 2 (2h 25m)
Housefull 3 (2h 20m)
Housefull 4 (2h 25m)
‘The Hunger Games’
Total running time: 548 minutes (9 hours and 8 minutes)
The movie adaptions of Suzanne Collins’s series of dystopian novels follow Katniss Everdeen, a young woman who voluntarily takes her sister's place in a fight to the death. At a nine-hour runtime, the series will certainly keep you busy for a full day.
The Hunger Games (2h 22m)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2h 26m)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2h 3m)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2h 17m)
'Indiana Jones'
Total running time: 485 minutes (8 hours and 5 minutes)
These are the movies that made archaeology adventurous. Watch as Harrison Ford gets himself in plenty of trouble as he explores ancient ruins as the titular character.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1h 55m)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1h 58m)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (2h 8m)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2h 4m)
'Elements'
Total running time: 335 minutes (5 hours and 35 minutes)
The Elements series by Deepa Mehta is a bastion of Indian cinema. The controversial three-part series was made between 1996 and 2005, and covers topics ranging from patriarchal culture and religion to marriage and race. It has one of the shorter combined times, at 335 minutes, but it would be a great way to spend more than five and a half hours of your day.
Fire (1h 48m)
Earth (1h 50m)
Water (1h 57m)
'The Hangover'
Total running time: 302 minutes (5 hours and 2 minutes)
If you’re looking for silliness, the antics of four friends on a bachelor party in Las Vegas should fit the bill. Their antics then take them to Bangkok and on a road trip in the subsequent movies. At little more than five hours' viewing time, you could get this done in an afternoon.
The Hangover (1h 40m)
The Hangover Part II (1h 42m)
The Hangover Part III (1h 40m)
Note: That movies vary by cut, and special editions may have slightly different run times
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Read more:
From 'Casablanca' to 'Spartacus': 21 classic films to watch in lockdown
What are UAE audiences streaming while self-isolating? From mysteries, to pandemic-themed shows and animations
Wholesome feel-good films to watch on the sofa this weekend
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
TRAINING FOR TOKYO
A typical week's training for Sebastian, who is competing at the ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon on March 8-9:
- Four swim sessions (14km)
- Three bike sessions (200km)
- Four run sessions (45km)
- Two strength and conditioning session (two hours)
- One session therapy session at DISC Dubai
- Two-three hours of stretching and self-maintenance of the body
ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon
For more information go to www.abudhabi.triathlon.org.
LAST 16
SEEDS
Liverpool, Manchester City, Barcelona, Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Valencia, Juventus
PLUS
Real Madrid, Tottenham, Atalanta, Atletico Madrid, Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, Lyon, Chelsea
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
More coverage from the Future Forum
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
