Sometimes you really just do need a 500 line function.
I'm all for the 100-200 line working version--can't say I've had a 500. I did once have a single SQL query that was about 2 full pages pushing the limits of DB2 (needed multiple PTFs just to execute it)--the size was largely from heuristic scope reductions. In the end, it did something in about 3 minutes that had no previous solution.