The Undiscovered Country length

Discussion in 'Star Trek Movies I-X' started by Hando, Dec 24, 2013.

  1. Hando

    Hando Commander Red Shirt

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    I would like to as for help in finding out over what period of time did the events of The Undiscovered Country take place.

    Given that the Stardates in the movie are faulty and you cannot trust the clock on the bridge.

    The main sequence is:
    Praxis explodes, 2 months pass and there is secret meeting at HQ.
    Now starting on the day of the meeting, how many days pass to the Conference on Khitomer?
     
  2. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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  3. Grant

    Grant Commodore Commodore

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    113 minutes, 10 seconds.
     
  4. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    1.21 gigawatts.
     
  5. USS Triumphant

    USS Triumphant Vice Admiral Admiral

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    "It's a good size, honest."

    (None of this is really helping much, is it? :devil: )

    I don't think we're told exactly how long it is between the secret meeting at HQ and the launch to rendezvous with Chronos One. Transit to Chronos One was no more than a few days, probably no more than a day. They were at the rendezvous for a few hours, and then the torpedo struck the Chancellor's ship. From the arrest of Kirk and McCoy until their trial, we don't know exactly how much time passed, but I would think no more than a few days, based on the fact that they were *still in the same clothes* and the Klingons had not noticed and removed the patch on Kirk's back. (This and the idea that Uhura would not know passing Klingon are the weakest points of this best of all of the Star Trek movies, in my opinion.) From there, we know that it is a week between the end of the trial (and the rescue briefing in the President's office) and the conference on Khitomer. And the assassination attempt occurs during the President's opening remarks at the conference.

    So, somewhere between an estimated 2 months 14 days, and 4 months 14 days, with the biggest factor in that 2 months being the time between Kirk being notified at the secret meeting and the actual launch of the Enterprise to get there. (Negotiating the terms of the meeting, scheduling, rescheduling, etc - but given that these are Klingons and the Chancellor would have been eager to proceed while political will remained behind him, I would say that 2 months might actually be exaggerating things.)

    Now, my question: why?

    (Just realized - you asked for time between the secret meeting and the conference. Subtract the original two months between Praxis exploding and the conference from my estimates above. I still had that time included, trying to provide total in-movie time for the whole film.)
     
  6. Leto_II

    Leto_II Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Also, the VOY episode "Flashback" fraks the canon timeline up even further, positing that the Rura Penthe rescue of Kirk and McCoy took place mere days after the Praxis explosion, when we know from the film that months elapsed between the two events.

    Brannon Braga (who wrote the episode) later basically admitted that he screwed it all up during the scripting process, but in-universe, it can at least be chalked up to Tuvok's fractured memories or something similar, if we wish.
     
  7. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The whole of "Flashback" can be chalked up to Tuvok's fractured memories. Up to and including him even being onboard the Excelsior during the events of that movie. The poor, deluded Vulcan. ;)

    It's just a pity we can't do the same with "Threshold", really. :devil:
     
  8. USS Triumphant

    USS Triumphant Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Why can't we? Obviously that was just some holodeck scenario that LaForge and Leah Brahms were running to try to figure out how Warp 10 would theoretically work before turning it off as just being too silly. ;)

    (And by that, I mean "Voyager". Consider it a love letter to the fans. :devil: )
     
  9. Hober Mallow

    Hober Mallow Commodore Commodore

    I think I recall Tim Russ in an interview saying that the episode had been scripted so well that the continuity was airtight, or something like that. :)
     
  10. Galileo7

    Galileo7 Commodore Commodore

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  11. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    That interview is gonna bite Tim Russ in the ass for years to come! :D

    I think on a technical level -- the set designs etc -- he's bang on correct, it's surprisingly accurate to the Excelsior scenes in STVI almost to the minutest detail. But certainly the broader continuity accurancy to the movie's plot is right up the spout.
     
  12. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

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    What was quite thoroughly done was tracking down all the bit-part actors from ST VI's Excelsior scenes. One of them had left showbiz and they had to search the continent for him. And Boris Lee Krutonog (Lojur) had his leg in a plaster cast! Look under the console during his scenes in "Flashback" and you'll see his leg is in plaster, and painted black to look like a boot.
     
  13. Elder Knight

    Elder Knight Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    You do mean light-meters, right?
     
  14. USS Triumphant

    USS Triumphant Vice Admiral Admiral

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    What does their weight have to do with anything?
     
  15. Hober Mallow

    Hober Mallow Commodore Commodore

    That episode was quite an eye-opener for me about just how different two directors and crews could interpret the same scene with the same actors. What was powerful and exciting in TUC was, for some reason, almost totally impotent in "Flashback." I remember being quite surprised by the degree of difference.