main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Saga How much time passes in each of the six movies?

Discussion in 'Star Wars Saga In-Depth' started by Drewdude91, Oct 9, 2011.

  1. Drewdude91

    Drewdude91 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    May 21, 2011
    How much time passes during each movie? It's kind of hard to tell for me, especially in the PT. There's no clear indication how long Qui-Gon and Padme are stranded on Tatooine, how long Anakin and Padme hide on Naboo, etc. Also, a TON seems to happen in ROTS and its highly doubtful everything happened at once. How much time passes in the movies?
     
  2. Valairy Scot

    Valairy Scot Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 16, 2005
    It's not specified anywhere and fan speculation is all over the place. There is no definitive answer.
     
  3. Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn

    Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 23, 1999
    There's generally a title and three paragraphs of type that pass at the beginning of each movie, along with much more type at the end. In the middle occasionally there is some (like in the city scenes in AOTC) but this varies.
     
  4. venepe

    venepe Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2004
    That is very interesting. I have always wondered how long did Luke train in Dagobah and stuff like that. I never got a good answer, but we can figure it out. The first one is somewhat easy. they arrive on Tatooine and tht same day they meet Anakin who tells them about the Boonta Eve race "tomorrow". He wins and they get the parts and leave immediately. So 2 days. Now the harder question is how long was the travel time between Naboo and Tatooine with no hyperdrive??
     
  5. DarthBoba

    DarthBoba Manager Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2000
    They had a hyperdrive; it was leaking fuel and didn't have the range to make Coruscant. So...not long to get to Tattooine.

    ROTJ might take longer than we've thought, given that the DS2 was behind schedule at the start of the film and wasn't any longer by the time of Yoda's death. When it's a big enough deal that the Emperor sends out the guy in charge of hunting down the Rebellion to get things back on track it's probably not a day or two behind.
     
  6. Luukeskywalker

    Luukeskywalker Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 1999
    I can say that they were stranded on Tatooine in TPM just for about 1 day. They landed, walk into town, find Watto's shop, leave, run into Anakin again, he takes them home for dinner. During dinner, Anakin says "there is a big race tomorrow on Boonta Eve". SO the race takes place the next day of course, Qui-Gon then leaves with the parts and Anakin after the race that afternoon.

    For some of the naysayers who claim that it was poor writing to have them stranded on Tatooine for a long time withour urgency due to what was going on Naboo, they didn't stay long at all. Just about 1 day.

    As for the rest of the movies and even the rest of TPM, I am not sure.
     
  7. PiettsHat

    PiettsHat Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 1, 2011
    AOTC probably takes place over a few weeks to a month at most. This is based off of Shmi's kidnapping -- Cliegg says that she's been gone almost a month, so unless Anakin has been having visions of the future, no more than a month passes from the opening of the film to when Anakin and Padme arrive on Tatooine.

    As for ROTS, I imagine it's probably two or three months, maybe four at most. This is based mostly on Padme's pregnancy -- she's definitely showing in the beginning, but not enough for more than 6 months.

    ANH's time frame is more nebulous because we don't know how long Leia was imprisoned for or how long the Millenium Falcon was in transit from Tatooine to Alderaan. I'd say about a week at the very most, though, if I were forced to make a guess.

    ESB is rather difficult to time. It could be anywhere from a week to months. I doubt it's much more than two months, though, given that Han, Leia, and Chewie would need to eat while they are on the Falcon. And I doubt they spent an excessive amount of time on Cloud City given that C3PO disappears almost immediately and right before they are captured by Vader, Leia remarks that he's been missing for too long to just be lost. I'd say a week at the very most on Cloud City.

    I honestly couldn't guess at TPM or ROTJ. Especially TPM -- who knows how long it took them to be heard by the Senate?
     
  8. Nordom

    Nordom Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 1, 2004
    About AotC, as I recall, at the start Anakin has been having bad dreams about his mother for some time, how long is unclear. Perhaps they started when she got taken, perhaps not. Say that Shmi was taken three weeks before the first scene in AotC and Anakins dreams started then.

    They get to Padme, the second attempt is made, then Padme and Anakin leaves within a day or two. Obi-Wan goes to Dex, talks to Yoda and goes to Kamino. This could not be more than 2-3 days. He is not long on Kamino and then goes to Geonosis and there he is caught quite quickly. The senate hears about the impeding attack and quickly votes, again this did not seem that long. The Jedi and the army get to Geonosis and the big fight happens.
    I would say all of AotC could be a week, possibly less.

    Regards
    Nordom

     
  9. Nordom

    Nordom Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 1, 2004
    TPM, I would say a day or so on Naboo then they leave, get to Tatooine and spend about 1-2 days there. The stuff in the senate is unclear but it should not be that long. We have Anakin before the JC and Qui-Gon saying that he will train him. If the senate stuff tooks weeks then Qui-Gon would have started Anakins training.
    They return to Naboo and the fight happens, perhaps 2-3 days total. So perhaps one week or two.

    RotJ, the time on Tatooine is perhaps 2-3 days, maybe a little more. Luke goes to Yoda and then meets up with the others. A week at most. So the whole film, maybe 1-2 weeks. This might be longer if there is a big gap between the first Vader scene and the rest.

    Another question is how much time pases BETWEEN the films.

    Between TPM and AotC is about ten years as Anakin gets older.
    AotC and RotS, hard to say, some years would seem about right.

    RotS and ANH, maybe 18-20 years given Luke goes from infant to 18-20 years old.
    ANH and ESB, very hard to say. The rebels have moved and they did have a run in with some bounty hunter.
    It could be as little as a year and no more than 3-4 years.
    ESB and RotJ, this seems very short, 2-3 months at most. They were going to Tatooine right away and they knew where Jabbo was.

    Regards
    Nordom
     
  10. Caleb89sw

    Caleb89sw Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 2010
    I always assumed it was just a matter of days for most of them. Particularly TPM, AOTC, ANH and ROTJ.

    Star Wars insider made out like ROTS is drawn out over the course of about 9 days.

    I don't know for sure about TESB. That's pretty much anyone's guess.



    If I remember right, I think it's...

    TPM-AOTC = 10 years.

    AOTC-ROTS = 3 years.

    ROTS-ANH = 19 years.

    ANH-TESB = 3 years.

    TESB-ROTJ = A couple months.
     
  11. HevyDevy

    HevyDevy Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 13, 2011
    Wow Return of the Jedi happens a couple of months after Empire? That feels weird, I had always assumed it was the amount of time between releases (as it is with AOTC and ROTS). I guess that makes more sense though, why Luke hasn't visited Yoda during the time, and why they hadn't attempted to rescue Han.
     
  12. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 2, 2007
    It's about a year between ESB and ROTJ
     
  13. DarthBoba

    DarthBoba Manager Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2000
    Yeah, TESB-ROTJ is about a year.
     
  14. DarthWolvo23

    DarthWolvo23 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2005
    NOTE:

    TPM: Anakin 9
    AOTC: Anakin 20
    ROTS: Anakin 23 Luke 0
    ANH: Anakin 42 Luke 19
    TESB: Anakin 45 Luke 22
    ROTJ: Anakin 46 Luke 23

    Anakin spends 23 years in light and 23 in dark
    Luke is same age as Anakin (23) when he rejects the Sith/Anakin joins the Sith
    23 is my favourite number
     
  15. HevyDevy

    HevyDevy Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 13, 2011
    Yeah, I remember the 23 thing. It's a neat touch, and I know you are well aware of the mirrors. Anakin being a Sith for exactly half his life is cool too.
    Now that you mention it, I probably should have noticed Luke's age meant it was impossible for ROTJ to be three years after Empire.
     
  16. Nordom

    Nordom Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 1, 2004
    But that does not match very well with what is said and what happens in ESB and RotJ. At the end of ESB Chewie and Lando go to Tatooine and Luke is set to join them there. Given the travel times this would be a couple of days, a week at the outside. So they get there and scout Jabba's palace, this would take a couple of weeks and also come up with a plan. Lando infiltrate the place as a guard, C3PO and R2 are sent and we go from there. It does not make much sense that Luke, Leia and the others just sat around for a whole year while Jabbo could do anything he wanted with Han. Saving Han is urgent so why would they wait?

    Regards
    Nordom
     
  17. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 2, 2007
    Go read Shadows of the Empire. It details pretty much everything that happens between ESB and ROTJ.
     
  18. DarthBoba

    DarthBoba Manager Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2000
    ^This. It's explained in the EU that it took Boba an awfully long time to get to Tattooine because of interference from other bounty hunters. Plus the Rebellion probably needed time to get its act back together after Hoth, and Luke shows a waaay higher level of competence/Jedi-hood in ROTJ than he does in TESB.
     
  19. Nordom

    Nordom Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 1, 2004
    The movies should not have rely on some book in order to make sense. Nothing in RotJ gave any implication that it took a long time for Boba to get back. Given the travel times shown in SW it would take a couple of hours for Boba to go to Tatooine. And how would other bounty hunters get in the way? None of them knew about Bespin or what was going on there. Did Boba stop in every bar along the way and brag about his capture of Solo?

    You do have things like Luke being stronger but then you have the urgency of Han and them going to Tatooine at the end of ESB. And if it was as much as a year, why didn't Luke go visit Yoda if for nothing else to get an answer if Vader really was his father? I would imagine that question would be important in Luke's mind.

    Regards
    Nordom
     
  20. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 2, 2007
    Shadows of the Empire isn't "some book." It's as much a part of Star Wars as the movies are.

    The reason Fett took so long in delivering Han to Jabba is that Slave I was severely damaged when Fett was attacked by IG-88 when he arrived at Tatooine. Fett was forced to divert to the planet Gall for repairs. Meanwhile, Luke and the others hung out on Tatooine waiting for Fett to show up, until finally Lando brought news that Fett had been sighted at Gall.

    All the details are there in Shadows of the Empire. Go read it.

    To answer your other question, Luke didn't return to Dagobah because rescuing Han was his priority. If he returned, he knew Yoda wouldn't let him leave again until his training was complete.
     
  21. Caleb89sw

    Caleb89sw Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 2010
    Well, that's one of the reasons I have a hard time buying that it wasa whole year in between TESB and ROTJ. But when I said "A couple months", I may've exaggerated. I should've said "a matter of months". Because whether or not Shadows of the Empire is considered canon, it is very difficult to determinate exactly how much time passes. It could've been anywhere from 2 to 6 to 10 months.
     
  22. Jedsithor

    Jedsithor Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 1, 2005
    Well you also have to consider that it would have taken a bit of time to get Lando into a position in Jabba's palace where he could have been some use. Would it have taken a year? Probably not but it would certainly have been a few months.

    As for timelines in each film, TPM take place over the course of a week, give or take a day or two. AOTC is about the same, maybe two weeks. I actually think ROTS happens over a month though you could probably make the argument that it's also over a week or two.

    A New Hope happens over 3 Days.

    Day 1 is the attack on the Tantive IV all the way to Artoo going missing. Day 2 is looking for Artoo up to escaping the Death Star. Day 3 is the battle of Yavin.

    Empire takes place over the course of a month with a lot of that time happening off screen with the training of Luke that we don't see and the Falcon journeying to Bespin at sub-light speed.

    Return of the Jedi is probably around a week.
     
  23. Bacon164

    Bacon164 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2005
    "From your point of view." ;)
     
  24. The_living_force

    The_living_force Jedi Grand Master star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 8, 2002
    I've also read that the "official" period of time between TESB & ROTJ is one year.
     
  25. Arawn_Fenn

    Arawn_Fenn Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jul 2, 2004
    Anakin does have visions of the future. His Padme visions in ROTS are not simultaneous with the corresponding event. "He can see things before they happen".

    I think we might unfortunately have to chalk some of that up to "artistic license" or something. On another site it was claimed that Insider gave the time span of the film as 9 days.