Sulaco Size?

[Xenomrph]

It depends on levels of "officialdom".  The Sulaco's size isn't mentioned in the film, but its correct dimensions can be gleaned from the film.  The speed of the Sulaco in the CMTM, also able to be gleaned from the film, isn't accurate either.

I'd still be interested in seeing the math on that. I'm not saying the CMTM is infallible (cough "Thetis" cough), I'm just curious where the correct numbers come from.

There are people (especially within Star Wars fandom) who would insist that the EU trumps what can be gleaned from the films.

I'd say "what can be gleaned from the films" is a bit of a grey area - it's technically not the films themselves, it's a fan's interpretation of them. Interpretations aren't "canon", they're fan-fiction at best. I suppose on principle I'd be willing to side with a "wrong" official number over a "correct" fan-fiction number, at least until a later official source corrects the mistake (e.g., the Executor size, which was all over the map in official sources over the years).

I kind of wish they'd "revised" the CMTM when they re-released it recently, but that would have cost money I guess.

[Local Trouble]

I'd still be interested in seeing the math on that. I'm not saying the CMTM is infallible (cough "Thetis" cough), I'm just curious where the correct numbers come from.

The CMTM states: "FTL propulsion is provided by a hyperdrive tachyon shunt, with a maximum speed of 0.74 light years per sidereal day."

LV-426 is located in the Zeta II Reticuli star system which is 39 light years from Earth.

According to the script and dialogue in the film, the transit time to LV-426 from Earth was only three weeks.

Now, math was never my strong suit, but it seems to me that Sulaco could have traveled only 15.52 light years at the CMTM's stated maximum speed in 21 days. That's less than half the actual distance to Zeta II Reticuli.

I'd say "what can be gleaned from the films" is a bit of a grey area - it's technically not the films themselves, it's a fan's interpretation of them. Interpretations aren't "canon", they're fan-fiction at best. I suppose on principle I'd be willing to side with a "wrong" official number over a "correct" fan-fiction number, at least until a later official source corrects the mistake (e.g., the Executor size, which was all over the map in official sources over the years).

Suit yourself.  For my money, empirical evidence trumps what some staff writer for West End Games casually jotted down for a role playing game sourcebook.

[SM]

And West End Games said as much in a disclaimer at the start of their books.

[SiL]

I suppose on principle I'd be willing to side with a "wrong" official number over a "correct" fan-fiction number, at least until a later official source corrects the mistake (e.g., the Executor size, which was all over the map in official sources over the years).

So how big is LV-426 again ... ? Cos you used to seem pretty certain the movie got it wrong.

[SM]

Movie says 1200km.

CMTM says 12201km.

[SiL]

I'm aware.

[SM]

Sorry.

Thought you were being rhetorical.

[Local Trouble]

And West End Games said as much in a disclaimer at the start of their books.

A factoid that was widely ignored back in the 90s.

[SiL]

Sorry.

Thought you were being rhetorical.

The answer will be that CMTM retconned it and is an official source.

[SM]

Woulda thunk the Directors Cut re-retconned it...

[SiL]

It's not which came latest, it's which you personally agree with.

[SM]

Silly me.

[Local Trouble]

Woulda thunk the Directors Cut re-retconned it...

Are they even aware of it?

[Xenomrph]

Sorry.

Thought you were being rhetorical.

The answer will be that CMTM retconned it and is an official source.

This. As I said in an earlier post:

I guess it's similar to the LV-426 size thing where the stated number in 'Alien' doesn't make sense, so a tertiary source "fixed" it.

I was using the LV-426 size thing as a counterpoint to my own statement. And if we want to take the "empirical evidence gleaned from the films" approach, what we actually see of LV-426 in 'Alien' and 'Aliens' trumps Lambert's dialogue well before the CMTM came into play.

It's not which came latest, it's which you personally agree with.

Also, this. And if we want to get really picky, the CMTM came "latest" since it was re-released recently.

The CMTM states: "FTL propulsion is provided by a hyperdrive tachyon shunt, with a maximum speed of 0.74 light years per sidereal day."

LV-426 is located in the Zeta II Reticuli star system which is 39 light years from Earth.

According to the script and dialogue in the film, the transit time to LV-426 from Earth was only three weeks.

Now, math was never my strong suit, but it seems to me that Sulaco could have traveled only 15.52 light years at the CMTM's stated maximum speed in 21 days. That's less than half the actual distance to Zeta II Reticuli.

That's really interesting, thanks for the info.

What's the dialogue from the movie, though? I don't recall any dates given for anything in-dialogue other than Burke's transmission.
What's the stuff from the script, as well? I suppose one could say that the script and the movie aren't the same thing, so citing them equally is a little disingenuous.

[Local Trouble]

It's background chatter between Hicks and Frost and it's barely audible, but it's in the script.  To paraphrase:

Frost: "Don't we have some down time coming?"
Hicks: "You just had three weeks."
Frost: "I mean breathing, not this frozen shit."