So I've had this theory for a while now.

In the galaxy far far away where Star Wars takes place there is a thin, omnipresent atmosphere in space

This conjecture would explain a number of things:

1) There is sound during exterior shots of space battles so there has to be some sort of medium for the sound to travel through

2) In Empire Strikes Back, after landing inside of an asteroid (one that is considerably smaller than Earth's moon) Han, Leia and Chewbacca are seen walking around outside of the ship wearing nothing more than breathing masks over their mouths. In a hard vacuum they would die almost instantly without full body space suits

3) Star fighters and freighters maintain forward movement during dogfights instead of turning in place (a la BSG) and firing at their opponents.

4) In Revenge of the Sith, during the battle over Coruscant, buzz droids are seen to peel off and fall away from Obi-Wan's Jedi Star fighter in a manner that would suggest that they are experiencing air resistance instead of continuing forward alongside the starfighter at their previous velocity as we would see in a hard vacuum scenario.

5) Star Wars explosions during space battles are fiery. This could only be the case in an environment with at least some atmosphere in it

I rest my case

Also, before you reply, know that I am fully aware that these are just space opera movies and play fast and loose with the laws of physics for story and visual coolness purposes. But still, it's neat to imagine an elegant solution that explains a lot about how space combat and tactics would be shaped by a different environment.

We could imagine that the Star Wars galaxy (for whatever reason) has a tremendous over abundance of gases compared to our own galaxy. However, the 'space atmosphere' is just thin enough to not be visible over long distances (otherwise the black starfields in the background of the space shots would be a hazy color depending on the gas composition)

4. I imagined that the battle over Coruscant took place in the upper atmosphere.

I have no further refutation.

I thought it was explained that the ships had internal sound effect generators which generate relative audio cues to the pilot or crew, This said, the force is around the galaxy to that overarching midichlorian atmosphere would make sense.

**** you for making me type midichlorian by the way. Hated how that ruined the mysticism behind star wars.

Why does everyone think the sound effects are actually there and not just an artistic license for our benefit?

Fire doesn't need atmosphere, just oxygen and fuel. If star ship fuel contains oxygen it could burn in vacuum.

S`funny I could swear we had an off topic sub forum these days

Why does everyone think the sound effects are actually there and not just an artistic license for our benefit?

Because:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Aural_sensor

Yeah, that's the one.

Star Wars without big spaise bangs and pew-pews?

Bo-Ring

I want my bangs and pew-pews.

Why does everyone think the sound effects are actually there and not just an artistic license for our benefit?

Because:http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Aural_sensor

And as that page mentions, was invented exclusively to explain something that in every other piece of space opera is just accepted as artistic license and requires no explanation, especially since SW is fantasy not sci-Fi. So why?

1 - Already dealt with: artistic liscence and/or aural sensors.

2 - It was inside a Space Slug, which very likely has some kind of internal atmosphere, given that pretty much all organisms do; they did need oxygen masks. Besides, vacuum won't kill you outright, especially when you have an air supply. Vacuum effects are some of the worst-understood sciency bits in most sci-fi.

3 - Explain it as part of their special engine mechanics and/or something to do with the inertial dampers built in to every Star Wars ship.

4 - Coruscant has a really thick atmosphere, and most of the combat during the assault took place in the upper reaches.

5 - Rebel ships tend to have full atmospheres in the cockpits, while even TIEs have a supply of air for the pilot's suit to plug into. Throw in volatile materials involved with their power generators and such and you have the needed bits for nice explosions. Plus, the original explosions were far less fire-bally than the special edition versions, which were basically a Rebel Alliance propoganda piece anyway (Han firing on Greedo in self defence, etc.).

Why does everyone think the sound effects are actually there and not just an artistic license for our benefit?

This is my favorite. The "no sound in space" argument pisses me off.

There's no sound in space—true. There's also no background music, subtitles, cut shots, or dramatic camera angles. It's all part of the narrative!

Why does everyone think the sound effects are actually there and not just an artistic license for our benefit?

This is my favorite. The "no sound in space" argument pisses me off.

There's no sound in space—true. There's also no background music, subtitles, cut shots, or dramatic camera angles. It's all part of the narrative!

I call BS on there not being subtitles in space.