In space no one can hear…

One of the oft made criticisms of Science Fiction films is that we (the audience) hear the sound of the spacecraft as they fly in the vacuum of space. That explosions can only be heard when the shockwave hits the hull of the ship. It appears to me that there are at least two ways of thinking about this.

(1) I know of no-one that seriously believes that the London Symphony Orchestra is holed out on the same ball of rock as our heroes. So perhaps we should treat the explosions as part of our own cinematic experience.

(2) My new cellphone has a touch screen. To make it easier to use I can set it to vibrate when I touch the right part of the screen. Perhaps the sounds that the characters hear and virtually created by the ships computer. In the heat of battle it makes sense that ALL senses are active and being able to hear the space craft approaching (in Dolby surround sound, naturally) may be of tactical advantage.

Or it  might be something else… If anyone is reading this. What do you think?

(This blog post, among other things, is also available here at www.5thbabylonian.com)