Best movie to watch to give surround sound a workout

[RoldGold]

Hi everyone,
I recently got a new surround sound and I am looking for movies that have a great 5.1 track and obviously are good movies. I am trying out my system and I want to see how good it can sound.

So just name the movie/tv show you think encompasses both the best surround track and storyline.

I'll start off:
---Movies
1. Saving Private Ryan - first 30 minutes, jaw dropping surround sound editing
2. The Dark Knight - entire movie has great surround sound
3. Inception - also has great surround sound throughout
4. Behind Enemy Lines - has good sound editing in the sequence with dodging the missile
---TV Shows
1. Burn Notice - amazing writing, great acting, and wonderful audio mix

 

[Yggdrasill]

Hi everyone,
I recently got a new surround sound and I am looking for movies that have a great 5.1 track and obviously are good movies. I am trying out my system and I want to see how good it can sound.

So just name the movie/tv show you think encompasses both the best surround track and storyline.

I'll start off:
---Movies
1. Saving Private Ryan - first 30 minutes, jaw dropping surround sound editing
2. The Dark Knight - entire movie has great surround sound
3. Inception - also has great surround sound throughout
4. Behind Enemy Lines - has good sound editing in the sequence with dodging the missile
---TV Shows
1. Burn Notice - amazing writing, great acting, and wonderful audio mix

I haven't had a surround system for several years. But two movies I really thought had killer sound were Enemy at the Gates and Blackhawk Down.

 

[Billo]

Flight of the Phoenix

Master and Comander

War of the Worlds

 

[luxmaster]

Titan A.E.

U571

 

[VICIII]

Have three boys 12 and under and have watched "Transformers" movies and the second has great scenes with the whole room swirling around. Definitely worth checking out.

 

[js1138]

I'd like to see a movie where you don't notice the surround sound, even though it's there.

 

[trhee]

Saving Private Ryan
Star Wars: Complete Series I-VI
The Incredibles (actually almost all recent animated movies)
Gladiator
Apocalypto
Matrix Trilogy
Top Gun
Terminator 2
Avatar

 

[newrival]

Just watched Sector 9 again last night and was surprised at how good the surround was. I think the last time I watched it was on stereo.

 

[Mildot1]

Just off the top of my head real quick here. I would have to say The Rock, Platoon, Saving Private Ryan. Im sure there's a few more if I really thought about it for a while though

 

[Hammie]

If you have an SA-CD player, I would recommend Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon as a reference disk for 5.1 surround music. However, I personally do not like 5.1 surround music, but that disk is an exception.

As far as movies (not sure if you are talking DVD or Blu-ray), some great ones were already mentioned. However, I would recommend the following in Blu-ray format:

- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Cars (Pixar movie)
- The Fast and the Furious trilogy
- Fifth Element
- How to Train Your Dragon
- The Incredible Hulk
- The Kill Bill movies
- Speed Racer
- The Watchmen
- Avatar
- Iron Man
- Lord of the Rings trilogy
- Toy Story 2
- THX Demo Disc (found on eBay)
- Casino Royale
- District 9
- John Legend concert

Those are the ones off the top of my head. Some of these also have some amazing LFE to show off your subwoofer if you have a nice one.

 

[upfront]

U-571 is the first one that comes to mind. The depth charges are one end of the spectrum and the quiet listening to prop noise is the other.

 

[elcoholic]

I just happened to watch the Matrix tonight.

 

[tincat2]

i've always wanted to hear the main downtown shootout scene in 'Heat' on a good surround rig. 'Knowing' has some good possibilities as well.

 

[thedelihaus]

Das Boot is a goodun.

 

[john_w]

I remember when 5.1 was a new toy, high end stereo places used to use Raiders of the Lost Ark, especially the bar shootout scene, to demo the system. The bullets ricocheting all around the bar was well recreated in surround and made for an awesome effect. I think people tend to forget just how much fun Raiders was in general.

The matrix is a great sound system movie too, but maybe more for testing the subwoofer .

 

[Arkay]

Most of the A/V stores here seem to use Jurassic Park and King Kong a lot, as demos, although Jurassic is slowly fading from use, as I think most people have grown tired of it. I suspect that they are trying to show exciting action to impress customers, as much as actually show off sound quality. Black Hawk Down is noted as a good test for bass when the helicopters come in, and spacial location when firing is being done. Similarly, the opening scenes in Saving Private Ryan are a well-known demo for surround sound. One store sometimes uses Pearl Harbor, but I'm not sure if that is because the sound is good, or if they're trying to show how even a mediocre soundtrack can be made to sound decent(?).

Otherwise, I'd say most of the movies on this list (at least, the ones I have) have worked very well on my system; they each have their strengths. I used --and still use if I change a major component-- a dedicated set-up Laserdisc (Japanese) when setting up my system, and then trust that the sound settings are equally suitable for DVDs, etc... Other than that, I rarely try to "show off" the surround A/V system, so on that rare occasion I'll just take any decent movie (Master and Commander is one I've used) and pop it in.

 

[Arkay]

Das Boot is a goodun.

Sound quality aside, it's just a good movie, too! :yes: :thmbsp:

 

[Hammie]

I just thought of another one...

- Hitman

There is a scene where everything is muted except for bullet shells hitting a tile floor. sounds really good.

 

[eteller]

Saving Private Ryan
Ronin (the car chase)

 

[Lwrs10]

Here's my list best first:

U571
The Mummy Returns (AMAZING gunfights and car chases)
3:10 to Yuma (gunfights and bullets flying around)
Transformers 2
Inglorious Basterds

I have all of these on Blu Ray and the uncompressed audio is a great thing. I have 2 of them on normal DVD and its not even a comparison.