best films to test your dolby digital surround sound.

worzel_gummidge · 17-10-2006 10:58am #1

Im curious,what films really test your dolby digital surround sound?

quazzy · 17-10-2006 11:07am

I suppose Lord of the Rings would be a good start.

dr.bollocko · 17-10-2006 11:12am

That led zeppelin concert movie, the one released just a few years back, of course. Its fantastic. in every way.

The Bollox · 17-10-2006 11:15am

Revenge Of The Sith, the space battle at the start was brilliant for the surround sound!

also LOTR

bucks73 · 17-10-2006 11:41am

master and Commander is very good too.

mossym · 17-10-2006 11:42am

best workout my rears have gotten was with underworld.

gladiator also has a good track for surround.

DaBreno · 17-10-2006 11:45am

Black Hawk Down is excellent for the surround sound.
The Street race scene from The Fast and the Furious is good too.

mossym · 17-10-2006 11:47am

actually i just thought of two more...saving private ryan, and band of brothers...both can strip plaster from the wall if i gave my system full volume

Maints · 17-10-2006 11:54am

RONIN is very good, especially the car chase scenes.

Paul.

slave1 · 17-10-2006 12:36pm

Toy Story 2 intro scene

Mountjoy Mugger · 17-10-2006 1:05pm

There's a certain scene in Dog Soldiers that will certainly be enhanced with digital surround sound...

worzel_gummidge · 17-10-2006 1:18pm

Is that the scene,where the wolf is on top of the car and and he`s trying to get through the roof,yea ive tried that with dts and its brilliant!

Mountjoy Mugger · 17-10-2006 2:49pm

Hehe, yeah, that's the one. I had my brother around a while ago, and stuck it on. He leapt out of the chair when that scene played. Laughed my head off, I did.

kc66 · 17-10-2006 2:53pm

mossym wrote:

actually i just thought of two more...saving private ryan, and band of brothers...both can strip plaster from the wall if i gave my system full volume

I watched all of Band of Brothers with surround sound... its excellent

Idleater · 17-10-2006 8:42pm

An excelent demonstration DTS film is The Fast and the Furious.

L.

Clank · 18-10-2006 4:22pm

I think Apocalypse Now Redux(DD), Ronin(DTS), Terminator 2(DTS) or Jurassic Park(DTS) to be pretty good for reference.

Ghost Train · 18-10-2006 8:56pm

as mentioned above saving private ryan
war of the worlds has some nice sounds

Sparky · 18-10-2006 9:13pm

The beach scene in Saving Private Ryan is good for a start.

The Fifth Element.

Moulin Rouge (seriously)

Pearl Habour.

branners69 · 18-10-2006 9:51pm

Sparky-s wrote:

The beach scene in Saving Private Ryan is good for a start.

This gets my vote, once its the DTS version, tested my Mordaunt Short Genies and my Pioneer Amp nicely:D

Otherwise get your hands on a copy of the DTS/DD test discs which has scenes which will test your system to its max!!

Ivan E · 18-10-2006 9:54pm

Surprised no one mentioned the Matrix. One of the first films to truely make the use of Digital and the likes I believe.

mossym · 19-10-2006 8:39am

Ivan E wrote:

Surprised no one mentioned the Matrix. One of the first films to truely make the use of Digital and the likes I believe.

digital what? digital sound? all dvd's store the soundtrack digitally...always have..

Rabies · 19-10-2006 8:44am

The Lord of the Rings gets my vote. First time I heard the clarity of the rain drops on the orc's helmets during the final battle of The Two Towers.
Ahhh. Proper sound quality, ya can't beat it.

Ivan E · 19-10-2006 2:20pm

mossym wrote:

digital what? digital sound? all dvd's store the soundtrack digitally...always have..

Could be wrong in this but I believe the Matrix was one of the first movies to truly make use of 5.1 on dvd's. Where all dvd's have it, this movie used the full benefits of it. Hence all the whoosh noise.

mossym · 19-10-2006 2:35pm

think you are wrong there..there are older movies than that which have surround sound..apollo 13 was released in 1995, and it has a reference dts track (if you can find the dts version). Saving private ryan is from 1998, and again it has a reference track. both of these predate the matrix. In fact gladiator, which only came a few months later, has a 6.1 soundtrack

Clank · 19-10-2006 3:49pm

Ivan E wrote:

Could be wrong in this but I believe the Matrix was one of the first movies to truly make use of 5.1 on dvd's. Where all dvd's have it, this movie used the full benefits of it. Hence all the whoosh noise.

Nope, not at all.
Define 'full use'.Full use for me would be a signal eminating from the 6 speakers.
The Matrix just made really, really obvious use of it.

Ivan E · 19-10-2006 10:25pm

Yeah that's exactly what I meant. I heard that they used the full benefits of it and as you put it, made really obvious use of it. Rather than it just being available and enhancing the sound, the Matrix designed it's sound around the format.

So a couple of years back, when people were first getting themselves sorted with home cinemas, the Matrix was the must have dvd to really display the true benefits of the home cinema.

mossym · 19-10-2006 11:15pm

Ivan E wrote:

Yeah that's exactly what I meant. I heard that they used the full benefits of it and as you put it, made really obvious use of it. Rather than it just being available and enhancing the sound, the Matrix designed it's sound around the format.

So a couple of years back, when people were first getting themselves sorted with home cinemas, the Matrix was the must have dvd to really display the true benefits of the home cinema.

and saving private ryan didn't? sorry, but rubbish..

Balfa · 20-10-2006 4:15am

Ivan E wrote:

So a couple of years back, when people were first getting themselves sorted with home cinemas, the Matrix was the must have dvd to really display the true benefits of the home cinema.

Ehh, no. Besides, people weren't first getting themselves sorted with home cinemas "a couple of years back". It's been steadily growing since the early '80s.

Ivan E · 20-10-2006 9:59am

I'm talking about dvd formats here and 5.1 digital sound in terms of home cinemas which is something that only happened in the 90's. And the topic is about which dvd is best to test this.

http://www.amazon.com/Best-DVDs-for-Surround-Sound-Collection-Essentials/lm/28OEBF7BP0YUA

mossym · 20-10-2006 10:05am

so laser discs never counted? dvd was NOT the start of home cinema...most people who have been into home cinema for a while will tell you about thier video, then their laser disc collections..dvd was just the next evolution, not the start..they switched over to dvd like everyone is now going o be switching to

and finding a list someone has put together on amazon isn't proof of anything..

surround sound predated the matrix by a long way..the only thing the matrix had first was that bullet time style of shooting, which has been so over done now it's painful to watch..csi must spend half theior programme on it..

Ivan E · 20-10-2006 10:06am

mossym wrote:

think you are wrong there..there are older movies than that which have surround sound..apollo 13 was released in 1995, and it has a reference dts track (if you can find the dts version). Saving private ryan is from 1998, and again it has a reference track. both of these predate the matrix. In fact gladiator, which only came a few months later, has a 6.1 soundtrack

Coincidentally mossym, was apollo 13 released as a special edition or some way differently than the normal pressed dvds and did it have 5.1? Or is the below information incorrect?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD

The first DVD players and discs were available in November 1996 in Japan, March 1997 in the United States, 1998 in Europe and in 1999 in Australia. The first pressed DVD release was the film Twister in 1996. The film had the first test for 2.1 surround sound.

mossym · 20-10-2006 10:12am

Ivan E wrote:

Coincidentally mossym, was apollo 13 released as a special edition or some way differently than the normal pressed dvds and did it have 5.1? Or is the below information incorrect?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112384/dvd

check the release date on the dts version...movie released in 95..dts version dvd released in march 99..

Rating:Rating: PG

Runtime:140 Minutes

Label: Universal

Studio: Universal Studios

Release Date: 1999-03-16

DVD Format: Keep Case, Widescreen Anamorphic, 2.35:1, 0, Color, Sides:1 (SS-RSDL)

DVD Features: Audio Track 1: English, DTS, Audio Track 2: English, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

so seeing as though the Matrix only hit cinemas in summer 99...do you still think it's dvd was before appollo 13?

mossym · 20-10-2006 10:21am

oh, and btw, they are just two i thought of, i'm sure i could go back a find a lot mroe before the matrix as well.

and if you really want to get into surround sound history..have a look at the details for the laserdisc releases of braveheart..

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112573/laserdisc

and more history

Dolby developed a digital surround sound compression scheme for the cinema. Dolby Stereo Digital (now simply called Dolby Digital) was first featured on the 1992 film Batman Returns. Introduced to the home theater market as Dolby AC-3 with the 1995 laserdisc release of Clear and Present Danger, the format did not become widespread in the consumer market, partly because of extra hardware that was necessary to make use of it, until it was adopted as part of the DVD specification.

Ivan E · 20-10-2006 10:25am

Okay, that wasn't clear from your post. You seem to be suggesting that it was released in '95 with a dts soundtrack. I'm sure all movies released to dvd retrospectively included a 5.1 soundtrack.

What I am saying is that I was lead to believe that the Matrix was one of the first movies to design its soundtrack around the 5.1 format making full use of its benefits and that was very evident on the dvd release. I did say 'believe' and 'could be wrong'.

I can't find anything to support that or find anything to suggest what movie did. Looking into some of the issues of promoting dvd's when they first arrived, it seems most effort was put into focusing on the clarity of the images. It's only on demonstrating that they noticed how interested people were in the sound being generated.

mossym · 20-10-2006 10:40am

to be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if the Matrix was the first movie to have planned effects for 5.1. .i.e. they decided to put special sounds into scenes jsut for 5.1 benefit..and planned that before it was shot.

but, i have my doubts In 1999 the dvd culture was not that old. dvd sales weren't a fraction of what they are now. now sales of dvds are a factor in any movie. Back then they weren't. to spend extra time on something for the dvd release may not have made sense back then

what i was arguing was your point that the matrix was the first movie to make full use of surround sound. planned or otherwise. the matrix has a good soundtrack, but i'd rate saving private ryan above it.

However, i can't svay for definite that it was planned before it was shot..so lets agree to disagree..:).

Ghost Train · 20-10-2006 11:15am

I like the surround sound on "castaway", good plane crash sounds, and water sounds

ObeyGiant · 03-11-2006 9:45am

Star Wars: A Musical Journey (which comes free with the Revenge of the Sith soundtrack) is a lovely demo disk - perfect for showing off your setup.

Clank · 03-11-2006 12:38pm

Ivan E wrote:

I can't find anything to support that or find anything to suggest what movie did. Looking into some of the issues of promoting dvd's when they first arrived, it seems most effort was put into focusing on the clarity of the images. It's only on demonstrating that they noticed how interested people were in the sound being generated.

Unfortunately thats still the case, people still buying big screen plasmas....and using the built in speakers.

ZENER · 04-11-2006 2:26pm

Matrix, Saving Private Ryan and Star Wars all get my vote. Also the DVD of The Incredibles included a short movie called Jack Jack Attack which was nice too, especially when Jack Jack bursts into flames !!

Master & Commander sounded fantastic in the cinema but on DVD I was disappointed, the canon balls didn't have the same dynamic range, I think they used compression to reduce it.

ZEN

Cmar-Ireland · 11-11-2006 6:42pm

A brilliant way to demo your surround system is 6.1 dts Top Gun. Enough use of LFE to shake your fillings out!
Se7en dts is excellent.
MACTFSOTW is one of the best too.

Tonio · 23-11-2006 4:31pm

I know it is not strictly a film but the sound of that tree falling in the rain forest episode of Planet Earth on the BBC HD channel last Sunday was awesome...

Kintarō Hattori · 04-12-2006 2:00am

Surprised no-one mentioned Blade II here. The quality of sound on the disc is superb, a real benchmark of what most other movies should strive towards.

melekalikimaka · 04-12-2006 2:02am

i hears the mummy or the mummy returns was meant to be excellent...maybe that was just for image quality...i dunno

Omnipresence · 05-01-2007 12:48pm

I know its an absolutely crap film but its recognised as one of the best to test your subwoofer/low end specifically - Godzilla...

Get to the scene where he's walking up the street... seriously high impacting low frequency sounds from a light tremble to earth shattering...

-A

Slaphead07 · 05-01-2007 8:34pm

Saving Private Ryan R1 is the DTS reference disc.
I found Master and Commander to be incredible in sourround, and U-571 is a great example of how good a simple 5.1 mix can be.
There's a scene in Dragonheart where the dragon flies around Quaids head and, if your system is set up correctly, the dragon flies around your room! I think it's Chapter 13.

Other than that it's as mentioned above, LOTRs, Galdiator (the opening battle is a great test of dynamics), Snakes on a Plane (rental) has a good 6.1 ES DTS track and Battle Royale 2 has an amazing if unsubtle soundtrack.

The Denouncer · 08-01-2007 12:30pm

Most of the animations have great sound - check out the LFEs when the little girl laughs in Mosters Inc or when the dentist taps the fish tank in Finding Nemo. Or the bird in A Bug's Life. Or the robot in The Incredibles. Love them all.
Metropolis(anime) has great DTS. Ice Age has great 5.1 also.

Also I recommend I, Robot; Minority Report; Terminator 2; Gladiator; The Eagles - Hell Freezes Over; Superman Returns, Phantom of the Opera (96/24), GalaxyQuest (Region 1 full bitrate DTS)..

As TV Series go Rome has very impressive DD 5.1

There are loads!

IamtheSaint · 31-03-2009 6:51pm

Hands down I just do not think there is a better surround movie than
The Polar Express. with a great subwoofer like klipsch 10 inch or 12 inch your entire house rumbles and vibrates and you just can't take the pressure of the sub woofer.

hick · 31-03-2009 7:38pm

My favorite movie just for sound alone has to be We Were Soldiers
While the Matrix, LOTR etx are good, I can't beat two scenes in this movie, the first is helicopter assault where they are coming on both sides from behind you and the second is an airstrike, quite valley where you can hear the wind go through the grass and then the scream of a jet and multiple explosions all around you. AWESOME!

best films to test your dolby digital surround sound.

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