Got a new system with surround sound. What is the best movie for sound to test it out?
Got a new system with surround sound. What is the best movie for sound to test it out?
Jurassic Park
Red October
"one ping only"
Saving Pvt.Ryan...D-Day Landing
Saving Private Ryan.
Was just on today while testing a client's system. It was fantastic.
The 3rd lord of the rings movie
V for Vendetta
Top Gun, but only the opening
The shootout scene in "Heat" after De Niro et al rob the bank.
U-571, and really any battle scenes in recent war movies (by recent I mean post 1995)
T2. Still outrageous in the sound dept.
If your receiver isn't hooked up to your DVD player with digital coaxial or optical cable, then I'm going to punch you in the mouth. Using only stereo connections (red/white RCA) will not give you true surround, no matter how many speakers you have. If you have a Home-Theater-in-a-Box, then I'll let you off with a warning.
As for a good movie to test your system, first make sure that it is recent (i.e., originally encoded in Dolby Digital). 5.1 surround didn't spread into wide use until the prevelance of DVDs made it worthwhile to create soundtracks in this format. If a movie is more than ten years old, it may not have noticeable directional effects even if the DD 5.1 logo is on the box.
This may seem obvious and superficial, but avoid dialogue-heavy films because the sound is mostly restricted to the front speakers. Any newer action-thriller or sci-fi epic should do nicely. Remember, just because sound is coming out of all the speakers doesn't mean your getting the mult-channel experience; you're looking for sonic fades, pans, and discrete outputs that make you feel like you're in the movie.
Master and Commander has some good effects especially in the below deck scenes.
the first movie that came to mind was master and commander.
Intro to Apocalypse Now (Redux)
Lord of the Rings
Earthquake
King Kong (the new Peter Jackson version)
Saving Private Ryan
The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
Any of the Harry Potter films
Two great music DVDs:
The Wall - Pink Floyd (The movie, not concert)
The Kids are Alright - The Who
'Phlashdance'
What a wonderful movie and soundtrack! Irene Cara's voice just booms across my surround sound. I watch it at least every week, and have since 1998.
"What a pheeling!"
"Why's everyone so afraid of bopping?"
Days of Thunder was pretty cool. Nothing beats Saving Private Ryan though.
Any Lord of the Rings movie will do it