[THXcertifiedTHX]

A cousin of mine recently got his home theater all hooked up and ready to go. To give it a nice sound check we tested out "War of the Worlds(2005)" with the DTS audio track and boy did that deliver! We also tested out Lord of the Rings 1(DD EX), X-Men(DTS), Transformers(DD), The Matrix(DD), and Quantum of Solace(DTS).

What are other great-sounding DVD's or Blu-Rays to pump out everything your home theater has to offer???

[rmg1973]

I haven't gone down blu-ray route so can only speak for SD dvd's.
Ones you mention are great.
Also: T2, Star Wars 1, 2 &3 (especially 2 in my opinion), any Disney Pixar (especially Wall E), new Batman films.

[Dubliner1]

Originally Posted by THXcertifiedTHX

A cousin of mine recently got his home theater all hooked up and ready to go. To give it a nice sound check we tested out "War of the Worlds(2005)" with the DTS audio track and boy did that deliver! We also tested out Lord of the Rings 1(DD EX), X-Men(DTS), Transformers(DD), The Matrix(DD), and Quantum of Solace(DTS).

What are other great-sounding DVD's or Blu-Rays to pump out everything your home theater has to offer???

"The Haunting" with Liam Neeson dts-ES track is one of the very best on regular DVD..the bass in some scenes is just phenomenal. I had the DVD while living in the U.S. There were 2 versions of the DVD available- one with Dolby and the other with DTS (front cover of the DVD had the DTS-ES logo in red)...not sure if it is the same in the UK.

As far as blu-ray goes check out the U.S. version avsforum dot com for a thread on blurays with reference audio quality. Speed racer sounds great even though I think its only standard Dolby 5.1.

[ninja tattoo]

My personal favourite is:

as a Metallica fan check out he 'Cunning Stunts live concert'
loads of special effects as they play 'One' and obviously loads of bass.

Film wise: Toy Story (DD) as the truck skids over your head and the air brakes kick in always freaks me out as it sounds like the truck is park on your head lol.
Any good Pixar film tbh will sound great: Cars/Bugs Life/Monsters Inc

Iron Man sounds great also as does Frighteners in DTS

check out - High Def Digest Blu-Ray DVDs and sort by Audio rating.

[RohanM]

a bit left field, but I suggest Master & Commander (the Russell Crowe film). I only have it on SD, so cannot comment on HD sound formats.

The usual audio pyrotechnics when they first encounter the enemy ship and cannons whizz past you, shards of "stuff" fly everywhere, etc; but also footsteps running on the deck above as the folks inside the ship run to their stations, and dialogue to be made out whilst all this mayhem is goiing on, etc.

Definitely one for dynamic range/contrasts.

[markymark34]

The start of saving private ryan. Awsome in SD.

[jl2305]

The movie i always put on to show off my sound system is 'Heat' with Al Pacino and De Niro. That has the best gun shot sounds i've ever heard. They echo all around you. It's fantastic.

[shoestring25]

my favorite surround sound film is darkness falls not a great film but the monster flying around hissing in the dark out of various speakers is great !

[ninja tattoo]

Gladiator on Blu-Ray has just come out, the begining scene in the forest is brilliant for surround sound fans as is most of the arena sounds.

[leoncope]

Band of Brothers! Especially the episode (can't remember the name) where they are in the woods in the middle of winter being bombarded by the german artillary! Looks incredible and sounds immense!

[davidwatsonok]

Originally Posted by Leoncc

Band of Brothers! Especially the episode (can't remember the name) where they are in the woods in the middle of winter being bombarded by the german artillary! Looks incredible and sounds immense!

Ep 6 'Bastogne' Although the assault on the German artillery units in Ep2 'Day of Days' has some excellent bullet and ricochet effects.

[Basil Plumley]

The opening (black and white) scene in Van Helsing
Spider-man 2 where Doc Ock has is born
The last 2 Matrix films all the way through
Andrew Lloyd Webbers Phantom of The opera
"Madagascar" from Casino Royale
Die Hard 4 all the way through
Sunshine has some chest thumping LFE moments
Most of Quantom Of Solace

Looking forward to Star Trek 11 and Terminator Salvation - saw both of these at Empire Leicester square and hoping they'll sound just as good in my cinema.

[ninja tattoo]

For a great Demo disc get Earth on Blu Ray, absolute top quailty picture and sound.
£8 from Play.

[blaster9999]

Now I've got my new amp I'm going to be revisiting most of the films listed so.
What does annoy is the way some disk default to the non hd tracks and you have to go into set up to change it.

[blaster9999]

Originally Posted by Basil Plumley

The opening (black and white) scene in Van Helsing
Spider-man 2 where Doc Ock has is born
The last 2 Matrix films all the way through
Andrew Lloyd Webbers Phantom of The opera
"Madagascar" from Casino Royale
Die Hard 4 all the way through
Sunshine has some chest thumping LFE moments
Most of Quantom Of Solace

Looking forward to Star Trek 11 and Terminator Salvation - saw both of these at Empire Leicester square and hoping they'll sound just as good in my cinema.

Terminator 4 may not of been the best film in the series but the work out it gave to speakers in my lacal multiplex convinced me to get an amp, even though I'd sworn I would never go near one again.

[Dogswotsits]

I have just set myself up with a new Onkyo TX-SR508 system and want to see how it performs. Can some of you guys recommend some blu ray discs that will demonstrate the sound capabilities of this machine for me and help me justify the cost of it.

[Duke]

Welcome to the wonderful world of home cinema

I've only managed to collect a handful of Blu's so far (still a bit expensive) but there are a couple that I have seen mentioned as reference discs for showcasing speakers/amps that the AV press use.

Terminator Salvation (Blu-Ray)
Transformers 2 (Blu-Ray)

I actually own the first one (DVD and Blu-Ray) and it is a tour-de-force of the most amazing noise absolutely brilliant to try out your new kit!

And the Tranny 2 disc is supposed to seriously rock with its HD surround sound. Maybe they were hoping customers would be so distracted by the amazing effects they would forget about the storyline - like they seem to have done whilst making the film. But I'll still buy it on Blu someday (yes I've got the DVD), it's the kind of exciting, brain-out, dazzling spectacle, of film that livens up a Friday night movie session and shows off what your system can do.

[Luvshak]

I definitely recommend Avatar for Picture and Sound quality and also for being an all round awesome movie.

But if your in the market for some laughs and some animated movies, then ya really can't beat Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. That film had me in hysterics for ages.

[james2878]

check out the Band of Brothers box set on bluray
Fantastic show and the audio/soundtrack has been highly rated....
Blu-ray Review: Band of Brothers | High-Def Digest

[talcs]

dark knight all the way ! best sound i have heard on blu ray

[Garrett]

Theread here of intrest also a thread a bit older but still relevent I will merge this with.

[Basil Plumley]

Can't say I agree with the votes for transformers 2...gotta be the most over gules soundtrack I have ever heard! The dialogue is muffled, the surrounds and lfe are to loud and it's just a mess!
must say I wasn't disappointed with T4 or star trek when they came out on blu-ray...demo discs both of them.

[Sonic67]

Gamer was pretty good. So so film but impressive sound, always busy.

[DJBaroque]

This is my sort of the thread... :D - even if I do just listen with headphones in stereo or through my TV -- I don't have the luxury of 5.1 but would love it.

For audio show-offage I can get lost in the moment Which isn't a bad thing!

Normally when I was setting up and tweaking settings and levels, my go to disc was The Incredibles. However, as time has gone on, this has changed.

I can reccomend Moulin Rouge (Dir. Baz Luhrmann) highly. The DVD has both DD and DTS soundtracks which are THX approved, both of them sound fan-amazingly-tastic through headphones, and I remember at the cinema it was just - in a good way! Like nothing I'd heard before in a film.

Zhang Yimou's wuxia tour de force that is House of Flying Daggers is an all round sensual treat. However, I'd like to direct you to the Echo Game scene, the first time I saw it, I was breathtaken (seriously) and on repeated watches it only gets better. The soundstage throughout this scene and the following scenes is just pure cinematic mastery.

Also, you can do worse to check out Michael Flatley's Feet of Flames
(Dir. David Mallet) There is great fidelity throughout, considering there is alot going on at times with the band and the taps, it's very enjoyable. This may not be an obvious choice, but you may be surprised.

Music choice now - Tommy Emmanuel - Center Stage (Live) - His finale piece Initiation will knock your socks off. It sounds AWESOME in stereo and on the CD, so having it in 5.1 will be a treat I'm sure. If the CD is anything to go by, there will be a tonne of bass and just great clarity throughout.

Hope that helps!