Top 5 Best Surround Sound DVDs

[ELTRIGO]

Hey! I want to know what are the Top 5 DVD's with the BEST surround sound. DTS is always preferable, but list your top 10 demo DVD's.

Here are mine:

1. Saving Private Ryan {DTS}

2. LOTR (I, II, and III) {DTS-ES}

3. Air Force One

4. Master and Commander {DTS}

5. Star Wars {DD-EX}

[saurabh]

U-571
The Day After Tomorrow

[George Bellefontaine]

There are so many it's hard to list only five, but my favorites now are:
MASTER AND COMMANDER
ALL THE LORD OF THE RINGS
U571
THE BROSNAN BOND FILMS
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, especially the beach landing.

[David Meek]

All the above are good 'uns, and here are two more:

Black Hawk Down - DTS. Yeah baby!
The Italian Job - the remake. This one really surprised me with its continuous and effective use of the surrounds.

[ekkoville]

Black Hawk Down
Top Gun SE
Behind Enemy Lines

[bamaredwingsfan]

My top 5 but in no particular order

1. Open Range

2. Gladiator (DTS Version)

3. Rush Hour 2

4. LOTR Extended Ed. Triology

5. Pearl Harbor

[Adz]

My 6 picks are a bit unorthodox as I'm focusing not too much on some of the deeper LFE movies chosen but more on tonality and overall background sound. I haven't heard Open Range or The Italian Job yet but I've heard they are very good as well. Not necessarily in any order:

1. Man on Fire

2. The Forgotten

3. I Robot

4. Kill Bill I

5. The Village

6. DareDevil

[Azeke]

In no particular order:

Fifth Element
The Day after Tomorrow
Gladiator
Jonny Pneumonic
Bones
The Incredibles

Happy Memorial Day,

Azeke

[Gordon Moore]

Man on Fire for surround sound? I guess so. I agree with Daredevil....the sound bounces around the room when you get a "view" of his second sight.


The Chronicles of Riddick ain't gonna win awards but it did have really good directional sound effects for a better part of the movie.

SAW {DTS}

A Bug's life - When the grasshopper's move in.

THX TEX (EX)
THX TEX Moo Can

T2 Ultimate Edition
The Mummy DTS
Twister (most definitely)
The Eagles When Hell Freezes Over
Saving Private Ryan
Minority Report

[Adz]

Man on Fire for surround sound? I guess so. I agree with Daredevil....the sound bounces around the room when you get a "view" of his second sight.




SAW {DTS}

Forgot about SAW - it is definitely up there. I thought Man on Fire had that unbelieveable immersive soundfield - not necessarily that panning effect and sound bouncing all around, just constant background sound all around. They just came out with the Man on Fire Collector's Edition and I wonder if the sound was enhanced a bit over the original soundtrack.

[jimmyp58]

Great call Azeke on The Incredibles!

[Nick M]

Off the top of my head...

1. Finding Nemo
2. U571 DTS
3. Open Range DTS
4. Master & Commander DTS
5. Black Hawk Down DTS

Oddly enough, these are also some of my favorite subwoofer workouts too!

EDIT: After reading Burkes post below, I can't believe I forgot House of Flying Daggers. This one is a must!

[Burke Strickland]

You've already covered many of the "usual suspects", most of which would be movies worth watching even if the sound were monophonic. :>) Lord of The Rings sets the bar pretty high and Master and Commander (M&C) is downright spooky in its use of surrounds -- you can almost get seasick from it. (That's a good thing.) :>)

Come to think of it, M&C is one movie that has such an effective soundtrack (the creaking timbers are almost an independent character) that I don't think I would want to watch it without surround sound. I KNOW I wouldn't watch U-571 if the sub weren't hooked up (pun intended). :>)

House of Flying Daggers has some amazing surround sound as well, in scenes both indoors and outdoors.

Going back into the catalog a bit, Casino has an astounding sequence in a large room where gambling takes place (go figure) ;>) but that activity is not the astounding part -- rather, it is the incredibly life-like surround sound that gives a convincing aural sensation of moving through the room.

Even though its soundtrack is "only" Dolby ProLogic instead of 5.1, Mississippi Burning also has a very convincing "you are there" ambience in the surrounds. There's one sequence where Gene Hackman's character is on the main street of the small southern city and you almost feel leaves whipping against you as the wind whirls street dust and debris around while he is walking along.

For atmospheric weather sounds, the thunderstorm back dropping the outdoor military formation (meeting) in Crimson Tide is almost realistic enough to make you grab an umbrella. :>)

Burke

PS -- I have heard and appreciated effective "sound from all sides" music performances, but Eagles: Hell Freezes Over (EHFO) isn't one of them. Frankly, I think the sound engineers blew it on EHFO, which IMHBCO is a prime example of playing unwarranted audible tricks that have no grounding in the actual perfomance just because they can.

I mean, really, guitars and percussion from the REAR speskers, when the video clearly shows all the performers lined up in front across the stage? That's "creativity" taken the wrong direction (literally). The PCM track has excellent sound and sets a sound stage more like the actual performance. (No, I wasn't there, but I can see where the performers are on the video while they are playing, and it shows them up front, not in the rear corners of the performing space).

[mtodde]

Underworld (DTS - Superbit)
Saving Private Ryan (DTS)
Twister (DTS)
Swordfish (DD)
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Deluxe Editions (DTS)

[bamaredwingsfan]

I just watched Tombstone special edition, an it was just awesome, the picture, the sound, it will definately make its way into my top 5 :T

[Miroku]

Master & Commander DTS wins for me, without a doubt. This is the dsic I play to show off my system for guests, and theyre always impressed. The first 15 minutes of that film is like the perfect demo. Starting off in silence and climaxing in pure mayhem.