Films (Almost Entirely Surround)

[edisonbaggins]

I remember the dragon flying over my head during How to Train Your Dragon. It was pretty cool. Can't vouch for the entire soundtrack though.

 

[stormchaser]

While this isn't always surround-specific, you might bind this useful. http://www.avsforum.com/forum/150-blu-ray-software/1190265-new-audio-tier-thread.html

 

[seilerbird]

The Fifth Element (get the new Blu Ray master from 4K source)

Thanks for the suggestion. I had not heard of this movie so I read some reviews and ordered the 4k mastered version from Amazon this morning.

 

[seilerbird]

The Life of Pi sounds and looks absolutely amazing and is a film I look forward to upgrading in true 4K.....along of course with Lawrence of Arabia, Apocalypse Now and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The Revenant and The Hateful Eight are also worth seeking out. A 4K version of the Revenant is forthcoming which includes a BD~V as well.....Talk about outstanding cinematography AND sound design. http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Revenant-4K-Blu-ray/147639/

Martin Scorsese's Hugo is also outstanding.

BTW, A GREAT THREAD. Motion pictures have some of the best surround designs.

The Three seasons of TV's Hannibal also had outstanding scripts, superb acting, surround sound design and cinematography, as well. A pity it was canceled! It REALLY pushed the boundaries of Network TV.

I already own Life of Pi, it is one of my top ten movies of all time. I haven't watched in a year long before I became obsessed with surround sound. I will watch it again this morning first thing. Thanks.

 

[seilerbird]

I haven't been to Disney World since 2002, and I just started planning a trip for this summer. I'm REALLY looking forward to the Star Wars stuff!

I hope you're not disappointed with the Episode I blu-ray. You know about Jar Jar Binks, right??? That pod race is the bomb in surround, though.

No, I don't know about Jar Jar Binks. I watched that movie as soon as it came out before the controversy. Once people started talking I couldn't figure out what the problem was because I could barely remember the character. So I went back and watched the movie again. I still can't figure out why people have a problem with Jar Jar. I think he is cool. I read about the controversy on line and was shocked. I have been to the Caribbean many times to go scuba diving and I never heard anyone down there talk remotely like Jar Jar. I cannot in my wildest dreams see how Lucas would put a racial themed character into a movie series as popular as Star Wars. So I still don't know about Jar Jar, what is the problem?

 

[seilerbird]

I second that - great movie and sound.

This list can be somewhat useful:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Sound_Editing

Last years winner, Mad Max have awesome surround sound effects, but I did not care much for the movie.

I attempted to watch Mad Max and gave up after about 15 minutes. Not my cup of tea. I hold the Oscars in very low regard. We never agree on anything.

 

[seilerbird]

Here is another thread with suggestions, including How The West Was Won:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?10341-How-The-West-Was-Won

I have seen that movie and liked it so I ordered it this morning from Amazon. I got a three pack, The Searchers, The Wild Bunch and HTWWW for $11. Can't beat that with a stick. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[seilerbird]

Every Iron Man Movie. Especially the first one – the opening scene is my goto "show off" tool ;-)

I have the Avengers but did not pay any attention to the surround. I will watch it again today.

 

[seilerbird]

Independence Day is not bad either. (scene with the bullet shot at the space ship with shields on is great).

One of my favorite movies. I ordered the Blu ray from Amazon this morning. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[seilerbird]

This thread is accomplishing exactly what I hoped for, great suggestions. So far I have ordered ten movies from Amazon in the last two days. I am retired and have emphysema so I spend a lot of time lately watching movies and listening to surround sound discs. Life is great. Thanks to everyone who participated.

 

[der_angsthase]

This thread is accomplishing exactly what I hoped for, great suggestions. So far I have ordered ten movies from Amazon in the last two days. I am retired and have emphysema so I spend a lot of time lately watching movies and listening to surround sound discs. Life is great. Thanks to everyone who participated.

And there's so much more to discover!

Some more suggestions:

Prometheus (Ridley Scotts ALIEN Prequel) is also a fantastic 7.1 disc with massive amounts of nimble surround effects.

The Incredibles (a Pixar Movie) also has highly active surrounds and was one of the first Dolby Digital EX encoded DVDs back in the day.

BLACK HAWK DOWN (yet another Scott Movie) is also very immersive and crankable. A soundtrack to listen to in 0db.

GRAVITY is one of the newer discs (almost recent) that received stellar reviews all over the web – and I have to fully agree on them. Top notch!

Saving Private Ryan dare I say it? Used to be my reference disc to frighten everyone who came to my house and said: "Hey, I got Dolby Surround, too!"

The Lord Of The Rings – The Return Of The King is in DTS-ES on DVDs / DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 on Blu Rays and nothing short of fantastic.

300

Underworld was one of the Discs I never had in mind until my dad shoved it in my Player. Plain awesome from start to finish.

… and I could go on and on. But these are my top of the list Discs. Creme de la Creme, I might say. For now it does not get better than those in my humble opinion.

 

[dr. simple]

No, I don't know about Jar Jar Binks. I watched that movie as soon as it came out before the controversy. Once people started talking I couldn't figure out what the problem was because I could barely remember the character. So I went back and watched the movie again. I still can't figure out why people have a problem with Jar Jar. I think he is cool. I read about the controversy on line and was shocked. I have been to the Caribbean many times to go scuba diving and I never heard anyone down there talk remotely like Jar Jar. I cannot in my wildest dreams see how Lucas would put a racial themed character into a movie series as popular as Star Wars. So I still don't know about Jar Jar, what is the problem?

Well, I don't know what the controversies are - I never thought in terms of race or anything Caribbean - just that he's a goofy, obnoxious character that, in my opinion, devalues the movie (and the franchise) a bit. If there are other people making it a bigger deal than that, I didn't know about it.

 

[onthewall2983]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren_Klyce

Anything he's worked on. Namely Fight Club and Se7en. Those surround tracks particularly stood out when I revisited them recently. The Se7en Blu-ray (and 2-DVD edition) has a commentary track focused solely on the sound elements, and Ren gives a pretty good breakdown of how he works.

Interstellar has an amazing 5.1 DTS-HD MA track just in it's loudness. I think I had to turn my system almost all the way down a few times. Same goes for a lot of Nolan's films it seems like.

Honestly I'm not too hung up on surround tracks for movies. Depending on what it is I can immerse myself in something with a mono track and be satisfied with that. Especially older movies. Some of the ones I'd watch on cable then buy the DVD, I felt a little disappointed that the audio sounded too clean if that makes sense. Even on ones with a mono track like the one for Once Upon a Time in the West, which I later read was essentially just a whittled down version of the surround track.

 

[rtbluray]

I have seen that movie and liked it so I ordered it this morning from Amazon. I got a three pack, The Searchers, The Wild Bunch and HTWWW for $11. Can't beat that with a stick. Thanks for the suggestion.

The only downside to buying that three-pack is that it doesn't come with the "smilebox" version of "How the West Was Won", which to me is the best way to watch that particular movie as it emulates the curved Cinerama screen that HTWWW was made for.
Screenshots here: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/How-the-West-Was-Won-Blu-ray/742/

 

[seilerbird]

The only downside to buying that three-pack is that it doesn't come with the "smilebox" version of "How the West Was Won", which to me is the best way to watch that particular movie as it emulates the curved Cinerama screen that HTWWW was made for.
Screenshots here: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/How-the-West-Was-Won-Blu-ray/742/

To get the smilebox version would have been $15 for one movie. Instead I got three for $11. A no brainer since I am not interested in the smilebox version.

 

[rtbluray]

To get the smilebox version would have been $15 for one movie. Instead I got three for $11. A no brainer since I am not interested in the smilebox version.

Fair enough, but I'm also a digibook junkie, so I'll always try to buy a film with that particular packaging instead of settling for an ordinary amaray case, even if it does cost more money.

 

[seilerbird]

Fair enough, but I'm also a digibook junkie, so I'll always try to buy a film with that particular packaging instead of settling for an ordinary amaray case, even if it does cost more money.

I am just the opposite. I keep all my movies in binder and store the packaging away. I don't like the books that come with DVDs or CDs. A waste of money for me. Most are written in tiny type I can't read in poor color choices, like grey type on a brown background. I gave up trying to read them a long time ago. They are written and designed by twenty somethings with much better vision than me.

 

[jhw59]

Blu-Ray of Master and Commander comes to mind, though dialogue is sometimes hard to hear. Also, if you're a fan of the band, the blu-ray of the Grateful Dead Movie features a great mix. The animated intro of the movie is also great in this format

 

[kap'n krunch]

another vote for The Fifth Element...

 

[rtbluray]

I should add this in.
Overall the surround mix and fidelity on the Blu-Ray disc of the James Bond film "Live and Let Die" is not good at all, mostly due to the poorly recorded dialogue.
However, there is one diamond in the rough on that release, and that is the title song (by Paul McCartney & Wings) is a fully discrete 5.1 surround mix that sounds absolutely incredible!

FYI…
(RIP George Martin)