DVD Etc Poll: List Your Favorite Demo Selection (1 Viewer)

[Joshua_Y]

xXx - Avalanche sounded real good!

 

[Declan]

Reign of Fire- DTS, any bits with the helicopter or a dragon

 

[Wes C]

My top two remain:

Gladiator - The opening battle will have you ducking from arrows. For bass, surround effects and even front channel, this is the best.

Star Wars: Episode I - Forget that the movie may stink, The Pod race is guaranteed to wow any home theater new comer!

 

[John Corbett]

For video two Johnny Depp films (oddly enough):
Sleepy Hollow
From Hell

For audio I like most of the bombastic stuff already mentioned but I do enjoy a good atmospheric soundtrack so I will have to go with Se7en.

 

[CaptDS9E]

LOTR:EE for everything as its the Ultimate set
SW:AOTC the entire film has a stunning transfer
Gladiator battle scenes
Matrix Lobby Scene
Galaxy Quest DTS. Great Picture, Sound and lots of laughs

Joey Nazzari

 

[Zen Butler]

The Fifth Element (Super-Bit) is awesome both video and audio. Even the opening credits gives my sub a workout.
Visually, when Lee-Loo jumps off the ledge, the picture is flawless.

FOTR-EE-- Lovely
Monsters INC.

Other video/audio treats, but a bit more subtle;
Amelie, From Hell, Hideous Kinky, Behind the Sun

 

[Chris Atkins]

Tomorrow Never Dies, pre-credit sequence. When CSA Audio demoed my soon-to-be-purchased Marantz SR-18, this is what they showcased. The sound mix ranges from very quiet scenes to furniture-destroying bass attacks.

Good to see that someone else uses this as a demo piece...the bass is unreal!

Also good to see that others use the U571 depth charge sequence for DTS demo...what a great piece of sound editing! You can literally FEEL the depth charges getting closer to you.

I still think the best DVD sound is SAVING PRIVATE RYAN during the Omaha Beach invasion...but I can't show that to everyone.

 

[Grady Hollums]

I know I already went, but I forgot to add the amazing sound of the Blue Man group DVD titled "Audio".

There is not a better DVD out there for sound, bass and surrounds. If you close your eyes and enjoy the music you will be swept away by the music. This is the first time I have ever experience that it this DVd does it to me EVERY time.

 

[millercv]

Well I haven't gone through a lot of discs since I got my new widescreen set - which makes a world of difference - transfers which I thought were "good" before now look horrible
But one clip that I've shown several people that hasn't been mentioned is the Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride segment of Lilo and Stitch - So far everyone I've shown that to has said "That is SHARP!"
I also like the scene at the beginning of Monsters Inc. with Scully sleeping and you can clearly make out every hair. Impressive..... Most Impressive.

 

[Mark A. Chan]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

Video
-Tarzan: CE - the tree surfing scenes
-Citizen Kane has one of the best black & white transfers
-The Fast and the Furious
-Band of Brothers part 6: "Bastogne" and part 10: "Points"

Audio
-Signs Ch. 17/18: - the sounds of the creatures envelopes the whole surround space.
-Minority Report Ch. 9: "The Car Factory" - The sonic guns will send a jolt through your subwoofer.
-Band of Brothers part 3: "Carentan" and part 6 "Bastogne" have the best sound effects for a TV series.
-The first drag race and the climatic truck chase in The Fast and the Furious are great single scene demos.

The others listed above mine are fantastic choices too.

 

[JohnnyA]

Armageddon, beginning male vocal and space shuttle take offs/flight in space.

lord of the rings, beginning female vocal

 

[Ole]

Great thread, it gives me a list of DVD's to view/listen. I listed Contact earlier, but after listening to a few more, I will add the THX intro to Toy Story and the explosion slo-mo near the beginning of Swordfish.

 

[Andy Young]

I don't use this for a demo, but find it to be very good for evaluating center channels:

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is dolby digital mono. The scene where they blow up the bridge that the union and confederacy are fighting over is very good -- the explosion is followed by about a zillion cannon explosions. Also the final dual scene (Spanish music) is very good for auditioning center channels' dynamic ranges.

 

[Hisham_k]

Let us not forget " Independance day " when the space ship
starts shooting their weapons down the skycrapers.

 

[Tony Peck]

Here are two that I didn't see above :
Cast Away, 20th Century Fox Home Video, DVD (DTS track)
Chapter's 7 and 8 (Mayday, The Crash), 8 min 30 sec
The initial explosion (right after Chuck removes his band-aid) is a great transient. This event will really test the dynamic headroom of your system.
After the crash, the sound of water entering the plane and the fuselage breaking up is enveloping and quite ominous.
Unbreakable, Touchstone Home Video, DVD (DTS track)
Chapter 1 (Opening Titles/Train to Philadelphia), 2 min, 30 sec
The train crash begins about 30 sec before the chapter change. The DTS track has incredibly LOW, if not loud, bass. If you have the sub you can almost count the cycles.

 

[Christopher M]

Can you all go back and list Chapters, and if possible, times for the scenes? I'd like to build a reference page for everyone. Thanks.

Murdock

 

[Matt D K]

I forgot about this one.... On the animated "Tarzan" DVD, there is a preview of the movie "Dinosaur". This is an awesome preview set to music.

 

[Pete Moisan]

For audio, the DTS logo sequence on Terminator 2 never fails to turn heads - literally - with the use of the surround speakers and of course ending with the THX chord.

For video (and I don't know the chapter/time offhand), the scene in Braveheart where William is running along a path. The camera circles around him while pulling back, eventually showing a beautiful wide shot of the Highlands(?) in Scotland.

 

[Declan]

After years of watching (the old standard NTSC relase of)cliffhanger on LD i'm today after getting a lend of the r1 SpEd.


WOW


The opening Huey fly-by on the LD sounded great but it's nothing compared to this. Surround effects, bass, everything sounds fantastic.

The best bit for sound.......well bass, was when the the pilot of the plane is about to transfer over and then the guy YOU thought was dead shoots him and he falls out the back. The bass coming off that shot where you see him falling out of the plane was sooooo intense and powerful.

Gonna have to get this disc for myself.

Also for some really subtle effects coming from the rears, I would go with Signs. Just finished watching it about half an hour ago.......great stuff.

 

[Dennis Heller]

I don't think this was mentioned, but my old favorite demo for surrounds is Elizabeth, with Cate Blanchett. It's when she addresses the Church; I believe it's chapter 10. The echoes really fill up the room.