Also your neighbors.
Seriously, it might be the most dynamic movie I have seen. Meaning if you set dialog to the normal volume, the cannons will actually blow your ears off.
I just got part 2 on 4k bluray today and I’m pretty sure the thumpers would call sandworms IRL if they were real. The bass goes well into the subsonic range.
There are 2 spice harvester scenes in Dune 2. Weirdly I get more bass out of the 2nd one in Dune 2. Those huge wheels really engage the sub. The first one seems like it should have more bass, but it doesn’t seem to dig quite as low (or for as long) as the Josh Brolin spice harvester scene.
Not that the first Dune 2 spice harvester scene is bad, plus you get more fighting action. But the 2nd is better - at least for subwoofer action. Anyone agree?
This was the first movie I ever watched on my new surround sound, not even aware that it was an incredible movie for sound design. I legit just thought, man every movie is going to sound amazing just like this from now on! Haha well it is a good setup, and movies do sound great, but not like Dune lol.
I put together a small theater on our campus around the time this movie came out to purchase. That was the best movie I had on hand to test out everything.
Interstellar.
Top gun 2.
Blades Runner 2049.
Mad Max fury road.
Dune part 1.
Inception.
007 no time to die.
Star Wars episode 3, ROTS.
Tenet.
Just some ideas. Go get the 4K Blu-ray discs of each for the best experience!
Blu Ray is a must. You can put on the Notebook on a Blu ray (both standard or 4k) and get more audio enjoyment then watching a reference movie streaming.
Top Gun 2 for all out balls out audio experience in the 5 flight scenes. Test flight, fights on, practice runs, maverick run, final run, and escape.
Blade Runner 2049 and Edge of Tomorrow (both movie intros are a subwoofer blaster) to let your neighbors know your subwoofer has woken up from its slumber.
I would have added Ready Player 1 for the race scene.
Also on any movie with good audio, stick around for the credits. Some credits have really nicely mastered audio tracks that come out so well. So often it's music that we've heard before, but it sounds like it's mastered so much better on the end credits of a Bluray than on CD. Audio separation of instruments are so much clearer and everything sounds so precise. It's basically lossless music, but remastered for your home theater system, instead of for a car stereo like a music CD.
BR2049 is amazing with Atmos, the opening sequence where the flyer passes over you is really something.
A lesser example is the Daredevil show. There is a scene where he is being shot from above him and the gunshot sounds come from the ceiling speakers.
Interstellar had made my old subwoofer begin to smoke a little bit if I watched it without adjusting my lfe channel down a bit. It is a great movie to test a system. Also your whole list is great along with Dune 2 as of today...just hot it in the mail earlier today.
Dude, the power suits made my sub hit pretty hard. I had a big smile on my face. I honestly thought that the suits were gonna feel cheesy, but the sound design behind them was top-notch, it really brought them to life.
The opening to Bladerunner 2049 is unparalleled in terms of how enveloping it is. Plus you can get an idea of your speaker imaging when the ship flys over
Revenge of the Sith is George Lucas at the peak of his powers in terms of sound. I always use the opening scene from Revenge of the Sith as my baseline test for sound systems.
If you want to truly run your system to its limits, may I recommend the blu-ray of Master & Commander (yes, I know the DVD has better bass, but come on, it's a DVD) - in particular the following sequences:
1. Attack of the Acheron on the Surprise
2. Around Cape Horn
3. The Nautical Phasmid Climax
Those will run your sub and surrounds ragged, very immersive - the rest of the movie has plenty of quiet moments as well in which you feel like you're inside the ship itself - wood creaking, the wind, the sea, the sails - UGH. My favorite movie ever.
I don't get people recommending Oppenheimer. There are no real audio driven scenes as far as I remember. I would use Interstellar myself. Lots of bass, lots of dynamic range, and the sound track composed by Hans Zimmer
Blackhawk Down
I remember my first time with my surround and this movie.
Police came to my door because of "reports of gunfire"... which I attributed when they were under ground fire and called in the gunship and it rained bullets.
I am going to suggest 2 movies that I found the perfect sound. 1) saving Private Ryan, it is such a fantastic movie and a Spielberg classic.
2) Tears of the sun, final battle scene, that shit gives me goosebumps.
Whatever the highest rated audio you have on disc is. If you’re streaming then you’re not really testing your audio. If you’re willing to blind buy, the usual suspects are Fury Road, Bladerunner 2049, Top Gun Maverick, and Dune. I’ll throw in Chamber of Secrets and The Matrix.
What are you testing or showing off? Video on a fancy 8k TV? Avatar or Fury Road. Surround sound? Pod race, Saving Private Ryan. Blackhawk Down. Bass? Pod race, Fury Road, The Rock
Blade Runner 2049 for me. It’s not my favorite disc but as demo material it’s amazing. Just about every scene is eye-candy and the sound is superb even in its more quiet moments.
Making me wish I wasn’t at work right now tbh
Surprised no one has mentioned Ready Player One. The race scene especially has some of the best surround effects without being gimmicky gags. Not only are there several really good rumbles of different types to get your sub bouncing, but there are tons of small effects you will hear all around you when your system is turned right. Also for anyone else the Atmos effects are amazing as well.
I haven't shown off my theater in years since everyone I know has already heard it's awesomeness, but some old favorites (in addition to those already mentioned many times):
The Incredibles airplane explosion
The Greatest Showman opening scene
TLotR Mines of Moria
These have great use of surround speakers and enough bass to shake the house!
Ship battles scenes in Pirates of Caribbean movies
The Underworld movies will surprise you - esp the Last 2 - Awakening and Blood Wars
Deep Water Horizon when the rig explodes
My go-to has always been The Martian.
Opens with a high-intensity scene that includes surround elements and dialogue without having to search around.
A couple clicks forward is quiet with center channel dialogue.
I must have watched this DVD almost a hundred times when I was younger. The Matrix third act is still as thrilling as the first time I saw it in the theater.
Master and Commander. Amazing surround. The creaking of the ship, the drums for the call to arms, the attack, etc. it is one of the best surround sound movies I’ve heard.
I actually thought Oppenheimer was mixed pretty well for a Nolan movie. Tenet and Interstellar were ones that made me jump out of my seat and go scrambling for the remote
Yes I’ll agree it was mixed well. Definitely an improvement over Dunkirk. I really enjoyed Interstellar which I am over the moon for its re-release in IMAX.
He means you may blow your system if you put the volume too high. Certain scenes bass catch you off guard. There will be dialogue and a split second later KAB000000000M x1000
If you haven’t seen the movie, there is a scene where you may feel inclined to turn the volume up but you’ll end up finding out that was a mistake. The LFE will catch you off guard.
I am not recommending this movie as demo worthy, just simply stating my opinion since you mentioned it.
There are far better movies such as Master and Commander or Ready Player One that are better suited to showcase your system.
The LFE and Subwoofer preout share the same connection on your receiver. LFE is a dedicated channel meant to transmit the “bass” to your subwoofer.
If you’re just watching tv, the bass is usually sourced from all channels. If you’re watching a movie that’s been mixed in let’s say Dolby True HD, there is a dedicated channel just for the bass. It’s what the sound engineers have intended to be sent to your subwoofer vs main listening channels.
Man. I cant I didn’t see this mentioned by anyone so I’m inclined to think I missed it.
But Endgame is great. The battle at the end is absolutely incredible on my system. I probably watch that last 30 minutes at least 5-7 times a year.
Definitely also recommend movies others have mentioned such as Normandy scene in Saving Private Ryan, Ready Player One, Gladiator… Essentially the opening scene and the DTS version, most Star Wars and Marvel movies in general are pretty cool. Top Gun 2 Maverick is incredible.
Some that I never saw mentioned.
A Quiet Place 1 & 2, John Wick (all 4), Baby Driver, Infinity Pool, Evil Dead Rise, Ford v Ferrari, The Batman, Minority Report, Cloverfield, Dredd, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Last of Us (series) Prey, Roma, Kong: Skull Island to name a few.
Also videogames are getting crazy audio these days. I play PS5 but Returnal, Alan Wake 2, God of War, Ghosts of Tsushima, Destiny 2, Horizon Forbidden West, Battlefield 1, Control , Dead space Remake, Demon's Souls remake, The Last of Us 2 all have amazing sound design and surround effects.
Try the Hobbit movies if you like fantasy.
If you don't mind horror, No One Will Save You and A Quiet Place are two movies largely devoid of dialogue, so they rely a lot on the sound effects for immersiveness.
I used to use the opening to demo setups. I was a ht installer for 19 years and did video calibration. The opening was fun. I also liked the hobbit beginning in the bar. Calibration brought out so much detail in the video of both scenes.
I don't see it come up a lot but one of my go to scenes for testing is the [scorpion transformer desert battle scene. ](https://youtu.be/sjTIpSu7npE?si=RvI06E5uMJ62DB5j)
It's a great mix of directional action, explosions, dialogue and music.
You can hear the Jets flying from one side to the other and missiles firing and landing opposite sides.
And you get a cool low subwoofer effect from the AC130 flying overhead.
Devotion on Paramount+. Good movie and those fighter jet scenes are awesome . I usually put this movie on around the 1 hr 13 minute mark to show my atmos system off to friends and family. Based on a true story.
Most of the heavy hitters are already listed, so to add something off the beaten path:
Hanna - 2010 blu ray. It won’t blow off your socks like dune, top gun, or mad max but it’s super atmospheric and has a really unique use of sound, making it one of my audio favorites. Someone raised in the woods experiencing new urban sounds for the first time. Fun action movie too, and it can be found for pretty cheap.
Gravity… loud. It’s a masterpiece of sound. Also Annihilation and Civil War.. both incredible for sound. Oh also also Scott Pilgrim is rowdy AF sonically. Really dynamic.
I know this one is probably gonna catch a lot of flack, but my go-to sound test movie is Independence d
Day. The battle scenes have lasers shooting across all directions, jet engines, and of course the "nuke" style explosions which destroy the cities.
I just watched Dune 2 with my new UB820...it honestly felt like I was damaging my home it was so fucking loud. I found a whole slew of new rattles from this movie. I do believe it's the loudest movie I've ever watched.
Transformers Dark of the moon is a personal favourite, age of extinction is also pretty damn good too.
Otherwise I'd suggest Top Gun Maverick, Across the Spiderverse and Man Of Steel.
I would recommend most of the Godzilla Monsterverse movies too and I hear nothing but amazing things about Pacific rim I just don't have a way to get the 4K disc in my region as far as I'm aware.
Master and Commander
This is a film that deserves a 4k reference release with an amazing lossless audio remaster. With Atmos, while I'm making wishes.
Master and Commander with a good setup really makes you feel like youre on the ship with them.
Master and Commander was my first thought as well. Another good one is the car chase in Ronin
The Batman 1:18:40 car chase is the best I think .
Also your neighbors. Seriously, it might be the most dynamic movie I have seen. Meaning if you set dialog to the normal volume, the cannons will actually blow your ears off.
I'm so mad they didn't continue the series >:(
This is the actual answer.
Dune, the spice harvester scene.
The first one or second one
Yes
Do you mean I should watch them bothe back to back?
Yes
👍
The bass from the worm calling thumpers is something else.
I just got part 2 on 4k bluray today and I’m pretty sure the thumpers would call sandworms IRL if they were real. The bass goes well into the subsonic range.
I just got the 2 disc 4k set in the mail today, it just came out
There are 2 spice harvester scenes in Dune 2. Weirdly I get more bass out of the 2nd one in Dune 2. Those huge wheels really engage the sub. The first one seems like it should have more bass, but it doesn’t seem to dig quite as low (or for as long) as the Josh Brolin spice harvester scene. Not that the first Dune 2 spice harvester scene is bad, plus you get more fighting action. But the 2nd is better - at least for subwoofer action. Anyone agree?
I like the 84 version myself, but either is good.
yep
Best surround experience ever. Gives me goosebumps!
This was the first movie I ever watched on my new surround sound, not even aware that it was an incredible movie for sound design. I legit just thought, man every movie is going to sound amazing just like this from now on! Haha well it is a good setup, and movies do sound great, but not like Dune lol.
The Sardukar chanting. Shakes windows in my house.
Both were superb movies Visual and audio are right up there as best I've seen/heard
Mad Max Fury Road
I put together a small theater on our campus around the time this movie came out to purchase. That was the best movie I had on hand to test out everything.
Interstellar. Top gun 2. Blades Runner 2049. Mad Max fury road. Dune part 1. Inception. 007 no time to die. Star Wars episode 3, ROTS. Tenet. Just some ideas. Go get the 4K Blu-ray discs of each for the best experience!
Blu Ray is a must. You can put on the Notebook on a Blu ray (both standard or 4k) and get more audio enjoyment then watching a reference movie streaming. Top Gun 2 for all out balls out audio experience in the 5 flight scenes. Test flight, fights on, practice runs, maverick run, final run, and escape. Blade Runner 2049 and Edge of Tomorrow (both movie intros are a subwoofer blaster) to let your neighbors know your subwoofer has woken up from its slumber. I would have added Ready Player 1 for the race scene. Also on any movie with good audio, stick around for the credits. Some credits have really nicely mastered audio tracks that come out so well. So often it's music that we've heard before, but it sounds like it's mastered so much better on the end credits of a Bluray than on CD. Audio separation of instruments are so much clearer and everything sounds so precise. It's basically lossless music, but remastered for your home theater system, instead of for a car stereo like a music CD.
Back when home theaters just got rolling, it was always Top Gun!
The Edge of Tomorrow UHD Atmos track nerfed the intro, for the real test you need the old blu-ray audio.
Top Gun 2 is the first thing I put on when I got my "system" setup.
BR2049 is amazing with Atmos, the opening sequence where the flyer passes over you is really something. A lesser example is the Daredevil show. There is a scene where he is being shot from above him and the gunshot sounds come from the ceiling speakers.
Interstellar had made my old subwoofer begin to smoke a little bit if I watched it without adjusting my lfe channel down a bit. It is a great movie to test a system. Also your whole list is great along with Dune 2 as of today...just hot it in the mail earlier today.
The opening battle in Saving Private Ryan. Visually, the 4k release of the first Aquaman.
And also Ready Player One
For atmos nothing beats Ready plater one. It's the first racing scene.
While the Atmos is great, it's such a fun movie that you quickly forget about the sound and just get sucked into the movie itself.
Pacific Rim
This is the only movie that gave my ub9000 issues lol wild.
My 820 too! Made it start all jumbled on the menu luckily the movie only had one or 2 issue spots.
This is my test movie when I used to do client setups. Good visuals and great sound.
Dune 1 and 2 is the pinnacle of cutting edge sound imo.
Surprised me but Fallout on Amazon slapped on my 7.1
I'll add 1899 on Netflix if we're listing shows as well.
If we’re adding 1899 on Netflix then I have to add Dark on Netflix. (Same producers, and the best sound design and music on a tv series in like, ever)
Haha, every time one of those doors opened, I'd have to go around the house straightening my pictures on the wall!
Dude, the power suits made my sub hit pretty hard. I had a big smile on my face. I honestly thought that the suits were gonna feel cheesy, but the sound design behind them was top-notch, it really brought them to life.
The opening to Bladerunner 2049 is unparalleled in terms of how enveloping it is. Plus you can get an idea of your speaker imaging when the ship flys over
Whenever I need to setup or check my system that is my go to scene.
Heat, specifically the bank heist scene.
Came here to say this.
as did I.
Fury
Absolutely Fury. Specifically the scene where they get ambushed by the Panzers.
Revenge of the Sith is George Lucas at the peak of his powers in terms of sound. I always use the opening scene from Revenge of the Sith as my baseline test for sound systems.
If you want to truly run your system to its limits, may I recommend the blu-ray of Master & Commander (yes, I know the DVD has better bass, but come on, it's a DVD) - in particular the following sequences: 1. Attack of the Acheron on the Surprise 2. Around Cape Horn 3. The Nautical Phasmid Climax Those will run your sub and surrounds ragged, very immersive - the rest of the movie has plenty of quiet moments as well in which you feel like you're inside the ship itself - wood creaking, the wind, the sea, the sails - UGH. My favorite movie ever.
I don't think I have ever seen Master & Commander. I feel that I need to watch it now... I do love movies and have a pretty nice setup.
You’re in for a real treat. It’s a wonderful film. So much more than a theatre demo, but an amazing one just the same.
You do need some listening comprehension chops though. Or subtitles.
I’ll have to purchase it and watch it on the weekend. Thank tou
I have already purchased them 2 to eventually watch. But are their mixes any good?
Oppenheimer and Dune 2 have amazing mixes.
Thank you.
Download a bunch of these Dolby demos and have fun! https://www.demolandia.net/cinema/dolby-demo-trailers-hd.html
Jurassic park. The first T. rex scene? Being hunted by raptors? Come on, there shouldn’t be another choice
Saving private Ryan 5th Element
I've got 5th Element on Laserdisc! Does this count?
The Dark Knight
It took way too long to scroll and find this. The first 10 minutes of that movie were soo intense.
Blu-ray or 4k. I already have the normal one but is it worth splurging for the hdr? My disk already has lossless audio
Dune 2 is my new reference disc. Complete insanity.
Throw on a nice French Criterion film from the 60s and really drive that center speaker!!!
I don't get people recommending Oppenheimer. There are no real audio driven scenes as far as I remember. I would use Interstellar myself. Lots of bass, lots of dynamic range, and the sound track composed by Hans Zimmer
Agreed. Nothing much from audio in that movie besides the rumbling bass explosion.
Blackhawk Down I remember my first time with my surround and this movie. Police came to my door because of "reports of gunfire"... which I attributed when they were under ground fire and called in the gunship and it rained bullets.
Yep, that was my go to for 5.1 & 7.1 demos.
Master and commander has amazing audio
In between movies it helps to test out a little adult entertainment. Just make sure you wipe off the remote and the couch afterwards
Everybody else pretending not to see this, but you earned my upvote 👍
It’s like when a cat vomits under the bed and you don’t see it until you move out. It’s crusty, unremovable and disturbing.
I am going to suggest 2 movies that I found the perfect sound. 1) saving Private Ryan, it is such a fantastic movie and a Spielberg classic. 2) Tears of the sun, final battle scene, that shit gives me goosebumps.
Whatever the highest rated audio you have on disc is. If you’re streaming then you’re not really testing your audio. If you’re willing to blind buy, the usual suspects are Fury Road, Bladerunner 2049, Top Gun Maverick, and Dune. I’ll throw in Chamber of Secrets and The Matrix.
I only buy disk and for convenience Plex is the way to go, thank you for the answers
By the way, Remux quality playing on a Shield Pro or Infuse for Apple TV will be just as good as Blu-ray disk.
What are you testing or showing off? Video on a fancy 8k TV? Avatar or Fury Road. Surround sound? Pod race, Saving Private Ryan. Blackhawk Down. Bass? Pod race, Fury Road, The Rock
Blade Runner 2049 for me. It’s not my favorite disc but as demo material it’s amazing. Just about every scene is eye-candy and the sound is superb even in its more quiet moments. Making me wish I wasn’t at work right now tbh
Surprised no one has mentioned Ready Player One. The race scene especially has some of the best surround effects without being gimmicky gags. Not only are there several really good rumbles of different types to get your sub bouncing, but there are tons of small effects you will hear all around you when your system is turned right. Also for anyone else the Atmos effects are amazing as well.
Initial chase scene in Quantum of Solace. Loud, dialogue, moving machine gun fire around the room
Finding Nemo. Seriously Top Gun: Maverick.
The greatest showman
Watchmen opening scene.
I haven't shown off my theater in years since everyone I know has already heard it's awesomeness, but some old favorites (in addition to those already mentioned many times): The Incredibles airplane explosion The Greatest Showman opening scene TLotR Mines of Moria These have great use of surround speakers and enough bass to shake the house!
The underwater mines exploding in finding nemo is pretty good too. The initial “ping” followed by crazy booms
Lots of great movies making me want to binge watch. U571 and the depth charge scene
Dunkirk was fuckin awesome at home when I watched it
Ship battles scenes in Pirates of Caribbean movies The Underworld movies will surprise you - esp the Last 2 - Awakening and Blood Wars Deep Water Horizon when the rig explodes
The Revenant, Blade Runner 2049 and Fury Road
I recently watched transformers and that was pretty sick with surround sound
My go-to has always been The Martian. Opens with a high-intensity scene that includes surround elements and dialogue without having to search around. A couple clicks forward is quiet with center channel dialogue.
The Mission Impossible movies are pretty good for this.
Does Heat still hold up?
Saving Private Ryan normandy scene…
The first scene in saving private ryan was my go to if the customer was up to it.
Apocalypse Now
Into the spiderverse is a great tech test all around. 10/10 IMO
Bladerunner 2049
The Matrix particularly the 3rd act.
I must have watched this DVD almost a hundred times when I was younger. The Matrix third act is still as thrilling as the first time I saw it in the theater.
Master and Commander. Amazing surround. The creaking of the ship, the drums for the call to arms, the attack, etc. it is one of the best surround sound movies I’ve heard.
100% yes
Hans Zimmer: Live in Prague 2017
Batman the dark knight, and the newer Tron
I’d be careful with Oppenheimer if you don’t know your systems limits.
I actually thought Oppenheimer was mixed pretty well for a Nolan movie. Tenet and Interstellar were ones that made me jump out of my seat and go scrambling for the remote
Yes I’ll agree it was mixed well. Definitely an improvement over Dunkirk. I really enjoyed Interstellar which I am over the moon for its re-release in IMAX.
I don’t fully understand what you mean.
None of us do
Ok thank you. I thought I meant about the bass or volume but that’s just a guess
You may start a chain reaction that will cause the end of the universe.
He means you may blow your system if you put the volume too high. Certain scenes bass catch you off guard. There will be dialogue and a split second later KAB000000000M x1000
If you haven’t seen the movie, there is a scene where you may feel inclined to turn the volume up but you’ll end up finding out that was a mistake. The LFE will catch you off guard. I am not recommending this movie as demo worthy, just simply stating my opinion since you mentioned it. There are far better movies such as Master and Commander or Ready Player One that are better suited to showcase your system.
Ok thank you. This may sound like a stupid question but what’s LFE?
The LFE and Subwoofer preout share the same connection on your receiver. LFE is a dedicated channel meant to transmit the “bass” to your subwoofer. If you’re just watching tv, the bass is usually sourced from all channels. If you’re watching a movie that’s been mixed in let’s say Dolby True HD, there is a dedicated channel just for the bass. It’s what the sound engineers have intended to be sent to your subwoofer vs main listening channels.
Low Frequency Effects.
I just watched Mission Impossible Fallout for the first time on 4k Blu-Ray, and the helicopter scene had some of the best Atmos I've heard.
Return of the King, when Rohan rides to Gondor DEATH!
war of the worlds - spielbergs
Den of Thieves Opening Scene Fast 5 (where they are pulling the safe in the streets) Hans Zimmer: Live in Prague Blackhawk Down
Interstellar, ready player one, Hacksaw Ridge, The Dark Knight
Any of the first three transformers movies.
Kung Fu Hustle
Ready Player One; the race scene
Blade runner and starwars the original 1
My go to is Ready Player One, the first race specifically 👌🏽
Man. I cant I didn’t see this mentioned by anyone so I’m inclined to think I missed it. But Endgame is great. The battle at the end is absolutely incredible on my system. I probably watch that last 30 minutes at least 5-7 times a year. Definitely also recommend movies others have mentioned such as Normandy scene in Saving Private Ryan, Ready Player One, Gladiator… Essentially the opening scene and the DTS version, most Star Wars and Marvel movies in general are pretty cool. Top Gun 2 Maverick is incredible.
13 hours defending the base Jack reacher first movie. Oblivion Dunkirk.
Independence Day, obviously.
Tron: Legacy
The fifth element
Some that I never saw mentioned. A Quiet Place 1 & 2, John Wick (all 4), Baby Driver, Infinity Pool, Evil Dead Rise, Ford v Ferrari, The Batman, Minority Report, Cloverfield, Dredd, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Last of Us (series) Prey, Roma, Kong: Skull Island to name a few. Also videogames are getting crazy audio these days. I play PS5 but Returnal, Alan Wake 2, God of War, Ghosts of Tsushima, Destiny 2, Horizon Forbidden West, Battlefield 1, Control , Dead space Remake, Demon's Souls remake, The Last of Us 2 all have amazing sound design and surround effects.
Top gun 1 or 2 Then again. These movies are good anywhere😎
Fury Road is my go to for testing
The lobby shootout scene from The Matrix.
All my faves have been listed. Season 4 of Stranger Things
Dune 2 or top gun Maverick
Try the Hobbit movies if you like fantasy. If you don't mind horror, No One Will Save You and A Quiet Place are two movies largely devoid of dialogue, so they rely a lot on the sound effects for immersiveness.
Would the dark knight trilogy be any good?
Heard they're all great, but I only watched the last one in surround.
I used to use the opening to demo setups. I was a ht installer for 19 years and did video calibration. The opening was fun. I also liked the hobbit beginning in the bar. Calibration brought out so much detail in the video of both scenes.
+1 for LOTR series.
House of Flying Daggers, Blackhawk Down, Kubo and the Two Strings
When that little girl taps on the fish tank in Finding Nemo, it’s like an earthquake hits my house. It’s great.
I used to demo lotr: return of the king, and man of selteel when I sold high end audio for a living. The final fight with zog is insane.
I don't see it come up a lot but one of my go to scenes for testing is the [scorpion transformer desert battle scene. ](https://youtu.be/sjTIpSu7npE?si=RvI06E5uMJ62DB5j) It's a great mix of directional action, explosions, dialogue and music. You can hear the Jets flying from one side to the other and missiles firing and landing opposite sides. And you get a cool low subwoofer effect from the AC130 flying overhead.
Godzilla x king the new empire
Warcraft is good both audio and visual...bad boys 2
Ghost in the Shell 1995 on 4k UHD or Laserdisc. I need to get the AC3 board for my CLD-D703.
Blue ray Predator. Best of luck and enjoy
The THX mastered Akira DVD
Jumanji
The parajump into Omaha beach in the Pacfic
Not a great movie but visually and for sound I play Valerian and the city of a thousand planets to show it off.
Star Trek Generations: the Enterprise crash scene.
Devotion on Paramount+. Good movie and those fighter jet scenes are awesome . I usually put this movie on around the 1 hr 13 minute mark to show my atmos system off to friends and family. Based on a true story.
Vietcong village raid in Apocalypse Now..
Newest Top Gun
2001: A Space Odyssey
Rebel Moons (both) Dune Bladerunner Ready Player One
Godzilla vs Kong, the aircraft carrier and water battle scene
The Lion King, the stampede scene!
Twilight
U-571. “Splashes!”
Most of the heavy hitters are already listed, so to add something off the beaten path: Hanna - 2010 blu ray. It won’t blow off your socks like dune, top gun, or mad max but it’s super atmospheric and has a really unique use of sound, making it one of my audio favorites. Someone raised in the woods experiencing new urban sounds for the first time. Fun action movie too, and it can be found for pretty cheap.
Saving Private Ryan
The pod racer scene from Star Wars.
Black hawk down.
Kill Bill
Tenet
I always use Star Wars
Gravity… loud. It’s a masterpiece of sound. Also Annihilation and Civil War.. both incredible for sound. Oh also also Scott Pilgrim is rowdy AF sonically. Really dynamic.
Interstellar
Dunkirk
The Patriot, specifically the scene where they save Heath Ledger from capture in the woods, is fantastic for checking your speaker set up.
300
I know this one is probably gonna catch a lot of flack, but my go-to sound test movie is Independence d Day. The battle scenes have lasers shooting across all directions, jet engines, and of course the "nuke" style explosions which destroy the cities.
I heard Ozzy's war pigs was a great song to test audio equipment with.
Baby Driver
I just watched Dune 2 with my new UB820...it honestly felt like I was damaging my home it was so fucking loud. I found a whole slew of new rattles from this movie. I do believe it's the loudest movie I've ever watched.
Gravity.
2 scenes: The dust storm from the beginning of Fury Road and the Balrog from Fellowship. Crank the volume to the max
Opening war scene of Gladiator. The flaming arrows and the thrown sword!!
The lobby scene in The Matrix. The podrace in The Phantom Menace
Cloverfield, War of the Worlds
Ok so I'm not a huge fan of the movie, but I found it enjoyable and also the audio is fantastic. The new Mortal Kombat has spectacular sound.
Transformers Dark of the moon is a personal favourite, age of extinction is also pretty damn good too. Otherwise I'd suggest Top Gun Maverick, Across the Spiderverse and Man Of Steel. I would recommend most of the Godzilla Monsterverse movies too and I hear nothing but amazing things about Pacific rim I just don't have a way to get the 4K disc in my region as far as I'm aware.
Heat, the one with al pacino and robert de niro, the heist part
Midway, The grea tshowman
Independence Day