Picky's Home Theater Demo DVD list

[picky]

Since the AKFEST07 this past weekend and the post HERE I've had going over in the two-channel forum about the Open House I had during the weekend, a few people have asked me to post the selections that I used for a theater demo for all of the guys that attended. Below is the short list. I'd be interested to see what the rest of you use, too. I know this sort of list comes around every now and then, but this is another year and I'm ready to see what everyone else is doing!

One point of irony: 2003 must have been a year for good films as nearly every selection on my list was released in 2003!

PICKY'S SHORT LIST of DEMO DVD's:

Super <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Speedway - The Mach II Special Edition: (originally an IMAX Film) from Image Entertainment (1996) - Chapter #7 "Full-Speed Testing"<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Behind Enemy Lines: from 20^th Century Fox (2001) - Chapter #4 "Christmas Reconnaissance" thru Chapter #7 "Bailout"

Finding Nemo: Walt Disney Video (2003) - Chapter #10 "The Abyss"

(Sub-Slide Screen)

Master and Commander - The far side of the world: 20^th Century Fox (2003) - Chapter #4 "Under Attack"

Open Range: Walt Disney Video (2003) - Chapter #14 "The Gunfight Begins"

thru Chapter #15 "The Town Helps Out"

Heart - Alive in Seattle: Image Entertainment (2003) - Chapter #1 "Crazy on You"

Blue Man Group - The Complex Tour Live: Lava (2003) - Chapter #6 "Your Attention"

And, there are lots of other great ones, too! -Glenn

A scene from Super Speedway...

[Arky]

Picky...i'm curious. I have that Heart dvd & really enjoy it but there are better quality concert dvd's out there. What is it your testing there. I'll go try it when you reply.

[InVeNtOr]

if anyone hasn't see the Blue Man Group dvd, you are missing out! it was playing in frys for a while and my daughter loved watching it. we bought it and it was amazing! it was sooooo good when they came to dallas we got tickets. the concert was a blast! if you turn the dvd over they have 3 songs formated just for 5.1 and it sounds great!

thats it, just my little chime in....

[picky]

Arky: You are absolutely correct: There are many better-quality DVDs out there such as 'Allison Krauss & Unions Station: Live'; possibly one of the best-recorded concert DVDs I have.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

In fact, the Heart DVD is recorded in only 5.0 not 5.1! But, "Testing" is not the operative word here. I haven't selected these DVDs for "testing". They are for "demonstration". And, what I am demonstrating here is one heck of a performance by a lady who can still hit 4 octaves and despite the fact there is no bass management on the DVD, the drums come across HUGE! Even Dr. Doctor Who commented on how good the drums sounded. Its one of our favorite concerts and it just sounds and looks great. Its also music that seems to appeal to a broad audience, not to discredit bluegrass.

InVeNtOr: Yeah, I enjoy watching the entire Blueman DVD. Its difficult to choose just one song and most people want to see more anyway because Blueman is so visually captivating.

[Arky]

Picky, makes sense, i've always been a big heart fan.

[InVeNtOr]

as far as movies go i would like the following demos:

star wars 1 (pod race)

saving private ryan (opening scene)

armageddon (opening scene-there is also a clip of the asteroid coming from behind you later in the movie)

i don't listen to too much music, blue man is the only music cd i own and that was because my daughter loved it. i like it now, but music listening is something i don't do.

[picky]

InVeNtOr: I have to second the Pod Race in Star Wars Episode One! Roger (Indy) brought that over and we watched the Pod race segment. It was my first time seeing it. It was STUNNING! As soon as I buy a copy of the movie, it will be added to my demo list.

Some other movies: (no specific order)

The opening cannonball fight scene of 'Sahara'

Various action scenes in M:I:III (Mission Impossible 3)

The "tapping on the aquarium glass" scene in 'Finding Nemo'

I don't care for the movie, but the firefight scene in 'Forrest Gump' is excellent.

Lobby Shootout and helicopter rescue in 'The Matrix'

Eagles: Hell freezes over concert

U571: Depth charge scene

Pearl Harbor: The Japanese Attack scene

[blue-midnight]

When ever I'm showing off its (ordered top to bottom best to good)

ICE AGE the meltdown (BlU-RAYdisc) (audio)DTS HD 5.1 master lossless a the picture is great to boot over 1080P

We were solders (HD DVD) audio 5.1EX Dolby digital plus a 6.1 DTS. Toward the beginning the chopper scene

KING KONG (HD DVD) audio Dolby digital plus 5.1

The polar express (HD DVD) audio Dolby digital plus 5.1

But there are some out there that may be better but thats what i like out of all the ones i have

[colterphoto1]

Roxy Music Live in Paris is a very well recorded 5.0 concert DVD. Stunning performances as well.

Symphonic Yes features the Chris Squire Moog Taurus bass pedals that blow my hair back with the THX subs.

[jbsl]

One that I have not seen on any post with this topic is from

Final Fantasy-The Spirits Within

Disc two-go to Aki's Dream

It starts off slow but goes into one of the best surround examples of a battle, two alien battle forces fighting each other and you are caught right in the middle of it.

The movie is not great but it is great visuals and surround sound stuff.

Another good war movie is Saints and Soldiers. It does not have huge battle scenes but the story is very good and the battle scenes they do have are very well done.

My father came to visit last year and he had never been in a surround system before(3 La Scalas, KLF 20s, and RSW 12) and I put on We Were Soldiers for him. The scene were the French are in the Jeep and you hear the bullet strike the frenchman scared the hell out of my dad. He is a ex Marine so I guess it sounded real cause he jumped.

Also the Open range fight scene scared him when the sub kicked in.

[oldbuckster]

I agree with all mentioned...BUT....if you are demo-ing Concert Videos how can you all over look THE PULSE by Pink Floyd, now there's a test for you, 5.1 in all it's Glory.................Run Rabbit Run.................

[germerikan]

I agree with all mentioned...BUT....if you are demo-ing Concert Videos how can you all over look THE PULSE by Pink Floyd, now there's a test for you, 5.1 in all it's Glory.................Run Rabbit Run.................

I agree oldbuckster, have it myself (was the first concert DVD that I bought) wonderful sound and it was great to see how they made that wonderful music!!!

[Cal Blacksmith]

I have a few of the above titles, but not many. I like to use, in no order:

The opening from flight of the Phoenix (remake) When the aircraft flies from

in front of you and passes overhead and then behind you, you would swear that

there is an airplane outside of the HT that is really there, the audio shakes

the room with the twin radial engines.

Pod racer scene from Star Wars

Battle scene

from the opening of Star Wars Revenge

Depth charge scene from U231

I see a trend for things blowing up in this thread!

[germerikan]

Things that blow up and natural disasters (wonders depending on how you look at it)

another one that I like is X-Men 2 the tornado scene when they are flying with the 2 fighters following them.

[InVeNtOr]

i do like the "blowing up effect" but what i think i like the most is when sound travels around the different speakers. like bullets flying, pod racing, aircraft flying around you, stuff like that.

[xdetroitx]

I agree with Inventor. Bass is nice, but its nice to see people duck when a sound starts in your rear surround and goes to the front. I forget the movie, but it had my girlfriend(now my wife) heading for the floor because a bird was about to get her![]

[InVeNtOr]

thats what i love about HT. i want to watch a movie and have to duck or sway every once in a while because it sounds like something is going to hit me.

[picky]

I agree with all mentioned...BUT....if you are demo-ing Concert Videos how can you all over look THE PULSE by Pink Floyd, now there's a test for you, 5.1 in all it's Glory.................Run Rabbit Run.................

Actually (you had no way of knowing), I played 'Pulse' for Roger on Satuday night after the others had gone. I don't list it among the demos becuse it's SO good that you can't just play one song from a Pink Floyd concert without everyone geting locked-into it and wanting to hear the rest! So it makes a lousy "Demo" sequence. It's like popcorn: you've just gotta eat the whole thing! Truthfully, I have that same problem on a lot of the demos I run, especially 'Behind enemy lines' and 'Open range': They are so good and engaging, that folks cringe when I stop the DVD in order to switch to the next demo!

Onto the point about the "things blowing up" comment made by others: I agree! It can't just be all about things blowing up. That's why I start with 'Super speedway': There's no music, no explosions and it's purely mechanical in nature. The physics recorded in the footage are done so well that it almost seems to change the physics of the listening room momentarily; hence my comment that Colter loves so well: "You may feel a change in the air pressure in the room!" Some people swear they do!

Moving on to comment on why I chose each of these selections:

Behind Enemy Lines: Chapter #4 "Christmas Reconnaissance" thru Chapter #7 "Bailout" - A very dynamic sequence with a lot going on. There is plenty of lateral motion dynamics (while the plane is chased by the two missles) to demostrate how well the particular DVD player and DLP projector I am using interplay with one another. The scenes are visually flawless dispite the constant and rapid refresh of all the pixels, which can showcase glaring errors with some other DVD player/projector combinations. There are a couple of explosions but there are also a lot of surround-channel diversions happening , especially when the wings are separated from the plane and they come back at the camera and seem to "whiz" by the viewers with the surrounds adding tell-tale realism of the passing wreakage. All-in-all and very exciting and engaing sequence.

Finding Nemo: Chapter #10 "The Abyss" - Short and sweet: Here we find Nemo and Dory hanging around an old diesel WWII submarine that is precariously balancing on the ridge of an underwater reef. A dark, seemingly bottomless hole in the oceans floor lies below and subsequently whips Nemo into a panic. Nemos panic becomes contagious to Dory and together the two excited fish accidentally coax the submarine out of balance and the sub slides down off the reef with thunderous waves of bass that seems to encompass everything from about 150 Hz down below audibility. The entire sequence lasts less than a minute and ends with the nose of the sub crashing into a large, adjacent rock face. The waves of bass are intense enough that many times I have had to pick up liquor bottles that have vibrated off the back bar an onto the bar counter! For some reason, the Kaluha bottle seems to be the most talented of the bunch: as it ventures on sonic journeys more often than any of the others.

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Master and Commander - The far side of the world: - Chapter #4 "Under Attack" - This sequence (one of the most impressive I have) was chosen for its realism and exhibition of dynamic range. The scene begins very quiet. Suddenly, the ship is pelted with the hail of 16 pound cannonballs ripping through its sails, its decks and it fittings, not to mention its occupants. Wood splinters seem to whiz past viewers ears and there are numerous thunderous reports from cannon. There is a noticeable difference in the sound of the cannon of each of the two ships as they are fitted with different sized cannon. The vocal dialog is a at a noticeably normal volume level. Yet the cannon reports sound and feel as if the speakers will surely jump out of their surrounds. At one point, the scene is on the lower deck of the ship and crew member can actually be heard running around on the deck above. It literally sounds as if several people are running around our living room on the next floor above our theater. The effect is quite amazingly real and scary!

Open Range: Chapter #14 "The Gunfight Begins" thru Chapter #15 "The Town Helps Out" - Can you say: <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />DYNAMICRANGE? This sequence is all about dynamics. It begins with vocal dialog that is at a noticeably normal volume level in a scene that seems almost typical: The participants of an impending gunfight scene banter back-and-forth about who's the "baddest" (ala OK Corral-style). What happens next is anything but "typical": Many viewers literally jump in their seats when the first gunshot blasts forward. It's incrediable how much louder the gunshots are as compared to the dialog. There is so much detail in the gun shots that each type of gun has a voice of its own making it easy to tell them all apart. The action in the screen is particularly engaging and actually comical in a few spots. People are usually stunned by the realism: The gunshots echo-off into the mountainous backdrop of the scene, thereby lots of added atmosphere and ambience to the room from the surrounds. It sounds natural rather than forced.

Heart - Alive in Seattle: Chapter #1 "Crazy on You" - Pure and simple: A great artist who can sing 4 octaves, a great band and a great performance. The recording is only 5.0 but it still sounds great. Very engaging: Ann and Nancy Wilson! The entire concert is a real keeper. The girls even do 2 Led Zeppelin songs and pull it off!

Blue Man Group - The Complex Tour Live: Chapter #6 "Your Attention" - Visually, Blue Man is very engaging, but the visual quality of this video is not the best. That fact never seems to upset anyone. Their music is very percussive, unique and it is performed in an exciting and exaggeratingly visual manner. Literally, ANY song on this DVD is going to please most people. Blue Man is just a fun thing to watch.

Try these out and ENJOY! -Glenn

[InVeNtOr]

since we are talking about demo disks, does anyone have one? where can you get a good at? i have seen some THX ones, but they seem a little too expencive. the other issue is, the movies they have to demo are none that i would want to see. (at least the ones i have seen.) if i buy a demo disk, i want a Kick A** demo, no fruity dialong, just bullets flying, cars racing, everything blowing up, just make your hair blow back. i want to look like the guy in the "i want it all" Dr. Pepper commerical!

[picky]

if i buy a demo disk, i want a Kick A** demo, no fruity dialong, just bullets flying, cars racing, everything blowing up, just make your hair blow back. i want to look like the guy in the "i want it all" Dr. Pepper commerical!

LOLOLOL! Just buy a copy of Police Academy! It's got it all, except it has the fruity dialog, too! LOLOL []

The annual CEDIA show distributes professional copies of the THX DEMO DVD which is a really good demo disc, but us "Joe-averages" need connections to get into one of their shows. -Glenn