[Johng316]

I've just heard the coolest surround effect of all time in my HT (interested in hearing your nominations for coolest surround effect).

My nomination:

Kill Bill 2 when she's being nailed into the coffin and buried.  The screen goes black, and all you have is the incredibly creepy sound of dirt being shoveled onto the casket.  Every speaker is involved, and it puts the viewer right there in the coffin.

NOT for those who secretly fear being buried alive.

This scene is incredible.

John

[Digi-G]

Just saw Kill Bill 2 this weekend.  That was a good surround/visual effect (and, uh,,, I DO have a secret fear of being buried alive   ).

Here's a couple other effects that I liked.

Unbreakable - Bruce Willis - ok, this may be more of a subwoofer effect than surrounds, but a good one nonetheless.  The scene where he is riding on the subway and you HEAR the train on the tracks and see him rocking to the motion.  Suddenly it FEELS as if the floor has shifted 6 inches to one side or the other.  Amazing!

Secret Window has an isolated effect in the surrounds that made me turn my head.  I had to replay it to verify I really didn't hear something in the other room.  Of course it actually correlates to the character hearing something in the other room, but it was SO realistic.

[jqp]

The one that sticks in my mind is the Matrix helicopter scene where Neo is shooting an infinite number of cartriges at the men in black suits from the helicopter and the glass is shattering and you hear the shell casings hit the floor of the helicopter - at least thats what I remember...

[azryan]

I think these otherwise good examples of surround sound shows how subtle and typically forgettable and incidental 99.99% of all ‘surround’ content is.

It takes a (usually very brief) highly blatant use (typically in an action flick) to make much use of them at all.

Matrix is still IMO the best example and was probably the first 'surround' WOW for most people.

Clever use though in KillBill vol.2.

Mission to Mars, Stir of Echos have some tiny good ‘surround’ bits too.

Makes a great case IMO for the case Against the ‘must have/need’ for identical mains and rears (and not needing ultra hi-rez data rate for surround music on these channels either).

The way all our ears our shaped is another great case for this too.

[Rob Babcock]

I was over the "wow" phase before I'd ever even heard of the Matrix.  Guess it all depends on how long you've been into HT.

[jeffreybehr]

My current fave is the opening thru the first battle of 'Master And Commander--The Far Side of the World'.  The creaking ship and clunks below deck, the wind in the rigging, and the directionality--spaciousness--of the cannon shot and balls landing on 'The Surprise' are all wonderful.

I have matching (2) fronts and (2) surrounds*, all Kindel PLS-As, and while I won't say I need them, I was willing to spend the money and time to get them, and I'm glad I did.


* plus a center channel

[azryan]

I was over the "wow" phase before I'd ever even heard of the Matrix.  Guess it all depends on how long you've been into HT.

I've been into HT since the begining. It wasn't till 5.1 DVD's that made me say 'WOW'.
Pro-Logic never did.

And I can't recall a DVD before the Matrix that had real WOW surround effects.

Not saying there weren't any but it makes my point (to myself at least hehe) that I can't think of any.

I see you don't actually mention any yourself though and figured you would if you have something in mind.

so there. heheh

[Rob Babcock]

I remember when the Matrix came out.  I had about 200 DVDs already.  To me the Matrix was an average sci fi movie with an average soundtrack, mostly bombast with little subtlety.  It was an enjoyable flick, but I'm still not sure why it was such a "big deal."

The movie was subpar, but I suppose "Spawn" was one of my first "newbie demo discs."  A much better one was "Dark City"- it had good effects, good sound and was a fantastic movie.

[Bingenito]

LOTR- Two Towers when the armor falls down the well. You hear the echo of the metal hitting the rocks followed by a huge boom from the cave troll.

All hell is about to break loose

Any surround sound scene with killer dynamic range works for me. After all what is the fun in watching a movie if there is not some form of destruction involved?

Slow motion helicoptors scenes are cool too- Matrix and Black Hawk Down

[zybar]

How about the opening battle scene in Gladiator?

There was also the pod race in Star Wars - The Phantom Menace.

George

[Marbles]

Das Boot - The scene when the sub is first depth charged..........

[zybar]

Das Boot - The scene when the sub is first depth charged..........

Keeping with the theme...

U-571

I can get 110+ db's from my system (inclusing subs) on that one!

George

[azryan]

Rob,

Ok. For you it was 'Spawn' then. That's fine. It didn't come out looong before Matrix though (you just bought SO many DVD's in a short time. heh).
IMO it was not the WOW surround factor that Matrix was, nor have nearly as many people seen it ('cuz it sucked, which is why no sequal was ever made either).

The helicopter and incredible ammount of gunshots and shell casings hitting the floor at the end of the Matrix is a 'classic' surround experience for many people.

I doubt many would say the same for 'Spawn'.


I think the latest posters are really naming LFE demos more so than surround demos IMO.

At the VERY least the surround effects in the clips you're mentioning are greatly overshadowed by the LFE effects in the clips.

Not saying you guys are 'wrong' or anything, just that it helps make my point about how rare and fairly useless surround speakers tend to be even in these specific rare cases in these action flicks.

Which is mainly a point for the people who 'demand' it's only correct to have fully matching surrounds (which I have had in the past though don't any longer).

[Bingenito]

Rear speakers are far from useless. I lived without them for a few months waiting fro my new rears to be completed.

Watching movies just is not the same. I too have line arrays which create a much larger sound stage then a conventional speaker but even my girlfriend misses the rear speakers.

As far as having identical rears I agree that is BS. From what I have heard voice matched will work. No need for line arrays as rears. The important thing is that your rears can match the dynamics and output of your mains.

You can calibrate the SPL to match in your pre/pro but unless the rears have a similar dynamic capability the will be dwarfed by the mains in action scenes.

With the Incredarrays as mains Selah designed a matching MTM for my rears with 2- 7” mid-bass drivers and the same ribbon as the mains. My former rears just could not keep up even if setup 2-3 db hotter in the pre/pro. During high output scenes you can't even hear them. The line arrays just dominate the room and make the dogs run for cover  

[Rob Babcock]

I didn't buy the Matrix right away, and yeah, I had about 200 flicks by then.  Anyway, if Matrix was a "classic" experience for you, treasure it.   Seemed like a dime-a-doze, slam-bam affair to me.  Just like Spawn.  You ever see that one?  It was some sound effects that have never been duplicated (at least in any of the 800-900 DVDs I've seen), which I can't say for the Matrix.

At any rate, "best" is pretty subjective, and your favorite is your favorite.  I still enjoy a bombastic & overwrought soundtrack as much as the next guy, but my tasted have evolved to the point where the DVD soundtracks I chose to show off my system are usually a bit more subtle nowadays.

Some of my favorite "boomers":

LotR: Fellowship of the Rings
Das Boot
Air Force One
Gladiator
Titan AE
Freddy vs Jason

[nathanm]

Hmmm...I guess unbeknowst to me I just watched the 'greatest surround effects ever' last night at my friend's new place.  Unfortunately he's got his two mains sitting right next to the TV and the center on top with the surrounds sitting on a fireplace mantle at the back.  Hardwood floors, plaster walls...It was monophonic at best, with lots 'o room interaction.  Yeech!  Poor guy...

But I must say the burial scene was cool in that it was probably the darkest scene I can recall in a move where there was still data on the screen.  Before she turned on the flashlight it was kind of abstract and I was seeing weird stuff aside from Uma laying in a coffin.  That'd probably be a good one for the video guys to judge shadow detail and gamma calibration etc.

[Rob Babcock]

BTW, street date of Spawn was Jan 06, 1998 vs Sept 21, 1999 for the Matrix. So we'e talking over a year and a half there.

Visually, one of the darkest movies I've seen on DVD that still had good detail is Dark City.  It looks pretty good on the DLP projector, but watching it on my old 32" does reveal a bit better shadow detail.  Some kinda cool visual & sound effects, too.  Ebert actually thought Dark City was the best movie of the year; I can't remember what it would've been competing against, but it sure was one of the better ones.

[Rob Babcock]

Is it just me or was The Fifth Element a bit overrated as a demo disc?  Everyone always seemed to think the diva scene was so great, but it just annoyed me.  Pretty nice picture (at least by pre-SB measures), and I liked the movie, but I never thought of it as a reference disc.

[Marbles]

Das Boot - The scene when the sub is first depth charged..........

Keeping with the theme...

U-571

I can get 110+ db's from my system (inclusing subs) on that one!

George

For me it was not just the dynamics, but the sounds of the pipes creaking and the bolts blowing and shooting around.

[Marbles]

Is it just me or was The Fifth Element a bit overrated as a demo disc?  Everyone always seemed to think the diva scene was so great, but it just annoyed me.  Pretty nice picture (at least by pre-SB measures), and I liked the movie, but I never thought of it as a reference disc.

The Fifth Element is such a campy movie!  Great fun.... Demo disc no...fun disc..Oh Yeah!