Home theater reference scenes

[FP]

I use the Normandy beach scene from Saving Private Ryan, the depth charge scene from U571 and the asteroid field scene from SW:Ep2.

You?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I have some demo DVDs that I downloaded of AVSforum. I have 7 of them or so, and they have different purposes (LFE emphasis / music / animated films / etc.)

 

[zinfamous]

The opening 5 minutes of 2001, ASO

😉

 

[AnandTech Moderator]

True Lies. The bathroom/fight scene.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Chapter 2 of Ratatouille (Blu-Ray). Gorgeous picture, stunning use of the LFE channel (the thunder rumbling in the background, the lightning strike, and the shotgun blasts). It's family friendly enough to demo with young kids, and everyone who sees it thinks "wow, I have got to get a setup like this!"

The opening scene of Fellowship of the Ring is good too (the Sauron fight). Good use of surrounds during the battle, and the LFE effects are intense when Sauron starts swinging his axe around. Anytime the ring is shown on screen, the HZ drops into the teens, which is great for rattling people's fillings out. I actually managed to shake dishes off a shelf in a kitchen upstairs when Sauron exploded.

If I'm demoing for family, I use Planet Earth (blu-ray). The visuals are stunning, the cinematography is gorgeous, and I know how much they love animals and nature shows. Watching a great white leap out of the water to grab a seal in super slow motion is just awesome.

 

[Tiamat]

titan AE - Ice scene
Matrix - Lobby

 

[potato28]

SPR and Star Wars for audio. Video... SPR? I don't really benchmark, I know my setup isn't that great.

 

[Hyperlite]

I, Robot-You are experiencing a car accident!
Opening scene of master and commander
opening scene of Top Gun
about any scene from The Incredibles.

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

I have a couple favorite demo scenes; however I haven't actively sought out the *best* ones.

For now, I prefer...

Opening scene to "Cars" with the initial race occurring;
First big scene in Kill Bill, where the Bride goes to kill off Copperhead.

and more briefly, there's this particular scene in transformers, during the climactic battle near the end, where one of the autobots (Ironhide maybe?) does this slow-mo jump over a cowering civilian to protect her from something; and there's this ever-lowering bass frequency that just about shakes my house off its foundation. Kickass!!!