The Criterion Collection

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

I was sold when I heard the water splash from the boat at the beginning. It is identical to real life, it was frighteningly realistic.

This is still my go to movie for an audio demonstration (for disbelievers of the blu ray). You have the right idea, play the movie on the Fourth of July.

What other movies do you recommend with outstanding surround sound?

Without discussing the actual film, The Game's near-field mix is pretty incredible. There was a lot of noise in the house that night, but I couldn't hear any of it.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

What other movies do you recommend with outstanding surround sound?

The first two things to come to mind are always the opening of Blade Runner and all of Apocalypse Now.

When you think of AN you naturally enough think explosions but everything about that disc is fantastic. I get chills every time I hear the opening chords of The End.

And oddly enough early seasons of Dexter come to mind too. There really isn't all that much surround activity but the soundtrack and music cues are really, really well-mixed and immersive and add a lot to the overall atmosphere.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Without discussing the actual film, The Game's near-field mix is pretty incredible. There was a lot of noise in the house that night, but I couldn't hear any of it.

Jefferson Airplane alone was worth the price of admission. I will eventually buy The Cable Guy for that reason alone.

Oh, and that's something of a poster child for that whole 'window' thing I was talking about. I could have watched The Game at 2am and wouldn't have particularly cared about turning the volume during the various chases and shootouts and whatnot.

I would have haaaaaaaaaated turning that scene down.

And while headphones might have been okayish no, watching/listening for real was definitely the way to go there.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Visco.

(Benjamin Button vs. Forrest Gump)
Never in a million years. I can barely watch one 3 hour movie.

Same here--I just used the Cliff Notes:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video/38...f-forrest-gump

[ZooTv]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

What other movies do you recommend with outstanding surround sound?

Dredd 3D... Might be the best audio track I've heard on the format.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by octagon

The first two things to come to mind are always the opening of Blade Runner and all of Apocalypse Now.

When you think of AN you naturally enough think explosions but everything about that disc is fantastic. I get chills every time I hear the opening chords of The End.

And oddly enough early seasons of Dexter come to mind too. There really isn't all that much surround activity but the soundtrack and music cues are really, really well-mixed and immersive and add a lot to the overall atmosphere.

Blade Runner 5 disc blu ray was the second blu ray I purchased. Vangelis in surround sound is pure bliss. Apocalypse Now also has an immersive soundtrack. I will definitely check out Dexter. Thanks.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by ZooTv

Dredd 3D... Might be the best audio track I've heard on the format.

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Without discussing the actual film, The Game's near-field mix is pretty incredible. There was a lot of noise in the house that night, but I couldn't hear any of it.

I have not seen the new Dredd movie, but I will definitely give it a view.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Blade Runner 5 disc blu ray was the second blu ray I purchased. Vangelis in surround sound is pure bliss. Apocalypse Now also has an immersive soundtrack. I will definitely check out Dexter. Thanks.

I appreciate audio but I'm not really an audiophile (and working in bars for many years didn't do my high-frequency hearing any favors either) and I don't usually hear night-and-day differences between higher bitrate lossy tracks and lossless tracks.

Blade Runner really jumped out at me though. That was definitely one of those 'okay, yeah, I get it now' moments.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by octagon

I appreciate audio but I'm not really an audiophile (and working in bars for many years didn't do my high-frequency hearing any favors either) and I don't usually hear night-and-day differences between higher bitrate lossy tracks and lossless tracks.

Blade Runner really jumped out at me though. That was definitely one of those 'okay, yeah, I get it now' moments.

Blade Runner is one of my favorite films. However, when I showed it to my brother a couple months back, I was a bit dispirited when he deemed the soundtrack "cheesy." He said he loved everything else, though.

Two 80's scores that are fantastic aswell: the Last Temptation of Christ & For All Mankind

[spanky87]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

What other movies do you recommend with outstanding surround sound?

non-criterion:
District 9
Cloverfield

[King Troll]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Did you just trace Visco's posts just so you could burn him?

Yes

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Blade Runner is one of my favorite films. However, when I showed it to my brother a couple months back, I was a bit dispirited when he deemed the soundtrack "cheesy." He said he loved everything else, though.

Two 80's scores that are fantastic aswell: the Last Temptation of Christ & For All Mankind

Yeah, unfortunately 80s and cheesy tend to get used interchangably especially when it comes to synthesizers. Fair or not, synthesizers are viewed as that era's Theramins.

The Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence soundtrack is about as far as you can get from cheesy but I wouldn't be at all surprised if somebody had that immediate reaction just because of the electronic elements.

[Show spoiler](you had better luck with your relative than I did, btw - a few years ago my brother-in-law, a neighbor and I were the last three standing after a party and the neighbor and I got to raving about Blade Runner which my brother-in-law had never seen. We of course decided to pop it in and after about an hour and half by brother-in-law said words to the effect of 'sorry, I just don't see it' and got up and went to bed. I have to give him credit though, it was definitely not to his normal tastes and he gave it a good try)

[hoytereden]

Speilberg's War of the Worlds is my audio reference disc: The Alien Warships calling to each other alone will put a hurtin' on a good audio system, especially the Sub.

[the sordid sentinel]

Watched Army of Shadows yesterday. Worthy of the hype and then some. I've always been a big Mann and Friedkin fan and you can definitely tell they were influenced by Melville. I hope somehow my order of Le Cercle Rogue ships from Amazon. I am fast becoming a Melville fan boy. Currently kicking myself for not ordering these long before I did. Still hard to believe they went OOP so quickly.

Watched all of the supplements on this rainy Saturday. Lot of great stuff there. I really enjoyed the interviews with the real freedom fighters.

Some drastic differences in the transfer we have on Blu compared to some of the clips in the supplements. Watching both trailers included is like seeing 2 different movies. I definitely prefer the cool, dark print used for the Blu transfer. This may possibly be the darkest movie I have ever seen..but it works to benefit the story. Judging from the cinematographer's comments that is the look Melville preferred. Thanks to all that recommended this title.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by octagon

Yeah, unfortunately 80s and cheesy tend to get used interchangably especially when it comes to synthesizers. Fair or not, synthesizers are viewed as that era's Theramins.

The Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence soundtrack is about as far as you can get from cheesy but I wouldn't be at all surprised if somebody had that immediate reaction just because of the electronic elements.

[Show spoiler](you had better luck with your relative than I did, btw - a few years ago my brother-in-law, a neighbor and I were the last three standing after a party and the neighbor and I got to raving about Blade Runner which my brother-in-law had never seen. We of course decided to pop it in and after about an hour and half by brother-in-law said words to the effect of 'sorry, I just don't see it' and got up and went to bed. I have to give him credit though, it was definitely not to his normal tastes and he gave it a good try)

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence has a great score. I have the "flashback theme" on my iPod, it sends chills down my spine every time I hear it.

[Show spoiler]That wasn't the only time I failed to reach someone with Blade Runner. Back in 2011, I invited my brother and three of his friends to see it theatrically, they were all pretty indifferent. One of 'em actually fell asleep (at least it put an end to his texting). Afterwards, I asked them what they thought about the unicorn scene, only to learn it completely went over their heads. However, My passionate explanation did make a couple of them curious to revisit it.

[gates70]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

What other movies do you recommend with outstanding surround sound?

The 2 best I've heard are Tron: Legacy and Prometheus.

[Page14]

Originally Posted by the sordid sentinel

Watched Army of Shadows yesterday. Worthy of the hype and then some. I've always been a big Mann and Friedkin fan and you can definitely tell they were influenced by Melville. I hope somehow my order of Le Cercle Rogue ships from Amazon. I am fast becoming a Melville fan boy. Currently kicking myself for not ordering these long before I did. Still hard to believe they went OOP so quickly.

I feel pretty much the same way. I still have an order in for Le Cercle Rouge too, but with ImportCDs. It's been on backorder since the time I placed the order, so my hopes aren't super high. But they haven't canceled my order yet, so I'll look at that as a positive.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by octagon

I picked it up at a Blockbuster closeout almost two years ago and still haven't gotten around to watching it.

As much as I love Fincher and Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchette three hours can be pretty daunting sometimes.

Plus I'm apartment dweller so for A-list movies I not only need a three hour window but I want one where I don't need to worry about ambient light or sitting with my thumb on the volume control the whole time.

Someday though.

I watched it one afternoon a few months back and it went by really fast.

Excellent cinematography, in my opinion.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by the sordid sentinel

Watched Army of Shadows yesterday. Worthy of the hype and then some. I've always been a big Mann and Friedkin fan and you can definitely tell they were influenced by Melville. I hope somehow my order of Le Cercle Rogue ships from Amazon. I am fast becoming a Melville fan boy. Currently kicking myself for not ordering these long before I did. Still hard to believe they went OOP so quickly.

I'm glad that you enjoyed this film. I first saw Army of Shadows years ago when it first hit Criterion shortly after its long-overdue theatrical premiere here in America, and the movie instantly catapulted itself into my all-time top ten list. I am still kicking myself for not seeing it in the big screen when it played for one week at an indie theater here in Atlanta.

I watched Godard's Pierrot Le Fou earlier this evening, and, although I've seen it a few times before via my old DVD copy, I'm still mulling it over. I'll write more about it tomorrow.

[DarkRyder]

The Lords of Salem is all kinds of awesome.