Tong Family

Well, now that we have 4K HDR finally setup (thank you for all those year of isolation), it’s time to find the best movies that show off the soundtrack and the 4K HDR. So here are some of the best scenes thanks to Digital Trends, Shane Lee, Denon, Cinelux, Whatnerd (Feb 2021) and What Fi. As an aside, if you can you really want the highest capacity Blu-ray versions as many of the streaming sites are really compressing this stuff, but in rough order of how I would show these

1. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. (Opening scene). Well, this was not a great movie, but wow, what colors it has. In HDR, the opening scene with David Bowie is truly one of the great moments. In photography, we talk about how you can turn the saturation up so much it looks like nn alien landscape and well there is such a thing
2. John Wick Chapter 3 Parabellum (Opening Scene). This is a dark movie, but the opening scene with the neon lights and the dark car is just great. They just blast the scene with contrast in the light and the dark. Really amazing. This is really about blasts of color more than anything else
3. Dune (2021). The opening scene has the contrast of the desert opening is just incredible. You are nearly blinded as the shifts to the outside. it doesn’t have dazzling colors, but really shows the contrast between full-on and dark

If just had two these are what I would show, but here are the remaining top 10.

1. Thor Love and Thunder. (Opening scene and respective). Wow, the opening scene is just incredible. The light that comes over his shoulder is pretty amazing as is the scene with the god.
2. The Martian. Really, you could just marvel at the whole thing, the color and the sounds of storms is truly incredible. The amazing organe is what I remember
3. Blade Runner 2049 (2017). (Las Vegas Scene). The incredible orange color is something you won’t want to miss. Maybe I’m just a sucker for orange?
4. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). Wow visual and aural scene the initial chase is definitely like a cartoon.
5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. A feast of color really.
6. Aquaman. Amazing HDR really especially the Sicily scene. I actually didn’t like the movie that much, but the colors really are incredible.
7. Ready Player One. The race scene and the explosion at the end is really a workout for the Sound System
8. The Fifth Element (1997). An old classic, those oranges and no CGI which is pretty amazing.

Best Sound Demos

This is a little different, but I’ll never forget the helicopter crash in the original Matrix, just incredible, but in order (thanks to What Hi Fi and the 2022 update of What Hi FI) and SVS Sound and Sound & Vision. One thing to remember is that Dolby Reference levels are loud in the theater, so crank it up (just for this, otherwise protect your hearing!).

1. Edge of Tomorrow’ Opening seconds. Ok, this is just the first 25-30 seconds but it can literally blow your subwoofers if they are not tuned properly.
2. The Tomorrow War (2021) – Time jump. 32:25 on is incredible
3. Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) – Live Aid. Wow, this whole movie was great but the final 20 minutes are the king of sound. They actually got a bootlegged 16-track original recording and then went to Wembley and used microphones to capture the sound, so it is really like being there.

So for the rest of the best 10 here’s list:

1. Interstellar (2014) – The Wormhole and of course the Rocket Launch
2. U-571 – Chapter 15. Depth-Charged. Wow, this is really below 25 Hertz. This is actually a hard one to get streaming, but try for the
3. Tron: Legacy – Chapter 8, Lightcycle Battle. Amazing low frequencies
4. The Batman (2022) – Batmobile Chase. Nothing like a chase scene
5. No Time to Die (2021) – Chase Through Matera. Particularly where there is the first crash
6. Unbroken (2014) – Bombing Raid. I actually haven’t seen this scene, but like Midway worry that it looks too much like CGI.
7. Baby Driver (2017) – Chapter 1. The opening scene is incredible.
8. John Wick (2014) – Club Scene. This is the single best disco plus shooting scene.
9. Star Trek (2009) – Chapter 5. The first launch of the Enterprise
10. The Matrix (1999) – Chapter 30. The famous crash scene with that helicopter
11. Ford vs Ferrari (2019). Really the Willo Springs race at the start is so great.