I’ve always been one to sit down and find a good movie to watch on my home theater with the lights dimmed and the volume cranked up. However, I was naïve about audio quality. For years, I relied on an old soundbar that I thought was enough. That was, however, until I began my role as senior editor on CE Pro a little over a year ago and began to learn more about audio quality and how to build a better home theater system.
Now, I have a 5.1 surround sound audio system for my home theater and have been able to test it out with some of my favorite movies, and watch some new ones just to maximize the full potential of the audio system.
Quick List of the Best Films to Test Out Your Home Theater’s Audio Systems
- Dunkirk
- Saving Private Ryan
- Dune/Dune 2
- A Quiet Place/A Quiet Place Part II
- Star Wars Franchise
- Interstellar
- Jurassic Park Franchise
- The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
- Blade 2049
- Mad Max: Fury Road
Honorable mentions: Dark Knight, Inception, Ford V Ferrari, Top Gun, Master and Commander
Here are some of the movies I’ve been able to watch on my home theater with the sound cranked up (when the baby is out of the house) to get the full immersive experience of Dolby 5.1 surround sound. They could all make for great demos from audio manufacturers, and I think they’re perfect for people looking to test out their own home theater systems.
1. Dunkirk
Dunkirk is an exceptional film to test a home theater’s surround sound system due to its intense and immersive audio. The opening scene, where soldiers are silently moving through the deserted streets of Dunkirk only to be ambushed by gunfire, is ideal for evaluating your system’s dynamic range. Hans Zimmer’s ticking-clock score, combined with the sudden, loud gunshots and the ambient sounds of the beach, provides a rich auditory experience. This scene challenges your system’s ability to reproduce both the subtle tension-building sounds and the explosive audio effects with clarity and precision.

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2. Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan is a standout film to test a home surround sound system, particularly for its realistic and visceral sound design. The D-Day landing scene on Omaha Beach is perfect for this purpose. The combination of gunfire, explosions, shouts and cries creates a chaotic and immersive soundscape. The directional audio effects, from bullets whizzing by to the distant cries of soldiers, test a home theater system’s ability to handle complex, layered audio. The dynamic range and intensity of this scene ensure a comprehensive evaluation of your system’s performance, capturing both the low rumbles of explosions and the high-pitched whine of bullets.
3. Dune/Dune 2
Both movies in this series are auditory masterpieces, ideal for assessing a home surround sound system while you watch the narrative unfold. The scene in the first movie where Paul and his mother escape into the desert during a sandstorm showcases the film’s intricate sound design and dynamic audio range. Hans Zimmer’s score, the powerful winds, and the sounds of the sandworms create an immersive and intense experience. Not to mention, the use of the supernatural power The Voice by Paul’s mother tests a system’s ability to handle low-frequencies.
4. A Quiet Place/A Quiet Place Part II
You wouldn’t think films about survivors of an alien invasion that have to be quiet to stay alive would make it on this list, but these movies really do build tension through their dynamic range, contrasting near silence with sudden, loud noises. This creates a contrast that is perfect for assessing a system’s ability to handle abrupt changes in volume. The jump scares, creature attacks and sharp sounds test the responsiveness and power of speakers, particularly at low-frequencies. These films are make use of off-screen sounds to build a sense of space and direction.
5. Star Wars Franchise
Star Wars films are legendary for their groundbreaking sound design and iconic musical scores, making them perfect for testing a home surround sound system. Any of the movies’ battle scenes or lightsaber duels are great options for you to watch during home theater demos, but the hum of lightsabers, the roar of TIE fighters, and the distinctive blaster fire create a rich auditory experience. John Williams’ powerful score, combined with the detailed sound effects, tests your home audio system’s ability to handle a wide range of frequencies and dynamic shifts, ensuring an immersive and comprehensive evaluation for how your rig stacks up to the theater experience.
6. Interstellar
Interstellar is an excellent film for testing a home surround sound system due to its rich and dynamic audio landscape. The docking scene, where Cooper attempts to manually dock the Endurance to the spinning space station, provides a high-stress audio test for any home theater. The blend of Hans Zimmer’s organ melodies and the mechanical sounds of the spacecraft creates a tense and immersive experience. The stark contrast between the silence of space and the intense, booming music challenges your system’s ability to handle dynamic range and spatial accuracy.
7. Jurassic Park Franchise
The Jurassic Park franchise has plenty of movies to watch that offer an immersive sound experience, perfect for testing a home audio system. A standout scene is the T-Rex attack in the first film, where the rain, distant thunder, and the roar of the T-Rex create a dynamic and layered soundscape. The orchestral score by John Williams, combined with the precise placement of directional audio effects, like the vibrations in the water cup, tests a home theater’s ability to handle intense, room-shaking effects as well as subtle, nuanced sounds with clarity.
8. The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
The Hobbit films don’t get a lot of love from Lord of the Rings fans, but there’s one scene in the Desolation of Smaug that may be a little underappreciated, and it’s of course when Bilbo Baggins wanders into Smaug the dragon’s lair in search of the Arkenstone. From the clinking of coins in his cavernous home to the sinister, booming voice of Smaug, voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, the audio in this scene is great to test out a home theater system. There’s quite a range in this scene, with Bilbo clumsily plodding along trying not to wake up Smaug, eventually leading to an intense scene full of roars and expulsions of fire.
9. Blade Runner 2049
If there’s one consistent theme here, it’s films in which we’re blessed with the continuous masterpieces from composer Hans Zimmer. The deep, resonant tones of Hans Zimmer in Blade Runner 2049‘s score provide a dynamic range that challenges the system’s ability to handle both low-frequency rumbles and high-pitched synth elements. It’s hard to pick a scene to highlight, but the scenes in the decaying Las Vegas provide the range necessary to test any home theater’s audio system. The atmospheric sound design, including the echoes, distant industrial sounds, and subtle environmental details, creates a complex and layered soundscape. The intense battle sounds in the scene make it an even better example.
10. Mad Max: Fury Road
With an audio landscape as intense and dynamic as this, it’s hard not to include Mad Max: Fury Road due to the seemingly nonstop action. A standout scene is the War Rig chase through the desert storm, which includes roaring engines, explosions, thunder, clashing metal and everything else you’d expect in a post-apocalyptic desert battle. This scene will test a surround sound system’s ability to handle a wide range of frequencies and shifts. The directional audio also does a superb job at making the listener feel immersed in the action with vehicles, gun shots and debris flying by in all directions.
Building a Killer Home Theater Audio System
Nowadays it’s a lot easier to transform any room into a center of home entertainment. From advanced acoustical treatments to home audio products with in-built room correction to help dial in the perfect home theater experience, there are plenty of tools at a professional’s disposal to help create the perfect film watching environment for clients. Be sure to check out our article on building home theater systems to get a better idea of what’s out there so your audio sounds great the first time when it comes time to test it out.
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