Kids

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Zootopia (PG)

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Zootopia (PG)

In this heartwarming family film, Judy Hopps breaks barriers by becoming the first rabbit to join the police force. However, she grapples with her role within the force. Seizing the opportunity to prove herself, Judy crosses paths with the cunning fox, Nick Wilde, while working on a challenging case. Together, they embark on a thrilling mission to get to the bottom of things. Watch on and hear your subwoofers deliver powerful bass thumps during intense scuffles while your surround speakers capture the exhilarating rush of a hurtling train headed straight for our dynamic duo.

IMMERSIVENESS RATING: ⭐⭐

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Turning Red (PG)

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Turning Red (PG)

A cultural and thoughtful movie about coming of age and growing up - Mei Lee, a young girl from Toronto, struggles with balancing her dual identity and sharing her secret with her friends and family. Between struggling with her mother’s traditional strict style of parenting and her desire to fit in at school, Mei’s life takes a sudden change when she somehow receives the ability to turn into a huge red panda. There is a lot of vibrancy and life to the film, from the animation to the whimsical flowing nature of the soundtrack and the music. The audio mix, although somewhat subdued and laid back, is extremely captivating and well tuned. A home theater surround system will do an amazing job in recreating an immersive soundstage, bringing to life the magical experience of traditional asian dances and rituals along with a concert scene. The low end is also tuned extremely tastefully, and you will be able to not just hear but FEEL the deep warmth of the bass in action moments and appropriate musical sequences. Available on Disney+

IMMERSIVENESS RATING: ⭐

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Night on Earth (TV-PG)

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Night on Earth (TV-PG)

EPISODE: MOONLIT PLAINS (28:45 - 33:39)

The cover of darkness works like a double-edged sword. In this pilot episode – Moonlit Plains, watch how a lioness takes advantage of her prey’s poor vision in the cover of darkness, before being ambushed by a clan of hungry hyenas. In the background, you will hear all the subtle details of a night in the African Savanna, overflowing with the chirps of crickets and animal movements, while in the thick of things, you will feel the intensity driven by deep, loud animal grunts and growls that will put your center channel and subwoofers to the test. Followed by high-pitched hyena laughter from all directions for a thrilling surround sound experience.

IMMERSIVENESS RATING: ⭐ ⭐

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Kung Fu Panda (PG)

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Kung Fu Panda (PG)

An absolute treat to listen to and fun for the whole family, this animated movie features excites with general kung-fu mayhem that travels effortlessly from one surround speaker to the next. Exploding fireworks taunts and the impact from each deft martial art (or clumsy) move is substantially delivered through your subwoofers to demand your attention to feel its warmth. Lines are delivered with every nuance of pitch change expertly picked up by quality center speaker drivers.

IMMERSIVENESS RATING: ⭐

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Lost in Space (TV-PG)

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Lost in Space (TV-PG)

SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 (01:18 - 06:00)

An excellent scene to test how clean as well as complete your surround sound system can sound. Pay attention to the crystal-clear dialog at the start, followed by a distinct beep coming from the left of you. Then, notice the subtle change in the crew’s voices as soon as they put on their space helmets. Next, there would be a very sudden loud, shocking crash that intensifies everything. Look out for the space debris that whiz past your ears.

IMMERSIVENESS RATING: ⭐

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The Polar Express (G)

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The Polar Express (G)

Who said Christmas movies can't have great surround sound? The realistic huff-puff sounds of the coal-powered train would seemingly bring the polar express right to your living room. The movie also makes great use of the surrounding channels to bring a strong sense of directionality in certain scenes, including the scene of kids sliding through the toy factory chutes, and are sure to put a smile across every listener's face.

IMMERSIVENESS RATING: ⭐ ⭐

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Soul (PG)

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Soul (PG)

Disney is known to pay very close attention to creating a realistic soundscape for every animated movie, and SOUL is no exception. Leveraging on Dolby Atmos, SOUL makes full use of every speaker channel to engulf you with lush, ethereal ambient cues that virtually seem to transport you out of this world. Every musical note is beautifully rendered through your frontal channels, going in sync with the main character's deft finger movements. So much attention has been given to the original musical scores for this movie, that it's musical scores have already won multiple awards for being some of the best musical pieces ever created for a movie.

IMMERSIVENESS RATING: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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The Sound of Music (G)

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The Sound of Music (G)

Effortlessly twirling in to demand the very best from your surround system, this restoration of the old-time favorite is bound to make your feet tap and lips sing. The original 6 track recording is further expanded to demand more out of today’s spatial sound technologies. You will notice that the frontal array has distinct sound object placement that provides your ears a map to track whose voice belongs to whom in the video presentation. Musical notes that flow through your drivers are filled with vigor and energizes the room to create a shoulder-to-shoulder comparison with the on-screen mood. It is a remastered nobody asked for, but desperately in need of, and we are glad, someone took up the challenge of taking this happiest feel-good film to better heights!

IMMERSIVENESS RATING: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (PG)

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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (PG)

Hailed as the “Greatest Spidey Movie of Them All” by Rolling Stone, the surround sounds is just as reflective of its stunning visual. It gave us hair-raising and ting-a-ling sensations at the movie peaks and with every build-up, footsteps, and echoes that are lucidly produced by your surround speakers. If you have overhead or up-firing speakers, prepare to dodge the webs that are shot in the air, towards you and feel Spider-Man swinging past you. Not leaving music lovers behind, the soundtracks that accompany this movie will have your feet unknowingly tapping to the thumping rhythmic beats from your subwoofer(s).

IMMERSIVENESS RATING: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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Top Gun (PG)

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Top Gun (PG)

A definite must-watch not only because this movie helped launch Tom Cruise’s career (pun intended), but also because it hinges its whole storyline on heroic aviation action. With the restored version of this, tuned to take full advantage of the capabilities of today’s sound technologies, you are definitely going to feel and hear the MiG-28s fighter jets soar and roar above you. Spoiler Alert: "Danger Zone" withstands the test of time and will certainly have you moving your tushies, as the jets take-offs from the runway.

IMMERSIVENESS RATING: ⭐ ⭐

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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (PG-13)

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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (PG-13)

OPENING SCENE

Boasting beautiful sci-fi cinematography, the opening sequence of this movie’s surround sound is just as beautifully arranged. David Bowie lends his voice with a rendition of his song, “Space Oddity” being played through your stereo channels. Basking in his limelight through your ambient speakers are the flying satellites that emerge from the side, as well as other intricate sounds from space crafts and beeping alarms. Despite not heavily relying on your main channels, every sound effect and detail emitting from the surround speakers grab your ears’ attention with its utmost clarity. Tiny bell chimes and rings will draw your space travel to an end, together with David Bowie’s voice fading into the distance.

IMMERSIVENESS RATING: ⭐ ⭐

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WALL-E (G)

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WALL-E (G)

If you thought a movie that centres around a forgotten robot could never qualify for having great surround sound, here's a surprise. Nominated and winning multiple awards for it's intricate and detailed sound mix, this movie cleverly makes use of the quieter, seemingly dull moments to realistically recreate the sound and echoes from the crushed litter on otherwise quiet and deserted earth, with romantic 60's music accompanying our isolated robot as he trudges through the day. Later, As the robot chases his newfound partner from outer space, feel love rise in the air, as the direction of this pair of robots whizzing around outer space is clearly replicated and accurate to the direction that each is moving on the screen

IMMERSIVENESS RATING: ⭐ ⭐

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