***REFERENCE REFERENCE REFERENCE***
"Transformers 4, Age of Extinction"

I did NOT want to like this movie.
I do NOT like movies made from a toy line, a ride at Disneyland or sequels. In the movie they even say that sequels and such have ruined modern movies.
I did NOT care for the first 3, though I grudgingly admit to liking Megan Fox in the first one.
The pic quality is great in this one, AND it is in GREAT 3d!!!!! Wonderful 3D!!!! Beautiful scenery and the cars are to die for!!!!
I don't want to spoil it, so I will not tell you, but you will not believe some of the stuff they manage to put on the screen.
And you know when you see Mark Wahlberg and Nicola Peltz in this movie, they are seriously pulling out all the stops here. Some of the BOTS (especially Optimus Prime) have a really low voice that comes from the center channel (or phantom center) much deeper than my center can put out, but it is totally centered when necessary and just as articulate as all the other sounds.
This will test your sub(s), earthshaking and that is just the BOTS walking around, let alone all the explosions.
On the face of it, this movie is just a bunch of DUMB stuff. But honestly the sounds and pic quality suck you in. Some of the story is hard to follow, IF it makes any sense at all. It is a little too long, for me to watch this much CGI.

All that said, this is the BEST SURROUND SOUND I have ever experienced. Even the soundtrack music just works all across the front and then around the room. Echos from the actors yelling up front, cascade to the sides then rear.
I can't say enough good about how this movie sounds. I would give more specific scenes, etc. but there are so many examples, too many and you will have to see what you like the best.
Watching it again, I am going, this is the best scene to demo this reference sound, then I go, NO this scene is better.

Just have a watch for yourself, tell me what scene you like the best? Get this Blu-ray. Have a watch and listen.
I will not say the movie is great, in fact, really great movies get me so caught up and involved that I forget all about listening to what the sound is like, and this movie does not. The pic and mostly the SOUND is the star of this movie, IMHO.
"Look at all the junk and see the treasure".
Enjoy,
God Bless,
Wayne

Excellent review Wayne, I hope you were wearing your cowboy hat for this review. I figured it was just a matter of time before misshiso made you see the light...I'll bet she enjoyed it too. These type of movies are why surround sound was invented. Personally I can't see wasting thousands of dollars on a higher end system and watching, say for instance, The Judge...literally nothing going on in the surround channels. Movies such as The Transformers, Resident Evil, Terminator, Fast and Furious, bring movie magic to life. If it weren't for movie's like these, I wouldn't wast my time and money on a home system. I have all the Transformer movies, and because of your review, this one will no doubt become part of my collection. Again, thanks for a great review bro.

Yes Bro Anthem,
But having said that, I WISH more movies would make MUCH BETTER use of the surround sound.
Even movies in that same league, like Battleship, etc. would be much better served (or we the audience would be) by such a great surround environment as this movie had.
I can see some movies like that bad one I wrote about AMOUR taking place in an old couple's home could not give much surround information.
But even the great movie, Signs, which scares us MORE by what is not seen than what is seen, has dogs barking or alien movement through the corn off in the surround channels.
One good thing that came out of my hassles with the Marantz pre-processor acting up is that it will no longer pass through the a/v signal for the sat box to the TV when the processor is off. So, the easy way to watch TV now is by putting on the surround system. And it plays DTS Neo 6: cinema or something like that, a matrixed surround from a stereo signal. It actually adds some interesting sound to room experience even when I am watching my Houston Texans get their butts kicked.
And for HBO type movies, it is not bad.
Come over and visit here in Thailand, I will show you.
God Bless,
Wayne

Well my goodness bro. Wayne, another invite to the great country of Thailand. I'd love to come over...Jeen could bake me a pumpkin pie and we could listen to smooth jazz and lift heavy weights...sounds like a dream trip.

I like the way you started out your last post..."Yes Bro. Anthem, Buttttttt"...always a but in there. I get where you're coming from. All I'm saying is, if I were just starting out and had no system and movies such Transformers, Resident Evil (hard core action flicks) didn't exist, I wouldn't spend $20-S30 thousand on a surround system. For me, these type of movies are where it's at. I still remember the first movie that really grabbed my attention was "Equilibrium" starring Christian Bale. I heard it in Wichita at Advance Audio, through an Anthem AVM30 processor (sounded so good I bought one) and B&W speakers...literally blew me away. As the years have gone by, I still gravitate towards intense action movies, but my love for 2-channel music has taken over. If I were starting out today, I wouldn't spend $7,500.00 on a processor... I might even be happy with a receiver (perish the thought) for movies. I do understand what you are saying, you are like I use to be...heavy, heavy into the whole theatrical experience (picture and sound) i still enjoy that, but obviously not as much as you.

Dogs barking in the rear channels... I can open my bedroom window and listen to my neighbors dog bark all night long, and it sounds like she's right outside the window...wait a minute, she really is outside the window...shut-up (can't get any more real then that).

All the Best Bro.

Bro Anthem,
Nobody said any thing about lifting heavy weights over here. I attached a pic of how i use my gym card.

I never heard of Equilibrium, will have to keep an eye open for it. Though it is probably not available now over here.
I remember wondering what all this home theater stuff was about, I was totally into 2 channel. I went to a store and asked for a demo of a subwoofer, did I really need one? They played T-Rex in Jurassic Park, I had wondered why the kids in the land rover were watching a glass of water and why there were waves in it? When the sub played the T-Rex steps in conjunction with the glass of water, I WAS HOOKED!!!! I had to have one of those.
Never had a wife that would sit and listen to music with me, NEVER. It was always turn it down, turn it down. Never had a kid that would sit and listen to music with me. But the whole family loves to watch a movie together.
So I concluded that I can enjoy music with headphones if I want stereo, but IF i want to enjoy things with my family, it would have to be a movie.
Now I am hooked on surround sound, even for music. It just sounds more natural and involving to me.

Movies, fun for the whole family, music, turn that down!!!!
Happy is the man whose wife does not say "Turn it down".
Happy listening,
God Bless,
Wayne

Bazinga...just finished watching The Transformers/4:Age of Extinction
Mark Walberg is the star of the show...much better better acting than Shia LaBeouf, and quite honestly, I can live without Megan Fox. Picture and sound was superb...around the 2hr. 22min. mark is where I noticed intense pressuring in the room...thought the room might explode.

In the words of Optimus Prime: "Leave planet earth alone--because I'm coming for you".

Good movie...if you are a "sound freak" this movie belongs in your collection. Thanks Wayne.