I watched War of the Worlds last night. I actually enjoyed it a bit more than I expected, though the casting was a bit wonky. I actually would have preferred a entire cast of unknowns.

But that's not what I'm hear to gripe about. Who the heck mixed the sound? Helen Keller? I've never heard a more poorly mixed dvd in my life. Seriously. There were scenes where the score was inappropriately hushed, dialog was consistently way, way, way low. The only thing they cranked up were sound effects. Exposions, etc were ungodly loud - due mostly to the fact that you had to turn the volume up so loud to hear the dialog.

I can almost understand that - IF the point was that the fx were supposed to be ungodly loud. But how do you explain the hushed score? There was one scene in particular (when he's rushing down the freeway in the only working car) that the score literally sounded like someone had simply turned the volume down.

Very odd. Sound mixing is one of those things when done right, you shouldn't notice. Having to screw around with the remote through the entire movie was not fun.

Grrr...

I never thought about it, but now I would have to agree with you, the remote never left my hand during the movie because I was always adjusting the volume.

Wow. Tom "I Mugged Oprah" Cruise and a bad sound mix. How ...appealing.

I'd have to agree. The loud scenes were way too loud, waay too much contrast between quiet/loud scenes.

Talking about well mixed movies...

I think Finding Nemo is one of the most supurbly mixed movies out there. It's got great character imaging in reference to the screen. It actually sounds like whoever is talking, is talking from that spot in the screen. It really is mixed for a bigger screen with the speakers close to each edge of it, but still excellent in mixing.

I think one of my favorite parts is the "Moo THX"

I agree it was mixed differently, but I liked it. In fact it was one of the most impressive movies I've ever watched on my HT sound wise. I also thought it was the best remake ever dispite Tom Cruise (thought he doesnt seem to bother me as much as he does to others).

I suppose if I had a dedicated room, and there was no worry what so ever of bothering someone, it wouldn't have been too bad. I would have left the level high enough to hear the dialog, and would have been rumbled soundly by the fx.

That still doesn't explain the odd levels of the score.

I found Walk the Line to be mixed with waaay too much in the way of dynamics between the dialog (for low dialog - the beginning where the brothers are talking) and the loud parts (father goes off after Jack's death and performances).

The entire reason for my interest in HT came from my copy of The Wall when listened to in straight 2-channel. Dialog disappears almost completely.

Bren R.

cant you set your dynamic range compressor to compensate so you dont have to bother with the remote the whole movie?

Night mode adds a bit of compression, but what I can and should have to do are different things.

And I could add a compressor/limiter into the mix, too, but...

Bren R.

....or you can sit there with the remote for two hours and man the controlls instead of watching the movie....just an idea

Of course, there's always MY way... <insane laughter>

Don't watch the stinker.

Love the Haunted Mansion reference Ken

My personal most annoying mix is from Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (sequal to one of the best anime movies made). All explosions are way too loud and dialog is way to soft. It's very frustrating. One of the very few times I wanted some sort of automatic volume limiter.

jr

You must be from SoCal.

In reply to:

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....or you can sit there with the remote for two hours and man the controlls instead of watching the movie....just an idea

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Thinking maybe next time that problem comes up... I've got a little Soundcraft lap sized board... I'll just sit in the sweet spot and ride the faders.

Also in the vein of this topic... a favorite saying has been "Mix by Sennheiser, Soul by Satan" - refering to a local artist whose "engineer" did the final mix of her CD in a hotel room wearing headphones, and the final mix sounded great, assuming you were wearing boomy headphones. Thin and wispy on everything else. Also refered to as "the walkman mix."

Bren R.

The movie Shane was made in much the same way, only on purpose..
The director wanted to surprise the viewers and get them involved in the movie.. So, he had the sound track altered to play much louder ever time a gun was fired.. That was the plan anyway..
The movie premiered in London.. After the showing the director ran up to the control both, wanting to know why his movie soundtrack had not played out as planned ??
Get this, the projectionist had been riding the volume control the entire movie, complaining to the director how badly it had been recorded !
He had prescreened the movie and took it upon himself to 'fix' the glaring oversite on the fly..
Best laid plans of mice and men, eh ? hahaha..
You can hear this for yourself, as the dvd has the soundtrack as it was originally recorded.. While not 5.1 etc, it's still a great movie to watch, AND listen to :-)