Charles,

I haven't watched this on DVD and probably never will because the way the movie was edited made me nauseous. But I remember thinking in the theatre that the sound wasn't very good or impactful. I thought it was the theatre but now that you're complaining about the same thing it makes me think that it was the sound engineering.

House of the Rising Sone
Out in the mid or far field
Dedicated mid-woofers are over-rated