A few years ago, we shared some of our favorite all-time Dolby Atmos movies, and we loved hearing everyone’s suggestions in the comments on our video. Since then, so many more titles have been released in Atmos, so we thought it would be fun to revisit the topic and pick out some of the best ones from so far in 2024!

Now, if you’re reading this, we’ll assume you most likely know what Dolby Atmos is. However, if you don’t or just want a way more in-depth understanding of what it is and how it works, you have to check out our article here, where we break it down and even help you make sure you have the correct components to experience it in the best way possible. Plus, we even have content on the best Dolby Atmos platforms, including how to find the Atmos content on them to make it super easy for you. Let’s take a look at a few of our picks

Dune: Part Two

Following up Dune: Part 1 from 2021 was going to be a tall task, as we know so many people absolutely love that film and the atmos soundtrack in it. In fact, we put it on our list as one of our favorites right after it was released. We’re happy to say that Dune: Part Two does not disappoint! Director Denis Villeneuve and sound designer Richard King put such emphasis on the sound in this movie that it truly brought it to the next level. Villeneuve’s approach, like in Part 1, was to try to make it sound more like a documentary and have you feel as if you’re actually in the movie yourself with very real, tactical sounds. Sound designer Richard King focused on his sound team capturing realistic sounds by using methods like burying microphones in the sand, going out to the Sahara desert to record the wind in real sandstorms, recording massive loop ground sessions for the Harkonnen crowds, and focusing on the movement of the sandworms instead of the vocalizations. Every small sound detail adds up to really immerse you in the film. When you combine it with the score from Hans Zimmer, you get a sound that will just blow you away with its beauty and immersiveness.

One of our favorite scenes in this movie is called “Launch the Atomics” at about 2 hours and 13 minutes in. Without giving any spoilers, this scene is where there is a large explosion and then a battle that ensues after, and it is a must-watch. The sound dances throughout the different speakers and sets you right in the middle of all the action. We can’t say enough about how good this movie is in Dolby Atmos.

Before we move on, we want to address how we watched all of these films. We utilized a home theater in one of our world-class showrooms, an 11.4.4 state-of-the-art JBL Synthesis theater that features a Trinnov based processor, powerful compression driver speakers, and a Kaleidescape movie server for the audio side of things. The video is also amazing as we are using a MadVR Envy Extreme and Sony VPLVW7000ES front projector on a Stewart widescreen. It’s safe to say that we are reviewing these movies with some of the best possible equipment out there for a home theater with dedicated in-ceiling speakers for the height effects in Dolby Atmos tracks. And while some of these movies are able to be streamed right now, we’d recommend stepping up to a Blu-ray, 4K Bluray, or a Kaleidescape, which will have a much higher quality soundtrack and bring the Atmos sound effects to life.

Twisters

Next up is Twisters, a fun new movie with a ton of great sound effects. In the opening scene, you get to witness the team chase a massive tornado, and you’re placed right in the middle of the storm. The bed layer channels provide you with the wind that whips around you, and the atmos speakers show off the rain and other effects in the distance above you. There are a few great action scenes in this movie, and we thought they did a phenomenal job utilizing the sound to make it incredibly immersive. The only thing that would make this even better would be to see it in a 4DX theater, which we haven’t had the chance to do yet.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Perhaps one of the most iconic movies that we see people showing off in their setups is Mad Max: Fury Road. The latest in the Mad Max saga is Furisoa, and boy, was this a fun one! Right away in this film, you’re placed in the woods with insects and birds flying all around you, utilizing every single speaker. We were really blown away at just how immersive this scene was and thought it was an incredible use of height speakers to send these small sound effects of the wild all around you to make you feel as if you’re in the scene with the characters. They continue this trend throughout the movie by adding in additional effects to the height speakers to continually make you feel like you’re right in the middle of the action. Plus, the LFE in this movie will hit you right in the chest if you have some good subs in your system.

Now, when we first watched this film on Max, we decided to not include it on this list. However, when testing it on Kaleidescape, we have to say that the sound mix was just so much better and cleaner and really made use of the height effects. So, if you really want the most immersive sound from your movies, we would highly recommend buying the physical disc or using a Kaleidescape if you have one. Heck, the typical audio encoding for streaming is at .5 megabits per second, and that is half a megabit, not 5. Physical Blu-Ray discs or Kaleidescape give you audio at six megabits per second. That is ten times more audio data to make all those effects come to life compared to streaming!

Civil War

And finally, we want to add the movie Civil War to this list. Again, we’re not ranking these movies on how good we thought the film was, but rather just how good their soundtrack was and more specifically, their use of atmos effects. That being said, we found the entire soundtrack to this movie to be very well done. It’s an emotional film where you follow a few photojournalists through a hypothetical civil war in the US, and you are exposed to some gruesome and eerie scenes. During a few scenes where there is gunfire, the bullets whizz by your head and almost make you feel like you need to duck with the characters to stay safe. It creates an alarmingly realistic feeling that is definitely the best part of the entire film. We thought the placement of objects throughout the mix was just outstanding and utilized the atmos platform brilliantly. Our favorite scene is in chapter 12/13, where there is a battle. Explosions, gunfire, and more shift overhead, whip around the room, and truly bring to life the dizzying and chaotic feeling of a lifelike battle. This one should absolutely be on your list if you want to experience some great Dolby Atmos sound effects. We might go so far as to say this is the best Dolby Atmos audio so far in 2024.

These are just some of the best Dolby Atmos movies we’ve watched and enjoyed in 2024, and we’re sure there will be many more!

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