The first 15 minutes of the movie is the best sequence.  It has an incredibly wide range of audio: the soft sounds of the ocean; the creaks, cracks, and pops of a wooden ship; soft and loud conversations; and an explosive cannon battle.  This movie will give your system a workout and really show off  the dynamic range of your speakers.  Here are some of the highlights:

Chapter 2 at 2:35 – This is one of the best scenes for surround sound.   We board the HMS Surprise just before dawn, and as we travel through the belly of the ship, we hear creaking, groaning and popping all around.  We move past the sailors snoring in their hammocks, and above us we hear the men moving on the deck in preparation for the changing of the watch.  The sounds of early morning on the ship are all around us, and it feels as if we are really on board the Surprise.   

Chapter 3 at 6:20 – The officer of watch sounds the alarm and the crew beats to quarters.  This is a major transition from a soft scene with no action to the controlled chaos of the crew preparing for battle.  As the action moves left to right and behind the sounds swirl around us.

Chapter 4 at 8:54 - Captain Jack Aubrey sees flashes of light within the fog bank and yells for his crew to get down.  A fraction of a second later we hear the muffled thump of cannons being fired and then the cannon balls crash across the deck of the Surprise sending schrapnel and splinters flying.   This is another sudden transition from a calm scene filled with dialogue to loud explosions and shouting.  We are taken all over the ship from the deck to the where the cannons are being prepped down to the ship’s surgeon’s quarters.  The audio places us right in the heart of the battle. 

Chapter 4 at 11:45 – As Aubrey is rushing back onto the deck a cannon ball explodes nearby momentarily stunning him.  The audio becomes muffled as if we are hearing through his ears.  When he recovers himself and surges back to to his feet, the audio snaps back into crisp focus, and we are back in the action with Captain Jack.

Chapter 5 at 13:13 – With the ship rudderless and the sails in tatters, Aubrey decides to make a run for the fog bank.  The long boats are lowered and the crew struggles to pull the Surprise toward the fog.  The sounds of the battle recede, and the musical score swells creating a real test for all of your speakers. 

Chapter 5 at 14:46 – They make it into the fog bank, and the sounds from the pursuing ship fade away.  The fog envelopes the ship, and the audio becomes muted.  The music dies down; conversation and sounds become  muffled.  It is as if the fog shrouds not only our eyes but also our ears.

If you really want to show off your system or just see what it can do, I highly recommend the first 15 minutes of this movie.