...and all I can say is WOW----BIG TIME.

THIS IS the new reference DVD for demo-ing a system, folks---NEVER have I heard such an active, aggressive STANDARD 5.1 Dolby Digital mix as on this DVD. EVERY speaker comes to life during the action sequences, drawing you TOTALLY into the film, and your subwoofer will rattle with lots of spaceships taking off, machines twisting and buildings exploding. This sounds better and more powerful than some DTS mixes I have heard, and I have heard some good ones. I thought my Daredevil DTS disc was a reference quality DVD; THIS blows that away, and T3 is only in DD 5.1....

The film itself was awesome, too. I wasn't a fan of these films until a friend of mine brought the T3 DVD over last night and I think Im going to buy this 2-disc set of T3; I remember him bringing over T2 one night years ago, and THAT sounded incredible, too, but I think it was a DTS soundtrack if Im not mistaken. At any rate, this T3 disc is AWESOME. Really. It makes, believe this or not folks, the "Episode II: Attack of the Clones" 5.1 Surround EX DVD seem weak in comparison---and that disc sounds awesome with special effects and lightsabers whizzing around the room.

Hands down the best action film of the year, and the DVD is astonishing on sound. I am blown away by the fact that this was a mere standard 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack; all the DVD's in my collection which only boast 5.1 DD soundtracks sound just average compared to Terminator 3, and this includes titles like "John Carpenter's Escape From LA," "Demolition Man," "Spider-Man," "John Carpenter's Vampires," "Stigmata," "The Patriot" and many more. This is the BEST standard 5.1 Dolby Digital DVD on the planet, I think; sounds were coming from everywhere through my system and the overall playback level was LOUD and aggressive; at "50" on my receiver's volume, it was very, very loud to the point we needed to turn it below 50 because it was getting late in my apartment building; but even at mid-40's, the sound was still aggressive...THIS is the way DVD soundtracks should be...I have DVDs that you cant even HEAR until 60 on the receiver volume, such as "John Carpenter's Halloween" (no matter how many times it was remastered for 5.1 and THX certified, it's still a very low mix), "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Special Edition" (man, does this "newly mixed Stereo Surround" mix suck; sounds completely useless until you're turning your system almost all the way up), and believe it or not, even "Spider Man" in standard Dolby Digital 5.1; for some reason, you need to turn your receiver volume pretty high on Spider-Man to get a loud mix of dialogue and effects---I need to turn my Onkyo to at least 55 to feel "immersed" in Spider Man....

Not the case with Terminator 3....