I wanted to start a thread on movies that are really good for testing a home theater or surround sound. (duplicity for the sake of google crawlers)
I don't want to rehash the few movies already pointed out, not to mention there are probably dozens of really good movies to test surround sound.
One wanted to add in particular though:
Terminator 2.
Hands down some bad ass surround sound. I think the epoch of the surround sound is toward the end when they're in the epic battle at the computer company that designed Skynet. The clarity of breaking glass coupled with the sounds of gunfire and everything else is amazing.
And please post some stuff that shows off other aspects of surround sound, like more subtle sounds in a quiet film where nuances of sounds can made everything.
-for example a night scene where the grass is rustling and the insects are chirping. Another example would be a horror movie where very delicate sound in the darkness can be used to great effect. (For example ominous footsteps in the background).
On a side note, I think the beginning of Terminator 2 has the best movie intro. I'm rather surprised it never makes any lists for "top 10 best movie intros".
Seeing a playground burning to the ground is both amazing and chilling in it's bleakness.