So what Blu-rays do you think are good to show off a quality system, video and/or audio-wise?

Video:

-Baraka - You simply won't see a better looking Blu-ray than this.  Scanned at 8K and then encoded for BD, it looks almost like one of those glossy coffee table photo books in motion.  Some may find the disc boring, but that's not what this thread is about now, is it?  They sell this in an Earth-destroying regular blue plastic box now instead of that eco-friendly cardboard hippie crap box, so go get yours now!

-Primal Fear - I rented this a few weeks ago and was surprised how awesome the transfer was.  Not every scene is a winner, but the wide shots are very impressive.   I didn't notice any artificial sharpening at all, maybe that's why it looks so nice, smooth and detailed to me.

-The Nightmare Before Christmas - Looks incredible, but maybe I am just so impressed due to how much better it looks over the DVD version(s).  The DVDs look almost black and white in comparison at times.

-Virtually any Pixar movie.


Audio:

-Flight of the Phoenix - The "recent" one with whats-his-face that used to be free when buying a Blu-ray player, not the original.  The regular DTS tracks kick much ass, but the DTSHDMA track kicks even more ass!  The first 20 minutes of this movie with the plane crash used to bottom out and blow sound systems at real theaters that were not well equipped enough to handle it, so you know it is intense.  But the sound throughout is great as well, like the gunshots and what not.  Crank it up.  Fuck the neighbors.

-The Nightmare Before Christmas - This 7.1 Dolby TrueHD remix is spectacular.  Very aggressive on all front without ever being fatiguing.  Again, it makes the DTS DVD and LaserDisc sound nearly mono in comparison.

-Baraka - Though containing mostly eclectic music and whatnot, the 96Khz 24-bit DTSHDMA track is way above the specs at most discs which are usually content with 48Khz resolution at best.  Very crisp, clean and full. 

-Virtually any Pixar movie.

Planet Earth, practically any Pixar movie and I think they've done a pretty stellar job with some of the Kubrick reissues.     

Corpse Bride, and most animated movies in general.

Willco


Planet Earth, practically any Pixar movie and I think they've done a pretty stellar job with some of the Kubrick reissues.

Planet Earth is only 1080i

And?

Blade Runner, Sin City, The Dark Knight, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Enemy of the State, Frost/Nixon for video, The Matrix, Pan's Labyrinth, Tropic Thunder, No Country For Old Men.

I'm a sucker for Wall-E for video; 30 Days of Night for Hi-Def Gore.

2001: A Space Odyssey for Sound.  30 Days also has some nasty moments sound wise.  I don't have a 7.1 surround sound set up it's just 5.1 for me.

Kill bills and Dark Knight pwns in every way

Iron Man as well.


I imagine the newer movies, especially the big budget ones will look and sound really nice in HD

Actually it depends.  If the movie was shot on video like, say, Slumdog Millionaire it won't look as good as something shot (properly) on film and scanned in at a higher resolution like 4k or 8k.  But you are right, the Kill Bills and Dark Knight look great... except for some nasty compression artifacts in Kill Bill 2, but I won't point out where they are because once you see them, you can't unsee them.

Slumdog Millionaire only had a budget of 15 million.  I'm sure there will be exception but I mean generally...