Paramount Home Entertainment has announced that they are recalling all copies of the special 2-disc blu-ray edition of ‘Saving Private Ryan’.

Apparently there’s a significant audio glitch somewhere on the disc which Technicolor, the people responsible for the transfer, failed to notice at the pre-release quality control stage.

The recall applies to all copies in the US, UK and Benelux regions. Quite how this problem slipped through the net on such a long awaited, high profile BR transfer is anyone’s guess.

The full press release from Paramount reads as follows:

Paramount Home Entertainment today announced that it is recalling the Sapphire Series Blu-ray edition of Saving Private Ryan recently released in North America, the United Kingdom and the Benelux countries due to an audio synch error that occurred during Technicolor’s authoring process. Although Technicolor employs comprehensive quality control measures, in this instance the issue was not detected prior to replication.

“Technicolor has been a valuable partner to Paramount Home Entertainment, and both Paramount and Technicolor are committed to providing the highest quality product to consumers,” said Dennis Maguire, President, Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment Worldwide. “Our Sapphire Series was created to present our greatest films with the finest picture and sound quality available. Saving Private Ryan is a five time Academy Award® winning film including Best Director from one of America’s most acclaimed filmmakers so we are recalling this edition to ensure that every Blu-ray disc honors Steven Spielberg’s vision.”

Technicolor has set up the following toll-free numbers for consumers who have already purchased the Saving Private Ryan Sapphire Series Blu-ray, which provides details on how they can receive a replacement copy—US and Canada: 888-370-8621, UK: 08000-852-613. Consumers can also return the Blu-ray to the stores where they purchased the product to receive a replacement. Technicolor expects to have replacement discs available at retail no later than Tuesday, May 18.

1. Star Trek warps home November Set your Blu-ray players to stun!
2. G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra announced for Blu-ray Only real American heroes need apply.
3. Sharp developing new Blu-ray laser Technology breakthrough could lead to 100GB discs.

Sleek and stylish, but lots of empty space - the cover is representative of the film as a whole.

Just a few years ago, following a disastrous serialized television prequel, Star Trek looked like it was ready to keel over after spending the better half of a century on television and movie screens.

In walks J.J. Abrams.

At the eleventh hour, Paramount made a desperate hail mary for the ailing franchise by giving complete control of the property to the esteemed television producer; the same J.J. Abrams who immediately sent fans into a tizzy with reports that he didn’t watch Star Trek, didn’t care about precious canon and didn’t want to make another sequel.

That’s right, he was going to reboot the entire thing from scratch, using the original crew.

[Nerd side bar: The cries of Internet blasphemy about this were only rivaled to when reports surfaced that Abrams was actually planning on not destroying Krypton in his now-defunct remake of Superman.]

Turns out, it didn’t matter.

With frequent Abrams collaborators Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman at the keyboard, the Bad Robot alumni single-handedly resuscitated the franchise and made it – dare I say – cool.

The downside is that Trek’s new mass appeal has been achieved with the exclusion of franchise’s meatier elements; the film is now essentially a fluff piece.

The 3-disc Blu-ray release both amplifies the film’s strengths and its flaws; complimented by an incredible audio and visual presentation, along with a strong set of supplemental material.

And while the additional content offsets the picture’s strong emphasis of style over substance, it’s mileage will vary depending on your affinity for a time when science-fiction actually meant something.

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I'll take the one on the left, you can have the one on the right.

Paramount is about to let the red, white and blue fly, when its summer blockbuster, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, hits store shelves this November.

The two-disc Blu-ray set, with all the bells and whistles, will be available in the US on November 3rd and in the UK on December 7th.

Directed by Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, Van Helsing), and adapted from a popular line of action figures, The Rise of Cobra depicts the G.I. Joe team as a multinational task force created to defend the world from terrorists in tacky uniforms.

Despite being critically panned, G.I. Joe went on to gross $300 million worldwide, and was the second major film based on a Hasbro line of toys (Transformers being the first).

The two-disc Blu-ray set will offer up a standard digital copy, commentary from Stephen Sommers, two lengthy features and an interactive holographic game.

If that sounds familiar, it should, because it’s the same technology Paramount is utilizing for its Star Trek release. Dubbed “augmented reality”, owners will be able to scan the cover from their Blu-ray set with a webcam and unlock an online portal via a special website.

Once activated, Fans will be able to choose between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, two of the most popular G.I. Joe and Cobra characters, and battle against their enemies one-on-one in an immersive 3D video game.

And now you know. (And knowing is half the battle.)

1. Saving Private Ryan Blu-ray Recalled FUBAR audio glitch leads to Paramount asking for their Blu-rays back.