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.

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So much cooler than the iPad.

Paramount has announced that Minority Report — the Steven Spielberg-directed, Tom Cruise-driven sci-fi thriller — will be available on Blu-ray on April 20th.

Spielberg’s Philip K. Dick adaptation will be a two-disc package, featuring a video transfer from a true 4K master created last year. It’ll be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.

The Blu-ray package certainly looks like it’s going to be worth the upgrade, as in addition to the previous released extras presented in standard definition (except for HD trailers), there will be plenty of new special features presented in high-definition.

The full rundown of new supplements includes: The Future According to Steven Spielberg; Inside The World of Precrime; Phillip K. Dick, Steven Spielberg and Minority Report; Minority Report: Future Realized; Minority Report: Props of the Future; Highlights from Minority Report: From the Set; Minority Report: Commercials of the Future; Previz Sequences. All presented in HD.

It’s been listed at $29.99, so one can safely assume it’ll be going for 20 bucks on Amazon and Best Buy (at least on release week).

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2 G.I. 2 JOE

Loud and convoluted, Stephen Sommers’ G.I. Joe adaptation is a valiant attempt to give Michael Bay a run for his money in the race to create the most lousy live action Hasbro toy commercial of 2009.

And congratulations, Stephen – mission accomplished!

(General Hawk salutes you.)

G.I. Joe doesn’t even settle for merely connecting the dots between soulless action set pieces; Sommers attempts to create an absurd testosterone-driven soap opera (complete with fifty or so flashbacks) further undermined by some truly awful special effects work.

That said, despite its storytelling deficiencies, G.I. Joe remains a grabbing visual presentation complimented with excellent sound design. However, unlike Paramount’s Transformers release, the two-disc Blu-ray set leaves a lot to be desired.

1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray Review Robot fisticuffs aplenty in this jam packed Blu-ray.

The original Transformers was an enigma – there was no possible reason why it should have been even remotely entertaining.

Yet, despite its many, many flaws, it sort of was. I just wish I could say the same for the sequel.

It’s almost maddening, sitting here just two years later, reviewing the sequel and wondering where it all went wrong. Maybe it was doomed from the start.

That’s not to say it’s all bad. As a film, Revenge of the Fallen is a jumbled mess – but as a home theater demo, it’s pretty exceptional. Michael Bay can take pride knowing he sure can make a pretty film.

(And to hell if Paramount doesn’t know how to market one.)

But does an outstanding audio and video presentation, along with some pretty nifty supplemental material, outweigh 150 minutes of being assaulted with dull, metal objects?

Read on to find out.

1. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Blu-ray Review Hyperkinetic, live-action toy commercial underwhelms.

This is my Federation glare.

J.J. Abrams’ vibrant re-imagining of Star Trek, likely the best blockbuster of the year, was finally street dated by Paramount – sporting a bunch of cool, new features to boot.  Hitting store shelves on November 17th as a 3-Disc Blu-ray set, it might be the actual packaging itself that will spur the interest of most Trekkies.

Dubbed “augmented reality” by Paramount, anyone that holds the Blu-ray cover up to a webcam will be able to unlock a holographic tour of the U.S.S. Enterprise on their computer.  The tour will span up to five cabins on the ship and will even allow the user to shoot enemies.  It will unfortunately not allow you to peep on green, alien women in go-go skirts.  This is the first time this technology has seen a mainstream, commercially wide release and a hot feature that Paramount plans on touting as we near towards Winter.

“Anything that increases the value of the physical good in the eyes of the consumer is a benefit,” Paramount home video senior VP of brand marketing Bob Buchi said.

Paramount has an early version of this feature, which it used for the theatrical release, available here.

Blu-ray fans will also get access to deleted scenes, including a lengthy subplot involving the villainous Nero and Klingons, cut from the theatrical release (something that astute fans saw in the trailer, but never in the theatrical cut).  Other super nerdy features included are live NASA updates via BD Live and a Star Fleet Vessel Simulator that will give Trekkies a 360 view of the Enterprise and other Federation ships.

Anyone hoping to maintain a social life after November 17th would do best by hiding the Blu-ray when your girlfriend is around.

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2. Transformers sequel dated for the UK Autobots rollout on Blu-ray this November
3. Clerks, Chasing Amy heading to Blu-ray Kevin Smith's most defining films get the HD treatment.
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5. Drag Me to Hell coming this October Just in time for my fan-made sequel, Gently Guide Me to Purgatory!