Paramount Announcement: Paramount Home Entertainment Recalling Saving Private Ryan Blu-ray Discs (1 Viewer)

PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RECALLING SAVING PRIVATE RYAN SAPPHIRE SERIES BLU-RAY DISCS Replacement Product to be Available at Retail by Tuesday, May 18 HOLLYWOOD, CA (May 12, 2010) – 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.

How embarrassing. And on a Spielberg film, no less. But where was the love on "Gladiator?" I'll wait to exchange this at Best Buy.

I find it funny that the Paramount rep says that when they didn't recall Gladiator which was an embarrassment, still that films 10th anniversary remastered edition was just released in France and is out all over the world this year.


This is a real pain though as i got mine from Movietyme which now means i have to email them and ask them to accept a return and hope they can fix this for me and that means sending mine in and receiving a replacement.


I bet if this was any release other than a Spielberg one that this would have been hushed up. Still on the bright side i do believe this bodes well for future Spielberg releases as far as the quality goes.


I did check out the beach scenes and noticed lip sync issues.

Originally Posted by Hollywoodaholic

But where was the love on "Gladiator?"

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Excellent question. I guess Ridley Scott either wasn't aware of the problem, didn't care or doesn't have the clout with Paramount that Spielberg has.

I called the toll free number. They took my name, address, and phone number and said that they would send me a replacement disc.

Embarrasing would be Universal releasing poor Blus for Spartacus and Out of Africa and Elizabeth.


This is actually a way to correct an authoring error.


I called and it was easy they take your name address and telephone number to replace your disc.

Well, I gonna put the question out there: has anybody from Europe who owns the US disc called Paramount? Do they ship overseas? I have my doubts, but you never know.

From what I have read, chapter 15 is where one can test to see if the lip synch problem exists. This chapter opens with Miller at a coffee machine, but he is not talking to anyone at that time. He does start talking once he goes outside. I didn't notice anything out of synch here on my Oppo BDP-83 player. I haven't tried the disc on my Sony BD player though.....EDIT...I just popped it in and I am seeing some dialog out of sync when four of the guys are talking on the stairs. There is some distance from the camera, and on my 55" display, I barely noticed it. The synching improved as the scene advanced and when the camera came in closer, it looked spot-on. I will have to review this scene again on my Oppo.

It plays out the same way on the Oppo. I must have not noticed it the first around due to how far away the men's faces are from the camera.


Are there any other scenes where the lip synch problem is more obvious? Otherwise, I'm not sure that I need to bother with replacement. I am certainly not going to be getting a larger display anytime soon and if I ever do, I'm sure the platinum 4K Super HD version of the disc will be out by then. [/url]

From what I have read, chapter 15 is where one can test to see if the lip synch problem exists. This chapter opens with Miller at a coffee machine, but he is not talking to anyone at that time. He does start talking once he goes outside. I didn't notice anything out of synch here on my Oppo BDP-83 player. I haven't tried the disc on my Sony BD player though.....EDIT...I just popped it in and I am seeing some dialog out of sync when four of the guys are talking on the stairs. There is some distance from the camera, and on my 55" display, I barely noticed it. The synching improved as the scene advanced and when the camera came in closer, it looked spot-on. I will have to review this scene again on my Oppo.

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I did check out the beach scenes and noticed lip sync issues.

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I think you would be the first person I have heard about noticing sync issues there. I thought everything sounded perfectly in sync at that point. After the espresso machine, it sounded out of sync consistently. Not by much, but enough to be slightly disorienting. I started noticing it when the lid of the espresso machine closed, and the sound had a delayed reaction. Same with gun shots, and when characters said something fast.


Anyway, I appreciate that Paramount is fixing the problem. Even if it is because Spielberg's clout, I'm impressed on how quickly they are releasing fixed discs.

Tom Hanks is on the beach with someone next to him and he is saying something and the audio of his voice was slightly out of sync with his lips, as i say above i only viewed parts of it and was going to watch the whole movie this week sometime.


I did call the American number since i have an import disc ( although i am the UK ) and i asked several questions only be told each time that they didn't know a thing about why the disc was being recalled and they were just hired to man the phones and take numbers, they couldn't even tell me if i would get a disc sent from America to Scotland but took my address details anyway but they had a bit of trouble with the telephone number on their computer screen as a UK number doesn't fit their box.


I would imagine the UK disc is identical but i don't want the UK packaging with certificate on the front.

Originally Posted by FoxyMulder

Tom Hanks is on the beach with someone next to him and he is saying something and the audio of his voice was slightly out of sync with his lips, as i say above i only viewed parts of it and was going to watch the whole movie this week sometime.

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Keep in mind that huge portions (if not all) of the dialogue in the opening are likely to have been re-recorded during ADR sessions so that might be an explanation.

I wouldn't rule it out since i have yet to watch the whole movie but just in case i am going to get a replacement disc as you never know if there are issues elsewhere such as the aforementioned coffee scene.


Mind you i doubt Spielberg would allow what Hanks is saying to be slightly off as to be that noticeable so it probably is the reported lip synch issues.

Great. I suppose they'll want a receipt as a condition for replacement - I threw it away. So I paid $34 for a defective blu-ray I can't exchange. Glad I kept the old DVD.

Why would they require a receipt? You're in possession of the defective item. It's not as if two people can return the same disc.

Originally Posted by dpippel

Why would they require a receipt? You're in possession of the defective item. It's not as if two people can return the same disc.

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I could've found it on the street or gotten it for free somewhere. They wouldn't want to just "give" me a blu-ray

Originally Posted by Luisito34

I could've found it on the street or gotten it for free somewhere. They wouldn't want to just "give" me a blu-ray

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They wouldn't just be giving it to you. You've got the product in your possession. Just because you may have received it as a gift or lost the receipt doesn't change the fact that it's defective. I've been involved in several DVD product replacement programs and not one of them required a receipt. I either sent in the disc itself or the UPC and it was a done deal. I seriously doubt that you have anything to worry about.

I called the number and they said Best Buy will exchange the disc without a receipt.


I was right there today so I decided to go in and see if they had any of the fixed discs. Was told they returned their entire stock and are expecting new discs next week.

Originally Posted by Christian Preischl

Well, I gonna put the question out there: has anybody from Europe who owns the US disc called Paramount? Do they ship overseas? I have my doubts, but you never know.

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I also would like to know. I think I never returned a disc to Amazon.com. Does anyone have experience with that process? Do they send out a prepaid mailer or do you have to advance the return postage?

^ I don't know how it works outside of the U.S. but in my experience you have to send the item back to Amazon using your own box and money. When you contact them and say you have a defective disc, they give you a label with their address on it and they immediately send you a new copy of the item. Once again, I have no idea how if that's how it works for international orders.