Cronos 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Cronos 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 19, 2025

Guillermo Del Toro's "Cronos" (1993) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include two audio commentaries; Guillermo Del Toro's short film "Geometría"; various interviews; stills gallery; and more. In Spanish and English, with optional English subtitles. Region-Free.

Here’s a film that has familiar ingredients but offers something different. The prologue makes it perfectly clear in what direction its story will be heading, and well into its final third, there are hardly any surprises, but then things change. The film is called Cronos and is directed by Mexican helmer Guillermo Del Toro.

Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi), a lonely antique dealer, purchases an ancient wooden statue of an archangel, and inside it discovers a small toy resembling a scarab. When the toy unexpectedly comes alive, several tiny mechanical legs stab into his skin. He bleeds. A couple of days later, Jesus begins feeling that his body is changing.

Invented by a Spanish alchemist in the 14th century, the toy, referred to only as Cronos, can make a man immortal. Jesus learns about its special power after a wealthy but seriously ill Mexican industrialist (Claudio Brook) sends his slightly crazy nephew (Ron Perlman) to steal it. When the crazy nephew eventually tracks down Jesus, all hell breaks loose.

Cronos was Del Toro’s debut feature film, a pure labor of love, made with a lot of borrowed money and plenty of passion. In 1993, it went on to become a massive box office hit in Mexico and earn eight Ariel awards (the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars), as well as the coveted Mercedes-Benz Award (for Best Feature Film during La Semaine de la Critique) at the Cannes Film Festival.

When placed next to the rest of Del Toro’s films, Cronos immediately sticks out because it is not as polished as they are. But it is what makes it special. It pulls in different directions, and instead of trying to retell a familiar horror story, somehow it evolves into an excellent character study. Cronos also has a distinct gothic flavor but is not scary. It feels and often functions like a fairy tale for adults.

The key relationship in it is between the immortal Jesus and his granddaughter, Aurora (Tamara Shanath), who for quite some time is the only one to have a proper grasp of his unusual transformation. In fact, Jesus’ obsession with the toy is a most effective distraction that does a lot to highlight what makes his bond with Aurora special. In other words, Cronos is about love, but not the love of blood.

Like Spanish director Victor Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive, Cronos houses plenty of political innuendo. Erice's film is a lot more effective while exploring the dark side of the human soul, but both films use similar tricks to point the audience in the same direction and stimulate the mind to ponder practically identical themes.

Cronos unites several very good actors. Luppi, a legendary Argentinean actor who has appeared in such terrific films as Adolfo Aristarain’s Time for Revenge (1981) and Miguel Bardem’s Swindled (2004), is predictably excellent as the immortal Jesus. Brook, who contributed to some of Luis Bunuel’s greatest films, including The Exterminating Angel (1962) and Simon of the Desert (1969), is equally impressive as the dying industrialist. Even Perlman, who was at one point advised to reconsider his involvement with Cronos, is very convincing.

Del Toro was able to secure the services of director of photography Guillermo Navarro, who would later lense such big box office hits as Desperado (1995), Jackie Brown (1997), and Pan's Labyrinth (2006).

Cronos 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of Cronos is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this release:

"Supervised and approved by director Guillermo Del Toro, the new 4K restoration presented on the 4K Blu-ray was created from the 35mm original camera negative. The restoration was undertaken by Les Films du Camelia, in collaboration with the BFI National Archive, at L'Immagine Rritrovata, with the support of Cartier. The 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered from a 35mm magnetic soundtrack. Please be sure to enable Dolby Pro Logic decoding on your receiver to properly play the 2.0 surround soundtrack.

Mastering supervisors: Alberto Gemmi/L'Immagine Ritrovata; Ronald Chammah/Les Films du Camelia; Douglas Weir/BFI.
Colorist: Cassandre Marie Valfort/L'Immagine Ritrovata.
Audio mastering/restoration: The Criterion Collection."

Please note that all screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

The 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray discs offer two drastically different presentations of the film. The former has the new 4K restoration that was endorsed by Del Toro. The latter has the 2K restoration of the film that was introduced with this release in 2010. The 2K restoration was also supervised by Del Toro as well. In native 4K, the 4K restoration can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades.

The 4K restoration alters the film's native appearance in much the same way many, many 4K restorations of other films completed at L'Immagine Ritrovata do. Entire ranges of primaries and supporting nuances are destabilized and 'upgraded', while a prominent green tint introduces a brand new color temperature. Various sequences, like the one where the crucial resolution of the drama occurs, now essentially have a monochromatic look, which is quite distracting. Different and especially subtle highlights are completely altered as well. As a result, the entire film acquires a brand new identity. Density levels are better. In darker areas, grain exposure is more convincing, too. The rest is practically identical. Some visuals may appear slightly healthier, but I did and still do not think that the previous presentation had any issues. So, what is the final verdict on the new 4K restoration? I do not like it. It gives the film a brand new, contemporary appearance, which is not what a restoration is supposed to do. I think that the previous presentation that Del Toro is very nice and certainly the more accurate one.

Cronos 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The film can be viewed with the original Spanish-language voice over and the U.S. theatrical voice-over. I think that they are both fine and do not create any meaningful but different ripple effects. Regardless of the one you choose, you will get to the same place without missing anything of substance. The lossless track is excellent. All exchanges are clear, stable, and very easy to follow. I just feel that during some of the action material dynamic intensity should be better, but on the 4K restoration the same areas sound as they do on the 2K restoration.

Cronos 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentaries -- an audio commentary with director Guillermo Del Toro recorded in 2002. In English, not subtitled.
  -- an audio commentary with producers Arthur H. Gorson and Bertha Navarro and coproducer Alejandro Springall. In English and Spanish, with optional English subtitles.

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentaries -- an audio commentary with director Guillermo Del Toro recorded in 2002. In English, not subtitled.
  -- an audio commentary with producers Arthur H. Gorson and Bertha Navarro and coproducer Alejandro Springall. In English and Spanish, with optional English subtitles.

• Geometría (1987) - a short film by Guillermo Del Toro about a young man who pays dearly to have his dreams come true. A short interview with Guillermo Del Toro accompanies the film. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (7 min).

• Welcome to the Bleak House - a fascinating trip of Guillermo Del Toro's house, filled with memorabilia, countless books, films, etc. In English, not subtitled. (11 min).

• Interviews - a gallery of interviews with Guillermo Del Toro, Oscar-winning cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, actors Ron Perlman and Federico Luppi. Each of the interviewees discusses the production history of Cronos, different technical and logistical difficulties, the film's reception, the friendships that were created during the production process, etc.
  
  -- Guillermo Del Toro. In English, not subtitled. (18 min).
  -- Guillermo Navarro. In English, not subtitled. (13 min).
  -- Ron Perlman. In English, not subtitled. (8 min).
  -- Federico Luppi. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (6 min).

• Stills Gallery - a collection of rare photos and stills taken by Guillermo Del Toro. (1080p).

• Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for Cronos. Music only. (2 min, 1080i).

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring Maitland McDonagh's essay "Beautiful Dark Thing"; director's notes on Cronos, and technical credits.

Cronos 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This upcoming combo pack has two very different presentations of Cronos, both endorsed by Guillermo Del Toro at different times. One of them is an older 2K restoration, which I like quite a lot. The other is a new 4K restoration, representative of the work that L'Immagine Ritrovata is known for., and I do not like it. It makes Cronos look like a contemporary production. So, if you were planning to pick up the combo pack for your library, my advice would be to find a way to test it first and make sure that you like how the 4K restoration looks.