Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Cronos Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 3, 2010

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-A "locked".

There is something under the bed

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

Cronos Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1m encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Guillermo Del Toro's Cronos arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:

"Cronos is presented in the director's preferred aspect ratio of 1.78:1. Director Guillermo Del Toro and director of photography Guillermo Navarro supervised this new high-definition digital transfer, which was created in 2K resolution on a Spirit 4K Datacine from the original 35mm camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS system and Pixel Farm's PFClean system, while Digital Vision's DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.

Telecine supervisors: Guillermo Del Toro, Guillermo Navarro, Maria Palazzola.
Telecine colorist: Gregg Garvin/Modern Videofilm, Los Angeles."

Compared to the old Lionsgate Films DVD release of Cronos, Criterion's Blu-ray release represents a massive upgrade in quality. Fine object detail, clarity, and contrast levels are dramatically improved, and colors substantially better reproduced. Furthermore, there are no traces of edge- enhancement and macroblocking, both of which are prominent on the DVD release. There are no traces of heavy noise reduction. Naturally, Cronos has a wonderful organic look. There are no serious stability issues to report in this review, either. Lastly, I did not see any annoying flecks, scratches, marks, stains, or debris. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

Cronos Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with portions of English). For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. For the record, Cronos arrives with two introductions: English and Spanish (original).

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:

"The stereo soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from 35mm LT/RT magnetic soundtrack. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integrated audio workstation."

The Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is excellent. It has a wonderful range of dynamics and plenty of depth. The dialog is clean, crisp, stable, and very easy to follow. There are no serious balance issues with Javier Alvarez's music score either. Lastly, while viewing Cronos I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or dropouts to report in this review.

Cronos Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• 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, 1080p).

• 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, 1080p).

• 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, 1080p).
  -- Guillermo Navarro. In English, not subtitled. (13 min, 1080p).
  -- Ron Perlman. In English, not subtitled. (8 min, 1080p).
  -- Federico Luppi. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (6 min, 1080i).

• 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).

• 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.

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

Cronos Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I really cannot think of another successful director that is as passionate about cinema and modest as Guillermo Del Toro. To be honest, I think that the audio commentary and various interviews with him included on Cronos are a good enough reason to highly recommend it. Make sure to see Welcome to the Bleak House. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.