Cronos (Directors Suite) (Blu-ray) (1993) |
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Cronos (Directors Suite) (Blu-ray) (1993) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Horror |
Audio Commentary-Director Guillermo del Toro Interviews-Crew-New 2010 interview with director Guillermo del Toro Interviews-Crew-Original interview with director Guillermo del Toro Interviews-Crew-Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro Short Film-Geometria 1987 short film by Guillermo del Toro Featurette-Making Of-with Federico Luppi Theatrical Trailer Trailer-Madman trailers x 4 |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1993 | ||
| Running Time | 92:14 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Guillermo Del Toro |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Madman Entertainment |
Starring |
Federico Luppi Ron Perlman Claudio Brook Margarita Isabel Tamara Shanath Daniel Giménez Cacho Mario Iván Martínez Farnesio de Bernal Juan Carlos Colombo Jorge Martínez de Hoyos |
| Case | Standard Blu-ray | ||
| RPI | $39.95 | Music | Javier Álvarez |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
Spanish DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 Spanish Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 English Audio Commentary Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 1080p | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English | Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
In 1536 an alchemist fleeing the Inquisition arrived in Mexico. There he created the cronos device: a mechanical golden scarab, inside of which was a parasite that held the gift of eternal life. Four hundred years later the alchemist died when his heart was pierced in an accident and his possessions sold. There was no record of the cronos device in the inventory. Thus starts Mexican director Guillermo del Toro’s masterful 1993 film Cronos.
Forty years later, elderly antique dealer Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi) and his granddaughter Aurora (Tamara Shanath) discover the device in a wooden statue of an angel. Gris inadvertently engages the clockwork mechanism of the scarab and his hand is pierced by its mechanical arms, drawing blood and inserting under his skin a metal sting. At first he only experiences an increased thirst and becomes younger looking, much to the surprise of his wife Mercedes (Margarita Isabel), but he soon develops a fixation for human blood. However, the cronos device is being sought by dying industrialist De la Guardia (Claudio Brook) who has in his possession the alchemist’s book of instructions for controlling the device. De la Guardia sends his nephew Angel (Ron Perlman) to Gris to obtain the device, but he messes up the job and kills Gris instead. But Gris has the parasite in his blood and is now immortal. He awakes in the mortuary and escapes before his body is cremated. Revealing himself only to Aurora, Gris sets out to confront De la Guardia in an attempt to find the secret behind the cronos. There his humanity, and his love for his granddaughter, will be sorely tested.
Cronos was Mexican director Guillermo del Toro’s first film and it brought him to the attention of Hollywood. It is easy to see why: Cronos is a visually impressive and scary film, a new take on the old vampire tales by a brand new talent. Cronos owes far more to European horror and to Catholicism than to American horror films and it is no surprise that Del Toro cites directors such as Terence Fischer, Mario Bava and Dario Argento as his influences. Cronos does not rely upon slasher shocks for its terror and it is not a sexy vampire tale of love and sweet young things – it is a vampire tale for adults, a reflection upon immortality, eternity, love, family, redemption and resurrection.
The analogies are not subtle: in Cronos there is a character named Jesus, who is resurrected and who is called upon to make a supreme sacrifice to save those he loves, a dark avenger called Angel and a granddaughter Aurora (which is dawn – a new beginning). The acting is impressive with Federico Luppi especially good as he goes through both physical and emotional changes, and Ron Perlman as the somewhat dim-witted and fragile Angel is also very good. Perlman obviously enjoyed working with Del Toro and would star in his Hellboy films a decade later. Also of note is the look of the film. The sets, courtesy of production designer Tolita Figuero and art director Brigitte Broch, are multilayered and elaborate with the antique shop and De la Guardia complex wonderfully realised, while the cinematography of Guillermo Navarro is all light and shadows, evoking the light and shadows in the soul of Gris.
Cronos is a fabulous film. It is not a sexy vampire tale – it is a vampire story for adults, reflecting upon immortality, eternity, love, family, redemption and resurrection, beautifully realised by Guillermo del Toro. It is easy to see why Hollywood came knocking.
Cronos is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the original aspect ratio, in 1080p.
The print looks wonderful. Detail is sharp and colours deep and lush, allowing every aspect of the elaborate sets to be seen. Blacks are solid and shadow detail pristine. There are small artefacts, both positive and negative, scattered throughout the film but they are not too noticeable or distracting. Otherwise I noticed no other faults.
English subtitles are available but thankfully they do not remain on for the English sentences in the film, of which there are quite a few. The subtitles are in a clear white font, contain no spelling or grammatical errors and seem to follow the dialogue closely.
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Audio is a choice of Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD MA or Spanish 2.0 LPCM.
The 5.1 is impressive. From the start, with the ticking clocks and booming chimes, it delivers a subtle yet enveloping feel. Dialogue is clear, while the front and surround speakers constantly produced effects and music, but without overdoing either. The original score by Javier Alvarez is creepy and a very effective support for the themes and tone of the film. The sub woofer supported the effects, especially the clock work mechanism of the cronos device, and the music.
The 2.0 LPCM is not surround encoded. It comes over as louder and more strident than the 5.1 dts.
Lip synchronisation was fine.
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Recorded in English about 2005, Del Toro is a humorous and engaging man, speaking non-stop about both technical details and general information about his ideas, influences, colour schemes, philosophy, alchemy and the production in general. I loved the information that Del Toro acted as his own cockroach wrangler! While some information is repeated in the interviews, there are enough differences, and interesting details, to make this commentary a very interesting and informative listen.
In a wide ranging interview in English, Del Toro answers questions posed in a text screen. Topics include his influences, his filmmaking background, his philosophies, Catholicism, the creative process, horror and terror defined, differences between Universal and Hammer horror films, the tempo of European horror films, fairy tales, the creation of characters and his films as “love poems to monsters”. While Cronos is covered, the discussion extends to many of Del Toro’s other films. This is an engaging, humorous and fascinating insight into someone who is one of the most visual, original and creative film directors working today. The 60 minutes just fly by!
A young man who does not want to fail geometry at school again summons a demon with unfortunate consequences. Gory and very funny, with Del Toro’s mother as the mother in the film. Spanish language, small burnt in yellow subtitles. The red film titles are hard to read.
An interview with actor Federico Luppi recorded in 2003 with on set and behind the scenes footage. He talks about the sets, filming and working with Del Toro. In Spanish with easy to read subtitles.
Not actually original as it seems to have been filmed in 2007. Del Toro speaks in Spanish and answers questions posed by an unseen interviewer. He speaks about his interest in cinema, filmmakers who have influenced him and the making Cronos including writing the script, his themes and ideas, financing, casting, members of the crew and post production. While some of the information is similar to the 2010 interview included on this Blu-ray the emphasis is more on Cronos. As well, Del Toro is a humorous and enthusiastic talker who is never dull, so it is possible to enjoy both interviews, even if watched straight after one another.
Navarro answers questions posed by an off camera interviewer about how he got involved, working with Del Toro and the shoot. However, it is very general with no technical details about how the sumptuous look of the film was achieved although Navarro is invited to do so by the questions, which is disappointing. Spanish, with white subtitles.
Included is Monsters (1:34), The Fifth Element (1:42), The Company Men (2:31) and Balibo (2:35).
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region A US Blu-ray is part of the Criterion Collection. It has only Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 audio but comes with a wide range of extras:
The Region B UK release has the same audio options and extras as our Madman release, but adds some galleries: sketches, photo and storyboards.
This is a hard call. The US release is Region A locked and has a great range of extras, many of which are also on our Region B release. We miss out on the second commentary, the tour of the director’s offices, the Perlman interview and booklet, but get two hours of interviews with Guillermo del Toro instead of the 17 minutes on the US release. The Region B UK has some extra picture galleries. Overall, I incline towards a draw – but if your system will not play Region A Blu-rays you can be very satisfied with our local release.
Cronos is a fabulous film. It is a vampire story for adults, a reflection upon immortality, eternity, love, family, redemption and resurrection, all beautifully realised by Guillermo del Toro.
The video and audio are very good, extras are extensive and worthwhile. If you have any interest in classic horror beautifully done, or the career of Guillermo del Toro, this Blu-ray is a must purchase.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Sony BDP-S350, using HDMI output |
| Display | LG 42inch Hi-Def LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | NAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated. |
| Amplification | NAD T737 |
| Speakers | Studio Acoustics 5.1 |