CRONOS (1993, Blu-ray released December 7, 2010 – MSRP $39.95)
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After watching the new Blu-ray edition of Cronos from The Criterion Collection, I think I need to be best friends with writer/director Guillermo del Toro. His first feature film might be a little rough around the edges but the special features on the disc prove he’s the coolest nerd in town.
I remember renting Cronos from our local smalltown video store when I was in high-school (or thereabouts.) I recall my response to it at the time being very similar to that of my most recent viewing – it’s a film that’s got everything going for it, all the right elements in place, but just isn’t able to bring them all together in a completely satisfying way. That said, del Toro’s script is a great new take on a vampire story without ever overtly stating it is as such.
An elderly antiques dealer (Federico Luppi) is “gifted” with eternal life when stung by a curious clockwork device shaped like a golden scarab. As his body slowly gives itself over to blood-lust, the old man struggles to retain his humanity while keeping his family safe from the forces who want the power of the device. There’s nothing wrong with the setup. The film falters somewhat in its execution, feeling fairly uneven from beginning to end. Potentially a result of the mash-up of del Toro’s influences at play.
I can say without hesitation that this is the best Cronos has ever looked on home video. The Blu-ray presentation easily best the previously available DVD editions of the film, exhibiting vivid, accurate colours, contrast and details throughout. From the liner notes:
- “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.“
The Spanish / English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (the only audio track option) is rock solid and well balanced. From the liner notes:
- “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.”“
There are a lot of truly great special features on the Cronos Blu-ray disc but none are able to best “Welcome to the Bleak House“, a very candid yet brief 11-minute tour through del Toro’s “man cave”. This is his office. The house where he keeps his “stuff”. A museum of sorts, overflowing with books, statues, toys and collectibles from film history and del Toro’s youth. It’s simply astounding. I can’t honestly imagine how anyone can manage to get any work done in that place with all the great stuff laying about to look at, read and play with!
Del Toro’s 1987 short film Geometría has been completed (at long last) for the Blu-ray disc and released here with a nice interview to give it context. The disc also features some new interviews with the del Toro, D.O.P. Guillermo Navarro and co-star Ron Perlman as well as an older one with Luppi. It’s rounded out by 2 commentary tracks (director and producers), a stills gallery, trailers and a 42-page illustrated booklet that features an essay by author and film critic Maitland McDonagh with art by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola!!
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