Criterion has announced that Guillermo del Toro’s 1992 feature debut Cronos is joining his Oscar-winning fantasy The Shape of Water as part of the Criterion Collection and is set for a 4K Ultra HD release this coming February; check out the cover artwork and details below….
SEE ALSO: 20 Essential Criterion Collection Films
Guillermo del Toro made an auspicious and audacious feature debut with Cronos, a highly unorthodox tale about the seductiveness of the idea of immortality. Kindly antiques dealer Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi) happens upon an ancient golden device in the shape of a scarab, and soon finds himself the possessor and victim of its sinister, addictive powers, as well as the target of a mysterious American named Angel (a delightfully crude and deranged Ron Perlman). Featuring marvelous makeup effects and the haunting imagery for which del Toro has become world-renowned, Cronos is a dark, visually rich, and emotionally captivating fantasy.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Guillermo del Toro, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Optional original Spanish-language voice-over introduction
- Two audio commentaries, one featuring del Toro, the other producers Arthur H. Gorson and Bertha Navarro and coproducer Alejandro Springall
- Geometria, an unreleased 1987 short horror film by del Toro, finished in 2010, alongside an interview with the director
- Welcome to Bleak House, a tour by del Toro of his home office, featuring his personal collections
- Interviews with del Toro, cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, and actors Ron Perlman and Federico Luppi
- Stills gallery captioned by del Toro
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Maitland McDonagh and excerpts from del Toro’s notes for the film
Meanwhile, The Shape of Water will debut as part of the Criterion Collection this coming Tuesday, November 26th…
Cinema’s great modern mythmaker Guillermo del Toro uses the hallmarks of classic horror and fantasy to tell a strange and sublime fable about outsiderhood, connection, and love’s transcendence. An ineffably touching Sally Hawkins plays Elisa, a mute janitor at a top-secret government laboratory who finds herself drawn to the facility’s newest research subject: a humanoid amphibian—for whom she is soon risking everything, amid the stifling conformity of 1960s America. A triumph of visual imagination that combines elements of sci-fi, noir, and the golden-age musical, this swooning cinematic dreamscape—winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director—is a monster movie with a human heart.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- 4K digital master, supervised by director Guillermo del Toro, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features - New conversation between del Toro and filmmaker David Lowery
- A Fairy Tale for Troubled Times, a documentary highlighting the film’s production design, performances, special effects, and score
- Anatomy of a Scene: Prologue and Anatomy of a Scene: The Dance, both featuring on-set footage and interviews with del Toro
- Shaping the Waves, an interview with illustrator James Jean
- Masterclass from 2017 on the film’s technical aspects, featuring del Toro and crew members
- Trailers
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Carlos Aguilar