Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio (Criterion Collection 4K UHD Blu-ray) review

[David Vaughn]

Studio: Criterion Collection
Release Date: December 12, 2023
Rating:  PG
Film:  3/5

Plot
A classic tale is reborn through the inspired imagination of cinematic dream-weaver Guillermo del Toro, directing alongside Mark Gustafson. Realized through boundary-pushing, breathtakingly intricate stop-motion animation, this dark rendering of the fable of the puppet boy and his maker—which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature—daringly transfers the story to Fascist Italy, where the irrepressible Pinocchio gradually learns what it means to be human through his experiences of war, death, and sacrifice. Featuring the voices of Ewan McGregor, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, and Christoph Waltz, this Pinocchio imbues the oft-told tale with a bold new resonance about living with courage and compassion.

My Thoughts
I never got around to watching this on Netflix, but when I saw it was being released by Criterion, I knew it was something I’d have to watch just for the A/V quality alone. As you’ll see below, it excels in this area, but as a film, I can’t say I loved it. For starters, it’s much too long at nearly two hours and there are too many instances in the film where it drags and almost comes to a complete stop. Second, I think the film tries to do too much along the way and some of the story tangents take away from the heart of the story. It probably didn’t help that both my wife and I were pretty tired when we sat down to watch it, but she lost her patience at about the one-hour mark but I convinced her to stick with it—she did but wasn’t happy about it. Neither of us connected with the musical numbers and they’re nowhere as rememberable as the Disney version of the tale.

Visually speaking, the film is stunning to look at. The stop-motion animation is some of the best you’ll ever see and from the opening of the film one would think they were watching a 3D presentation because the depth of field is so deep and inviting. Frankly, I couldn’t find one flaw in the video presentation and I’m keeping the film in my collection to highlight just how good 4K can look when done right.

The Dolby Atmos track is quite good, in and of itself, but doesn’t quite reach the level of the video. There’s ample LFE when called upon but I can’t say that the overhead speakers brought much to the table. Imaging was very good around the bed channels though, so those without Atmos should be more impressed with the presentation.

Video 10/10
Audio 9/10 (Dolby Atmos)

Special Features:

• “Handcarved Cinema” Documentary
• Directing Stop Motion
• New Conversation between del Toro and film critic Farran Smith Nehme
• Interview with Ron Magliozzi on the Museum of Modern Art’s 2022 exhibition devoted to the film
• Eight Rules of Animation
• Panel Discussion
• Conversation among del Toro, Gustafson, and author Neil Gaiman
• Essays by film critic Matt Zoller Seitz and author Cornelia Funke
• 4K + Blu-ray


Conclusion
Guillermo Del Toro is one of the best directors of his generation and coupling his talents with stop-motion artist Mark Gustafson is a marriage made in movie heaven. From a technical perspective, there’s no flaws in this film. I do take issue with some of the story decisions and felt a couple of the subplots could have been shortened or eliminated entirely to get the runtime down to a child-friendly 90-95 minutes. The presentation was the highlight for me and I’m sure I’ll use it as a demo disc in the future because it looks and sounds amazing.


Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
(Calibrated with Portrait Displays CalMAN color calibration software & C6-HDR Meter from Portrait Displays)
Stewart Filmscreen - Firehawk 110” 2.35:1 Screen
Trinnov Altitude 16 Audio/Video Processor
ATI AT527NC Powering Bed Channels
ATI AT524NC Powering Atmos Speakers
Panasonic DP-UB820 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
System Controller: URC MX-990
M&K S-150 THX Ultra (R-C-L Speakers)
M&K SS-150 x4 (Surround Speakers)
Atlantic Technology IC6-OBA x 4 Overhead Speakers
Dual Rythmik FV15HP2
Mini DSP HD controlling all subwoofers
Audioquest and Monoprice - Audio/Video/Speaker Cabling
PureAV PF60 Power Conditioner

[SRW1000]

I put this one on our library list when it was first announced and have been looking forward to it since Barry reviewed it when it first came out on Netflix.  Del Toro's work is so imaginative that it's hard not to want to watch it. 

It's also great to see some of that Netflix content show up on disc, especially if it's from Criterion.

I'll lower my expectations on the story side of things going into this one and try to appreciate the visuals.

[Barry]

I reviewed this for us at:

https://discuss.avscience.com/index.php?topic=3543.msg25019#msg25019

[David Vaughn]

I reviewed this for us at:

https://discuss.avscience.com/index.php?topic=3543.msg25019#msg25019

Barry, I totally forgot you had reviewed it as well. It looks like we share many of the same thoughts on the film. The animation was amazing, that's for sure!

[bmoney]

Well I guess I’ll have to check this out

[Barry]

Barry, I totally forgot you had reviewed it as well. It looks like we share many of the same thoughts on the film. The animation was amazing, that's for sure!

Dave, we review so many movies that we both forget!  I did the same with your review of Snow White!😏

[Paul Heroy]

Had totally forgotten about this, so thanks for the review David. I ordered a copy as a Christmas present for my brother, and put it on my wish list too to wait for a price drop. Very interested to see the visuals!

[David Vaughn]

Had totally forgotten about this, so thanks for the review David. I ordered a copy as a Christmas present for my brother, and put it on my wish list too to wait for a price drop. Very interested to see the visuals!

My wife actually asked me when the movie began "How can they do 3D without the glasses." If that isn't a testament to the video quality, I don't know what is. 

[SRW1000]

My wife and I watched this last night and we both liked it a lot.  We agreed with Barry and David that the singing numbers could easily be excised from the movie.  They don't particularly fit, and I wouldn't really consider this a kids' movie, because of the dark themes, so they're totally unnecessary.  

It does mark a sort of return to del Toro's dark fairy tales, like Pan's Labyrinth.  I thought the themes of the movie were well-woven into the story and added a new perspective to the old tale.  I was touched by the underlying pathos a number of times through the film, and relished the occasional, but effective, use of comedic relief scattered throughout. 

As mentioned by both of you, the look of the movie is absolutely stunning.  There is so much to take in, visually, that it's almost distracting from the plot at times.  How fortunate are we that these skills still exist?

While it is a bit too long, it's well worth a watch, and I'll be adding the 4K version to our library at some point.

[Paul Heroy]

I went ahead and grabbed this last week and watched it Saturday night with a couple of friends, and we enjoyed it quite a bit. It felt very poetic to me in addition to the dark fairy tale descriptions used. The way Pinocchio is used by others for their selfish purposes makes me want to compare it to something else that I can't quite put my finger on. (Maybe even del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, which I haven't seen in a long time and want to revisit?) 

Without having read anything further, I think the few musical numbers maybe helped convey the combination of innocence and innate nature of Pinocchio. Just kind of spitballing here but his "creator" didn't completely create him totally, but through an admixture of existing material with its own nature and the spirit that animated him. 

[Paul Heroy]

BTW, I found a post on the blu-ray.com forum from someone who attended a viewing in NYC with GDT discussing the movie. It's a nice read, and gives a few insights though I wish he could have presented more detail of the Q&A. (Maybe it's out there on YT but I couldn't find that specific one at least.)

[SRW1000]

BTW, I found a post on the blu-ray.com forum from someone who attended a viewing in NYC with GDT discussing the movie. It's a nice read, and gives a few insights though I wish he could have presented more detail of the Q&A. (Maybe it's out there on YT but I couldn't find that specific one at least.)

There are some other panel discussions and interviews in the Criterion set, but I didn't get a chance to view them before returning it to the library.  I do intend to watch them someday, though. 

[Ralph P.]

Greetings,

Nice review Dave. I agree that the A/V quality is top notch. 


Regards,