ADDITION: Criterion 4K UHD (December  2023): Criterion's are releasing Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio to 4K UHD. It is advertised as a "4K digital master, supervised by directors Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack". The package has one 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features. The image is immaculate with the 2160P advancing via the higher resolution. It may be a semi-tone brighter (or darker) depending on the scene - and skin tones may cool but overall the layered contrast is a step above the 1080P. But both are jammed with exquisite visuals and the stop-motion animation is addictive eye candy. Criterion us a triple-layered disc with an atmospheric bitrate. It handles the darker scenes with brilliant precision. The image quality is... flawless.  

It is likely that the monitor you are seeing this review is not an HDR-compatible display (High Dynamic Range) or Dolby Vision, where each pixel can be assigned with a wider and notably granular range of color and light. Our capture software if simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more 4K UHD titles in the future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So our captures may not support the exact same colors (coolness of skin tones, brighter or darker hues etc.) as the 4K system at your home. But the framing, detail, grain texture support etc. are, generally, not effected by this simulation representation.

NOTE: 36 more more full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K UHD captures, in lossless PNG format, for Patrons are available HERE

We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages to date: Blackhat (software uniformly simulated HDR), Mark of the Devil (software uniformly simulated HDR), Barbarella (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Last Picture Show (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Man Who Knew Too Much (software uniformly simulated HDR), Rope (software uniformly simulated HDR), Frenzy (software uniformly simulated HDR), American Graffiti (software uniformly simulated HDR), East End Hustle (software uniformly simulated HDR), Three Days of the Condor (software uniformly simulated HDR), Witness (software uniformly simulated HDR), Fascination (software uniformly simulated HDR), Lips of Blood (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Others (no HDR), It Came From Outer Space (software uniformly simulated HDR), Don't Look Now (software uniformly simulated HDR), Rosemary's Baby (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Last Wave (no HDR), The Train (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Trial (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Walkabout (software uniformly simulated HDR), Black Magic Rites, The Night of the Hunted (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Rape of the Vampire (software uniformly simulated HDR), Gorgo (software uniformly simulated HDR), Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Man From Hong Kong (software uniformly simulated HDR), One False Move, The Tall T (software uniformly simulated HDR), Cold Eyes of Fear (software uniformly simulated HDR), Rules of the Game (no HDR), The Manchurian Candidate (software uniformly simulated HDR), After Hours, Rain Man (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Changeling (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Night of the Hunter (software uniformly simulated HDR), 12 Angry Men (software uniformly simulated HDR), Branded to Kill (no HDR), Picnic at Hanging Rock (software uniformly simulated HDR), Two Orphan Vampires (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Shiver of the Vampires, Drowning By Number (software uniformly simulated HDR), Serpico (software uniformly simulated HDR), Cool Hand Luke (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Seventh Seal (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Maltese Falcon (software uniformly simulated HDR).

On their 4K UHD, Criterion offer a Dolby Atmos* 7.1 soundtrack (24-bit) in the original English language. "Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio" is filled with various types of action and music (it is partly considered a musical.) The score is credited to composer Alexandre Desplat (Wes Anderson's Asteroid City, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Moonrise Kingdom plus he has composed for The Ghost Writer, The King's Speech, Unbroken, Heal The Living, Venus in Furs, Argo, Lust Caution, Army of Crime, The Tree of Life etc.) with 8-9 individual pieces that have lyrics by Roeban Katz and Guillermo del Toro - performed by the cast; David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Christoph Waltz, Tim Blake Nelson and Ewan McGregor. The Monstro whale scene has some intense, scary, bass. It's all so buoyant and delightful augmenting the film through light and darkness. Criterion include an audio descriptive track option in DTS-HD English stereo. Both discs offer optional English (SDH) subtitles for the feature. Both the Blu-ray and 4K UHD discs are region FREE, playable worldwide.

There are no extras on the 4K UHD disc - all have been relegated to the second disc Blu-ray. Handcarved Cinema is a new 3/4 hour long documentary featuring del Toro, Mark Gustafson, cast and crew input, including the film’s puppet creators, production designers, and animation supervisor. Directing Stop-Motion is a new 25-minute program featuring del Toro and Gustafson discussing details and hurdles overcome in the making of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. There is a new, 20-minute, conversation between del Toro and film critic Farran Smith Nehme (Missing Reels) where she probes with some interesting questions. We spend 8-minutes with curator Ron Magliozzi on The Museum of Modern Art’s 2022 exhibition devoted to the film and there is also a program on the eight rules of animation that informed the film’s production. Included are a 40-minute 'Panel discussion' featuring del Toro, Gustafson, production designer Guy Davis, composer Alexandre Desplat, and sound designer Scott Martin Gershin, moderated by filmmaker James Cameron an also a 1/2 talk with del Toro, Gustafson, and author Neil Gaiman. The package has liner notes with essays by film critic Matt Zoller Seitz and Cornelia Funke (co-author of Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun.)

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a modified, re-imagined, version of the original story; Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio. Guillermo del Toro has long desired a project on the Pinocchio story. It was started and stopped more than once going as far back as 2008. He considers that no other character has connected with him on such a deep personal level - stating "I've wanted to make this movie for as long as I can remember". The film is dedicated to the memory of his parents. Gregory Mann voiced Pinocchio with touching child-like wonder and emotion - it significantly adds to the film experience. Notable were Tilda Swinton as 'The Wood Sprite'; a wise magical spirit who imbues Pinocchio with life - and Ewan McGregor as Sebastian J. Cricket, the wooden lad's conscience and also the narrator of the story. Guillermo del Toro found similarities between the original The Adventures of Pinocchio and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, both titular characters thrust into the world with innocence seeking value structures. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is very family oriented but skirts a sly darker edge. It will be worth multiple revisits and a super film to have over the holidays. Criterion's 4K UHD release is amazing. The film looks stunning in 2160P and the Atmos audio keeps effective pace. There are over two hours of, mostly, production-centric detail supplements. It has a second disc Blu-ray (also a wonderful HD presentation) and a booklet. A brilliant package that should swing a few to 4K UHD adoption this winter. Our highest recommendation! 

Gary Tooze