Guillermo Del Toro Collection (Pan's Labyrinth, Cronos, The Devil's Backbone) [DVD] [2006]

RRP: £29.99
Our Price: £9.00 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

If you're after something a bit more magical than the current crop of gory, torturous horror movies, this Guillermo del Toro Collection might be just what you're looking for. Del Toro weaves together dark fairy tales with bleak reality in each of these three movies, creating films which are clever, beautiful and incredibly haunting. Although del Toro has made more high profile movies--Hellboy and Blade 2, specifically--his Spanish language movies are clearly his real passion. More personal than his superhero movies, each of these films has something to say.

The earliest of the movies is Cronos. Released in 1993, it's a story of family loyalties as well as alchemy and vampirism. 2001's The Devil's Backbone sees a group of orphans battling for survival in a world populated by bullies and ghosts, with war torn Spain providing a stunning background; while Pan's Labyrinth, released in 2006 to critical acclaim, mingles real life politics and social drama with fantasy and magic to create a masterpiece. Pan's Labyrinth won three Oscars, though it also deserved the other three it was also nominated for.

With each successive film, Del Toro's filmmaking has grown ever more mature and powerful, and this boxset perfectly showcases an incredible talent.--Sarah Dobbs

Nice film!
Review date: 2010-08-30 Rating: 6 out of 10

From what I've read from other reviewers I was expecting a lot more...
It's a good story, that evolves smoothly, but it lacks something more.
I was not impressed by the film...
On top of it, the blu-ray picture is not even close to the Dark Night one, some grain or noise is visible thorough the entire film!

Reviews

A fantastic film
Review date: 2010-08-27 Rating: 10 out of 10

I'm not a film expert but this is a film that I really enjoyed. I think that the main point that I can stress here is the variety of emotions it caused me: in the beginning it seems like a fairy tale but as the film progresses there are points that becomes brutal with some very cruel scenes....some said that they weren't necessary but I have to disagree. On the other hand, there were scenes that you feel so sympathetic for the little girl that you really want to scream "leave her alone for god shake"... It's not an exaggeration to say that I really didn't know how to feel at certain moments. I'd definitely recommend it.

On a side note, the soundtrack is really great. Pay attention to the music as you watch it.

Fantastic
Review date: 2010-07-27 Rating: 10 out of 10

Superb film. I cannot recommend it enough. I love it and so should you. Picture quality is brilliant. Utterly mesmerising and touching.

A master piece but not without its holes....
Review date: 2010-07-24 Rating: 8 out of 10

This works very well, the fairy tale setting is believable gothic. There were parts however that did not flow smoothly and where the viewer got lost, stark jumps form dreamy scenes to the grotesque made one enquire for the need of such gore and disfigurment especially for a children's film or its it? This is one of the trappings of the film, which market is it aimed at? I would have wanted the distinction to be more clear. The ending, considering the build up was a slight diappointment, I wanted to see more invested with more dramatisation that was already a thread of the film. The story, an alice in wonderland of sorts, works on deep psychological and mythological levels, with a profound philosophy running thorugh. The visual effects are astounding, camera work, costume and makeup, clearly a work of art that has not had billions thrown at for want of a story line.

Simply stunning
Review date: 2010-07-20 Rating: 10 out of 10

Pan's Labyrinth is a fairytale set in post Civil War Spain. We follow the story of Ophelia, a young girl who, with her pregnant mother, is moved into the dark house of Captain Vidal. The film is told elegantly in a dual storyline. The first is set in real life - Carmen, Ophelia's mother, being bullied by Vidal and falling ill through pregnancy; Mercedes, servant to Vidal, befriending Ophelia and trying to do the right thing for the resistance fighters that Vidal is trying to crush; and Ophelia herself, wanting to meet her baby brother, but terrified by her new house and reluctant to call Vidal 'father'. The other storyline in the film follows Ophelia through a garden labyrinth into a dreamlike fairytale world, where she meets Pan, who believes that she is the soul of a long lost princess. Ophelia is invited to perform three tasks to prove she is royalty - each one more surreal and terrifying than the last. Both storylines collide at the end in a melancholic and ambiguous climax that leaves the watcher thoughtful, rather than thrilled.

I didn't watch Pan's Labyrinth at the cinema - in fact, it has curiously passed me by right up until last Saturday. I don't know where my reluctance stemmed from - maybe the foreign language aspect, maybe the massive hype accompanying its release, maybe the gore I heard about. Anyway, when we chose to watch a film on Saturday, the person recommending Pan's Labyrinth urged me to try at least the first half hour - if I was still reluctant, we could turn it off and I wouldn't really have lost any time.

Needless to say, the film was not turned off. In fact, by the time ten minutes had passed, I was enthralled by Ophelia's story. Pan's Labyrinth by turn appalled me, thrilled me, sickened me, delighted me - to me, it presents everything that a fairytale requires: a hero, a villain, magic, and a message.

One of my friends argued that the film was simply two separate stories mashed together by Guillermo del Toro, but I loved the way Ophelia travelled from dream to reality and back again. I admired the reflections between fairytale and life. I thrilled to the fact that Ophelia was fighting against two sinister individuals in the two facets of her life. I especially appreciated the fact that I am still wondering, days later, about whether Ophelia really did travel into a fairytale or whether she created the dreamlike world as a way of escaping the life she hated with Vidal.

I'm not ashamed to say that Pan's Labyrinth scared me silly at times, especially the monsters, both real and imagined - y favourite part of the film was also the part that scared me the most, this being during Ophelia's second task when she has to retrieve a knife without disturbing a slumbering nightmare. Gosh, that freaked me out!

The performances were universally extremely strong, and the fact they I had to follow their dialogue with subtitles took nothing away from their performances. I find that this is definitely the mark of how good a foreign language film is for me: if the subtitle aspect is non-obtrusive and I am not disturbed from the course of a film by reading along, then it is excellent!

Lastly, I just want to mention how stunningly beautiful this film is - especially all of the fairytale elements. How I regret not bothering to see this at the cinema! I definitely think this is the sort of film that HD and Blueray were invented for.

If you, like me, haven't watched Pan's Labyrinth - for whatever reason - I would urge you to change your mind and give it at least a try. It is horrific, scary, beautiful and melancholic. The story of Ophelia will stay with you long after the closing credits. Highly recommended.

Product Details/Specifications

Actor(s):
Ivana Baquero
Ariadna Gil
Sergi López
Maribel Verdú
Doug Jones

Creators:
Ivana Baquero (Primary Contributor)
Ariadna Gil (Primary Contributor)
Guillermo del Toro (Writer)
Alfonso Cuarón (Producer)
Belén Atienza (Producer)
Bertha Navarro (Producer)
David Ebner (Producer)
Edmundo Gil (Producer)
Elena Manrique (Producer)

Director(s):

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Recording label: Optimum Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Optimum Home Entertainment
EAN: 5060034578932
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 3
Format: Anamorphic, Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2007-03-12
Aspect ratio: 16:9 - 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 310 minutes
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Original Language)