Thelma & Louise (BOX) [Blu-Ray] [Region Free] (English audio. English subtitles)

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Released: 29th January 2024. Two women, a turquoise Thunderbird, the ride of a lifetime. With this pop-culture landmark, screenwriter Callie Khouri and action auteur Ridley Scott rewrote the rules of the road movie, telling the story of two best friends who find themselves transformed into accidental fugitives during a weekend getaway gone wrong—leading them on a high-speed southwestern odyssey as they elude police and discover freedom on their own terms. Propelled by irresistible performances from Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis (plus Brad Pitt in a sexy, star-making turn)—and nominated for six Academy Awards, winning one for Khouri—the exhilaratingly cathartic Thelma & Louise stands as cinema’s ultimate ode to ride-or-die female friendship. Deleted Scenes (upscaled 1080i; 14:02): Ten scenes are included – Silver Bullet Getaway; An Important Clue; Police Sketches; Smitten with J.D.; Human Behavior; Hal at Home; Jimmy, J.D., and the Law; Fear of God; On the Road; Hot Pursuit. Louise decides to go to Mexico until the problem blows over and asks her boyfriend Jimmy (Michael Madsen) to send her money in Oklahoma City. Jimmy comes as well thinking that their relationship is in trouble, but Louise doesn’t want to make him an accessory to her crime. Unfortunately, Thelma spends the night with a randy hitchiker named J.D. (Brad Pitt, in a star-making role), who steals Louise’s cash. Trying to atone, Thelma robs a store. The women are now treated as armed and dangerous public enemies. With Arkansas detective Hal (Harvey Keitel) and the FBI on the case, their chances of reaching Mexico aren’t very good.

Of special interest is the uncut extended ending with the director’s comments. It’s a spectacular shot, and worth a debate about other possible ways to edit the finale. The entertaining Thelma & Louise will likely be remembered as a signal film for the early 1990s. It’s certainly a valid turnabout on the male buddy action picture. Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. Thelma & Louise: The Last Journey – Made in 2001 by Charles de Lauzirika for the film’s tenth anniversary, this lengthy documentary is divided into three parts— Part 1, Conception; Part 2, Production; and Part 3, Reaction and Resonance. Featured are director Ridley Scott; screenwriter Callie Khouri; actors Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Brad Pitt, Christopher McDonald, Michael Madsen, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Jason Beghe; producer Mimi Polk Gitlin; and composer Hans Zimmer. The making of the film from every possible perspective is covered.Old Hollywood collides with New Hollywood, and screen horror with real-life horror, in the startling debut feature from Peter Bogdanovich. Produced by Roger Corman, this chillingly prescient vision of American-made carnage casts Boris Karloff as a version of himself: an aging horror-movie icon whose fate intersects with that of a seemingly ordinary young man (Tim O’Kelly) on a psychotic shooting spree around Los Angeles. Charged with provocative ideas about the relationship between mass media and mass violence, Targets is a model of maximally effective filmmaking on a minimal budget and a potent first statement from one of the defining voices of the American New Wave. With an undeniable jerk for a husband, no one blames Thelma (Geena Davis) for wanting to get away for a couple days. Joining her best friend Louise (Susan Sarandon) on a two-day trip to the woods, the pair make a stop at a bar along the way, but can’t seem to avoid the worst the male gender has to offer. One local barfly almost rapes Thelma, and though Louise arrives in time to stop him, one step too far pushes her to shoot him in cold blood. Now on the run from the police – with Detective Hal Slocumb (Harvey Keitel) leading the chase – the pair really don’t have many options. They could surrender, but it’s unlikely they could claim self defense, and the further along they get – which includes adding armed robbery to their resumé – the less viable cooperating with the police becomes. Even though Slocumb seems to be sympathetic to their circumstances, ultimately the pair can only depend on each other and decide for themselves how their journey will end. For those not familiar with the details regarding Ultra HD Blu-ray you can refer to my article that includes some pertinent data on the subject. Here is the link: manages to effortlessly traverse so many genres, and transcend the label of being a feminist endeavour, to be recognised as a modern classic

If Jimmy and the ‘good cop’ Hal are taken as decent guys, it’s only because they’re ashamed of their porcine heritage. An unspoken but strongly felt idea is that Thelma and Louise would do very well as a same-sex couple, if society would permit — and if they could have male company on their terms. Men in general are depressing disappointments.

There is also a section devoted to the storyboards for the film’s finale, which are shown here in a slideshow format, ported over from the previous editions. But Criterion also adds a new 6-minute interview with Scott talking to Scott Foundas about how he storyboards his films and figures out the geometry and placement within a scene, all while the two watch the ending on a laptop. Interestingly, they got the final shot in a single take, even though they had multiple cars ready, which Foundas finds impressive since the scene is, as he states, one of the most iconic ones ever filmed. Excerpts from the film Alekan la lumière (1985) and from Ganz and Sander’s 1982 film about actor Curt Bois Color / 2:39 widescreen / 130 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 30, 2023 / 39.95 Of course much of the misfortune that befalls the two characters could be argued to be through their own ill-advised decisions - the tragedies frequently being made even more tragic by the fact that at least some of them could have been avoided (a flaw in the narrative, but only if you linger on it too much) - but the underlying theme is really one of bursting out of a repressed bubble, with both characters, in their own ways, stifled and veritably haunted by the men in their lives (whether past or present), and desperate to strike out and live.

The freeze frame and fade to white at the end of Thelma & Louise works in exactly the same way: the freedom-loving ladies are frozen like legends, or a stellar constellation. That’s certainly more upbeat than a realistic Death Plunge to Doom (squirshed, I’d say: not pretty in the slightest). The movie then reprises the noble ladies’ shining faces from earlier in the picture, mythomania ploy from The Wild Bunch. The curtain falls on a fun thriller instead of a Deep Deep Downer. Leaving the audience smiling earned the movie excellent word of mouth. The Criterion Collection presents Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise on 4K UHD in the aspect ratio of 2.39:1 with Dolby Vision on a triple-layer disc. The 2160p/24hz ultra high-definition encode is sourced from a new 4K restoration of the 35mm original camera negative. The release (which comes in a 3-disc digipak) also includes two additional standard Blu-rays: one presenting a 1080p film presentation alongside a handful of new features, the other presenting archival features alongside one new one. In all, I was thrilled with how this turned out. It’s a very sharp, clean presentation, delivering excellent detail levels and a healthy-looking grain. It’s rendered well, though looking at a few of the SDR screen captures I took, there are signs that some filtering or management has been done here and there, but I can’t say that it ever translated negatively to the screen in any way. It looks very sharp and crisp throughout. At the time of its release, Thelma & Louise stirred quite the controversy and garnered unwarranted criticism, along with accolades that took the nation on a bit of a ride. On one level, Ridley Scott's film is essentially a spectacle of feminist wish-fulfillment, a crime drama on the social injustices of women, but on a level that all audiences can share, the road trip is a moving tale about escaping social trappings, a tragic comedy that calls for living rather than surviving. The final, lasting image of our inspiring heroines with similar smiles as those photographed at the beginning is actually the climax. There is no logical resolution to this story because it would only take away from their memory. The best and most suitable ending for such a wild ride is to leave on a high point and never give in. Extended Scenes (upscaled 1080i; 33:17): Seven scenes are included – Extended Ending (with optional Director’s Commentary); First Motel; Talkin’ ‘bout Darryl; Hal on the Case; Second Motel; Thelma and J.D.; Looking for a Break.Criterion has ported much of what was included on previous releases, and added a few new ones as well. This is a 3-disc set with the movie on a UHD disc and Blu-ray, plus a Blu-ray of special features. Two audio commentaries, featuring Scott, screenwriter Callie Khouri, and actors Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon This is a rather bright film that strives to create the look and feel of filmmaker Ridley Scott’s vision. The restored video quality presented in this Ultra HD rendering is something to behold. Thelma & Louise is a beautifully crafted film from a visual standpoint. Adrian Biddle’s terrific cinematography benefits from the enhanced resolution and enriching color. Director Ridley Scott keeps the kettle boiling and the visuals popping — this is a great-looking road picture. Attractive visuals have made plenty of Scott’s films watchable, as with the vague and muted Blade Runner. Here he has two fun, assertive women in front of his Panavision lens, along with and half a movie’s worth of choice Southwestern landscapes.

Now, Thelma and Louise are on the road and their plan is to crossover to Mexico before they are caught by authorities. On their trail is Arkansas State Police Detective Hal Slocumb (Harvey Keitel) and an FBI Agent (Stephen Tobolowsky). While Slobumb is sympathetic to the situation the two friends have gotten themselves into, the FBI seem to care less about whether the women are caught dead or alive. There have been comments online about the film’s colors receiving a "teal" push, drawing the ire of some, but I’m genuinely puzzled how anyone could come to that conclusion with this presentation because I see no sign of that being the case. The colorsdo lean“cool” during several sequences, with blue being a dominant color in the film (outfits, Louise’s Thunderbird, various objects, and so on). The image can go bluer during darker interiorsand some exteriors, almost monochromatic here and there. Still, it looks like the effect is being created through lighting much of the time, with other light sources breaking through. The picture then gets hotter and bolder during the desert sequences in the last portion of the film, with filters clearly being used in some shots (usually against the skyline). Outside of some of those interior shots, white looks white, skin tones look natural (warmer in the last portion), and the colors in many of the film’s shots of the open landscape look gorgeous, with big white clouds, a stunning blue sky, red sand, and, periodically, lush green vegetation. And while I can’t say if the colors are “correct” or 100% how they appeared when it initially screened, it all looks outstanding. There’s nothing “teal” about this, nothing about it that resembles other MGM 4K restorations. Ploughman - in 1958, Ridley Scott and Tony Scott founded Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), a film and commercial production company. This ad for Guinness was made for RSA and released in 1977. Fully restored. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).Reaching beyond washboard abs, Thelma & Louise marks a watershed year: around 1990 is when the basic sex fantasy of mainstream American films switched from the male POV to the female POV. It’s Pitt’s torso and unbuttoned Levis that tease Davis, not the other way around. From this point forward, more women keep their tops on and more men take their pants off (except in streaming television). In period films, it’s male hunks like Pitt that sport anachronistic, fashion-conscious hairstyles. During its theatrical run, the film was wrongfully dismissed by some as a celebration of man-bashing and violence. However, nothing could be further from the truth because the film goes beyond the way men are depicted. The plot centers on the awakening of our two accidental heroines, of their bringing forth an inner desire to control their own lives. We see Thelma waiting on her demanding husband similar to the way Louise hustles and bustles on the job. From the moment the movie commences, the women are reminded that they are not living, but surviving within a society that objectifies them. Symbolically, their aspiring to escape this reality becomes a criminal act, as something forbidden. With its sharp new 4K presentation and a new collection of features going over director Ridley Scott’s early career, this release comes with a straightforward recommendation. Audio Commentaries: The same two audio commentaries has Ridley Scott riding solo in the first while the second features screenwriter Callie Khouri talking with Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis.