Thelma & Louise – 20th
Anniversary Edition (1991/MGM/Fox
Blu-ray)
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: B Film: B
In one of the best films of the often boring 1990s, Ridley
Scott decided to switch gears and take on an interesting screenplay by up and
coming Callie Khouri about two women who find themselves in an unfortunate set
of predicaments partly caused by sexism and by circumstances that bring out the
return of the repressed in both of them.
When Thelma & Louise
(1991) arrived in theaters, MGM got a much-needed hit, Scott surprised critics
with a more naturalistic film that retained as much impact as anything he had
made before and co-stars Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis as the best friends of
the title role gave two of the greatest performances of their careers.
Davis plays Thelma, an unhappily married woman whose
husband (Christopher McDonald brilliant in a thankless role) does not treat her
well or care about anything but himself, drives her to decide to take a simple
trip with Louise (Sarandon) after she leaves her waitress job without asking
her husband “permission” to go. They
just want to have a good time and things seem to go fine.
Then Thelma is attacked by a man sexually and Louise
intervenes by using her gun. She does
not shoot the man, but the drunken predator-aggressor makes the mistake of
pushing her buttons and she shoots him dead.
Thinking on one will believe their story, they decide to run for it,
even going to Mexico, but U.S.
authorities seem determined to go after them, leading to a wild road chase like
few others.
Woman-hating Right-wingers had a field day attacking the
film, showing a double standard for antagonists in films (you could never
imagine the same men (and some odd women) saying the same things about Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid) so
it hit a nerve, but the film was not easy to narrow down and remains terrific
from start to finish. Brad Pitt started
to put himself on the cinematic map here and we also get noteworthy
performances throughout by Michael Madsen, Stephen Tobolowski, Jason Beghe, Ken
Swofford and Harvey Keitel as the sympathetic police officer who seems to be
the only other person to realize what is really going on.
Scott is in great form here handling the comedy, drama and
overall vision of the script, which has many things to say and is constantly
accurate and honest about what it sees as a society in flux. It is as relevant now as ever and is at least
a minor classic of its time.
The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital AVC @ 28 MBPS High Definition
image was shot in real anamorphic 35mm Panavision by the late, great Director
of Photography Adrian Biddle, B.S.C. (Aliens,
Event Horizon, V For Vendetta), in some of his best work. A truly big screen film that knows what the
power of a scope frame is this transfer is pretty good, but I have seen the
film several times in 35mm prints alone and know there are some shots here that
are not as good as others when it comes to how good this film really
looks. The transfer still often makes
this look as good as it is supposed to, but some issued with detail and color
(maybe one or two with depth) are not as good as intended. That may be picky, but I am a fan and that is
what I see.
The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is one of
the better upgrades of a film theatrically released in the one-time
state-of-the-art advanced Dolby SR (Spectral Recording) analog theatrical playback
system. It does not sound choppy, but
several instances of dialogue, sound effects and location recording show their
age, though it is uncertain if all the elements used for this upgrade were
first generation. This is as good as the
film has sounded on home video to date, but maybe it could sound a little
better.
Extras include the promo Glenn Frey Music Video for the
film (the so-so “Part Of You, Part Of Me”),
Original Theatrical Featurette, two feature length audio commentaries (one by
Scott, the other by Sarandon, Davis and Khouri), Multi-Angle Storyboards: The
Final Chase, Extended Ending with Director’s Commentary and Thelma &
Louise: The Last Journey.
- Nicholas Sheffo
