MGM and 20th Century Fox are celebrating Thelma & Louise’s 20th anniversary by releasing it on Blu-ray. Following in the steps of classics such as Bonnie and Clyde and The Badlands, Thelma & Louise continues the grand ole American tradition of the road film. Writer Callie Khouri won for Best Original Screenplay, director Ridley Scott was nominated for Best Director, and its leads competed for Best Actress. Two decades later, the plot’s revolutionary feminist sheen may have worn a little, but the film is as rollicking and vibrant as ever.

The film opens on a wide, dusty road bisecting green fields and blue skies. Louise is an eagle-eyed, hands-on-hips kind of waitress, dispensing coffee and wisdom in about equal shares. Her best friend is Thelma, a repressed housewife. Both of them have drawling Southern accents, hair sun-burnished copper, and man troubles. Louise dignifiedly pines after her musician boyfriend, Jim, who’d be a decent sort if he was ever around. Thelma is married to a preening, puffed-up peacock who derives his authority over home and hearth from his title as regional manager of a carpet store.

Louise invites Thelma out for a weekend stay at a friend’s cabin, and after some quick packing, the girls clamber into Louise’s T-bird. To Louise’s surprise, mild-mannered Thelma is looking for some dangerous fun. At a pit stop, Thelma gets hammered on a wild turkey and dances with a smooth-talking stranger named Harlan. Harlan turns out to be a predatory creep, and once he has Thelma alone, attempts to rape her. Louise shows up just in time, and pointing a gun at his head, demands that he release her friend. He does, ungraciously, but is unable to refrain from tossing a few epithets after the women as they walk away. Louise turns and shoots him dead. It is a calculated shot, not performed in self-defense or a moment of passion.

Sometimes, in emergency situations, as one person begins to panic, the other is forced to take control. Thelma begins to sob. Louise, who has some unspecified dark past, takes only a moment to recover and rationally determines that what they need now is distance, and cash. Who would believe, Louise snaps, that Harlan had attempted to rape Thelma? Everyone in the bar saw how closely they were dancing. Going to the authorities is not an option.

They run. To support themselves, they dabble in armed robbery. Soon, they are wanted in six states. Only Hal, the first detective on their case, stops to consider their motivation. Are they, he wonders, ruthless criminals, or the victims of a broken society? For the most part, the characters Thelma and Louise meet are chauvinistic, crooks, or chauvinistic

crooks. (Brad Pitt makes an appearance in this parade of male defects, playing an attractive toy for a transformed, aggressive, joyous Thelma.)

When the women come to the inevitable conclusion that there is no safe haven, that they are racing madly, recklessly, ecstatically to their doom, the consequences of their spiritual freedom are realized. The last scene of this film is now part of our nation’s collective memory. This is true for good reason.

The transfer on to Blu-ray was carefully done; the video and audio are exceptional—crisp, warm, and panoramic. The DVD extras are as immersive and exhaustive as extras come. There are two commentary tracks: the slightly more formal, informational director’s track, and the comfortably conversational cast track. An engaging hour-long making-of documentary breaks down the film’s conception, casting, production, and reception. Forty minutes of deleted and extended scenes, storyboards of the film’s climactic ending, trailers, and a Glenn Frey music video round out the DVD.