If years of reviewing movies has taught me anything, it's that there aren't that many really good films. Of those rare good movies, most are simply good and that's it. It's incredibly infrequent that you come across a movie which completely redefines, or perhaps creates, a genre. These movies make their mark and set a template for things to come. Sometimes they are event movies and sometimes they are simply quiet movies. Thelma & Louise definitely changed the landscape for movies about women.

Thelma & Louise tells the story of two women from Arkansas. Louise (Susan Sarandon) is single (although she has an on-again/off-again relationship) and works in a diner. Thelma (Geena Davis) is a housewife, whose husband, Darryl (Christopher McDonald) is a domineering jerk. The women makes plans for a weekend getaway, and Thelma leaves without telling/asking Darryl. After driving for a while, they stop at a bar, where Louise commits a shocking crime. Instead of going to the police, the two hit the road. Louise decides that she doesn't want to go home and risk jail, and states that she wants to head for Mexico. With the police pursuing them, the simple vacation turns into a dangerous road-trip for the women, who throw caution to the wind and decide to embrace their new lives as outlaws. This freedom allows them to learn something about themselves.

Thelma & Louise was an important movie for several reasons (and not just because it introduced Brad Pitt to a mainstream audience.) True film-buffs know that it wasn't the first film to present women as outlaws. Roger Corman had tapped into that sub-genre twenty years before with movies like Big Bad Mama. But most movies about women committing crimes were more concerned with playing up the sexuality. Thelma & Louise purposely flies in the face of ideas like this. The movie has often been called a "feminist film", and while I don't feel qualified to make a statement like that, it's very obvious that the movie is intentionally trying to be the antithesis of movies which came before it. For example, when Thelma and Louise embark on their trip, they are dressed-up. As the story progresses, their appearance deteriorates -- they are becoming more defined by their actions then by how they look. There’s a small moment where Louise throws away her lipstick which drives this point home. We can also look at the fact that Louise ceases to where a bra in the third act -- was this a way of throwing off the shackles of this garment which society thrusts upon women? (Even in movies like Abel Ferrara’s Ms. 45, the female vigilante got dolled-up.) It could be argued that the women become more masculine towards the end of the movie, but unlike, say Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2, they never lose their femininity.

The movie also changed how we look at chick-flicks...sort of. Of course, even today, when we think of chick-flicks, we immediately think of romantic comedies or those movies where women drink margaritas and dance in montages. Thelma & Louise took the genre in a totally different direction. The road-movie cum action film was almost exclusively limited to male characters. With Thelma & Louise, we had a movie which showed that women could bond over things other than men or clothing. Although, both Thelma and Louise do have relationship problems, but they learn that they don’t have to be defined by the men in their lives. Also, other than the character played by Harvey Keitel, the men in Thelma & Louise are portrayed as either evil or apathetic. Of course, Thelma and Louise aren’t necessarily good role models, but they do show that independence is possible.

There’s no denying that Thelma & Louise was a game-changer in the realm of movies about women. However, the odd thing is that there haven’t been many imitators. Typically, when a movie makes a mark, others rush to try and capture that success, but I can honestly say that I can’t name many movies in the vein of Thelma & Louise. Maybe other filmmakers aren’t prepared to take the chances that this movie did, especially the shocking, ambitious ending. Twenty years later, the movie still feels fresh and original...except for the incredibly lame music.

Thelma & Louise made me ask “Why don’t they put the top up?” on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 23 Mbps. Fox has done a nice job with the transfer for this 20th Anniversary Edition. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no overt grain and no defects from the source material. Given the dusty, desert locations, the lack of grain is especially impressive. The image is never overly dark or bright, and the colors, while muted at times, look fine. The picture shows a nice depth, most notably in the landscape shots. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.0 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. Again, for an older film, this is impressive. The surround sound effects, most notably during the third act, work quite well and are nicely detailed. The same goes for the stereo effects. In certain scenes, the sound is well separated across the front and center channels. The famous explosion (as well as a helicopter) provides nice subwoofer action.

The Thelma & Louise Blu-ray Disc contains a nice assortment of extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Director Ridley Scott. This is followed by a second COMMENTARY with Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, and Writer Callie Khouri. "Thelma and Louise: The Last Journey" (60 minutes) is a multi-faceted featurette which takes an in-depth look at the movie. The piece starts with comments from Scott and Khouri who discuss how the project got off the ground and the casting process. This includes interviews with most of the principle cast, including Brad Pitt. From there, it becomes a making-of, as there is a nice amount of on-set footage showing how many of the key scenes were shot. In a nice change of pace, this featurette takes a retrospective look at the movie and has the key players take about how people reacted to the film and the impact that it had. "Original Theatrical Featurette" (5 minutes) is a brief piece from 1991 which contains behind-the-scenes footage and comments from the cast and Scott. In an odd move, the piece can be watched with or without "Promotional Narration" which is occasional comments like "From Director Ridley Scott...". The Disc contains sixteen DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES which run about 40 minutes. The "Extended Ending" (4 minutes), which can be viewed with or without commentary from Scott, has the movie ending the same way, but with additional footage. "Multi-angle Storyboards: The Final Chase" (5 minutes) allows the viewer to watch just the storyboards, or a side-by-side comparison of the storyboards and the movie. We get the MUSIC VIDEO for the song "Part of You, Part of Me" by Glenn Frey. The extras are rounded out by the THEATRICAL TRAILER and four TV Spots.