The Criterion Collection and Spirit Entertainment have announced their January UK releases. Coming on Blu-ray first is La Bamba, which tells the brief but incandescent life story of rock-and-roll trailblazer Ritchie Valens, which Ridley Scott’s pop-culture landmark Thelma & Louise will be released on 4K UHD & Blu-ray.

LA BAMBA (USA 1987) | Blu-ray | 15 January 2024

The brief but incandescent life of rock-and-roll trailblazer Ritchie Valens is immortalized in this enthralling biopic from another Mexican American icon, Luis Valdez, the father of Chicano cinema. With sweetness and swagger, Lou Diamond Phillips embodies the 1950s California teenager who, forged by his fiercely supportive mother (Rosana DeSoto) and rebellious brother (Esai Morales), rises from his farm-working roots to chart-topping fame in the early days of rock—until one fateful night that haunts music history. Propelled by a hip-shaking soundtrack featuring Los Lobos and Carlos Santana, La Bamba captures the electric vitality of an artist who bridged cultures to create his own American dream.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY EDITION FEATURES:

• New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Luis Valdez, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Audio commentaries featuring Valdez, actors Lou Diamond Phillips and Esai Morales, and producers Stuart Benjamin, Taylor Hackford, and Daniel Valdez
• New interview with Luis Valdez
• Conversation between Valdez and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez from El Rey Network’s The Director’s Chair
• Making-of program featuring cast and crew
• Audition footage
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and Spanish subtitles
• An essay by critic Yolanda Machado

THELMA & LOUISE (USA/UK/France 1991) | 4K UHD + Blu-ray | 29 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.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Ridley Scott, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
• Two audio commentaries, featuring Scott, screenwriter Callie Khouri, and actors Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon
• New interviews with Scott and Khouri 
• Documentary featuring Davis; Khouri; Sarandon; Scott; actors Michael Madsen, Christopher McDonald, and Brad Pitt; and other members of the cast and crew
• Boy and Bicycle (1965), Scott’s first short film, and one of his early commercials
• Original theatrical featurette
• Storyboards and deleted and extended scenes, including an extended ending with director’s commentary
• Music video for Glenn Frey’s “Part of Me, Part of You,” from the film’s soundtrack
• Trailers
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Essays by critics Jessica Kiang and Rachel Syme and journalist Rebecca Traister