Blow Out (1981) User Reviews

Beautiful style, wobbly plot

[Sandcooler · 6/10 · 31 October 2014]

Many consider "Blow Out" to be the highlight of Brian De Palma's career, but to be honest I was pretty underwhelmed. It starts of great though. De Palma gets to show of his amazing knack for style in a brilliant opening scene that provides a hilarious pastiche on the slasher genre. The faux-sleazy look, the clever winks at genre classics, the genuine suspense even though you know it's a movie-within-a-movie, it's genius at work. There are more of those beautiful stylistic touches spread throughout the movie (the fireworks during the climax would be an obvious example), but the plot is just contrived and the final act demands more than a little suspension of disbelief. And while John Travolta puts in a strong lead performance, obligatory damsel in distress Nancy Allen never really manages to make her character likable so you don't really care whether she lives or dies. That's why the obvious Hitchcock influence isn't as effective as it could have been, Hitchcock gave us characters we deeply cared about and then did awful things to them. Sally is no Marion Crane to say the least, making it more difficult to stay interested in her story. "Blow Out" looks fantastic, but doesn't go very far beyond that.

Brian De Palma's forgotten masterpiece.

[Westlake123 · 8/10 · 19 September 2012]

In 1981, Brian De Palma released what might be considered his "best" thriller to date. The "Slasher" genre was at full blossom, and the conspiracy driven, psychological thrillers of the 1970s were slowly declining in terms of popularity.

"Blow Out" stars John Travolta as Jack, a sound engineer for an independent movie picture, that discovers what first appears to be a tragic car-accident - is in fact a murder. Sally, who is rescued from the wreck by the protagonist (Travolta) himself stays as his counterpart though out the movie. Jack must set the story straight, and prove the police wrong.

De Palma is known for his themes of guilt, paranoia and obsession which work as essential parts for the character development in "Blow Out". It's a hell of ride from start to finish, and one can truly state that Brian De Palma is a master of suspense.

The acting of John Travolta is superb and convincing, and I dare to say that it's his best role to date. I was a bit skeptical to Nancy Allen at first, but her naive character grew on me over the course of the film, and might actually be one of the things that makes this film so great; that is believable character development without the often sudden change of identity.

Blow out is stylish, and both the directing of De Palma and cinematography of Vilmos Zsigmond is highly impressive. From beautifully shot scenes in the vein of Francis Ford Coppola to the drastic suspense of Hitchcock, De Palma uses all the best tricks in the book.

"Blow Out" is non-stop suspense thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The last 15 minutes finale is quite extraordinary. The atmosphere, mood and cinematography are all close perfect. It truly is Brian De Palma's forgotten masterpiece.

The scream!

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 2 August 2005]

Brian DePalma was at the height of his film career when he undertook the direction of "Blow Out". Some comments to this forum have compared it to other distinguished films like Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation" and Michaelangelo Antonioni's "Blow Up", a comparison that seems to make sense, in a way, but Mr. DePalma, who wrote his own screen play, is an intelligent man who didn't need to copy anything from those masters of the cinema.

In fact, "Blow Out" has kept its impact as a thriller mystery with its political overtones as it mixes crime with the lives of influential people that might give viewers a point of reference between the movie and actual historical facts.

We are given an introduction to Jack's line of work as we watch scenes of the porno film that he is working on as a sound technician. The only thing that is needed is a real scream which the many actresses, either on the film itself, or being auditioned, can't produce. Whatever comes out of those women's throats are wimpy sounds, not a horror yell for help.

Jack, who is out one night recording sounds for future ventures, captures the shot that causes the "blow out" and makes a car plunge into a creek. Jack abandons everything and jumps to rescue whoever he can save. He is only successful in bringing Sally out of the water. This is the beginning of Jack's involvement into the mystery behind the actual fact.

Mr. DePalma's thriller is visually stylish. He photographed the movie in Philadelphia. The film has the excellent Vilmos Zsigmond behind the camera. The atmospheric music by Pino Donoggio serves the movie well.

John Travolta's career was in decline when he made this movie. He gives a terrific performance as the sound effect man who stumbles in a conspiracy to eliminate the witnesses to the accident. Nancy Allen is not as effective as Sally, the young prostitute at the center of the story. Being married to the director might have helped her land the part, which with some other actress might have paid off better. John Lighgow is perfectly creepy as Burke, the evil man. Dennis Franz has the pivotal part of Karp, the man who was able to photograph the whole incident.

"Blow Out" is a must see for all Brian DePalma's admirers.

An enjoyable mix of `Blow-Up' and `The Conversation'

[bob the moo · 16 March 2002]

Jack is a sound editor for small films. When he is out one evening recording background noises, he inadvertently records a car crash which kills a politician running for the US Presidency, although Jack saves a girl in the car. When pressured to say that the politician was alone, Jack finds that his recording may prove that it was murder and not an accident. However someone is cutting off the loose ends around the crime.

A clever rework of Blow-Up that is given a thriller twist and visual style by De Palma. The story is quite straight forward and doesn't contain too many twists and turns. However it does have a good premise at it's core and it builds to a suitably low-key ending.

De Palma works well with the material – at some points it's a little obtrusive, but he certainly can frame a shot. From his use of foreground and background focusing to the scene where Travolta realises what he has on tape – he has style to spare. He handles the ending well but perhaps feels he wants to be like Coppola a bit too much.

Pre-career dip Travolta gives his best performance before Pulp Fiction – he plays the everyman really well and is totally convincing. Allen is a little too squeaky and irritating, but get past this and she's OK. Franz is on-form as a sleazy opportunist, while Lithgow is chilling as a ruthless, clinical killer.

Overall it occasionally feels like there is more style than substance but everyone holds their end up and the result is a solid, enjoyable thriller that maybe pays a bit too much homage to other work.

Great thriller

[BroadswordCallinDannyBoy · 9/10 · 13 July 2006]

Jack Terri is a soundman for a B-movie studio. One night as he is out recording sounds for a film he sees an accident - a car swerves through a guard rail and into a river. Jack jumps in in effort to help and sees that the driver is dead, but he manages to save the passenger. He soon finds out that the driver was the current favorite in the presidential election and after listening to the recording he suspects that what happened was no accident.

This is the type of movie many people call a rip-off as not only does it take an idea from a previous story and film ('Blow Up') it is one of DePalma's many Hitchcockian efforts. However, under his direction the film feels fresh and moves very well. It is 13 years before John Travolta made 'Pulp Fiction' but he was already a good lead actor. Dennis Franz also gives a good turn as a photographer who knows more than he is telling.

However, the scene stealer, would have to be John Lithgow who stoically walks his way through the film as a ruthless killer who wants to remove Jack Terri for the evidence he has. Rarely is such a emotionless and callous role played out so well to such great effect.

Then there is DePalma's direction which is the great thing that put all the good stuff together. He has a particular skill of blending shots/scenes without dissolves and that carries the movie is an interesting way. Using shadows, silhouettes, rotating camera shots he is truly a master in good form here. 9/10

Rated R: some grisly violence, and profanity

Good scream from the streets of Philadelphia.

[Galina_movie_fan · 9/10 · 14 July 2007]

I was blown away by Brian DePalma's "Blow Out" (1981), the Real American Classic from the 80th. Yes, of course, De Palma pays homage to both, "Blow Up" and "Conversation" but "Blow Out" is a vintage DePalma at his best, in his glory and brilliance. The story is great, packed with twists and turns and also lets us peek once again as in Body Double" at the B-movies making process. John Travolta is Jack Terri, a sound technician who rescues a girl (Nancy Allen) from a car that crashes into a river after a blow out. The man who drove the car did not survive and he happened to be the next presidential candidate. Jack soon realizes that it was not just a blow out but a murder, and he's got an evidence to prove it, the tape that he made on the bridge while recording the background noises for the movie. As good as the story is, it does not forget its characters, and they are memorable and multi-dimensional. The actors are terrific. It was the time when John Travolta was both cute without being smug and compelling. Nancy Allen as Sally, was sweet and heartbreaking, Dennis Franz's character, Manny Karp, the petty blackmailer who got more than he bargained for was fun to watch, and John Lithgow made such a chilling villain that Anthony Hopkins could've learned something from him. I did not even start on Vilmos Zsigmond's camera work. Only one word comes to mind - mesmerizing. The final chase sequence on the streets of Philadelphia during the celebration of the ringing of the Liberty Bell is as well staged and shut and as exiting as the similar climatic chase on Mount Rushmore in Hitchcock's "North By Northwest". The movie is perfectly balanced by the last scene and the hilarious opening scene mirroring each other but this time the scream is different. It IS a good scream that came from the streets of Philadelphia.

If you liked F/X...

[vertigo_14 · 7/10 · 4 April 2004]

If you liked F/X, you'll probably like Blow Out and vice versa because both films involve a person who uses their craft to solve a highly corrupt case of murder.

While F/X's Rollie Tyler was a special effects engineer, our hero in Blow Out is a sound technician who must piece together parts of a sound recording (along with some other vital information from other sources along the way) to solve the murder of the gubernatorial candidate, a death which the police have written off as a homocide. Travolta employs Nancy Allen's help, a rather dumb prostitute who was in the car with the victim when their car ran off the bridge, but who is the only survivor and essential key to unlocking the mystery. They are dealing with a very relentless killer who will stop at nothing to make sure the trail of evidence leading to him is eliminated.

It is a typical DePalma movie in that it is done with many Hitchcock elements (they didn't call him the master of suspense for nothing) and also that he works with movies-in-a-movie (see 'Body Double' and 'Dressed to Kill'). It is an enjoyable crime and mystery movie in the days when John Travolta movies were still fun to watch.

Did you hear that the sound of murder

[lost-in-limbo · 9/10 · 14 November 2009]

Brian De Palma's ''Blow Out'' starring John Travolta, Nancy Allen and John Lithgow would go down as my favourite film (just ahead of "Causalities of War" and ''Dressed to Kill'') of his on-going filmography. Usually I find him to be an on-and-off director, and ''Blow Out'' was switched on. It's one of those presentations that doesn't just hold you there with its captivating sombre murder mystery (similar to Blow-Up and 'The Conversation') relating to a political conspiracy, but also De Palma's showy technical side is nothing short than exquisitely striking. Well you might say that's the case for most of his work, however on this occasion its extremely well controlled to balance the story and it isn't so much the peering camera and sharp editing (although still commendably evident and how can you go wrong with split frames) but the ingenious use of sound effects and the ironic nature of our main protagonist being an audio technician for b-grade horror movies (which within the building he works bestows some cool horror posters that fans will surely pick up on).

The layered story has that old-fashion noir quality, with the momentum building upon mood and suspense constructing illuminating atmospherics and consisting of fitting performances. While the brooding plot screws around with its webby developments and taut tension, never does the suspiciously tactical script entirely pick it apart with any sort of depth or rationality. In the end its quite basic. However this made the harrowing impact of the film's conclusion even more lasting, as the emotional brunt came from De Palma's intensely slick visual work like the stirring slow-motion climax with Pino Donaggio's harrowing score (which holds a delightfully crisp and variable arrangement throughout). It's top drawer in De Palma's illustratively intimate details oozing with colour, tones and shades with it being served by some beautifully projected expressive photography and a lingering nasty current. An excellent John Travolta brings a convicted temperament to the lead and a bubbling Nancy Allen adds a perky injection. A precisely scheming performance by John Lithgow is truly menacing. Also in support is Denis Franz.

An enjoyably stylish, if simple thriller.

Interesting start, but fizzles

[gbill-74877 · 6/10 · 19 May 2020]

A film that showed some early promise, but really fizzled with a ridiculous last half hour. It's a pretty simple plot that mashes up Antonioni's Blowup, the Zapruder film, and Chappaquiddick, but didn't create something interesting out of it - and De Palma's references are too transparent for my taste. Perhaps because of the weakness of the story and an overall lack of real tension (Hitchcock he is not), the additional plot element of the "Liberty Bell Strangler" is introduced, which just seemed silly to me. The acting is also below average at best, except maybe John Lithgow, who is suitably menacing. Nancy Allen's character and her performance, on the other hand, are putrid. The film has some amount of entertainment value, but just seemed kind of weak and bland as it played out.

The Zenith of Brian De Palma's Films.

[HeartMonger · 10/10 · 17 April 2005]

A film starring John Travolta in the early eighties was sure to attract attention, but that did not mean it would necessarily be good. A film about conspiracy, murder, and politics would not take in the best at the box office, but that did not make it bad. Well, in the world at the time "Blow Out" was released, John Travolta's career was beginning to fade and more people were being taken in by Science Fiction and slasher(which is noted and poked fun at in the film's opening) films and did not want to use neurons to enjoy this film. Not a wise choice. "Blow Out" is a psychological and poignant film about the curiosity and outcomes surrounding the death of a politician. When Jack Terry (Travolta, in what may be his best, but most underrated role to date) is out catching sounds for a film he is putting together, he records(and therefor, witnesses) a car get it's tire blown out and fall into the nearby river. Astounded, he jumps into the car and finds there to be a dead driver, but a woman, very much alive and in distress. He rescues her, and both are taken to the hospital. It is revealed that the lady's name is Sally Bedina(Nancy Allen, in one of her best roles also) and the man she was with is the man who was most likely to be the next president, Gov. McRyan. Chaos ensues when Jack finds out (through his sound recordings) that the car was not hit by a flat tire, but that someone may have shot the tire out, as an assassination. As Sally and Jack delve deeper and deeper into the mystery, someone is out there, watching them, waiting, with an agenda of his own. Cleverly written thriller, which keeps you on the edge of your seat through the entire film, never lets up, and suggests what most films(especially in today's times) will not-Conspiracy. In every sense of the word-in the government, in the working classes, in humanity in general. A take from an earlier film, Antonioni's "Blow Up" which was released in nineteen sixty-six, this film explores the diversity of human emotions, and motivations. All the characters are clearly developed, and all with different aspects about them.

Jack, is a sound man, doesn't seem to care much about opulence, and is an all around type of guy. He is punctual and very quick to find the truth. His psychosis suggests a character which stands to morals, sharp judgment, and a very likable guy in general. John Travolta plays Jack out with sensitivity, profound genuity, and adroit intricacy. As the lead, the film rests well on his shoulders...and with the help from the rest of the fine cast as well.

Sally is a naive young woman, full of choices and ambition. She is from a more darker side of history, doing odd jobs for money just to get by, and certainly has more morals than she would let on. She is a very nice and heartful person, but is also afraid of her life ending up wrong. This is where you can see a dark past, and the way Nancy Allen plays her out surely lets the audience know. Allen had passion for this role, and the role itself is not an easy role to fill, there are emotions discreet, and a lot of pain. However, Allen flourishes as she speaks with mannerisms that transcend any other role she portrayed. I learned to like Sally from the moment she opened up to the audience.

A supporting turn from Dennis Franz, who is always a reliable actor, makes up for the perfect example of a good supporting role, albeit it offensive in the least.

The film can much be compared to the Kennedy assassination, as a politician was killed, and the conspiracy theories were tossed and turned in the tabloids, who are seen in this film as one of the real enemies, but there are many more. One other thing this film proves is that there are Blow outs in the mind, as well as in the film. The more our two heroes find out, the more the art of this film comes clear, and their minds are toyed with, but we as an audience see this, as part of making this a terrific viewing experience. This film was not a success, as far as money goes, but this film is clearly one of De Palma's best efforts, right up there with Scarface and The Untouchables. It is a touching and central effort, with likable characters, a grandiose Pino Donaggio score(one of the maestro's finest) and an ending that will rock your mind. The political undertones are fully understood at the films end, which is something not seen at all today. This is a really good film to show to film classes, film-making classes, film appreciation classes, etc.

All in all, one helluva viewing experience, and one that never gets old either, making it one of De Palma' finest hours.

Another DePalma thriller that owes a lot to Hitchcock...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 30 August 2006]

BLOW OUT deserves more attention than a lot of other thrillers from the '80s, partly because it's taut with suspense most of the time and owes a lot of its chill to JOHN LITHGOW's performance as a cold-blooded psychotic killer.

It's also one of JOHN TRAVOLTA's best early roles as a soundman looking for "the perfect scream" for one of his horror movies who accidentally shoots some film of a car careening off a bridge. He dives into the water to try saving the victims but is only able to rescue the woman (NANCY ALLEN). It turns out that the driver was a senator who was a presidential candidate (shades of Chappaquiddick).

From then on, the mystery deepens as he comes to suspect there's some kind of conspiracy involved. DENNIS FRANZ is Allen's boss, a sleazy photographer, who offers to help Travolta. The whole story is filmed with all the DePalma camera tricks and touches that keep the suspense boiling until the climactic shoot-out at the climax.

But it's JOHN LITHGOW who steals the film as the merciless killer with undisclosed political reasons for his murderous mission.

A forgotten gem among the stylish DePalma films that deserves more recognition today. I'm not much of a Travolta fan, but this is one of his better roles.

Just Out In The Woods Recording When..........................................

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 11 February 2009]

John Travolta is a sound engineer out in the woods during the dead of night trying to record some woods type noises for the latest film he's working on when he sees an accident in which a state governor is killed, a potential presidential candidate. He also records the distinct sound of a gunshot before the car went off a bridge and into a creek at night. Travolta also dives into the creek and rescues Nancy Allen, but is unable to save the male in the car. He finds out later about his VIP status.

Director Brian DePalma obviously used a twist on the tragedy at Chappaquiddick as the basis for Blow Out. The title comes from the official police investigation where they say the car had a blowout which caused the accident, but Travolta insists on his version. And his sticking to the story is making a lot of people uncomfortable.

Travolta does a nice job in a film role that a generation or two earlier James Stewart might have done, the average every man who gets heroic status thrust upon him. He's an ordinary man, but he wants the truth to come out.

Look also for some good performances by Dennis Franz as a sleazy photographer and John Lithgow as a very thorough killer who really loves his job. He not only wants to hide his murder in a forest, he plants his own forest so to speak.

Brian DePalma keeps the tension moving at all times in a manner worthy of Hitchcock. It was a good part for John Travolta, one of the last he would get acclaim for for some time.

Blowout? Flat Tire!

[howdymax · 6/10 · 29 October 2006]

This movie was a hodge podge of confusing story lines. Characters seem to come and go without explanation. Nancy Allen's accent was painful - maybe not to somebody from Kansas, but anybody who ever lived in the metropolitan area had to be wincing every time she opened her mouth. It says something about Brian De Palma that while they were married, he took every opportunity to flash her body. And did she ever have a body worth flashing. Ever since I saw her flash it all in "Carrie" I kept my eyes open for any glimpse of that pure white body with a little hint of baby fat. Kind of soft and squeezable. As for the rest of the movie, even John Travolta's usual engaging acting style can't really save it. Just a routine thriller. Completely predictable.

Twice Heated Microwave Dinner

[view_and_review · 5/10 · 14 December 2019]

Blow Out was moderately intriguing until the end. Whether they were going for maximum drama or they just didn't know how to finish it, it went south the moment Jack (John Travolta) decided to wire Sally (Nancy Allen). The ending was beyond bad and so was the music that went with it.

OK, just to catch you up to the ending I want so badly to mention: Jack is a soundman for movies. While he's in a park recording sounds he catches the sound of a car skidding off the road and plummeting into a creek. He dives into the water, saves Sally, but the other occupant of the vehicle, Governor McRyan, drowns.

Jack knows that it was no accident because he hears a bang before the car skids off the road and nothing is adding up. Jack also gets a hold of video evidence of his supposition that the car going off the road was no accident. After some introspection he decides to go public with what he knows and Sally is instrumental in that.

Now the ending...

Jack wires Sally as she goes to give the tapes to who she thinks is the news anchorman, but is actually the assassin (John Lithgow). This course of action didn't even make sense because the anchorman wanted to meet Jack and Sally, so there was no need for Jack to hide in the background while Sally delivered the audio and video tapes. It was done solely to advance the plot because Sally didn't watch news hence she would never know who the anchorman was. It's a dumb plot device to say the least, but let's move on.

When Sally and the assassin hop on the train Jack couldn't keep up, so he jumped in his vehicle and sped across the eerily empty streets of Philadelphia to catch up to them. He busted through a police barricade and even a parade to eventually crash into a department store window and knock himself out in the process.

When he awoke in the back of an ambulance--unrestrained I might add, even though he nearly killed dozens of people--he resumed his pursuit of Sally and the assassin because apparently the assassin patiently waited for Jack to regain consciousness before he resumed his plan of killing Sally.

Jack didn't get to the assassin in time to save Sally from being strangled to death, but he got there in time to prevent her body from being mutilated with puncture wounds from an ice pick. He was even able to guide the assassin's hand to his own chest cavity several times because clearly the assassin was so weak as to let a guy grab his hand and force him to stab himself over and over.

Look, the movie wasn't going to be great, but it had a chance at being decent. There was no need for such a sloppy and ludicrous ending. Travolta and Allen were barely watchable but I thought the plot would be intelligent enough to bail them both out. Not the case. As it was, the movie took itself from being an edible meal to being a twice heated microwave dinner.

Reconstructing truth

[tieman64 · 24 March 2007]

"Banal story? Give me a break. I just watched "Snake Eyes" and "Mission to Mars" on DVD from beginning to end. They're very beautiful films. I think you missed a lot. All the critics ever talk about is the banality of my stories!" - Brian De Palma (2002)

Do not treat De Palma's films too logically. He has one agenda, and that is to enable his camera to become multiple characters. His camera, deceives, lies, lusts, stalks and mocks. When it's not adopting a character's point of view, it's literally becoming a character of it's own. There's real intelligence behind some of his films, despite their B movie roots and surface cheese.

Watch the jeep scene again. See how it begins with the camera suddenly changing stance. The music booms and everything becomes operatic. The scene itself plays out like a self contained mini-opera. Of course the whole sequence is illogical, but then one of De Palma's themes throughout his career has always been reconstructing truth. In "Snake Eyes" and "Black Dahlia" it's the truth of a murder. In "Mission Impossible" it's reconstructing the truth of a mission gone bad. In "Femme Fatale" it's reconstructing the truth of a heist. In this film it's reconstructing the truth of an assassination. But what makes De Palma interesting is that this constant theme of "finding the truth" clashes continusouly with his artistic style. He's a formalist who's entire filmography stresses the fakery or superficiality of film.

On one hand he acknowledges the lie that is film (his famous quote: "film is 24 lies per second"), whilst on the other, his character's constantly search for some objective truth.

But back to the jeep scene. Notice how De Palma shifts to slow-motion to heighten the clues. Travolta crashes and we linger on the "Liberty or Death?" shop window as a plastic hang man slowly tips over. De Palma as artist and formalist has the power of deciding Travolta and Sally's fate. Like the end of "Femme Fatalle", he's asking his audience, teasing them, letting them know that his film isn't reality, and that only the artist as God has the power to decide the fate of characters. Do we let them die or do we let them live?

He then inter-cuts this with Sally's conversation with the killer, which suddenly shifts from friendly to hostile. De Palma signifies this newfound danger by jump cutting from day to night. And so with Sally now in trouble, he literally resurrects Travolta, who of course climbs and climbs but still doesn't get there in time. Travolta's guilt and failure rings eternal as Sally's scream is immortalised in the final film-within-the-film. A film kills Sally and a film immortalises her death. A recorded sound (blow out) brings her into De Palma's world and a recorded sound (her scream) brings her out of it. There's a cinematic purity to Sally's life.

9/10- Brilliant opening, brilliant ending and some memorable scenes in the middle. The virtuoso camera work doesn't touch "Snake Eyes" and the purposefully cheesy acting (the porno within a film makes it clear that De Palma sees this as self conscious formalist film-making) at times detracts. Still, this is nevertheless enjoyable and one of the more accessible De Palma films.

A fantastically stylish film, with scenes that are still wonderful to watch today.

[PyrolyticCarbon · 8/10 · 16 October 2002]

The opening of this movie must rival Bullit as cool openings go. Wonderfully shot throughout, and even though you can see how dated the film is just by Travoltas' and Allens' hair and dress sense, it doesn't affect the quality. The story is competent, but what makes the film is DePalma's treatment. The quiet scenes and the complete focus on noise, other than that of the characters talking. Visuals and backgrounds start this movie and run all the way through the major scenes, finally closing it. This is an excellent thriller, and many modern films of this genre should take notes. A great movie.

Another Solid Terrifying Thriller By Brian De Palma

[HabibieHakim123 · 10/10 · 17 November 2021]

De Palma's can make a similar story with the same technique and it's still fantastic, Blow Out it's hell of a terrifying movie, De Palma's camera is you, you literally feel like you was involved every second of it, you feel it, you saw it, and you care about it, it's a masterful of a work with a marvelous performance by all the cast, Blow Out is another solid terrifying thriller by Brian De Palma.

Gripping but flawed De Palma thriller

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 22 March 2016]

Although "Blow Out" is more highly regarded critically than Brian De Palma's subsequent "Body Double", a recent re-viewing of both films leads me to the opinion that the latter is the more entertaining film of the two. Or, to be more specific, "Body Double" has the better first two acts, and "Blow Out" the better third act. The problem with "Blow Out"'s first two acts is that the script keeps pounding you over the head with the fact that "the tire was shot, it was not a blow out" long after even the last audience member has understood that. And as if that's not enough, there is even a scene in the middle that spells out everything about the assassination, including who the killer was! The final third and the climax are suspenseful and excitingly staged by De Palma, but you cannot overlook that Travolta makes an unforgivable error of judgment when he lets Nancy Allen go and meet the "reporter" alone. On the positive side, there is genuine emotion in the relationship between Travolta and Allen, John Lithgow is terrifying as the psychopathic killer, and the ending is undeniably powerful. **1/2 out of 4.

Conspiracies, Cover-ups & Dark Humour

[seymourblack-1 · 9/10 · 12 August 2014]

When the version of an event that's reported in the media loses credibility for any reason, cynicism, distrust and conspiracy theories are bound to follow and it's within this climate that political paranoia grows. In "Blow Out", after the death of a prominent politician in a car crash, certain important facts are intentionally withheld from the media, ostensibly to protect the man's family from any unnecessary embarrassment. The problem is that, in doing this, suspicion grows that there are far more sinister reasons why those involved have an interest in suppressing the truth. One of the strengths of this movie is the way in which the disturbing atmosphere that's created by these types of practices, gradually grows and then affects the perception of everything else that happens as the plot develops.

Jack Terry (John Trevolta) is a sound technician who works for a company that produces low-budget horror movies. One night when he's out recording ambient sounds, he witnesses a car crash in which a vehicle veers off a bridge and falls into the river below. He swiftly leaps into the water and bravely rescues a young lady from the wreckage but is unable to help the driver who has already drowned. At the local hospital, where he and Sally Bedina (Nancy Allen) are treated, Jack is told that the man in the car was actually a leading Presidential candidate and he should forget about Sally's presence in the car for the benefit of everyone involved.

Soon after, Jack sees a TV news report about a photographer called Manny Karp (Dennis Franz) who was also at the scene of the "accident" and took a series of photographs that are subsequently reproduced in a popular magazine. When Jack synchronises his sound recordings with the series of photos to produce a mini-movie of the event, he becomes convinced that a gunshot was fired immediately before a tyre blew out and the crash was the result of an assassination rather than a simple accident.

Jack and Sally grow closer and she helps him in his efforts to prove that the crash wasn't an accident. The chances of Jack being successful are remote, however, because no-one believes his theory and there is little that one man can do to counteract the enormous power of the authorities that are involved in the cover-up.

John Trevolta is perfect as a good natured and sympathetic man who's also very intense and obsessive. His character is talented and slumming in his current job because he's consumed with guilt about an incident that happened when he was working for the police when an agent that he'd wired was killed. It's ironic, especially in view of his relationship with Sally, that at one point, he wires her for sound in a way that's reminiscent of the incident that had haunted him so badly over the years.

Sally's a hooker who'd worked extensively with Karp in the past to photograph men in compromising situations in order to blackmail them and Nancy Allen is good at conveying Sally's strange contradictions and complexities so convincingly. John Lithgow also impresses as a ruthless serial killer who's part of the conspiracy and has no compunction about killing innocent women simply to conceal his real motive for killing his prime targets.

Brian De Palma is a sensational director in every sense of the word and "Blow Out" features the split screens, tilted camera angles and overhead shots that are typical of his work as well as the more voyeuristic, exploitative and darkly humorous moments that he also favours so strongly. The ways in which the circumstances of the accident and the cover-up immediately evoke thoughts of Chappaquiddick and Watergate are very effective in generating audience suspicion whilst also dispensing with the need for any unnecessary exposition and the movie's downbeat ending is also mitigated to some extent by the distasteful but amusing way in which Jack gets the perfect scream he needs for his current production.

Nobody does bratty teenaged girls better than DePalma!

[ags123 · 6/10 · 23 February 2021]

The opening sequence, the "movie within a movie" is pure DePalma. The dormitory full of spoiled, horny coeds is hilarious. The rest of the movie starts out promisingly enough, full of DePalma's trademark stylized direction, but gradually loses credibility. Travolta's in fine form, but Nancy Allen is a very unconvincing actress. "Blow Out" has plenty of visual interest to keep the viewer engaged.

Wonderfully written and directed story...

[dwpollar · 8/10 · 4 October 2005]

1st watched 10/03/2005 - 8 out of 10(Dir-Brian De Palma): Wonderfully written and directed story by Brian De Palma about a sound man who records an accident(we think) at a bridge while doing his job of recording sounds for a recent movie gig. We find out the accident involved a Governor who happened to be running for President of the United States and the title character(Jack played by John Travolta) just happened to rescue another person from the vehicle(who was a lady of the night played by Nancy Allen) and the Governor dies. What ensues is a major attempt to cover up some of the facts while Jack tries to piece together what he heard and saw for evidence of the foul play. He believes he heard a shot that blew out the tire of the vehicle and with an amateur photograph's pictures rigs together a pretty convincing portrait of the truth. Travolta is great in what I consider one of his best acting stints but Nancy Allen is tolerable at best. This is the only real negative to this otherwise well made and pieced together thriller that works to the very end and deserved more recognition than it received. I think everyone(audiences and critics alike) expected something different from someone who was known mainly for horror movies before this but this movie started a string of well-received movies coming from him and is definitely one

fills the screen if not the brain

[jonathan-577 · 7/10 · 25 August 2007]

People talk about De Palma's pastiches like they're a bad thing, but when you set out to pastiche Blow Up and The Conversation PLUS Zapruder PLUS Chappaquadick PLUS Vertigo PLUS who knows what, you can't say the man's being lazy. But how do you tie it all together? How do you come up with an ending? Well as to the first question, I can only hope it was studio interference that prescribed the John Lithgow psycho, who is as engaging and complex as a sheet of drywall and who totally pounds at the "one bad apple" theory, so you ain't here for politics. And unfortunately, none of the other characters engage as characters either - Travolta's haunted sound-recordist gets more remote as the movie progresses, and you keep waiting for Nancy Allen to have a Kim Novak moment that never arrives. And speaking of Kim Novak, we have the ending. In order for De Palma to have his Vertigo angle (with history repeating itself in the death of a loved one) he has to reach out of the main narrative and impose two matching set pieces - external, extraneous, preposterous set pieces - on the second act and at the climax. I much prefer the tools-of-the-trade process intrigue as sound-guy Travolta pieces together a government cover-up through bits of media. The funny thing is, the process itself is also preposterous. Sure, the magazine published every frame of the home movie in sequence. Sure, he pulls the negative out of the camera WITH THE LIGHTS ON and then sends it to the lab. This, I grant you, may be deliberate head-games, an admonition to look somewhere else for the meaning. I'm not saying it didn't move along nicely, or that it didn't impressively fill the screen in 35mm. And while the denouement may be totally cheap, as such it's a bit shocking, and welcome for that. Badum-bum!

"Its a Good Scream"

[matthurst-60645 · 9/10 · 27 April 2022]

John Travolta is great in one of his best and most gritty roles as a soundman who observes an assassination while recording sound for a B-movie late at night. He gets caught up in the cover up and gets the help of the survivor, Nancy Allen, to assist him in getting to the bottom of this. Brian De Palma goes wild in the finale involving a huge Fourth of July parade with car crashes, thousands of extras, and fireworks. Beautiful Pino Donnaggio score as well.

Good movie wiout good ending

[Ahmad_pilehvar · 7/10 · 8 March 2020]

I like Brian De Palma's works. he's hell of director and also it was good movie but it doesn't have a good ending. I'm sure it's because he wasn't want us to fill this is a cliche like any other Mystery, Thriller movies.

Pretty disappointing for so-called rediscovered "classic".

[susansweb · 2/10 · 22 January 2003]

Brian De Palma does it again with his versions of classic moments from other movies. In this one we have the 'homages' to "Blow-Up" and "Rear Window". Throw in a psychopath with an extended scene of him killing someone that does nothing to further the plot. Add a ridiculous car chase through a parade. Then top it off with a twist ending that comes off mean-spirited and sleazy. Let's not forget the uninspired performances by Nancy Allen and John Travolta. At least Allen's character is supposed to be not very bright but Travolta, for someone as smart as he is supposed to be, makes some pretty stupid decisions (the main one being letting Allen meet with the reporter alone). What do we get? The usual De Palma mishmash that leaves the viewer unfulfilled. At least when De Palma made "Body Double" it looks like he learned his lesson from this movie and made the "Body Double" ending more satisfying.