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John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz, Peter Boyden ... see more see more... , Curt May , John Di Aquino , Ernest McClure , Dean Bennett , Claire Carter , Tim Choate , Amanda Cleveland , Maurice Copeland , Brian Corrigan , Terrence Currier , Tony Devon , John Hoffmeister , James Jeter , Cindy Manion , Tom McCarthy , Dick McGarvin , John McMartin , J. Patrick McNamara , David Roberts , Bud Seese , Robin Sherwood , Maureen Sullivan , Roger Wilson , Deborah Everton , Lori-Nan Engler , Archie Lang

Brian De Palma's homage to Michelangelo Antonioni's classic art movie Blow-Up (1966) blends suspense and political paranoia when a Philadelphia soundman inadvertently records a murder. Former police t... read more read more...echnician Jack Terri (John Travolta) makes his living doing sound for slasher flicks. While recording new outdoor effects one night, Jack witnesses a couple's car careen off a bridge into a river, but he can save only the female occupant, Sally (Nancy Allen). Jack begins to suspect something when he learns that her dead companion was a Presidential hopeful. Re-playing his tape over and over, Jack thinks that he hears a gun shot before the crash-causing tire blow-out. When sleazy photographer Manny Karp (Dennis Franz) comes forward with photos of the accident, Jack discovers the real reason that the naïve Sally was in the car -- and also a way to prove his auditory suspicions through motion pictures. Even with all his surveillance talent, however, Jack cannot see (or hear) how dangerous the big picture really is until it's too late. Taking a break from horror films, De Palma turned his interests in technology and voyeurism toward more politically loaded subject matter at the dawn of the Reagan era; the film's red, white and blue mise-en-scène, "Liberty Day" celebration climax, and conspiracy surrounding political "dirty tricks" suggest that American politics are still rotten, seven years after Watergate. Although Blow Out earned some favorable notice, particularly for Travolta's first "adult" performance, De Palma's downbeat film did not go over well with 1981 summer audiences. Rather than blockbuster escapism, Blow Out instead harks back to 1970s political thrillers like The Parallax View (1974), using cinematic fireworks to tell an unsettling story about one man's struggle against unstoppable corruption. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

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76% liked it

9,591 ratings

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90% liked it

41 critics

R, 1 hr. 47 min.

Directed by: Brian DePalma

Release Date: January 1, 1981

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DVD Release Date: August 28, 2001

Stats: 679 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (679)

  • cosmo313
    May 6, 2012
    cosmo313
    Mixing together Antonioni's Blow-Up and Coppola's The Converation with a bit of (restrained) Argento-esque giallo, Blow Out is Brian De Palma's moody suspenseful political thriller about an average guy caught up in a web of danger following the aftermath of a car crash.

    Jack Ter... read morery is a soundman who works for low-budget slasher/nudie films. one night, as he is out recording sounds for the latest film he's working on, he records a car crah that turns out to be a murder. Thigns get complicated since the victim happens to be a presidential candidate and the lady that was with him (who Jack saves) was there for scandalous reasons. In the aftermath, Jack struggles to bring the truth to light as other seems bound and determined to cover up the situation and eliminate all people and evidence that might bring the unsavoroy elements to light.

    This is a tight, moody, and well made thriller. There's lots of twists and turns, but it's pretty easy to follow. Besides taking influence from Nixonian-era America and the Ted Kennedy car crash incident, this film is also an absorbing look at a technical side of film art that doesn't get enough credit (sound engineering).

    Being a De Palma film, there's some of his trademark style and cinematographic hallmarks present, but the film is more restrained than it could have been..and I liked that. It's a good mix of art and exploitation, and it looks and sounds fantastic. Oh yeah, and the performances are great too. Travolta does a wonderful job as the obsessed and troubled Jack, and Nancy Allen is terrific as Sally, the woman Jack saves from the crash. Her scene in the hospital when she's woozy and confused is superb and just a delight to watch. The real force to be reckoned with here though has to be John Lithgow as the "fixer" type of character. Think of Anton Chigurh to a degree, though dialed down just a tad. It's a creepy and nuanced performance, even if there's not much dept hto the character.

    This is one of De Palma's stand out films, even if it's not the most original. It's entertaining, well made, and even give you some food for thought. In the end, that's hardly something to complain about, even if the script could have been touched up in places.
  • fb1664868775
    March 25, 2012
    fb1664868775
    DePalma's most well executed tribute to the master of suspense (Alfred Hitchcock), this film features outstanding set pieces, standout performances from Lithgow, Travolta and Franz and maybe the best use of sound design to build tension.
  • fb1341085175
    November 2, 2011
    fb1341085175
    Whatever happened to one of the most interesting efants terribles of the American Nouvelle Vague? Having had the chance of watching this and "Carrie" on the big screen, one can marvel at his impressive domain over framing, colour, sound and movement to create twisted cinematograp... read morehic symphonies. While DePalma might have sold his art to the industry, at least he found a worthy successor in the form of Quentin Tarantino.
  • lewiskendell
    September 18, 2011
    lewiskendell
    Blow Out is a pretty decent thriller from the early 80's staring John Travolta. Travolta plays a movie sound effects technician who accidentally records the assassination of a governor, and has to expose the truth while protecting himself and another witness from the people who d... read moreon't want the conspiracy uncovered.

    The best parts of the movie were some pretty cool camera angles, a nice sense of tension - courtesy of writer and director Brian De Palma, and a chilling performance from John Lithgow as a disturbed killer. If you were surprised by his murderous turn as a serial killer on the TV show Dexter a few years ago, this movie will show you that he's been good at playing that kind of a character for quite a while.

    Fans of De Palma, conspiracy films, or John Travolta would be doing themselves a favor by checking this out.
  • cancercapricorn2002
    September 12, 2011
    cancercapricorn2002
    Jack Terry is a movie soundman in Philadelphia out recording sounds one night when he witnesses a car crash into a creek. He jumps in and pulls out a young woman, but the driver of the car - a powerful senator - drowns. Jack is approached by the authorities to keep quiet, but whe... read moren he listens to his tape he is convinced the crash was not an accident but an assassination. Can he unravel the mystery before the killer comes calling on him? One of the most brilliant and overlooked political thrillers ever made, this is a fabulous movie featuring a dynamic career-best performance by John Travolta who sadly almost disappeared into obscurity afterwards until Pulp Fiction thirteen years later. It's very hard to play a complex lead in a densely-plotted thriller and yet somehow he manages to be exciting, tender, funny and guilt-ridden, all the while holding the story-threads together. Allen is fun as the dopey call-girl, Franz hits a new high in his sleazebag roles for DePalma (he doesn't even stop talking when he goes to the bathroom), and Lithgow is truly chilling as the Gordon Liddy-styled hard-as-nails killer with the coolest garrotte in cinema. The problem I have with most political thrillers is that they're all talk and no action (The Parallax View, The China Syndrome) - they may be credible but they're dull; Blow Out gets its balance of plot-twists, social commentary and hair-raising moments exactly right. It contains everything you could want to know about Nixon-era political tricks (wire-taps, surveillance, police coverups, etc), but it also has some seriously scary stalking scenes, a giddy chase through a Liberty Day parade and an amusing subplot about dubbing a horror flick. It combines DePalma's love of style and technique (split-screen, montages, complex shots, slow-motion) with his love of film engineering and technology, as Jack makes an animated film of the crash from newspaper stills and dubs his soundtrack onto them using lovely old moviolas and analogue tape machines. There's an extraordinary shot at one point when Jack finds all his tapes have been erased and the camera spins slowly around his studio, literally dizzying us with the bewildering conspiracy surrounding him. Vilmos Zsigmond's photography is stunning throughout and Pino Donaggio's lush score is haunting and poignant. The one criticism that could possibly be levelled against this movie is that it cribs from many sources, notably Rashomon, Vertigo, and Blowup (explicit in the title), and the premise is a variation on the infamous 1969 Chappaquiddick incident (senator Ted Kennedy crashed his car into a sea-channel and escaped but his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned). But DePalma's script is as perfectly manicured as his visuals, and has lots of good ideas of its own; Lithgow's trick of murdering two other women prior to Allen to make her death look like the work of a serial killer is a brilliant twist, and one that's been used in many subsequent thrillers. And the usual protest against DePalma's work - that he has no interest in character and directs clinically - is usually unjustified, but particularly so here - Jack is a nice guy with a guilty conscience and Travolta imbues him with energy, warmth, humor and tragic pathos. This movie is everything a good thriller should be and, along with William Richert's equally low-profile Winter Kills, is the touchstone American political conspiracy movie.
  • stevenecarrier
    July 24, 2011
    stevenecarrier
    I don't like Brian De Palma. What frustrates me about his work is that he is very clearly a craftsman, but his pictures are all so unruly; they always seem to lack a narrative focus that undermines his stylish, directorial flourishes. When you are making a thriller it's important... read more to have a steady hand over the films structure, making it feel engaging without being contrived- something de Palma has trouble doing. With that said, "Blow Out" is probably his best work since it ends up being the most cohesive. His vision for the film comes through much clearer than his other pictures. While I can't consider this anything too original since it's essentially a hodge-podge of various filmic tropes and endless homages to Alfred Hitchcock, "Blow Out" is occasionally intriguing. I appreciate the fact that everything you are seeing on screen is being called into question due to the sneaky opening sequence. John Travolta's performance is just too 'everyman' to be compelling (which he rarely ever is) and Nancy Allen is as annoying as ever (de Palma's obsession with her is so odd). What ultimately makes "Blow Out" worth seeing is the cinematography by the great Vilmos Zsigmond (the shot composition is extraordinary at times) and the use of sound in both the actual film and it's narrative is mesmerizing. If you like Brian De Palma, and many of you do, this will be much more rewarding, but for the casual viewer it's a pretty harmless diversion.

    On a side note, many compare "Blow Out" to Frances Ford Coppola's "The Conversation." I think the comparison is unavoidable but Coppola's film is clearly superior because he has a much steadier hand over the world he creates. Coppola knows when and where to properly place events and when story and performance trump flashy camera work.
  • DrZeek
    May 21, 2011
    DrZeek
    Jack Terry: Jesus, that's terrible.
    Mixer: That's a terrible scream. Jack, what cat did you have to strangle to get that?
    Jack Terry: The one you hired. That's her scream.
    Mixer: You mean you didn't dub that?
  • ythelastman89
    March 22, 2011
    ythelastman89
    Not only is this my absolute favorite Brian De Palma movie, it's just one of my favorite movies period. It has essentially everything you could want or need in a suspense/thriller. The premise is really fun to pick apart and it has a limitless re-watchable factor to it. I think i... read moret's a real departure from the Hitchcock style De Palma got labeled as possessing. I love how they integrate the political scandal on top of the murder; it makes the plot even more unique and the right kind of DePalma bizarre that I love. It is by far one of the best shot movies of the time and I would say it's the culmination of every neat little trick you can accomplish in film. All of the signature De Palma elements are present: Split-Screen, Perspective Shots and some of the best looking Dolly Shots he's ever done. I just love the way this movie feels, it's entertaining and smart; the best of both worlds.
    The way the plot moves along and the world that we are exposed to is done is such a great way. It's hard to think of a more well-paced thriller. Maybe it's the fact that the concept is such a goldmine of opportunity; the sound clip becomes so addictive and I feel like it's just as effective every time I watch it. It sort've does what The Conversation did, making you so wrapped up and invested that you can't turn away.
    I would definitely say that it is my favorite performance by John Travolta, period. He is simply amazing, just a really great choice for a protagonist because he gets more moody and on edge as the film progresses, much like the viewer. When you factor in that he was just coming off of happy-go-lucky projects like Grease and Saturday Night Fever, this is quite the turn around. I also think it's one of Nancy Allen's best roles next to Dressed To Kill, but then again she's never bad. You've also got the very zany and menacing John Lithgow lurking around every corner. All these characters are pretty realistic for a genre film; never do they step out of reality.
    I think that this is probably one of the most underappreciated movies, I can't believe it continues to go unnoticed and thrown in a junk drawer as one of DePalma's lesser works and the movie that John Travolta did before Staying Alive. You'll never find movies like this being made anymore, it has to be one of the most innovative thriller genre films out there. It's kind of the reason I consider Brian De Palma to be a genius and the true heir to the Hitchcock throne. In fact, this one kind've set the bar for modern thrillers.
  • adammahler1
    August 14, 2010
    adammahler1
    and Travolta's best performance
  • FilmFanatik
    January 7, 2010
    FilmFanatik
    Fantastic thriller from one of the masters.

View All Blow Out Reviews

Critic Reviews

William Goss
April 30, 2011
William Goss, Film.com

Perfectly contrasts movies that reveal the truth against those which avoid it - a blood-drenched yet stake-free slasher vs. the far more insidious horrors of all-American living. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
March 27, 2009
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

This 1981 release is one of Brian De Palma's more interesting and better-made thrillers, though it's even more abjectly derivative than his Hitchcock imitations. Full Review

Variety Staff
March 26, 2009
Variety Staff, Variety

With attractive leads and a stylish flair for suspense, De Palma misses sustaining involvement by his distracting allusions to prior films. Full Review

Pauline Kael
May 28, 2008
Pauline Kael, New Yorker

It's a great movie. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A movie which continues [De Palma] practice of making cross-references to other movies, other directors, and actual historical events, and which nevertheless is his best and most original work. Full Review

Vincent Canby
August 30, 2004
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Blow Out is the work of a high-spirited, irrepressible director who takes the effects movies can produce far more seriously than he takes the characters they seem to be about. Full Review

Bryant Frazer
May 18, 2011
Bryant Frazer, Film Freak Central

If cynicism were a superhero franchise, Blow Out would be its origin story. Full Review

James Kendrick
May 2, 2011
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk

The final moments of Blow Out are among the most shocking and powerful of De Palma's oeuvre, tacking a final note of irony onto a story that is in every other way a straightforward denunciation of pow... Full Review

Sean Axmaker
May 1, 2011
Sean Axmaker, Parallax View

Blow Out integrates De Palma style with narrative urgency and thematic consistency better than any of his films. Full Review

Rob Nelson
August 20, 2009
Rob Nelson, City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

In the amazingly hyperbolic finale, DePalma conflates patriotism, dirty tricks, violence against women, and slasher movies into a single sick joke. Full Review

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Blow Out Trivia

  • He took a "blow" from Mrs. Brown, went to Notting Hill, made some Sense & Sensibility out of Ang Lee, and pondered the American Dreamz. Who is he?  Answer »
  • In Kevin Smith's first movie "Clerks" what do Randal and his girlfriend fall out over?  Answer »
  • Find the movie . "Danbury wasn't a prison, it was a crime school. I went in with a Bachelor of marijuana, came out with a Doctorate of cocaine."  Answer »
  • What television sitcom star played a mercenary killer on the trail of John Travolta in 'Blow Out'?  Answer »
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