Blow Out

Starring:John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz, Peter Boyden, Curt May, John Aquino, John McMartin, Deborah Everton, J. Patrick McNamara, Missy Cleveland, Roger Wilson, Lori-Nan Engler, Cindy Manion, Missy O'Shea, Marcy Bigelman, Ann Kelly (III), Dean Bennett (III), John Copolino Jr., Archie Lang
Director: Brian De Palma
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Brian De Palma's 1981 thriller is something of a homage to Michelangelo Antonioni's masterful Blowup, though there are hints of Francis Ford Coppola's paranoia-inducing Conversation sprinkled throughout. John Travolta plays a sound-effects man who witnesses what appears to be a tragic car accident killing a presidential candidate. The audio tape he happened to be recording at that moment (adding to his collection of natural sounds), however, suggests but doesn't prove that a murderous conspiracy is afoot. Trying to tease a shred of evidence from murky doubt, Travolta's character turns to a hooker (Nancy Allen) for help and stumbles into a web of evil spun by a right-wing kook (John Lithgow). De Palma's fetishistic fascination with obscured truth in a universe ruled by chance makes Blow Out one of his most operatic films. It's also perhaps one of his most revealing about the inherent decadence of creating verisimilitude for art. Sometimes knocked for its outrageous camera technique, Blow Out contains several exciting sequences that underscore De Palma's amped-up admiration for many of Hitchcock's best moves. --Tom Keogh

Description

John Travolta (Pulp Fiction, Face/Off) stars in this riveting mystery/thriller filledwith powerful performances, intense action and an "engrossing web of suspense and intrigue" (Blockbuster Entertainment Guide). Written and directed by master filmmaker Brian De Palma (Mission: Impossible), Blow Out is a heart-stopping adventure hailed by Rolling Stone as"an American moviemaking triumph!" Jack Terri (Travolta) is a talented audio technician who makes his living by recording unique sounds for horror movies. But when he accidentally tapes an automobile crash that kills a presidential candidate and injures his young mistress, Sally (Nancy Allen), Jack is hurled into a mystery far more terrifying than any of his films! Soon he and Sally mustfight to stay alive as they uncover an explosive political conspiracy that will send shockwaves to the highest levels of government.

Customer Reviews:

a very good movie,.......2007-03-05

very good screenplay. john travolta also performed well. part of this movie is just like gene hackman's 'converstation', both guy likes to listen to voices and noises. john travolta's recording habit in the 'blow out' was also sneakily copied a part in the funky 'save the last dance 2', a black young man also likes to record the sounds of the nature, but he used that stuff to win the heart of a white girl. what i like most of 'blow out' is the sound track. it played and appeared when it's necessary to be played and very appropriately portray the mood and emotion of john travolta's, the wonderful sound track was almost perfect, unlike my recent viewing experiences of the stupid 'astronaut farmer', 'the number 23', and the most recent 'wild hogs', their sound tracks were almost non-stop and absolutely unrelated to what's going on in the movies, they just played on and on, to get a full sound track album for the market, very inappropriate, stupid and annoying. i just wish that i could delete the sound tracks of these movies. i almost lost it in the theater when these stupid non-stop sound tracks (background music) played and played, drove me nuts!
this 'blow out' was about how a mysterious serial killer, 'liberty strangler', was tracked down by a young man who also fell in love with the young woman he saved at the beginning but lost her in the last moment. wonderful sound track simply synchronized the emotions and the mood of that young man. a wonderful viewing and listening experience on both account.

Political Murder Mystery.......2007-01-31

The film shows sound technician Jack Terry while his TV is showing political news about Governor McRyan at the Bellevue-Stratford hotel in Philadelphia (site of the 1976 American Legion convention). McRyan is the likely candidate for President. This sound man goes out at night to collect sounds for special effects. A shotgun mike, which is highly directional, can pick up distant sounds. When he hears tires squeal he picks up that sound. There is a sharp noise, and the car crashes. He dives into the water to rescue the woman in the back seat. At the hospital his objective testimony is questioned. The driver in the car was the late Governor McRyan! Lawrence Henry tells Terry to forget about it. The truth about the girl must be suppressed in the national interest. [Does this remind you of a Massachusetts Senator or a New York Governor?]

We see someone break into a garage and remove the tire with a bullet hole to replace it with another tire. Sally is a make-up girl at Korvettes. A local photographer happened to be filming at night and recorded the car crash. Frames are printed in a magazine (like the Zapruder film). Terry re-photographs the frames to create a movie film from the stills. Meeting with Sally, Terry tells about his past work with a commission investigating corruption. Something went wrong. Sally was paid to go away for a few months. There is a shocking event where a woman is attacked and killed on the street. Sally visits Manny at a cheap hotel, and we learn more about Manny. Back at the sound laboratory Terry is working on the audio tape to synchronize the sound to the film. There was a flash behind a fence that connects to the sharp noise. [Does this remind you of the 1977 Select Commission to Investigate Assassinations?]

When Jack Terry visits his police friend his story is considered a "conspiracy theory". But they will investigate. A telephone conversation reveals the hidden hands used to remove McRyan from politics. Back at his sound laboratory Terry finds his tapes have all been erased! (But this is no conspiracy.) Reporter Frank Donohue visits Terry to get information about his tape of the car crash. Later Terry learns that Sally worked to set up men for blackmail in divorce cases. Sally visits Manny and learns more about the deal. Terry's phone is wiretapped, and the secret operative Burke asks Sally to meet Frank Donohue and hand over the film and tape. [Why didn't they go to Donohue's office?] Terry wires Sally to record her conversation. [We see the spacious railroad stations in Philadelphia, so much better than the Penn Central station in NY.]

Terry realizes something is wrong, and tries to follow Sally. But they take a train to someplace. He drives through City Hall in pursuit of Sally, but crashes his car. Sally seems incredibly naive and trusting given her experiences. The fireworks distract people and the noise covers up screams. Terry sees the two and runs to stop Burke [a scene that reminded me of Hitchcock's "Psycho"]. Burke is stopped, but Sally expired. There are no witnesses. Sally's dying scream is used for dubbing a cheap porno/slasher movie. [There are problems with this story. What need is there for Burke to silence witnesses whose story can't be corroborated?] Nancy Allen and Dennis Franz did an excellent job portraying their characters. John Lithgow plays the creepy political operative. John Travolta plays a sound man whose most important work is in his past. Brian de Palma's writing and direction make this his best film.

Has great moments, but never capitalizes.......2006-08-27

The dense, complicated plot of Blow Out is hard to simplify. Basically, Jack Terry (Travolta) is a sound man for a seedy film company in Philadelphia. One night, while out in nature taping for effects, Jack witnesses the car crash of a vehicle carrying the man who was probably going to be the next President of the USA. The vehicle was also carrying Sally (Nancy Allen in a well-acted but annoying role) whom Jack saves by diving into the river and pulling out of the car. When listening back to his recording of the events, Jack realizes that this was no accident, and he sets out to unravel the conspiracy surrounding the blow out.

The movie never really takes off until Burke (John Lithgow) enters the picture. Burke is an evil, brutal hit man, who is willing to stop at nothing to eliminate all witnesses. Lithgow is great, but he just isn't in the film enough to pull it all off the ground. While the movie does have some great De Palma moments (the final chase scene, the train station sequence, the examination of the video/audio tapes) it unfortuately just never captured my attention the way most De Palmas do. I was never on edge, and I never found myself truly caring about the outcome. I think that the plot of Blow Out is one of De Palma's best written screenplays, but it just didn't have enough "De Palma moments" to make me say I loved the film. I did enjoy watching it, however, and would recommend it to any fan of De Palma.

Manipulative trash.......2006-07-22

I'm disgusted by DePalma. This is trash and so is he. It is too manipulative and it is completely his fault. He stretches out these horror scenes in the most manipulative way, as we watch Travolta fight his way through crowds to save the girl. This kind of manure (self censorship) angers me. This isn't art. It's garbage. His whole purpose is to manipulate us, to extend the horror scene in the most manipulative way. Don't you see how phony it is? Don't you resent how he is playing with your emotions? You call this art? You call this talent? You call this good directing? It's trash. He stinks. If he's trying to copy Hitchcock, he's not doing it right. Why not show us Travolta swimming through sharks trying to save the girl. I got it. How about Travolta pushing kindergarten kids out of the way trying to save the girl from a four year old strangler. And stretch the scene out, make it last through the whole milk and cookies period, as Travolta keeps pushing kids out of his way and the kids are merrily eating their Oreos and the girl is getting strangled. Eeek. That's a good scream. DePalma, you stink. What other stupid tricks can you do?

Political intrigue in Philadelphia.......2006-03-16

An excellent political thriller by Brian De Palma. John Travolta plays a movie sound-effects man who inadvertently records a gunshot, tire blow-out, and a car crashing into a creek off a bridge. He saves the girl (Nancy Allen) who was in the car, but another occupant, the governor of Pennsylvania and presidential candidate, drowns. It becomes obvious that the governor was being set up for blackmail, and now those involved want it covered up by getting rid of the witnesses.

The acting is superb and De Palma really builds up the tension to a riveting climax (which, after the fact, feels like a letdown because Travolta is able to get the man behind the conspiracy (John Lithgow - who is actually a CIA agent and the perfect foil for De Palma's obsession with conspiracy theories [echoes of Chappaquiddick and Dallas]), but the truth may never be revealed because evidence has been destroyed - and Allen is killed at the end. Filmed in Philadelphia, De Palma has a great feel for the city. Everything (mostly) works here; the movie is of a whole. (Although I have a personal problem with why two innocent women are killed by Lithgow; there seems to be no apparent reason for it.) It's an excellent movie, and there is much to mull over after it's done rolling.

Average customer rating:

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