Rate It
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Rating Averages
My Friends |
Not rated. () |
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All Flixster |
(1981) |
728 |
4154 |
Female |
(559) |
206 |
1173 |
Male |
(1422) |
522 |
2981 |
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Plot: A soundman accidentally records the evidence that proves a car "accident" was murder, and consequently finds himself in danger.
Meet Other Fans
Recent Reviews
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MCT:September 25, 2008Another classic from De Palma.. Brilliant performance by John Revolting.. Some classic De Palma trademarks throughout.. Unforgettable performance by Lithgow!!
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MCT:September 17, 2008
A wild conspiracy thriller has a lot of fun moments and a sloppy looking Travolta is pretty good in it. Contains plenty of nifty camerawork and tense situation but really gets nonsensical toward the finale.
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MCT:August 17, 2008
Travolta has never been better. this is one of the better DePalma films- touching on themes he would revisit in later work.
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MCT:August 2, 2008
Nobody can build a thrilling scene like Brian De Palma. He creates an incredible mix of photography, music and editing, that builds unbelievable tension. At the beginning of his career, critics claimed he didn't do much more than rip-off Hitchcock. (If you're going to steal from someone, you might as well steal from the best.) If you take Hitchcock's perfect sense of terror, add in a dash of over-the-top violence and sex, you get a good De Palma film. He was at the top of his game in the late 70's, early 80's, creating such classics as Carrie, Dressed to Kill and Scarface. In the middle of these films, he directed Blow Out, a film that never received the sort of attention these others did. After seeing it for the first time, I understand why.
A very young John Travolta, plays a sound engineer for a low-budget horror producer. He's out one night recording ambient sound effects, when he witnesses a car crash over a bridge. He jumps into the river, saving a girl from the back of the limo. Dying in the accident, was a senator, who had ambitions to become president. Soon Travolta is contacted by the secret service, and told to keep the girl's involvement under wraps. He begins to dig into what really happened. Through his sound recordings and photos taken of the accident he begins to unravel a much larger conspiracy.
Helping him along the way is the girl, a prostitute, played by De Palma go-to girl, Nancy Allen. She feels guilty for the senator's death, she thought it was a simple blackmail job, her partner, played as greasily as possibly by Dennis Franz, was to take photos of them together in compromising positions, nothing more. Unknown to them, a killer is chasing her; a professional hit-man, John Lithgow with a maniacal glint. He takes a bit too much pleasure in killing, more a serial killer than a pro, is on their tracks to wipe out any evidence linking her to the truth about the murder. The best scene in the film is when it all comes to a head during a 4th of July celebration in downtown Philadelphia. It's a classically built bit of De Palma suspense.
The rest of the film doesn't live up to the ending, and Blow Out is certainly one of the lesser De Palma films, especially when he was at the height of his skills. It's not a total waste, it has a couple of well built scenes, I can think of no other film-maker that will show you the same scene multiple times, from a few different angles, so on each viewing you learn something more about what really happened. It's a fascinating skill, but there are better uses of it, in better films.
Originally written for: What I Watched Last Night -
MCT:June 8, 2008
I loved Travolta in this movie, i wish he played more roles like this 1. Nancy Allen surprised me 2 i didnt realize it was her til late in the movie. A real good movie
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MCT:May 29, 2008
It is very interesting, but lacks a little more suspense and perhaps a little more action, rest is good Except for the performances by John Lithgow
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MCT:April 20, 2008
This is more than just a good Travolta flic so don't be put off by it's seemingly b-grad appearance. I think that is part of it's appeal.
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MCT:April 17, 2008
Great movie. Don't know if I could stomach it today, but loved it when it came out. Lithgow is riveting.
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MCT:March 18, 2008
A mixture between Coppola's The conversation and Antonioni's Blow up, Brian De Palma weaves a compelling thriller, with a surprisingly good performance by a young John Travolta. Pino Donaggio's score and De Palma's stylish camera work really make the film a worthy experience. devastating ending, shocking and full of dark humour.
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MCT:March 12, 2008
Good thriller with cliff hanger of an ending.One of John Travolta's early films - with great performances from him,Nancy Allen and John Lithgow.
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MCT:December 1, 2007
A great one with Nancy Allen. Saw this long ago and remember it as being quite a thriller. Recommended.
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MCT:November 16, 2007One of my all time favorites. Dark and dramatic, and political without being boring. This is by far my favorite Travolta movie. Lithgow is wonderful--he plays the villain so well.
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MCT:October 30, 2007Extrait de l'élément déclencheur et des 20 dernières minutes du film vues en classe. Sincèrement, ça me semble vraiment mauvais, bien que la fin ait un petit côté inhabituel. Travolta, le héros incontesté, m'a tout de même semblé crédible.
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MCT:October 28, 2007not very good, but I really love the ending, and I don't mind that it's knocking off Antonioni because I don't really like him much
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MCT:August 19, 2007As much as I hate to give up on a film before I finish it, Blow Out was so utterly uninvolving that I shut it off after an hour. If a movie hasn't hooked me after that long, then I am pretty sure it never will.
Travolta's good and all, but his character is completely boring - a cipher, a mere placeholder. The only important aspect of him is that he's a sound engineer because that propels the plot forward. Nancy Allen is repugnant. Try listening to her talk for longer than two minutes. None of the other characters are at all interesting.
Blow Out did have some good ideas, but something just didn't stick with me, I guess. Don't take my word for this one; give it your own viewing. You might get something more of it. -
MCT:August 7, 2007
Another example of De Palma trying to be Hitchcock: it doesn't turn out as badly as Dressed to Kill or The Fury; it's more along the lines of Body Double. Travolta is OK and the story keeps your interest for most of the time. Good interesting premise too.
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MCT:August 5, 2007
favorite DePalma film. Travoltas best performance and John Lithgow is super creepy here. Great script.
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MCT:July 29, 2007
I liked it, it was like Blow Up with out all of the creepy 70's English filmaking. Pretty good murder conspiracy movie.
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MCT:July 21, 2007Although of my favorite genre - the political conspiracy thriller - this film falls short with a slow build-up and no pay-off.
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MCT:July 9, 2007
This is one of John Travolta's least seen films, and that is a pity because (outside of the later Pulp Fiction), it is his best. Tremendous pacing by director Brian DePalma, this thriller about a B-movie sound effects man who accidentally records a murder while out looking for sounds is a masterpiece. Taut, thrilling, fascinating, and unpredictable, BLOW OUT is one of the most underrated films of all time. You can't take your eyes off it.
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MCT:June 3, 2007
I saw this way back when we first got hooked to cable and really enjoyed it... John Travolta, Nancy Allen and John Lithgow are excellent in their respective roles with Dennis Franz co-starring.
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MCT:May 29, 2007Some GREAT dialogue delivered by John Travolta & Nancy Allen! An eerie plot served up in Brian De Palma's always sensory- and psychotically-driven style. SO worth it man!
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MCT:May 16, 2007
A Perfect Film. Travolta's Best Performance. DePalma's direction is incredible. Also the best film ending of all time. Heartbreaking.
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MCT:April 19, 2007
Somewhat of a remake of The Conversation, as well as Blowup, and Hitchcock films, but stands alone as a great film.
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