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Movies / On DVD / Blow Out
Blow Out

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Blow Out (1981)

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Reviews Counted:36

Fresh:32

Rotten:4

Average Rating:7.5/10

Consensus: With a story inspired by Antonioni's Blow Up and a style informed by the high-gloss suspense of Hitchcock, DePalma's Blow Out is raw, politically informed, and littered with film references.

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: While outdoors recording sound effects for a movie, audio technician Jack Terri hears a tire blowout and a car crash. Before the car sinks into the river, he manages to save the female passenger... While outdoors recording sound effects for a movie, audio technician Jack Terri hears a tire blowout and a car crash. Before the car sinks into the river, he manages to save the female passenger from drowning. Because the other passenger was a presidential candidate, Jack suspects that the "accident" was a political murder. Afterwards, Jack falls in love with Sally, the woman he rescued, and learns that she's been in cahoots with Manny, a sleazy photographer who's operating a blackmail scheme. As part of their scam, Manny photographs Sally with important men in what appear to be compromising situations. Jack starts to wonder whether he's being paranoid or whether things are not quite what they seem. Then the assassin turns his attention to Jack and Sally, and Jack has to use every special effects trick in the book to keep them both alive. [More]

Starring: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz

Starring: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz, Peter Boyden, John McMartin

Director: Brian De Palma

Director: Brian De Palma
Producer: George Litto
Composer: Pino Donaggio

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Aug 28, 2001

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Blow Out

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1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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Much less successful than it could and should have been.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
08/28/01
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

No review available.

comment Comment
01/07/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
11/26/02
Josh Gilchrist
Josh Gilchrist
Billings Outpost (Montana)

Underrated by just about everyone except Quentin Tarantino.

Full Review Source: Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus

There are some neat performances, particularly Travolta's convincing bid to be taken seriously after years of being dismissed as frivolous beefcake.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
03/27/09
Channel 4 Film

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 Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
03/27/09
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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 Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | comment Comment
08/20/09
Rob Nelson
Rob Nelson
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

No review available.

comment Comment
01/20/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Of all De Palma's movies, Blow Out is the one I most like to see over and over.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
10/06/04
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

A triumph of both style and substance.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

the filmmakers seem more concerned with their art or their in-jokes than with satisfying an audience

comment Comment
07/21/06
Douglas Pratt
Douglas Pratt
DVDLaser

No review available.

comment Comment
08/01/02
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

De Palma didn't just study the masters; he obviously adored 'em.

comment Comment
07/25/02
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
07/24/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

A forgotten gem.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
03/27/09
Mark Dinning
Mark Dinning
Empire Magazine

A well-crafted Hitchcockian-style thriller with De Palma again in top form. It's a mystery why this fizzled at the box office in the summer of 1981.

comment Comment
01/24/06
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

No review available.

comment Comment
08/01/02
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

One of Brian De Palma's best pictures.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
01/06/02
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews

Intriguing DePalma thriller

comment Comment
10/17/02
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette
 
 
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