Blow Out

( 4 )

Overview

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 technician 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 ...
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More About This Product

Overview

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 technician 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.
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  • Three Reasons: Blow Out
    Three Reasons: Blow Out  

Special Features

Disc one: ; New, restored digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Brian De Palma; Original theatrical trailer; Disc two:; New hour-long video interview with De Palma, conducted by filmmaker Noah Baumbach; New video interview with star Nancy Allen ; De Palma's 1967 feature Murder à la Mod ; New video interview with cameraman Garrett Brown on the Steadicam shots featured in the film within the film ; On-set photos by photographer Louis Goldman
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide
Blow Out is Brian DePalma's glossy send-up of Michelangelo Antonioni's 1960s art-house classic Blow-Up. In Blow-Up, a London fashion photographer unwittingly shoots footage of a murder plot; in Blow Out, a movie sound technician records a killing that's part of a wide-ranging political conspiracy. The intricate plot is typical of DePalma and has unmistakable parallels with Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation (1974), also a version of Blow-Up. The cast includes John Travolta in his first serious major role, as well as DePalma favorites John Lithgow and Nancy Allen, in her last memorable part. Blow Out has all of DePalma's flashy camera techniques but keeps the director's customary gratuitous violence under some control. Most critics thought it was one of his most successful and intriguing films, though it didn't do well at the box office.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 4/26/2011
  • UPC: 715515080118
  • Original Release: 1981

    • Rating:

  • Source: Criterion
  • Region Code: 1
  • Presentation: Special Edition / Wide Screen
  • Time: 1:48:00
  • Format: DVD

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
John Travolta Jack
Nancy Allen Sally
John Lithgow Burke
Dennis Franz Manny Karp
Peter Boyden Sam
Curt May Frank Donohue
John Aquino Detective
Ernest McClure Jim
Dean Bennett Campus Guard
Claire Carter Joan
Tim Choate Sailor
Amanda Cleveland Coed Lover
Maurice Copeland Jack Manners
Brian Corrigan Cop at Karp's Office
Terrence Currier Lawrence Henry
Tony Devon Sailor's Friend
Lori-Nan Engler Sue
Deborah Everton Hooker
John Hoffmeister George McRyan
James Jeter Film Lab Man
Archie Lang Mixer
Cindy Manion Dancing Coed
Tom McCarthy Policeman
Dick McGarvin TV Newscaster
John McMartin Lawrence Henry
J. Patrick McNamara Nelson
David Roberts Anchorman
Bud Seese Corrupt Captain
Robin Sherwood Screamer
Maureen Sullivan First Murder Victim
Roger Wilson Coed Lover
Technical Credits
Brian De Palma Director, Screenwriter
Fred Caruso Executive Producer, Production Manager
Pino Donaggio Score Composer
Paul Hirsch Editor
George Litto Producer
Joe Napolitano Asst. Director
Jeannine Oppewall Set Decoration/Design
Ann Roth Costumes/Costume Designer
Vicki Sanchez Costumes/Costume Designer
Paul Sylbert Production Designer
Jim Tannenbaum Sound Mixer
Vilmos Zsigmond Cinematographer
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Scene Index

Disc #1 -- The Criterion Collection: Blow Out - Disc One
1. Co-Ed Frenzy [5:47]
2. Personal Effects [3:45]
3. Blowout [4:35]
4. Emergency Room [7:24]
5. Playback [9:12]
6. Exclusive Photos [5:41]
7. Wired [9:21]
8. Liberty Bell Strangler [5:29]
9. Sync Point [9:55]
10. Erased [5:01]
11. Conspiracy [10:30]
12. Tapped [6:20]
13. Aproposition [5:52]
14. Being Followed [6:26]
15. Liberty Day Parade [7:25]
16. The Scream [5:08]
1. Color Bars
Disc #2 -- The Criterion Collection: Blow Out - Disc Two
1. Lyn: A Photobiography [4:50]
2. Screen Tests [6:42]
3. Karen: A Photobiography [5:41]
4. Christopher [10:50]
5. Chelsea National Bank [6:39]
6. Ondine Films, Inc. [6:46]
7. Time 3:32 [7:41]
8. Time 2:50 [14:19]
9. Time 2:00 [7:50]
10. Trick Pick [8:58]
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Menu

Disc #1 -- The Criterion Collection: Blow Out - Disc One
   Play the Movie
   Chapters
Disc #2 -- The Criterion Collection: Blow Out - Disc Two
   Noah Baumbach Interviews Brian De Palma
      Play
   Nancy Allen Interview
      Play
   Garrett Brown Interview
      Play
   Louis Goldman Photographs
   Murder à la Mod
      Play
      Index
   Theatrical Trailer
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 4 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(3)

4 Star

(1)

3 Star

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2 Star

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1 Star

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Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Brian De Palma’s most original and best work.

    Blow Out is a political conspiracy/ murder mystery. This is John Travolta at his finest, outside of Pulp Fiction. The most interesting thing about this movie is how Travolta’s character tries piecing all the evidence of this mystery together, just as he would if he were making a movie. If you want to see what, according to Quentin Tarantino, got John Travolta cast in Pulp Fiction, you have to check out this flick.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 14, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 18, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 1, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews