Blow Out (1981)

How can I fill this review with enough words to satisfy IMDB yet not repeating the same words, i.e. rubbish, ridiculous music, poor acting, stereotypical characters, etc. I wonder if Travolta regrets making it? I wonder who wrote the musical score? And how many violins did they use? How are we supposed to believe that Travolta's character can be so dumb? Why was the dumb blonde so dumb? Are women offended by the portrayal of such dumb blonde characters? I give up. I can't write any more other than to warn people about wasting their time getting even the slightest bit interested in this film. It's just not worth it. Travolta, this was made a couple of years after Grease and a couple before Staying Alive, so I guess your career was on a downward path at that time. Even so, you should've known what a rubbish it was. How it gets a 7.4 rating now baffles me.

I love Brian De Palma and have been meaning to watch this film for a long time. Body Double is probably my favorite De Palma of all time but really all of his films are just so special. Here we get a young John Travolta, Nancy Allen, and a murderous John Lithgow. The billing is already great, you just need De Palma to do a De Palma and really make this film special. The film was very good. It's not my favorite from De Palma but is definitely top five from what I've seen.The film is about a sound effects technician (very good at what he does) who is looking to get authentic sounds for sleazy horror movies that he works on. One night while outdoors he witnesses a car accident. In turn he meets a beautiful woman, who he soon falls for. It turns out that the car accident was actually staged and the conspiracy involved runs deep. The pair get mixed up in a political cover-up that becomes murderous. What we get is a wonderfully crafted noir thriller that is really purely entertaining.The film is reminiscent of other things De Palma. We get a voyeuristic tendency (one that can be seen in both Dressed to Kill and Body Double). There's a giant conspiracy where all is not what it seems with twists and turns, much like the aforementioned Body Double and the Fury. The film features De Palma's love for tracking shots and his complexly set up scenes for kills. And to top it all off; a heart wrenching beautiful score to go along with it. The film is smartly acted and is thrilling, despite being influenced by other films. I thought of The Conversation throughout large portions of the film. Also, like many other films there is a strong Hitchcock influence.Wonderful story telling, strongly acted characters, menacing villains, and gorgeous shots and sound design. It's De Palma at his peak. I wouldn't be surprised if this ranks a top of many people's De Palma list. I still like Body Double the best but if you are a De Palma fan then this is really a must see. Now time to check out the once lost Murder a la Mod to continue the madness.8/10

I watched "Blow out", then I felt grate in three points.First, it is last was good. When I saw that Jack made a film and put scream into the film, I didn't know why he put scream into the film. However, in the last scram, Jack put Sally's scream into the film. This makes us sad and painful.Second, it is music. When the atmosphere , I felt feelings by music.Also, I found similarity with the films of Hitchcock. Maybe, Jack was a police and he failed when he was a politics, so he regretted that. In Vertigo, Scottie is the same situation and has guilty. I wondered Jack also has guilty.Third, I become sad at the last scene. At last, fireworks rise and the love of Jack and Sally are pictured on a large scale. I moved this scene very much.

"Blow Out" is rightly regarded as John Travolta's best acting performance. Normally he coasts through his movies on his charm and charisma, whether playing a straight arrow or a psychopath. He's always effective but usually rather one-note. In "Blow Out", however, we see a far greater range than even his fans probably thought possible.The film is not De Palma's greatest thriller, however. I believe that honour belongs to "Dressed to Kill", made the year before. Whereas Travolta fires on all cylinders, the movie itself fails to generate tension in some key areas, namely a car/train chase through a parade in broad daylight. The music, which includes one of Pino Donaggio's most memorable scores, seems designed to generate yearning, but there is nothing for the main character to yearn for until the very end. Thus it is at odds with some of the action: the car case, specifically.Aside from this we also get a typically top notch performance from John Lithgow as a killer. De Palma, however, seems curiously muted; there are his usual touches such as split screen and extreme close ups of faces on the left of the frame as they listen to action shown on the right, farther away but still in the same shot. It just doesn't generate the same tension we know he was capable of.Perhaps he had to keep a distance to get the best out of Travolta.