Murder has a sound all of its own.
While recording sound effects for a slasher flick, Jack Terry stumbles upon a real-life horror: a car careening off a bridge and into a river. Jack jumps into the water and fishes out Sally from the car, but the other passenger is already dead — a governor intending to run for president. As Jack does some investigating of his tapes, and starts a perilous romance with Sally, he enters a tangled web of conspiracy that might leave him dead.
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Character
Grave, meticulous, plot-driven and spare.
- gravecomic
- rawmeticulous
- character-ledplot-driven
- sparerichly built
- classical in formformally daring
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“Is this Brian De Palma's best work?”
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“Is the polish hiding a lack of heart?”
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“Is John Travolta the best thing in Blow Out?”
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- Wuchakon TMDB · Jun 20216/10
_**Colorful De Palma crime mystery with Travolta and Lithgow**_ A sound effects man in Philadelphia (John Travolta) obtains evidence that a fatal accident involving the governor wasn’t really an accident, which thrusts him into danger with shady characters. John Lithgow, Dennis Franz and Nancy Allen are all somehow involved in the nefarious conspiracy. Written & directed by Brian De Palma, "Blow Out” (1981) is a crime drama/thriller whose colors, artistic style, cast and Philadelphia locations make it worthwhile. It’s similar to Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” (1974) but more dynamic. Allen plays a ditzy character, yet is alluring and enjoyable, while Travolta is in his prime. Meanwhile Lithgow makes for a great shady character. I loved the colorful, well-staged sequence under the Henry Avenue Bridge, but started to lose interest in the second half for some reason. The storytelling became increasingly contrived. Nevertheless, respectable critics rave about this flick. The film runs around 1 hour, 48 minutes, and was shot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; with additional stuff done in New York City and Burbank, California. GRADE: B-
Read the whole review on TMDB - John Chardon TMDB · Jan 20158.5/10
Superior entry on De Palma's CV. Brian De Palma has always gotten a bad rap for his penchant for essaying his heroes and favourite thrillers, what often gets forgotten is just how great he could be in crafting said thrillers. Blow Out has John Travolta as a sound engineer for low budget horror movies, who while out recording sounds one night witnesses a car crash and dives into the river to rescue the call girl trapped in the back seat (Nancy Allen). Upon listening back to the footage of the crash, he hears two noises which point to a gun shot being fired at the car. So with the dead man in the car turning out to be a big political mover, he quickly finds himself spun into a web of intrigue, peril, paranoia and conspiracies. Can he and the girl stay alive long enough to solve the case? Blow Out finds De Palma at the top of his game, blending the twisty plot dynamics with virtuoso technical smarts. A number of scenes are striking, both visually and in execution and the garnering of acting performances. Pino Donaggio provides an unforgettable music score to marry up to the layers of sub-plots folding together, and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond sharpens the primary colours (pic is a
Read the whole review on TMDB - JPV852on TMDB · Sep 20229/10
This is one I've watched a few times over the years and it's still great with each viewing. John Travolta and Nancy Allen give great performances and although it's not one of these thrill-a-minute films, it still maintains the suspense throughout. It's one of the gems for Brian De Palma. **4.5/5**
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Cast
- John TravoltaJack Terry
- Nancy AllenSally Badina
- John LithgowBurke
- Dennis FranzManny Karp
- Peter BoydenSam
- John AquinoDet. Mackey
- John McMartinLawrence Henry
- Deborah EvertonHooker
- J. Patrick McNamaraDetective at Hospital
- Roger WilsonCoed Lover
Crew
- Brian De PalmaDirector
- Brian De PalmaWriter
- Bill Mesce Jr.Writer
- Vilmos ZsigmondDirector of Photography
- Pino DonaggioOriginal Music Composer
- Paul HirschEditor
- George LittoProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
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Nightfall 195678% alikeClose across the board.
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The Invisible Man 193374% alikeBoth meticulous.
Over the Alps 202080% alikeGame · Both grave.
The Twilight Zone 195978% alikeTelevision · Both grave, meticulous, plot-driven.
Often watched with
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