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Blow Out

1981

Directed by Brian De Palma

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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John Travolta Nancy Allen John Lithgow Dennis Franz Peter Boyden John Aquino John McMartin Deborah Everton J. Patrick McNamara Roger Wilson Missy Cleveland Curt May Lori-Nan Engler Barbara Sigel David De Felice Roberto Lombardi Missy Crutchfield Cindy Manion Marcy Bigelman Ann Kelly Dean Bennett John Coppolino Jr. Archie Lang Dave Roberts Claire Carter Maurice Copeland John Hoffmeister Thomas J. McCarthy Reginald M. Wallace Show All…

Alternative Titles

Estallido Mortal, Прокoл, Пуцањ није брисан, Ο Δολοφόνος του Μεσονυκτίου, Impacto, Blow Out - Der Tod löscht alle Spuren, Blow Out - Viimeinen todistaja, 凶线, Blow Out - Explosão, Прокол, Halál a hídon, Výstřel, Døden sletter alle spor, Vittnet måste tystas, התפוצצות, Ο Δολοφόνος του Μεσονυχτίου, Wybuch, Expulzarea, Изстрелът, Um Tiro na Noite, ミッドナイトクロス, Výbuch, Patlama, 凶線, 필사의 추적, Éclatement, Bằng Chứng Âm Thanh, Impacte, บรรจงฆ่า... ไม่ธรรมดา

Genres

Thriller Mystery Crime

Themes

Thrillers and murder mysteries Suspenseful crime thrillers Intriguing and suspenseful murder mysteries Twisted dark psychological thriller Noir and dark crime dramas Intense political and terrorist thrillers Show All…

Premiere

07 Jul 1981

USAR New York City

01 Oct 1982

Spain Sitges Film Festival

Theatrical

24 Jul 1981

USAR

24 Sep 1981

Netherlands12

22 Oct 1981

Brazil18

06 Nov 1981

Sweden15

26 Dec 1981

Denmark15

04 Feb 1982

AustraliaM

11 Feb 1982

Hong KongII

17 Feb 1982

France12

19 Mar 1982

FinlandK-16

20 Mar 1982

JapanPG-12

07 Apr 1982

Norway15

14 Apr 1982

ItalyVM14

30 Apr 1982

PortugalM/16

07 May 1982

Germany16

22 Sep 1982

Colombia

04 Mar 1983

Uruguay

23 Feb 1984

MexicoB

07 Jun 2000

France

Physical

28 Aug 2001

Canada18A

24 Dec 2003

Brazil18

21 May 2007

Greece

27 Mar 2012

Netherlands12

TV

31 May 2003

Netherlands12

Australia

04 Feb 1982

TheatricalM

Brazil

22 Oct 1981

Theatrical18

24 Dec 2003

Physical18 Fox Home mj.gov.br

Canada

28 Aug 2001

Physical18A DVD

Colombia

22 Sep 1982

Theatrical

Denmark

26 Dec 1981

Theatrical15

Finland

19 Mar 1982

TheatricalK-16

France

17 Feb 1982

Theatrical12

07 Jun 2000

Theatrical Re-release

Germany

07 May 1982

Theatrical16 West Germany

Greece

21 May 2007

Physical DVD

Hong Kong

11 Feb 1982

TheatricalII

Italy

14 Apr 1982

TheatricalVM14

Japan

20 Mar 1982

TheatricalPG-12

Mexico

23 Feb 1984

TheatricalB

Netherlands

24 Sep 1981

Theatrical12

31 May 2003

TV12 V8

27 Mar 2012

Physical12 DVD

Norway

07 Apr 1982

Theatrical15

Portugal

30 Apr 1982

TheatricalM/16

Spain

01 Oct 1982

Premiere Sitges Film Festival

Sweden

06 Nov 1981

Theatrical15

USA

07 Jul 1981

PremiereR New York City

24 Jul 1981

TheatricalR

Uruguay

04 Mar 1983

Theatrical

108 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Josh Lewis ★★★★★ 4

"Now that's a scream."
I've seen this one countless times and though De Palma has a number of masterpieces this is the one that's always felt like it summarizes and symbolizes his entire filmography. His love of/playful use of pulp and B-moviemaking (voyeur-horror, slashers, Giallo black-gloved misogynist murderers, etc), his basically plagiarized Hitchcockian visual grammar/obsession (especially in the suspense-sequencing and doomed murder-mystery/self-critical or confessional romance), the meta-angle of the love of analog craftsmanship + the filmmaker's responsibility to this powerful illusion they serve (not dissimilar from the way a cover-up functions), and of course the radical, angry political paranoia that cropped up in some of his early student and eventual war films.
Taking his obvious inspirations (namely Blow Up and…
Review by Will Menaker ★★★★ 22

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

People love to talk about this movie as a movie about making movies and how it synthesizes "Blow Up" (photos) and "The Conversation" (audio) for a movie about a guy threading sound together with a moving image to create movie magic, but De Palma adds another crucial layer as this film is really about dealing with actresses, or at least how they are seen by the male director. Here, Nancy Allen is the prototypical leading lady, she gets cast in Travolta's movie, and at first he falls for her and wants to love her, but eventually he realizes she's just a dumb whore and goes from cajoling her to barking orders at her to make her hit her marks, remember her lines. Eventually, he gets her killed and moves on to make more movies, taking from her the only useful thing to him: her death rattle. Pretty dark!
Review by Patrick Willems ★★★★½ 5

Holy shit this is a god damn movie right here
Review by Karsten ★★★★★

that’s how you do it!!!
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 12

The works of Brian De Palma are cinema's comfort food, and Blow Out is the tastiest of all. Plus, it has John Travolta, and an ending for the ages.
Review by comrade_yui ★★★★★ 4

love how de palma has the entire opening scene of this devoted just to making fun of john carpenter for no reason other than spite
Review by nickusen 4

the whole time you’re watching this you’re thinking, “is this the best movie of all time???”
Review by sydney ★★★★★ 2

Pornography for analog fetishists, paranoid voyeurs, mentally unbalanced Americans.
Review by Neil Bahadur ★★★★ 7

"I know what I heard and I saw, and I'm not gonna stop until everyone in this fucking country hears and sees the same thing."
To believe that the above statement, as far as social repetition is concerned, is an anomaly, is probably untrue. But in America at the least, it's never worked. The moment where De Palma develops into Hollywood's preeminent political filmmaker, a total cut above his contemporaries, making a film on the seeming impossibility of social change in America, and on the failure of his own generation.
The sequences of Travolta using both sound and film technology to determine whether or not there was a shot or not remains absolutely thrilling, but what's striking to me at…
Review by brendan o'hare ★★★★ 1

Travolta is so good and the ending is incredible. Once again very different than Rataouille
Review by demi adejuyigbe ★★★★½ 12

hahahahahahaha holy shit
Review by Sethsreviews ★★★★★ 17

An instant, INSTANT all time favourite. A meticulously crafted dark mystery that never lacks suspense nor excitement. Beautifully shot, seamlessly edited and wonderfully acted. De Palma’s use of split diopter shots is absurdly good. Arguably a landmark in cinematic paranoia, political cynicism and the use of sound. Looking forward to rewatching!

Where to watch

Blow Out

Synopsis

Murder has a sound all of its own.

Cast

Director Director

Producer Producer

Writers Writers

Casting Casting

Editor Editor

Cinematography Cinematography

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Executive Producer Exec. Producer

Lighting Lighting

Camera Operator Camera Operator

Production Design Production Design

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Special Effects Special Effects

Stunts Stunts

Composer Composer

Sound Sound

Costume Design Costume Design

Makeup Makeup

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Studios

Country

Language

Alternative Titles

Genres

Themes

Premiere

07 Jul 1981

01 Oct 1982

Theatrical

24 Jul 1981

24 Sep 1981

22 Oct 1981

06 Nov 1981

26 Dec 1981

04 Feb 1982

11 Feb 1982

17 Feb 1982

19 Mar 1982

20 Mar 1982

07 Apr 1982

14 Apr 1982

30 Apr 1982

07 May 1982

22 Sep 1982

04 Mar 1983

23 Feb 1984

07 Jun 2000

Physical

28 Aug 2001

24 Dec 2003

21 May 2007

27 Mar 2012

TV

31 May 2003

Australia

04 Feb 1982

Brazil

22 Oct 1981

24 Dec 2003

Canada

28 Aug 2001

Colombia

22 Sep 1982

Denmark

26 Dec 1981

Finland

19 Mar 1982

France

17 Feb 1982

07 Jun 2000

Germany

07 May 1982

Greece

21 May 2007

Hong Kong

Director

Producer

Writers

Casting

Editor

Cinematography

Assistant Directors

Executive Producer

Lighting

Camera Operator

Production Design

Set Decoration

Special Effects

Stunts

Composer

Sound

Costume Design

Makeup

Hairstyling