Blow Out

Play trailer

Blow Out

R

Released Jul 24, 1981

1h 48m

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

59 Reviews

81%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

While recording sound effects for a slasher flick, Jack Terri (John Travolta) 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 (Nancy Allen) 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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics 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.

Read Critics Reviews

Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

It’s the death of the ‘60s and ‘70s that haunts Blow Out and has arguably inflated its reputation among those incapable of recognizing anything good in, say, The Fury.

Sep 9, 2022

Full Review

Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

A horror movie, a paranoid political drama and a serial killer flick all at once.

Rated: 5/5

May 21, 2021

Full Review

Bruce McCabe

Boston Globe

It's a Xerox of a movie that's nowhere near as indelible as the originals it purports to emulate.

Apr 27, 2018

Full Review

Brian Susbielles

InSession Film

Blow Out is among the top movies about moviemaking because it uses sound so cleverly and as the driving force to investigating what happened and the danger the lurks for his snooping.

Feb 14, 2023

Full Review

Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

…Blow Out is now considered one of the all-time greats because it’s so deeply, unremittingly dark in what it observes about human nature, and what’s remarkable is how De Palma uses the film-making technique to uncover that weakness in the human soul…

Rated: 5/5

Dec 2, 2022

Full Review

Nick Rogers

Midwest Film Journal

Brian De Palma has always explored the ear-piercing effects of American violence on the decibel meter, never more overtly and rarely more expertly than he does here.

Rated: 4.5/5

Nov 11, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

JOEY B

Fascinating how the movie is directed around sound. An all time great John Travolta performance.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/02/25

Full Review

Jonathan O

Really thrilling conspiracy suspense film with two original cast members from 1976 Carrie returns including some of the crew from Carrie and Dressed to Kill and what Brain De Palma did really fantastic filmmaker he shows the magic of sound and editing and the secrets of cinema and really great cinematography and editing and the writing is good but the last act felt like "oh is that it" either that is really great thriller.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

12/11/24

Full Review

Fer S

Great movie with a so so ending...

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/02/24

Full Review

Mason M

Blow Out is a great twisty thriller, often lit by beautiful blue and red lighting and an amazing performance by John Travolta. It mostly comes together in it's amazing, intense, and heartbreaking finale. It also does a good job showing an often overlooked part of filmmaking, sound design.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/08/24

Full Review

Mark M

Great Cast. Interesting Story.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/29/24

Full Review

Sams K

Iconic. John Travolta shows how good he really is here. A mix of strong feelings.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/23/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Brian De Palma

Director

John Travolta

Jack Terry

Nancy Allen

Sally

John Lithgow

Burke

Dennis Franz

Manny Karp

Peter Boyden

Sam

Dressed to Kill

83%

74%

Dressed to Kill

Watchlist

What's the Matter With Helen?

55%

40%

What's the Matter With Helen?

Watchlist

Body Double

79%

65%

Body Double

Watchlist

The Formula

22%

23%

The Formula

Watchlist

Eye of the Needle

85%

76%

Eye of the Needle

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

While recording sound effects for a slasher flick, Jack Terri (John Travolta) 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 (Nancy Allen) 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.

Director: Brian De Palma
Producer: George Litto
Screenwriter: Brian De Palma
Production Co: Filmways Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 24, 1981, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 1, 2017
Runtime: 1h 48m
Sound Mix: Surround

Most Popular at Home Now