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Blow Out

Play trailer Poster for 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.
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Blow Out

Blow Out

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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.

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Critics Reviews

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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 The 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 Alan Jones Radio Times Nothing is what it seems in a paranoid mystery that's overflowing with De Palma's trademark high style and cinematic technique right up until the knockout, downbeat ending. Rated: 4/5 Jul 2, 2025 Full Review Noah Berlatsky Splice Today In Blow Out, the beauty of the movie, as perhaps the beauty of life, is in its failures. Feb 27, 2025 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 Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Rami A "Blow Out" is easily director Brian De Palma's masterpiece. Here is a film that showcases all of his talents combined. It's got it all from excellent writing, camera work, editing, music, cinematography, pacing, and most importantly, the performances of John Trovolta and Nancy Allen. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/29/25 Full Review To F Está sencilla, pero llena de intriga. Las actuaciones son fascinantes, un joven Travolta que le queda perfecto el papel y que se siente la tensión en cada paso que da. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/09/25 Full Review Alain E It starts well and progresses with measure. Once it starts approaching the conclusion the story comes off the rails and loses any connection to reality. Travolta’s character drives his vehicle at top speed in the middle of a parade without hitting anyone. Then, after he wakes up from his concussion, he can immediately pick up the wire from the girl he was following. Unfortunately, he arrives too late to save her, but on time to kill the bad guy. He finally though, gets on tape a good scream to use in the soundtrack of the B movie he is working on. Happy sad end! Good cinematography and appropriate music. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 08/30/25 Full Review Benjamin H Masterfully directed by Brian De Palma and led by two amazing performances by John Travolta and Nancy Allen, Blow Out is a stylistic, suspenseful and visually arresting masterpiece that oozes Hitchcockian and provides a story and characters that are both compelling and faceted. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/23/25 Full Review thiago s Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são mais ou menos, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom Rated 1 out of 5 stars 08/17/25 Full Review Luke B Its a story about a guy that's into conspiracies and he drags a girl into the end of her life. Its a sad story about trust, love and finally tragic ending for the girl. She believed him and that ultimately cost her her life. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/10/25 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Brian De Palma

Director

John Travolta

Jack Terry

Nancy Allen

Sally

John Lithgow

Burke

Dennis Franz

Manny Karp

Peter Boyden

Sam

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Blow Out

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Movie Info

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
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