Out of the Blue

R

Released Jun 1, 1981

1 hr. 34 min.

Drama

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List

95%

39 Reviews

Tomatometer

80%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Dennis Hopper directed and stars in "Out of the Blue" -- the spiritual sequel to his own "Easy Rider", chronicling the collapse of sixties idealism into the nihilistic haze of the 1980s. Don Barnes (Hopper) is a truck driver in prison for drunkenly smashing his rig into a school bus. Linda Manz ("Days of Heaven") plays CeBe, his daughter, a young teen rebel and outsider obsessed with Elvis and the Sex Pistols. Her mother Kathy, (Sharon Farrell) waitresses, shoots up drugs and takes refuge in the arms of other men, including her husband's best friend, Charlie (Don Gordon). CeBe runs away to Vancouver's punk scene and ends up on juvenile probation under the care of well-meaning psychiatrist Dr. Brean (Raymond Burr). After Don's release, the family struggles to re-connect and start over before the revelation of dark secrets leads to a harrowing conclusion.

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Critics Consensus

Led by Linda Manz's outstanding performance, Out of the Blue confronts the darker side of human nature with a baleful, clear-eyed stare.

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Crawford H

Dark for no one's sake

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/05/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Why would any one watch this

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

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Audience Member

According to Roger Ebert, when Out of the Blue "premiered at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival, it caused a considerable sensation, and Linda Manz was mentioned as a front-runner for the best actress award. But back in North America, the film's Canadian backers had difficulties in making a distribution deal, and the film slipped through the cracks." What a shame. One of only seven movies directed by Hopper — there's also Colors, Chasers, Catchfire, The Hot Spot, Easy Rider and The Last Movie — this time in the director's chair wasn't planned. Originally hired just to act, the film nearly was canceled when he asked for the opportunity to rewrite it over a weekend. What a joy. Out of the Blue isn't about Hopper's character — an alcoholic truck driver who kills a bus full of children in an accident that's repeated numerous times, growing more violent with each remembrance — but it's about his daughter, played by Manz, who is full of bile toward everyone and everything, loving only Elvis, her father and punk rock. Hopper considered this movie a follow-up to Easy Rider and tells what would have likely happened to the characters from that film ten years later. And it really is ten years (actually eleven) later, a time past the New Hollywood, as Hopper was just struggling to re-enter the world of acting after getting noticed all over again in Apocalypse Now. After this movie, Hopper would pull off one of his most out there moments — and that's saying something — blowing himself up in a coffin using 17 sticks of dynamite during an "art happening" at the Rice University Media Center before disappearing into the Mexican desert and finally entering drug rehabilitation. After Rumble Fish, The Osterman Weekend and Blue Velvet, Hopper finally was accepted back. At this point, he was still lost in the wilderness but making astounding art while there. Linda Manz is all punk rock swagger, even if she isn't sure what it all means. And the ending is violent and pointless and exactly how it should all end. Along the way, you get great performances from Sharon Farrell and Raymond Burr to compliment Manz and Hopper. Man, this movie. Working from the original 35mm negative restored by Discovery in 2010, John Alan Simon and Elizabeth Karr's Discovery Productions undertook the digital scan and mastering of Out of the Blue to premiere as an official selection at the Venice Film Festival in 2019, preserving Hopper's landmark film to make it available to new audiences. Not that many saw it in the past. Luckily, John Alan Simon, then a film critic/journalist, rescued the film from the shelf, secured distribution rights and took it on the road with Dennis Hopper back in 1982 to art house theaters across the U.S. including a 17-week record-breaking run at the Coolidge Corner Cinema in Boston and then NYC and Los Angeles theatrical releases. "It's incredibly important to us that Out of the Blue be preserved for future generations to experience its emotional impact and as the artistic achievement that helped re-establish Dennis Hopper as an important American director," commented Elizabeth Karr on behalf of Discovery Productions. "For me, this restoration project was pay-back for all I learned from Dennis Hopper when we originally took Out of the Blue on the road in 1982 after I rescued it from the shelf. He was an amazing artist and friend and Out of the Blue remains as unforgettable as he was and serves as an indelible tribute to the talents of Linda Manz," John Alan Simon from Discovery Productions concluded.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

william k

Dark, realistic drama with excellent performances, especially Linda Manz'; and using Neil Young's My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) to great effect.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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delysid d

an OK film from dennis hopper about a punk girl who takes revenge on her crappy family sort of an indie vibe

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/24/19

Full Review

scott m

Tough to describe this film. A teenage girl who worships Elvis and is looking forward to her father getting out of prison. Ends rather dramatically.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Dennis Hopper

Director

Linda Manz

Cebe

Dennis Hopper

Don

Sharon Farrell

Kathy

Don Gordon

Charlie

Raymond Burr

Dr. Brean

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Out of the Blue: 4K Restoration Trailer

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Josh Kupecki

Austin Chronicle

As anthropology, Out of the Blue is engrossing; as a social document, it is essential; but as undiluted raw power, it is absolute. No filter.

Mar 29, 2022

Full Review

Melissa Anderson

4Columns

Dennis Hopper made the film while still in the depths of his various addictions, yet the dark shambolic energy that both radiates from the actor and suffuses every minute of Out of the Blue never once overwhelms Linda Manz.

Nov 19, 2021

Full Review

Alexander Walker

London Evening Standard

[An] unspeakable, unbearable and virtually unreviewable movie...

Nov 7, 2021

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Cindy Patton

Gay Community News (Boston)

This is not a hopeful film, nor is it nihilistic. Whether you like it or not, the film acknowledges the need to make personal responses in the face of the inadequacy of social solutions.

Aug 19, 2022

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Sean Burns

WBUR’s Arts & Culture

A masterpiece of alienation returns in all its ragged, unseemly glory.

May 20, 2022

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Betsy Sherman

Arts Fuse

Out of the Blue remains a stunner.

May 12, 2022

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Synopsis

Dennis Hopper directed and stars in "Out of the Blue" -- the spiritual sequel to his own "Easy Rider", chronicling the collapse of sixties idealism into the nihilistic haze of the 1980s. Don Barnes (Hopper) is a truck driver in prison for drunkenly smashing his rig into a school bus. Linda Manz ("Days of Heaven") plays CeBe, his daughter, a young teen rebel and outsider obsessed with Elvis and the Sex Pistols. Her mother Kathy, (Sharon Farrell) waitresses, shoots up drugs and takes refuge in the arms of other men, including her husband's best friend, Charlie (Don Gordon). CeBe runs away to Vancouver's punk scene and ends up on juvenile probation under the care of well-meaning psychiatrist Dr. Brean (Raymond Burr). After Don's release, the family struggles to re-connect and start over before the revelation of dark secrets leads to a harrowing conclusion.

Director: Dennis Hopper
Executive Producer: Paul Lewis
Screenwriter: Leonard Yakir, Brenda Nielson, Leonard Yakir, Brenda Nielson
Distributor: Discovery Films
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 1, 1981, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Nov 17, 2021
Release Date (DVD): Aug 21, 2003