Alan Smithee Esq. Brian DePalma is an acclaimed director and rightfully so ("Scarface" anyone?) But this seems to be a forgotten classic. This is such a great film. The direction is immaculate, the performances are amazing and the story will keep you guessing. It's like taking a classic Alfred Hitchock premise but mixing it with a heavy dose of the '80's (in a good way). John Travolta's best dramatic role ever.

hirotohirotogackt This movie has various camera-work. At the early scene, for example, it seemed that camera was character's eyes by moving it forward. There was also camera work which turn it. I am familiar with them because I think that they are particular to recent films. For these things, I was easy to watch this film. At this time, I like a character of Burk because I tend to prefer strange person and he is curious man for me. I think that the actor is also good. He does not hesitate to kill the targets and irrelevant people. I associate Burk with my favorite movie, "the Terminator". Above all, I was surprised to that Sally was eventually killed by Burk. Terry has had a sad past that his associate had been murdered on duty. So I thought that Terry would be able to save Sally in this time, but it was not true. He has lost his friend again.(I should regard her as his girlfriend.) I was interested in that the audiences have not be able to look beyond the story. This film is suspense and love story. Also, it is included sad music. My favorite scene is last one. I was so moved by it. I felt that it was the sadness and beauty. I will never forget that scene. As a result, I think this film is a masterpiece.

avik-basu1889 Based on all the Brian De Palma films I have seen as of now, I have no problem is stating that 'Blow Out' is my absolute favorite among them. De Palma's technical prowess has never been in doubt and it is again on show in this tightly paced conspiracy thriller, but he also adds layers to the screenplay through his visual choices and the protagonist Jack Terry played by John Travolta has the kind of depth and humanity that I couldn't find in some of his other films.While talking about the themes of the film, one has to make a comparative analysis because the nature of the film lends itself to such an approach. The connection to Antonioni's 'Blow Up' is unmissable if someone watches both the films. Both films are about a person unearthing a truth through their technical expertise, a truth that could somewhat go unnoticed by a layman. However De Palma is in no way trying to bring in an element of abstract existentialism that is a big part of 'Blow Up'. I think 'Blow Out' is also influenced by Hitchcock's 'Vertigo'. De Palma uses the colours of Red, White and Blue in a very meaningful and thematically poignant way just like Hitchcock did with the colours red and green in 'Vertigo'. As a matter of fact the shot of Manny's apartment room engulfed by the red neon light was very reminiscent of Judy's apartment in 'Vertigo' which had the green neon light coming in from outside. 'Blow Out' also shares with 'Vertigo' the Orpheus-esque theme of a character hurt by something in the past intentionally going through a similar incident again which breaks him permanently. 'Blow Out' can be compared with Coppola's 'The Conversation'(which was also tangentially influenced by 'Blow Up') because both films involve a character whose past trauma has led them to resort to something else for spiritual respite. For Jack Terry in 'Blow Out' it is the B- movie industry, while for Harry Caul in 'The Conversation', it is religion. However Jack isn't as psychologically broken and introverted as Harry was.Apart from everything that I mentioned, one can't forget that this is a political conspiracy film. The film was made at a time when USA was ready to move on after enduring the traumatic incidents that marked the 70s like Vietnam and Watergate by electing Ronald Reagan. De Palma at a political climate like this coming out with a film of this sort, must have tried to claim that this is nothing but a false sunrise and in the end, the film and the political deviousness that is depicted in 'Blow Out' turned out to be prescient. I think 'Blow Out' is also a bit of a love letter to all the grind-house sleazy exploitation films of the 1970s. The film opens with a scene which makes fun of these kind of films including De Palma's own films which did at times go overboard with the sleaziness. But over the course of the film and especially with the beautiful ending De Palma conveys that no matter how technically inept and thematically vapid these exploitation films may be, they still will always carry the filmmakers' blood, sweat and tears. There will still be something personal in these films too.The screenplay for the most part works. But there are a few sloppy elements here and there like exposition through television news reels and I also thought the climactic set-piece of the film gets a little too overblown. However the mild shortcomings of the screenplay get completely outweighed by De Palma's technical mastery. We get split screens, split diopter shots, tracking shots,etc. like all other De Palma films. There is a particular scene where De Palma uses the 360 degree shot and the camera revolves in a circular motion over and over again and it brilliantly expresses the paranoia of Jack in the scene.This might be Travolta's best role of his career. He is brilliant with the nuance as well as the gradual sense of paranoia that engulfs him. He fully realises the character and endures the psychological journey that the character of Jack goes through in a convincing way. Nancy Allen is very sweet and likable as Sally, although it can be said that at times, the character becomes a bit too dumb. John Lithgow is also brilliant as the psychotic Burke.I will end this review by saying that although I made a very thematic analysis of the film, simultaneously I also have to drive home the fact that 'Blow Out' is not just a thematically poignant, but also a very entertaining and funny film. It has something for everyone. Highly recommended.

jadavix "Blow Out" is rightly regarded as John Travolta's best acting performance. Normally he coasts through his movies on his charm and charisma, whether playing a straight arrow or a psychopath. He's always effective but usually rather one-note. In "Blow Out", however, we see a far greater range than even his fans probably thought possible.The film is not De Palma's greatest thriller, however. I believe that honour belongs to "Dressed to Kill", made the year before. Whereas Travolta fires on all cylinders, the movie itself fails to generate tension in some key areas, namely a car/train chase through a parade in broad daylight. The music, which includes one of Pino Donaggio's most memorable scores, seems designed to generate yearning, but there is nothing for the main character to yearn for until the very end. Thus it is at odds with some of the action: the car case, specifically.Aside from this we also get a typically top notch performance from John Lithgow as a killer. De Palma, however, seems curiously muted; there are his usual touches such as split screen and extreme close ups of faces on the left of the frame as they listen to action shown on the right, farther away but still in the same shot. It just doesn't generate the same tension we know he was capable of.Perhaps he had to keep a distance to get the best out of Travolta.