Truly the worst movie I've ever seen in a theater

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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.

One of the best political thrillers and one of Brian de Palma's best films, Blow Out features John Travolta in top notch performance as a sound engineer for an independent film making company in Philadelphia which specializes in cheesy soft-porn/slasher films: while out recording night sounds on a creekside for his audio library he sees a car plunge into the water and dives in to save the female passenger but too late to save the male driver, who turns out to be a leading candidate for the US presidency. Later, he realizes from the sounds he recorded that the blow out which caused the accident was caused by a gunshot, something which understandably the powers that be don't want known.Nancy Allen's deliberately flighty performance as the rescued woman provides a perfect foil to Travolta's solidness, and the convoluted plot unfolds through both obvious and subtle allusions to historical events (Chappaquiddick, Dallas) and classic cinema (the title's resemblance to Blow Up is not accidental, and the scenes of mayhem in public venues like a large train station or a patriotic fireworks display where the crowds have no idea what's happening are very Hitchcockian.) Rated R for elements which don't seem all that shocking today. An extremely interesting film. The Criterion special edition DVD is as good as you would expect.

Another solid and stylish thriller from director Brian De Palma, who once again weaves his magic technically with lots of split screen effects, cool use of slow motion and excellent photography. This is a typically well-crafted movie, taut with plenty of suspense, twists and turns and one which keeps you guessing up until the finale as to the final outcome. All of the elements that made early Brian De Palma films successful are present, from the presence of regular performers Nancy Allen and Dennis Franz filling out roles to the flashy, overblown visuals and excellent command of action (check out Travolta's impromptu jeep chase across town, which wreaks havoc, for an example of the master at work). Although not as darkly horrific as De Palma's previous DRESSED TO KILL, BLOW OUT still contains a number of non-explicit but grisly murders that'll have you shifting in your chair, and the top-notch finale involves more woman-in-peril thrills to great effect.The leading role is taken by a young and handsome John Travolta, still riding high after the success of Saturday NIGHT FEVER. Travolta - although never one of my favourite actors, I have to admit - plays his part well and comes across as a dependable heroic character, with none of the overacting that plague more recent parts for the actor. Nancy Allen plays a rather grating ditzy female character who gets caught up in the action yet somehow manages to make herself likable rather than irritating whilst Dennis Franz has a small but fine part as a real slimeball. Kudos to John Lithgow for creating such a memorable character, one of the best in De Palma's filmography. BLOW OUT is a fine example of the thriller genre at its most successful and the unusual plot - in which sound effects are the key - works to its advantage, making it a movie to seek out and watch.

Nineteen Eighty-One was an unusually good year for actors in leading roles (look at my number of nominees) but sadly, some of the best weren't even nominated. For example, my choice for Best Actor, John Travolta gave arguably his best performance in Brian De Palma's great film noir thriller Blow Out. Travolta took the role because he had wanted a film that would focus on his acting rather than on his sex appeal. So, he re-teamed with De Palma, who had previously directed him in Carrie, and was even paired with the same co-star, Nancy Allen.In Blow Out, Travolta plays Jack Terri, a skilled soundman who works on the fringes of the film industry providing sound effects for bad horror movies. This is the best work he can get because long ago, he worked for the police, wiring undercover officers for sting operations until one of his wire taps malfunctioned and got a man killed. Now, he puts his skills to work in the arena of Z-Grade slasher flicks – the kind where sorority girls dance naked in their dorm rooms while a mad slasher stalks them with a butcher knife.His destiny changes one night when he is out recording sounds for a movie. Standing on a foot bridge, near a road he witnesses a car have a blow out and careen through a guardrail and into the lake. He dives in to save the passengers and finds two people in the car, one is a man who is already dead and the other is a woman that he pulls to safety. Later, in the hospital, the police aggressively question him about the incident but they seem less interested in his facts than in pushing him toward the story they want him to tell. A government official tells him that the man in the car was a highly respected presidential candidate and the girl was part of a plot to blackmail him (comparisons to Chappaquiddick are inevitable).Jack is told to keep quiet about the story and forget about the girl. He is warned that exposing the true facts about the accident would embarrass the man's family, but Jack suspects that a cover up may be at work. He meets the girl that he rescued, named Sally (Nancy Allen), a sweet but none-too-bright floozy and suspects that someone may try to kill her.Despite advice to let the case go, Jack becomes obsessed, playing his tape over and over and thinks he hears a gunshot right before the crucial blow out. Later a sleazy photographer named Manny (Dennis Franz) comes forward with photographs that end up in Newsweek and, in a great scene, Jack cuts the photos out of the magazine and makes them into a flip-book that he films one frame at a time then adds his audio track over it. What develops is a perfect home movie (reminiscent of the Zapruder film) that clearly shows gunfire coming from the bushes on the other side of the road. He also comes to realize that the reason that Sally was in the car was due to a bizarre blackmail scheme.The story, however, is much larger than Jack realizes. There are forces at work to keep Jack's tape from reaching the news. The worst is a slimy clean-up man named Burke (John Lithgow) who is killing prostitutes all over Philadelphia to plant hysteria over a serial killer in order to have a convenient cover when he eliminates Sally. Jack knows she is in danger but knows nothing about Burke, who has broken into his recording studio and erased all of his tapes but fortunately missed the crucial tape that Jack had hidden in the ceiling panel.Jack meets a journalist who agrees to meet with him at a secret location to get the tape – the only copy that he still has. Unfortunately, their conversation is overheard by Burke who has tapped Jack's phone. What happens next I must leave for you to discover except to say that the films third act is borne out of the story, out of the events that have come before and never feel forced or tacked on.What Travolta creates in Jack Terri is a classic film noir hero, a guy who gets into a situation way over his head, tries to protect a doomed woman and won't take the good advice to leave well enough alone. Jack tries again and again to do the right thing, to correct an injustice but there are forces at work that want to prevent him from breaking the conspiracy. Buried under that urgency is, Jack's determination to keep from repeating his past mistakes. Years before, he failed to save an officer when his wire tap failed. Now, he tries to prevent Sally from falling into the same trap.There's an effective moodiness to Travolta's performance, he isn't totally likable, but he isn't off-putting either. He is a guy haunted by personal demons and the urgency to do the right thing. He thinks that he is onto a simple cover-up, but discovers too late that the real story is larger than he had thought. His final moment is absolutely perfect, as he has finally found the perfect scream for his film, a scream that comes from real life. This expert sound man covers his ears and can listen no more.