Éclatement

I was blown away by Brian DePalma's "Blow Out" (1981), the Real American Classic from the 80th. Yes, of course, De Palma pays homage to both, "Blow Up" and "Conversation" but "Blow Out" is a vintage DePalma at his best, in his glory and brilliance. The story is great, packed with twists and turns and also lets us peek once again as in Body Double" at the B-movies making process. John Travolta is Jack Terri, a sound technician who rescues a girl (Nancy Allen) from a car that crashes into a river after a blow out. The man who drove the car did not survive and he happened to be the next presidential candidate. Jack soon realizes that it was not just a blow out but a murder, and he's got an evidence to prove it, the tape that he made on the bridge while recording the background noises for the movie. As good as the story is, it does not forget its characters, and they are memorable and multi-dimensional. The actors are terrific. It was the time when John Travolta was both cute without being smug and compelling. Nancy Allen as Sally, was sweet and heartbreaking, Dennis Franz's character, Manny Karp, the petty blackmailer who got more than he bargained for was fun to watch, and John Lithgow made such a chilling villain that Anthony Hopkins could've learned something from him. I did not even start on Vilmos Zsigmond's camera work. Only one word comes to mind - mesmerizing. The final chase sequence on the streets of Philadelphia during the celebration of the ringing of the Liberty Bell is as well staged and shut and as exiting as the similar climatic chase on Mount Rushmore in Hitchcock's "North By Northwest". The movie is perfectly balanced by the last scene and the hilarious opening scene mirroring each other but this time the scream is different. It IS a good scream that came from the streets of Philadelphia.

If you liked F/X, you'll probably like Blow Out and vice versa because both films involve a person who uses their craft to solve a highly corrupt case of murder.

While F/X's Rollie Tyler was a special effects engineer, our hero in Blow Out is a sound technician who must piece together parts of a sound recording (along with some other vital information from other sources along the way) to solve the murder of the gubernatorial candidate, a death which the police have written off as a homocide. Travolta employs Nancy Allen's help, a rather dumb prostitute who was in the car with the victim when their car ran off the bridge, but who is the only survivor and essential key to unlocking the mystery. They are dealing with a very relentless killer who will stop at nothing to make sure the trail of evidence leading to him is eliminated.

It is a typical DePalma movie in that it is done with many Hitchcock elements (they didn't call him the master of suspense for nothing) and also that he works with movies-in-a-movie (see 'Body Double' and 'Dressed to Kill'). It is an enjoyable crime and mystery movie in the days when John Travolta movies were still fun to watch.

In 1981, Brian De Palma released what might be considered his "best" thriller to date. The "Slasher" genre was at full blossom, and the conspiracy driven, psychological thrillers of the 1970s were slowly declining in terms of popularity.

"Blow Out" stars John Travolta as Jack, a sound engineer for an independent movie picture, that discovers what first appears to be a tragic car-accident - is in fact a murder. Sally, who is rescued from the wreck by the protagonist (Travolta) himself stays as his counterpart though out the movie. Jack must set the story straight, and prove the police wrong.

De Palma is known for his themes of guilt, paranoia and obsession which work as essential parts for the character development in "Blow Out". It's a hell of ride from start to finish, and one can truly state that Brian De Palma is a master of suspense.

The acting of John Travolta is superb and convincing, and I dare to say that it's his best role to date. I was a bit skeptical to Nancy Allen at first, but her naive character grew on me over the course of the film, and might actually be one of the things that makes this film so great; that is believable character development without the often sudden change of identity.

Blow out is stylish, and both the directing of De Palma and cinematography of Vilmos Zsigmond is highly impressive. From beautifully shot scenes in the vein of Francis Ford Coppola to the drastic suspense of Hitchcock, De Palma uses all the best tricks in the book.

"Blow Out" is non-stop suspense thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The last 15 minutes finale is quite extraordinary. The atmosphere, mood and cinematography are all close perfect. It truly is Brian De Palma's forgotten masterpiece.

Many consider "Blow Out" to be the highlight of Brian De Palma's career, but to be honest I was pretty underwhelmed. It starts of great though. De Palma gets to show of his amazing knack for style in a brilliant opening scene that provides a hilarious pastiche on the slasher genre. The faux-sleazy look, the clever winks at genre classics, the genuine suspense even though you know it's a movie-within-a-movie, it's genius at work. There are more of those beautiful stylistic touches spread throughout the movie (the fireworks during the climax would be an obvious example), but the plot is just contrived and the final act demands more than a little suspension of disbelief. And while John Travolta puts in a strong lead performance, obligatory damsel in distress Nancy Allen never really manages to make her character likable so you don't really care whether she lives or dies. That's why the obvious Hitchcock influence isn't as effective as it could have been, Hitchcock gave us characters we deeply cared about and then did awful things to them. Sally is no Marion Crane to say the least, making it more difficult to stay interested in her story. "Blow Out" looks fantastic, but doesn't go very far beyond that.

John Travolta is a sound engineer out in the woods during the dead of night trying to record some woods type noises for the latest film he's working on when he sees an accident in which a state governor is killed, a potential presidential candidate. He also records the distinct sound of a gunshot before the car went off a bridge and into a creek at night. Travolta also dives into the creek and rescues Nancy Allen, but is unable to save the male in the car. He finds out later about his VIP status.

Director Brian DePalma obviously used a twist on the tragedy at Chappaquiddick as the basis for Blow Out. The title comes from the official police investigation where they say the car had a blowout which caused the accident, but Travolta insists on his version. And his sticking to the story is making a lot of people uncomfortable.

Travolta does a nice job in a film role that a generation or two earlier James Stewart might have done, the average every man who gets heroic status thrust upon him. He's an ordinary man, but he wants the truth to come out.

Look also for some good performances by Dennis Franz as a sleazy photographer and John Lithgow as a very thorough killer who really loves his job. He not only wants to hide his murder in a forest, he plants his own forest so to speak.

Brian DePalma keeps the tension moving at all times in a manner worthy of Hitchcock. It was a good part for John Travolta, one of the last he would get acclaim for for some time.