Blow Out (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Blow Out was a pleasant surprise. After watching Carrie and Scarface, I really enjoyed De Palma's style and blind buy this film. The reviews were positive and worth of mouth was enthusiastic. After watching it, I have to say that Blow Out has become my favorite De Palma film (so far) and one of the best thrillers ever made. When a B-movie sound recorder is requested to record new sounds, he goes out and start recording. While he is there, a car is going through a bridge and suddenly its tire explodes and the car goes down to the river. The sound recorder goes to the river and rescues a girl. When they go to the hospital, he discovers that she was with an important candidate to the presidency. He died in the accident and the police advises him to forget the girl and forget about this whole thing. When he is hearing the recordings he hears a gun and is convinced that this was no accident. He contacts the girl and together they tried to uncover the mystery while avoiding a killer who is behind all this complot. Blow Out is a very well constructed film that elevates the tension in every scene. John Travolta and Nancy Allen are great in the lead roles and John Lithgow is superb as the murderous conspirator. The movie is also fascinating as it uses the mechanics of filmmaking to uncover the complot. Many scenes are memorable especially the 4th of July scene which is amazingly well staged. The final scene is unexpected and shocking at the same time, you'll never guess what happens. Blow Out is a great movie that will maintain you at the edge of your seat all the time. Video & Audio Blow Out comes to BD courtesy of Criterion and the results are amazing. Detail is strong, contrast is sharp and color reproduction is well done. I didn't notice any signs of print damage, aliasing, edge enhacement or any other anomaly. Even better, a fine layer of grain has been maintained and there are no signs of DNR. A spectacular transfer. The 2.0 DTS-HD MA is also great with astounding clarity and no signs of hiss. Dialogue is always clear as are the effects and the music. Bonus Features There is plenty of bonus material in this set that is sure to delight all fans: The best one is an hour long interview with Brian De Palma by Noah Baumbach. It deals with the production of Blow Out and De Palma shares some light about some decisions in certain scenes, casting choices and more. It's a must see feature. Then you have newly recorded interviews with cameraman and steady cam creator Garret Brown and actress Nancy Allen. Both are very enlightening. Then you have a still photographs gallery by Louis Goldman. One of the best features is De Palma's experimental second film Murder a la Mod, it is presented in full HD and deserves at least one viewing. Last you have the original theatrical trailer. A booklet is also included that features a new essay by critic Michael Sragow and the great original interview by Pauline Kael. Closing Thoughts Blow Out was a very pleasant susprise and one of the best thrillers I've seen. It keeps you interested and has a likeable cast that you care about. This Criterion BD set is amazing as well with terrific picture and sound and lots of great bonus material. Highly Recommended for lovers of suspense and good movies in general.

Blow Out Directed by Brian De Palma Starring John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow and Dennis Franz Criterion | 1981 | 108 min | Rated R | Released Apr 26, 2011 Video: Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video resolution: 1080p Aspect ratio: 2.40:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Subtitles: English SDH Disc: Single 50GB Blu-ray Disc Jack Terry (Travolta) is a sound-effects man who works on B-movies for a Philadelphia-based studio. One night, he decides to go out to record some new effects. He captures the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, a frog croaking, an owl hooting and a couple's conversation. They mention that someone is watching them from a nearby bridge. Jack inadvertently records a car accident and a gunshot heard before it veers off the road into a creek. He runs over and leaps into the water, pulling a woman from the car, but too late to save the man she is with. The woman, Sally (Allen), survives the accident with no apparent injuries. The dead man turns out to be Governor McRyan, a potential presidential candidate. The police write the crash off as an accident, but Jack knows what he heard and reconstructs the scene in his mind by listening to his recording. We find out that someone caught the crash on film and sold it to various publications. Jack matches the images to the sounds and is certain the crash was caused by a bullet hitting a tire. None of the authorities seem interested so he seeks Sally's help to prove his theory. De Palma builds suspense throughout and a plot to discredit the Governor is gradually revealed. Sally was working for Manny (Franz), a private eye, and they have a history of using her to ruin people's public images with the help of a henchman known as Burke (Lithgow). Burke has an agenda of his own and exceeds his authority. Nobody wants to admit that McRyan had a woman in the car and a full cover-up is set in motion. Burke is out to tie up any loose ends and silence the potential threat from Jack and Sally. De Palma brings to mind Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow Up as well as a number of Alfred Hitchcock's movies. He confirms in the special features that the film was inspired by the JFK shooting and subsequent events. The resulting mix is an intriguing mystery, filled with suspense and a little action. Will Jack be able to prove his theory and make it public, or will it be buried? The final shot is a memorable one and the film doesn't have a traditional Hollywood ending. It works for me. Video Quality 4/5 It's difficult to grade Criterion's newly-restored presentation because the quality varies. In brightly-lit scenes, detail is exceptional considering the age of the film. Some of the scenes are dark and filled with heavy grain. I didn't notice any dirt or debris, but did see vertical lines on the screen a couple of times. Overall, I was pleased. Criterion does everything possible with its transfers and didn't let me down here. Sound Quality 5/5 Sound understandably plays an important part in the film and the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track delivers. Some scenes are made up of a multitude of different sounds, presumably to draw our attention to what we are hearing. It's particularly evident when Jack is recording his sound-effects tape and captures the car's crash. Dialogue is clear throughout and it's hard to imagine a better quality track than this one. Special Features 5/5 A 58-minute interview with De Palma conducted by Noah Baumback (1080p). De Palma talks about many technical aspects of the film including the split diopter and Steadicam, as well as some of the difficulties faced during filming. He also mentions Alfred Hitchcock and some of the things that influenced the story. De Palma's 1967 film, Murder a la Mod, appears here in full (81 minutes, 1080p). Interview with Nancy Allen (26 minutes, 1080p). Interview with Garrett Brown, inventor of the Steadicam (16 minutes, 1080p). Louis Goldman photographs showing stills from Blow Out. Trailer (2 minutes, 1080p) 34-page booklet Criterion's recent release does justice to an important film and is thoroughly worth the upgrade to Blu-ray. You're actually getting two De Palma films in this package and Blow Out is one of Travolta's best films. I wonder how influential his performance here was in convincing Quentin Tarantino (a huge De Palma fan) to cast him in Pulp Fiction? At the time of writing, Amazon has the Blu-ray on sale for $18.99. Overall score 4.5/5

Perfect transfer from 35mm to 4k of a Brian de Palma masterpiece. Perhaps the most sensationally diferent 4k/HD from all of de Palma's movies. The previous blu-ray is a pale comparison to this must watch restoration. Laser transfer from the original camera negative is an awesome 'Wow' with the combo HDR and Dolby vision. De Palma deserves It: this de Palma's movie above all the others.

ITS A FANTASTIC MOVIE. THE CLARITY AND SOUND IF THE DVD IS AWESOME....

One of those olfies that even now has its moments. John Travolta would not have been my first choice, but he is more than just okay. And the movie has lots of nice surprises to make you want to watch it through. The end is weak though, very weak.

A brilliant film showing some of the characteristic DePalma directorial touches that persist in his later films. This one is a real time capsule - a style and theme evocative of the era. Travolta and Nancy Allen are (again) excellent together and the supporting cast features the usual quirky, seedy characters that always seem to show up. Really interesting that this movie is “about” movies in some way - how they were made at the time and that too makes for very interesting elements. The Criterion collection is as always beautifully presented with lots of interesting features. Highly recommend!

de Palma was at the top of his game during the 70s and 80s, churning out superb thrillers, oft-tinged with horror elements such as Sisters, Carrie, Dressed to Kill, The Fury, and this one, Blow Out. I won't go into detail regarding the plot as you can find that on the imdb, but if you're looking at this 4k release from Criterion and looking to see if it's worth the money, then the answer is a resounding 'YES.' It looks truly filmic, true to the source material. Not glossy and DNR'd to death, but like an early 1980s film treated with due respect. de Palma's use of split diopter shots is in full effect in this one, and the film as a whole looks tremendous. I really can't imagine it looking much better. Travolta is on fine form, Nancy Allen (what a babe she was) plays the ditzy patsy to perfection, Dennis Franz the sleazy photographer is great, and of course, the man of the show, John Lithgow, makes it worth watching based on his character alone. SO many great moments in this. The initial accident, the various actresses they audition for the scream, the overhead 360 as Travolta is in his recording studio and realises just how deep the conspiracy goes, the multiple 'sex killings' to draw attention away from the real target. An amazing film, and an excellent disc. 10/10