Clever, Fascinating Thriller
Political thrillers have had uneven success at the box office, but one of the best is Brian De Palma's 1981 drama, "Blow Out." De Palma spent a number of years making Hitchcock homage films -- "Sisters," "Obsession," "Dressed to Kill."  "Blow Out" is inspired by Antonioni's "Blow Up" and Coppola's "The Conversation," but has an identity all its own and reflects more of De Palma than his Hitchcock imitations.<br /><br />"Blow Out" stars John Travolta, three years after his mega-box office success in "Grease." No two films could be further apart in mood, character development, and overall style.  Jack Terri (Travolta) is a sound technician who works on soft-core porn movies.  He becomes intrigued and later obsessed by what seems to be a conspiracy to cover up the murder of a politician in a car crash he accidentally witnesses and records.  He falls in love with the young woman, Sally Bedina (Nancy Allen), who was in the car with the politician when he was killed.<br /><br />"Blow Out" builds interestingly as Jack becomes increasingly convinced that he's onto a crime that the authorities have overlooked.  De Palma loves showing off the mechanics of filmmaking and sound recording, and there are many lengthy, dialogue-less scenes that portray the machinery and technology employed by Jack in attempting to demystify what he thinks he's witnessed.<br /><br />The success of "Blow Out" is De Palma's ability to present it as an escalating real-life nightmare, as Jack refuses to abandon his suspicions and uses his technical talent to devolve a mystery.  Also resonating in the movie is the Chappaquidick incident and the three major political assassinations of the 1960's.<br /><br />Travolta is very good as Jack, who is the only decent character in the movie.  In fact, it is one of his best on-screen performances.  He's asked to be solidly dramatic and portray many of his feelings with expression and reaction shots.  He was seldom asked to play this kind of heavy-duty role again until "Pulp Fiction."<br /><br />The restored digital transfer looks pristine in Blu-ray.  Bonus extras include a new hour-long interview with De Palma, a new interview with Nancy Allen, Garrett Brown discussing the then-new Steadicam shots featured in the film-within-the-film, on-set photos, and a booklet featuring a critical essay.
The movie title "Blow Out (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]," available on Movies & TV, has received an average rating of 4.6 from 949 reviewers. 
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 {"Genre": "Mystery & Suspense", "Format": "Blu-ray", "Contributor": "Peter Boyden, Brian de Palma, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, John Travolta, Dennis Franz", "Language": "English", "Runtime": "1 hour and 48 minutes", "Is Discontinued By Manufacturer": "No", "MPAA rating": "R (Restricted)", "Product Dimensions": "0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 4 Ounces", "Audio Description": "English", "Item model number": "CRRN2004BR", "Director": "Brian de Palma", "Media Format": "Blu-ray", "Run time": "1 hour and 48 minutes", "Release date": "April 26, 2011", "Actors": "John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz, Peter Boyden", "Subtitles": "Spanish, German, English, French", "Studio": "Criterion Collection", "Country of Origin": "USA", "Number of discs": "1"}

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