Blu-Ray Review: Brian De Palma’s Thriller ‘Blow Out’ With John Travolta

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CHICAGO – When Brian De Palma was at his peak in the ’70s and ’80s, he was simply one of the best living directors. Some wanted to write him off as nothing more than an Alfred Hitchcock wannabe, but that was a criticism that I never understood. Yes, he cribbed from arguably the best director of all time. Is that a problem? Watch “Blow Out” in its new Criterion Collection edition and try and complain.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0

“Blow Out” was more directly influenced by Antonioni’s “Blow Up,” but it also clearly has echoes of the man who De Palma was most often accused of being too obviously inspired by in its tale of a man caught up in a deadly situation beyond his control. As sound effects man Jack (John Travolta, giving one of the best performances of his career) stands on that bridge capturing the truth about a car accident that’s not really an accident, I was always reminded of Hitch’s classic example of a bystander caught up in something he observes — “Rear Window.”

The story of “Blow Out” is a spectacular one. A man records a car accident that kills the frontrunner for President of the United States. And is supposed to kill the hooker (Nancy Allen) in the car with him that goes into a river. But Jack not only saves the hooker but has evidence that there were two loud bangs in the air that night — one when the tire exploded but one before it that clearly was a gunshot. As everyone not only tries to make the story go away but even kill the girl who knows too much, Jack gets deeper into the conspiracy. With echoes of not just Hitchcock but the JFK assassination, “Blow Out” is a riveting piece about a good man caught in a bad situation. If you’ve never seen it, I’m jealous of the first-time experience that you’re going to have.

Blow Out was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on April 26, 2011
Photo credit: Courtesy of The Criterion Collection

Personally, “Blow Out” is my favorite De Palma film. There are others that may be more technically impressive (“Scarface,” “The Untouchables”) and others still that I can recognize are more influential (“Carrie,” “Sisters”), but I just enjoy every single frame of “Blow Out.” It’s the kind of old-fashioned mystery with a modern twist that really helped me fall in love with the form of cinema. Yes, De Palma was a better director than he was a writer and some of the dialogue in “Blow Out” stings a bit, but it doesn’t matter when there’s such impressive artistry on display on a visual level and in the way De Palma slowly turns the knob on the tension in Jack’s life. And Travolta is great here. He was arguably never better.

Blow Out was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on April 26, 2011 Photo credit: Courtesy of The Criterion Collection

The Criterion release of “Blow Out” is another beauty with one of the best HD transfers I’ve ever seen for a movie three decades old. If not for knowing that Travolta and John Lithgow have aged, one could easily think this was a 2011 film that was merely set in 1981. It looks better than most 2011 films on Blu-ray.

The video and the quality of the film itself are the best elements of the “Blow Out” Blu-ray addition to The Criterion Collection. Sadly, the special features are a bit light. I would have loved a commentary track and it’s disappointing that Johnny T. couldn’t be bothered to return for an interview or a retrospective about what is clearly one of the most important films in his career. Do you think Tarantino would have tapped him for “Pulp Fiction” based on “Grease” or “Saturday Night Fever” alone? Hell no. “Blow Out” helped.

What is included is interesting, including a new video interview with De Palma conducted by Noah Baumbach (“Greenberg”), a new interview with Nancy Allen, a new interview with cameraman Garrett Brown, on-set photos, and a De Palma feature from 1967 called “Murder a la Mod.” Great stuff, for sure, I just wanted a little more. We always want more for the movies we love.

Special Features:
o New hour-long video interview with De Palma, conducted by filmmaker Noah Baumbach
o New video interview with star Nancy Allen
o De Palma’s 1967 feature Murder A La Mod
o New video interview with cameraman Garrett Brown on the Steadicam shots featured in the film within the film
o On-set photos by photographer Louis Goldman
o Original Theatrical Trailer
o Booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Sragow and Pauline Kael’s original New Yorker review

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]