Brian DePalma's Blow Out is a taut thriller that would make Hitchcock proud. The Master of Suspense loved to put his characters in situations where they had to sit by helplessly while events occur beyond their control - the best example of this is Rear Window - and DePalma uses that technique to great effect in the finale of Blow Out.

John Travolta plays Jack, a Philadelphia movie sound man who witnesses a car accident one night while he is out recording audio on a bridge. He manages to rescue Sally (Nancy Allen) from the wreckage, but another man - who we later find out is the front-running Presidential candidate McRyan - is left for dead.

After reviewing his recording of the accident, Jack determines that this was no accident. He believes that somebody deliberately shot out the tire, but who, and why? When video of the accident surfaces, shot by a man named Karp (Dennis Franz), Jack begins to suspect that both Sally and Karp know more than they're letting on.

We also see glimpses of a vigilante psychopath, played by John Lithgow, but who is he, and what are his motives? Jack is determined to find out the truth and unravel the conspiracy, but despite many clues that this wasn't an accident, nobody else seems to want to investigate any further. Jack is also scared that now that the assassins have achieved their goal, anyone who might discover that this was no accident must be eliminated, including himself and Sally, to whom he has developed an attachment.

Blow Out is an excellent film that entertains on many levels - plus it takes place in my fair city of Philadelphia. It doesn't dumb anything down for the audience, and the characters manage to act like any of us could see ourselves acting if placed in the same situations. Thumbs up.

Just repeat the following several times.
1) Draggy plot
2) Uninspired acting, especially Allen, who almost sinks it
3) unimaginative (story, direction, etc)
Then get a Hitchcock film.

BLOW OUT is probably my favorite Brian DePalma AND John Travolta movie. Often criticized for his derivativeness from masters such as Hitchcock or others, DePalma found a niche in this film that he never really recaptured (with the exception of THE UNTOUCHABLES, but it's a different kind of film). DePalma's trademark kinetic cinematography and plot twists are evident, but they don't seem as forced or contrived as in some of his other films. I've never seen BLOWUP, and sometimes I hate it when people tend to compare similar films. Let them stand on their own for whatever their merits might be. This is a stunningly performed and hypnotic thriller, buoyed by the performances of both Travolta and Nancy Allen, who first appeared together in De Palma's brilliant CARRIE. John Lithgow is very effective in his role as the killer after our stars. Dennis Franz gives another solid performance as the sleazeball who sets Allen up with the presidential hopeful. Some of the scenes where they're trying to get a good screamer for a horror movie Travolta is working on are priceless.
BLOW OUT culminates in a suspenseful finale at a Liberty Bell celebration in Philadelphia and his decision to slow mo the Travolta rush to save Allen is mesmerizing and agonizing at the same time. Flashy thought it may be, I love the scene where Travolta and Allen are in the foreground of the fireworks.
DePalma was at his peak here and I have enjoyed this movie four times since its release.

I love this film on so many levels, but there is a common criticism I tend to see about it which is that the John Lithgow character is useless to the plot. I strongly disagree because without knowing his part in the story, all we're left with is a lame attempt to rip-off Antonioni's Blow-Up.
Instead, De Palma created an incredibly fun play on irony. Part of the joy of watching this film is knowing what the protagonists don't know in the last two thirds of the story. De Palma uses this as a vehicle to explain how exactly a conspiracy could be implemented. If anyone know's De Palma's feelings on the Kennedy assisanation, they will see just how personal and revealing Blow Out is. Not just with conspiracy theories, but also in the John Travolta character and his attraction to the nympho-qualities of Nancy Allen. Personal, powerful, fun, and downright cynical--by far my favorite work from both Travolta and De Palma.
Also worth checking out is Casualties of War, Sisters, Greetings, and Dressed to Kill among many others.

Arguably one of DePalma's best films, but definitely, and more importantly, one of Travolta's best. In my always humble opinion, this is on par with Travolta's performances in Pulp Fiction and Saturday Night Fever (both of which earned him Oscar nominations).

Some will say I exaggerate, if only because this flick doesn't have the cult following that SNF and PF have established, but Travolta nails the gradually building paranoia and desperation of the character without taking it over the top (something he's sadly mastered in his many not-so-great performances). He also delivers the character's affection for the Nancy Allen character perfectly. His anguish in the final frames of the movie is almost heartbreaking.

However, even if you're not a Travolta fan (and I'm not entirely sure that's possible, even when he stinks), Blow Out is a great suspense/thriller. Definitely one of DePalma's best of the genre and generally much better than most of the insultingly bad big-budget junk that comes out of Hollywood these days.