With a focus on audio just as much as visual, Blow Out is a spectacular film about a sound engineer who accidentally witnesses and records a murder. A work way ahead of its time.
I have to admit that when I see that John Travolta is in a film, a little voice inside me says, “Aw, good for Danny Zuko!” It’s as if his Grease character is Superman and he is Clark Kent. Now, don’t get me wrong, he has branched out and done lots of different types of roles to help to break the stereotype of being a cool guy (Hello Edna Turnblad in Hairspray), but I am the exact example of why he’s had to work so hard to do that.
Blow Out is about Jack, a movie sound engineer who, while recording sounds outside one night, inadvertently captures the sounds of a car being shot out just before it plunges into the water. He reacts instantly and saves a woman from the car, but soon finds out that Sally wasn’t the only passenger. With detectives pushing for him to forget about the whole thing, Jack goes on a personal quest to prove that what he heard was the truth.
To be clear, Jack is a cool guy in this noir drama, but he’s not Danny Zuko. This is a different human altogether and a great professional choice for Travolta.
Jack is cool and casual, but has his life together. He is good at what he does and he knows what he heard. When someone else comes forward with photos of the car going into the water, Jack runs to obtain them to match them with his audio evidence.
Blow Out is an incredibly unique movie for many reasons, but primarily because sound is almost its own character. The visuals and cinematography are absolutely incredible, with a fireworks scene that is unimaginably impressive, an excellent sound/film video montage, and blasts of the color red throughout (purses, lighting, school children’s coats, a suitcase, etc.), but the sound is equally important.
The score itself is full of tension and heightened anxiety, but Jack is a sound engineer. He is literally a professional listener. His job is to know what he hears and be able to replicate it for others, so the attention to sound in this film is unlike any other. It’s truly unique.
John Lithgow plays a contract killer, but in a very straightforward and menacing way. This man has zero feeling about what he does. He has a purpose and, after he gets his orders, he’s not interested in what the higher-ups want. He will take care of it his way. There is no twisting mustache with this guy, he’s very different from most other baddies you see in film and it’s fantastic in a sociopathic way.
My one minor issue is with Sally. This is a noir, so I assume that I’m reading too much into it, as most women in this genre are sexy, seductive, and not always bright, but for a 1980s film of this nature, I think I was hoping for a little more depth. She is a caricature of the pretty dumb blonde idea and I would have loved to see her have more depth. That said, I know I’m nitpicking.
Every frame of film is enjoyable in Blow Out, and just when you think that you have a handle on everything, the end is jaw dropping. Sincerely. Watch it.
Runtime: 108 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: R
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 4.25/5 Stars
Available: Free on Tubi and Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
I have to admit that when I see that John Travolta is in a film, a little voice inside me says, “Aw, good for Danny Zuko!” It’s as if his Grease character is Superman and he is Clark Kent. Now, don’t get me wrong, he has branched out and done lots of different types of roles to help to break the stereotype of being a cool guy (Hello Edna Turnblad in Hairspray), but I am the exact example of why he’s had to work so hard to do that.
