Thirty years and one Criterion face-lift later, Brian De Palma’s 1981 conspiracy thriller is more mesmerizing than ever

Eyeweekly.com Highlight of the Week, April 25

By Neil Karassik-“Late, great film critic Pauline Kael called it his [director Brian De Palma] “biggest leap yet,” even comparing Travolta’s performance to Brando’s in On the Waterfront. Equal praise also comes from one Quentin Tarantino, who recycled the film’s haunting score in Death Proof .

As is typically the case with De Palma, Blow Out is packed to the gills with aural and visual excess. From surreal split screens to the director’s iconic split focus shots to his whirling 360-degree camera movements, it’s downright experimental.

The film’s wonderfully convoluted plot centres on a b-movie sound effects man (Travolta at his zenith) trying to record the perfect scream for an upcoming slasher dud, but instead capturing the fatal car crash of a presidential candidate. He manages to rescue a young female passenger (Nancy Allen, also tops) who may be linked to an assassination conspiracy (carried out by none other than John Lithgow, now universally recognized as the Trinity killer thanks to Dexter).

If rediscovering such a terrific film on gorgeous DVD and Blu-ray isn’t enough, the extras are easily some of the best around. In addition to an excellent hour-long chat between De Palma and super-underrated filmmaker Noah Baumbach (also a Criterion vet), we get amazing new interviews with Allen and Steadicam creator/operator Garret Brown. The fact that this release also includes De Palma’s little-seen 1967 avant-garde feature Murder a la Mod is nothing short of film buff bliss.”