View source for Blow Out

{{Short description|1981 film by Brian De Palma}}
{{About|the 1981 film|other uses|Blowout (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox film 
| name           = Blow Out 
| image          = Blow outENG.jpg 
| alt            = The poster has a squeezed, black-and-white image of John Travolta screaming, with the tagline below reading "Murder has a sound all of its own".
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Brian De Palma]] 
| producer       = [[George Litto]] 
| writer         = Brian De Palma 
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[John Travolta]]
* [[Nancy Allen (actress)|Nancy Allen]]
* [[John Lithgow]]
* [[Dennis Franz]]
}} 
| music          = [[Pino Donaggio]] 
| cinematography = [[Vilmos Zsigmond]]
| editing        = [[Paul Hirsch (film editor)|Paul Hirsch]]
| studio         = Viscount Associates
| distributor    = [[Filmways|Filmways Pictures]] 
| released       = {{Film date|1981|7|24}}
| runtime        = 108 minutes 
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $18 million<ref>{{cite news|title=Filmways Board Elects Armstrong President, Chief Operating Officer|work=[[Wall Street Journal]]|date=August 18, 1981|page=38}}</ref>
| gross          = $13.8 million<ref name="LATimes">{{Cite news|title=FILM CLIPS: Sigalert on 'Honktonk Freeway' |last=Boyer |first=Peter J.|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=August 6, 1981|page=h1}}</ref>
}}

'''''Blow Out''''' is a 1981 American [[neo-noir]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blow Out |url=http://www.bam.org/film/2024/paranoia-blow-out |access-date=2025-07-28 |website=BAM.org |language=en}}</ref> [[Mystery film|mystery]] [[thriller film]] written and directed by [[Brian De Palma]].<ref name="TCM">{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/69185/blow-out|title=Blow Out|work=[[Turner Classic Movies|Turner Classic Movie Database]]|access-date=February 25, 2016}}</ref> It stars [[John Travolta]] as a sound technician from [[Philadelphia]] who, while recording sounds for a low-budget [[slasher film]], unintentionally captures audio evidence of an assassination. [[Nancy Allen (actress)|Nancy Allen]] stars as Sally Bedina, a young woman involved in the crime. The supporting cast includes [[John Lithgow]] and [[Dennis Franz]].

Based on [[Michelangelo Antonioni]]'s 1966 film ''[[Blowup]]'', ''Blow Out'' replaces the medium of photography with audio recording. The concept of ''Blow Out'' came to De Palma while he was working on the thriller ''[[Dressed to Kill (1980 film)|Dressed to Kill]]'' (1980). [[independent film|Independently produced]] and distributed by [[Filmways Pictures]],<ref name="auteurspower">[https://www.thecollector.com/history-hollywood-1980s-1990s/ History of Hollywood in the 1980s-1990s: Everything You Need to Know|TheCollector]</ref> the film was shot in late 1980 in various Philadelphia locations on a budget of $18 million.

''Blow Out'' opened to little audience interest but mostly positive reviews. The performances of Travolta and Allen, the direction and the visual style were cited as the strongest points. Critics also recognized the stylistic and narrative connection to the work of [[Alfred Hitchcock]], whom De Palma admires, and [[giallo]] films.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/blow-out/41751/blow-out-and-why-cinema-needs-shock-endings |title=Blow Out, and Why Cinema Needs Shock Endings |last=Lambie |first=Ryan |date=July 4, 2016 |website=[[Den of Geek]] |location=London |access-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bloodygoodhorror.com/bgh/reviews/blow-out |title=Blow Out (Movie Review) |date=November 5, 2015 |website=Bloody Good Horror |access-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref> It has developed status as a [[cult film]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://reflectionsonfilmandtelevision.blogspot.com/2009/08/cult-movie-review-blow-out-1981.html|title=CULT MOVIE REVIEW: Blow Out (1981) |last=Muir |first=John Kenneth |date=21 August 2009 |website=Reflections on Film and Television}}</ref>

==Plot==
While in [[post-production]] on the low-budget [[slasher film]] ''Co-ed Frenzy'', [[Philadelphia]] sound technician Jack Terry is instructed by his producer Sam to obtain a more realistic-sounding scream and better wind effects. As he records potential [[sound effect]]s at a local park, Jack sees a car careen off the road and plunge into a creek. The male driver is killed, but Jack manages to rescue a young woman named Sally Bedina and accompanies her to a hospital. There, a detective interviews Jack about the accident, and Jack asks Sally out for a drink. He learns that [[Governor (United States)|Governor]] George McRyan, a presidential hopeful, was driving the car and that Sally was his [[Call girl|escort]]. An associate of McRyan, Lawrence Henry, persuades Jack to conceal her involvement by smuggling her out of the hospital.

Listening to his recorded audio of the accident, Jack hears a gunshot just before the tire blow-out, suspecting that it was actually an [[assassination]]. He learns from a news report that, seemingly coincidentally, a man named Manny Karp filmed the accident with a [[Movie camera|motion picture camera]]. When Karp sells stills from his film to a local [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]], ''News Today Magazine'', Jack splices them together into a crude movie, syncs them with his recorded audio and finds a visible flash and smoke from the fired gun. Though initially reluctant, Sally eventually agrees to help Jack privately investigate the incident. Over a drink, Jack reveals how he left his prior career as part of a government commission to root out police corruption after a wiretap operation he was involved in led to the death of an undercover cop named Freddie Corso.

Unbeknownst to Jack, Sally and Karp, both frequent blackmail co-conspirators, were hired as part of a larger plot against McRyan. A rival candidate had hired an operative named Burke to hook McRyan with Sally posing as a prostitute, take unflattering pictures of the pair, and publish them to expedite McRyan's withdrawal. However, Burke decided to blow out the tire of McRyan's car with a gunshot, thereby causing the accident. After botching the [[cover-up]] of Sally by murdering a look-alike, Burke murders two more look-alike women with piano wire and attributes the deaths to a fictional [[serial killer]], "the [[Liberty Bell]] Strangler," so that he can cover up the cover-up when she is successfully murdered.

To help Jack investigate McRyan's murder, Sally steals Karp's film, which, when synced to Jack's audio, clearly reveals the gunshot that precipitated the blow-out. Nevertheless, nobody believes Jack's story and a seemingly widespread conspiracy immediately silences his every move. Local talk-show host Frank Donahue asks to interview Jack on air and release his tapes, to which Jack eventually agrees. Burke follows the development by tapping Jack's phone, calls Sally as Donahue, and asks her to meet him at a train station with the tapes. When Sally tells Jack about Donahue's call, he becomes suspicious. He copies the audio tapes, but is unable to copy the film before Sally's meeting.

Shadowing a wired Sally from a distance, Jack is alarmed to see that his supposed contact is actually Burke. Immediately realizing that she is in danger, Jack attempts to warn her, but she and Burke slip out of range and into a parade. Jack manically dashes across the city, attempting to head them off and rescue her, but crashes his [[Jeep]] into the window of a department store and is incapacitated. By the time he awakens in a parked ambulance, Burke has stolen the film from Sally and thrown it into a river. Still listening in on his earpiece, Jack spots Burke attacking her on a rooftop, startles him and ultimately stabs him to death with his own weapon, but shockingly discovers that Sally has already been strangled, cradling her lifeless corpse in his arms.

Burke's death, combined with the loss of the film, ties up the last loose end. Jack's audio tapes alone are deemed insufficient to prove that a gunshot occurred. Jack obsessively replays the recording of Sally's voice and incorporates her dying scream in ''Co-ed Frenzy''. Ecstatic at having found the perfect scream, Sam replays the audio, forcing Jack to cover his ears.

==Cast==
{{cast listing|
* [[John Travolta]] as Jack Terry
* [[Nancy Allen (actress)|Nancy Allen]] as Sally Bedina
* [[John Lithgow]] as Burke
* [[Dennis Franz]] as Manny Karp
* Peter Boyden as Sam
* Lori-Nan Engler as Sue
* Curt May as Frank Donahue
* John Aquino as Detective Mackey
* [[John McMartin]] as Lawrence Henry
* [[Robin Sherwood]] as Betty
* [[Michael Tearson]] as Hawker
}}

==Production==
After completing ''[[Dressed to Kill (1980 film)|Dressed to Kill]]'', De Palma was considering several projects, including ''[[Act of Vengeance (1986 film)|Act of Vengeance]]'' (later produced for [[HBO]] starring [[Charles Bronson]] and [[Ellen Burstyn]]), ''[[Flashdance]]'', and a script of his own titled ''Personal Effects''. The story outline for ''Personal Effects'' was similar to what would become ''Blow Out'', but set in Canada.<ref name="Bouzereau">{{cite book |last=Bouzereau |first=Laurent |title=The De Palma Cut: The Films of America's Most Controversial Director |publisher=Dembner Books |year=1988 |location=New York |isbn=0-942637-04-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/depalmacutfilmso00bouz }}</ref>

According to screenwriter Bill Mesce Jr., he wrote the first draft of the script after winning a competition in Take One magazine hosted by Brian De Palma, but his version ended up being almost completely changed.<ref>[https://www.shorescripts.com/the-first-screenplay-contest/ Blow Out – The First Screenplay Contest by Will Mesce]</ref>

De Palma scripted and filmed ''Blow Out'' in his home town of [[Philadelphia]].<ref name="Bouzereau" /> The film's $18 million budget was high for De Palma, and Filmways spent an additional $9 million to market the film.<ref name="Bouzereau" /> De Palma considered [[Al Pacino]] for the role of Jack Terry, but ultimately chose John Travolta.<ref name="Bouzereau" /> The actor lobbied De Palma to cast [[Nancy Allen (actress)|Nancy Allen]] for the role of Sally Bedina (the three had previously worked together on ''[[Carrie (1976 film)|Carrie]]''). De Palma initially hesitated—he was married to Allen at the time, and did not want her to be known for working only in his pictures—but ultimately agreed.<ref name="Bouzereau" /> In addition to Travolta and Allen, De Palma filled the film's cast and crew with a number of previous collaborators: [[Dennis Franz]] (''[[Dressed to Kill (1980 film)|Dressed to Kill]]'', ''[[The Fury (1978 film)|The Fury]]''); [[John Lithgow]] (''[[Obsession (1976 film)|Obsession]]''); [[cinematographer]] [[Vilmos Zsigmond]] (''[[Obsession (1976 film)|Obsession]]''); [[film editing|editor]] [[Paul Hirsch (film editor)|Paul Hirsch]] (''[[Hi, Mom!]]'', ''[[Sisters (1973 film)|Sisters]]'', ''[[Phantom of the Paradise]]'', ''[[Obsession (1976 film)|Obsession]]'', ''[[Carrie (1976 film)|Carrie]]'', ''[[The Fury (1978 film)|The Fury]]''); and composer [[Pino Donaggio]] (''Carrie'', ''[[Home Movies (film)|Home Movies]]'', ''Dressed to Kill'').

Seventy percent of the film was shot at night. "Basically I just shot ''Blow Out'' straight", replied cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, "... By not diffusing and not flashing as much ... That doesn't mean I necessarily like that look but I think it was good for the picture. You see, I like a softer look, a more diffused look."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Salvato |first1=Larry |last2=Schaefer |first2=Dennis |year=1984 |title=Masters of Light: Conversations with Contemporary Cinematographers |location=London, England |publisher=University of California Press |page=333 |isbn=0-520-05336-2}}</ref> During the editing process, two reels of footage from the Liberty Parade sequence were stolen and never recovered. The scenes were reshot with [[Completion guarantee|insurance money]] at a cost of $750,000.<ref name="Bouzereau" /> Because Zsigmond was no longer available, [[László Kovács (cinematographer)|László Kovács]] filmed these reshot sequences.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=László Kovács |encyclopedia=The Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers |url=http://www.cinematographers.nl/PaginasDoPh/kovacs.htm |access-date = March 13, 2009}}</ref>

==Themes and allusions==
Thematically, ''Blow Out'' almost "exclusively concern[s] the mechanics of movie making" with a "total, complete and utter preoccupation with film itself as a medium in which ... style really is content."<ref name="Canby">{{Cite news|last=Canby |first=Vincent |author-link=Vincent Canby |title=Travolta Stars in DePalma's 'Blow Out' |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 24, 1981 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/24/movies/travolta-stars-in-depalma-s-blow-out.html |access-date=2012-05-03 }}</ref> In numerous scenes, the film depicts the interaction of sound and images, the manner in which the two are joined together, and methods by which they are re-edited, remixed, and rearranged to reveal new truths or the lack of any objective truth.<ref name="Bouzereau" /> The film uses several of De Palma's trademark techniques: [[Split screen (video production)|split screen]], the split diopter lens, and the elaborate [[tracking shot]].<ref name="FP"/>

As with several other De Palma films, ''Blow Out'' explores the power of [[guilt (emotion)|guilt]]; both Jack and Sally are motivated to help right their past wrongs, both with tragic consequences.<ref name="Bouzereau" /> De Palma also revisits the theme of [[voyeurism]], a recurring theme in much of his previous work (ex:, ''[[Hi, Mom!]]'', ''[[Sisters (1973 film)|Sisters]]'', and ''[[Dressed to Kill (1980 film)|Dressed to Kill]]'').<ref name="Bouzereau" /> Jack exhibits elements of a [[Voyeurism|peeping tom]], but one who works with sound instead of image.<ref name="Bouzereau" />

''Blow Out'' incorporates multiple allusions both to other films and to historical events. Its protagonist's obsessive reconstruction of a sound recording to uncover a possible murder recalls both [[Michelangelo Antonioni]]'s film ''[[Blowup]]''<ref name = "Ebert">{{Cite news|last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Blow Out |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=January 1, 1981 |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/blow-out |access-date=2012-05-03}}</ref> and [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s ''[[The Conversation]]''.<ref name=Koresky>{{cite web|last=Koresky |first=Michael |title=Sound and Fury: Michael Koresky on ''Blow Out'' |website=Reverse Shot |date=Fall 2006 |url=http://www.reverseshot.com/article/blow_out_two |access-date=March 13, 2009}}</ref> The film alludes to elements of the [[JFK assassination]]. It refers to the [[Zapruder film]] in showing footage of the car "accident."<ref name = "Ebert" /> The film also recalls elements of the [[Chappaquiddick incident]],<ref name = "Canby" /><ref name = "Ebert" /> although De Palma intentionally tried to downplay the similarities.<ref name = "Bouzereau" /> 

De Palma also explicitly references two of his previous projects. At one point in the film, Dennis Franz watches De Palma's film ''[[Murder a la Mod]]'' on television. Originally, the character was to watch Coppola's ''[[Dementia 13]]'', but director [[Roger Corman]] demanded too much money for the rights.<ref name = "Bouzereau" /> The  flashback when Travolta recalls an incident where his work got a police informant killed was taken from an abandoned project, ''[[Prince of the City (film)|Prince of the City]]''. It was ultimately directed by [[Sidney Lumet]].<ref name = "Bouzereau" />

==Reception==
===Critical response===
''Blow Out'' opened on July 24, 1981, to positive reviews from critics,<ref name = "Bouzereau" /> including several that were ecstatic. In ''[[The New Yorker]]'', [[Pauline Kael]] gave the film one of her few unconditional raves:<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Edelstein |first=David |title=The Best Lover a Movie Could Have |magazine=Slate |date=September 7, 2001 |url=https://slate.com/culture/2001/09/the-best-lover-a-movie-could-have.html |access-date=March 13, 2009}}</ref>

<blockquote>De Palma has sprung to the place that [[Robert Altman]] achieved with films such as ''[[McCabe & Mrs. Miller]]'' and ''[[Nashville (film)|Nashville]]'' and that Francis Ford Coppola reached with ''[[The Godfather]]'' films—that is, to the place where [[genre]] is transcended and what we're moved by is an artist's vision&nbsp;... it's a great movie. Travolta and Allen are radiant performers.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Kael |first=Pauline |author-link=Pauline Kael |title=The Perfect Scream |magazine=The New Yorker |date=August 1981}} Reprinted in {{cite book |last=Kael |first=Pauline |title=Taking It All In |publisher=Henry Holt & Co |year=1984 |location=New York |isbn=0-03-069362-4}}</ref></blockquote>

[[Roger Ebert]]'s four-star review in the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' noted that ''Blow Out'' "is inhabited by a real cinematic intelligence. The audience isn't condescended to&nbsp;... we share the excitement of figuring out how things develop and unfold, when so often the movies only need us as passive witnesses."<ref name = "Ebert" /> Both Ebert and fellow critic [[Gene Siskel]] recommended it on its original run<ref>{{cite episode|url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=7487 |season=4 |number=38 |date=July 23, 1981 |title=Arthur, Blow Out, Endless Love, Zorro the Gay Blade |series=[[Sneak Previews]] |network=[[PBS]]}}</ref> (and with the former putting it as part of his list of their "Buried Treasures" in a 1986 episode of ''[[At the Movies (1986 TV program)|At the Movies]]'').<ref>{{cite episode|url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=1264 |title=Buried Treasures, 1986 |series=[[At the Movies (1986 TV program)|At the Movies]] |network=Buena Vista Television}}</ref> [[Review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] gives the film a rating of 89% based on 61 reviews, with an average grade of 7.90/10. The critical consensus reads, "With a story inspired by Antonioni's ''Blowup'' and a style informed by the high-gloss suspense of Hitchcock, De Palma's ''Blow Out'' is raw, politically informed, and littered with film references".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blow_out |title=Blow Out |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=4 June 2024}}</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|86|15|access-date=April 15, 2025}}<ref>{{Cite Metacritic |title=Blow Out |id=blow-out |type=movie |access-date=April 15, 2025}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZktOAAAAIBAJ&q=CinemaScore |title=The Spokesman-Review |publisher=The Spokesman-Review |language=en}}</ref>

===Box office===
The film floundered at the box office, due to negative word of mouth about its bleak ending.<ref name = "Bouzereau" /> ''Blow Out'' made $13,747,234 (or ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|13747234|1981}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US-GDP}}) at the box office.<ref name="mojo">{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=blowout.htm |title=Blow Out |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=2012-04-20}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|According to Bouzerau's book, ''Blow Out'' returned approximately $8 million at the box office.<ref name = "Bouzereau" />|group="a"}} It was considered a disappointment, as Filmways had publicly claimed the film would make $60–80 million.<ref name="LATimes"/> Rentals generated $8 million.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americanfilmdist0000dona/page/292/mode/1up|title=American Film Distribution: the Changing Marketplace |last=Donahue |first=Suzanne Mary|year=1987 |publisher=UMI Research Press |page=292 |isbn= 978-0835717762}} Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada</ref>

===Legacy===
The public reputation of ''Blow Out'' has grown considerably in the years following its release.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Schrodt |first=Paul |title=Blow Out |magazine=[[Slant Magazine]] |date=August 26, 2006 |url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=2463 |access-date=Mar 13, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113181349/http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=2463 |archive-date=January 13, 2009}}</ref> As a "movie about making movies", it has earned a natural audience with subsequent generations of cineastes.<ref>{{cite web|last=Frazer |first=Bryant |title=Blow Out |website=Deep Focus |url=http://www.deep-focus.com/flicker/blowout.html |access-date=Mar 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707035408/http://www.deep-focus.com/flicker/blowout.html |archive-date=July 7, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The filmmaker [[Quentin Tarantino]] has consistently praised it,<ref>[[Quentin Tarantino]] (speaker).{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClFBKaJIrPo |title=quentinscorsese.mp4 |date=February 7, 2010 |via=YouTube |access-date=2012-04-20}}</ref> listing it alongside ''[[Rio Bravo (film)|Rio Bravo]]'' and ''[[Taxi Driver]]'' as one of his favorite films.<ref>{{cite video |people=Charlie Rose (Host) |url=http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/7257 |title=An Interview with Quentin Tarantino |medium=''The Charlie Rose Show'' |publisher=PBS |location=New York |date=Oct 14, 1994 |access-date=2012-04-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125063719/http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/7257 |archive-date=2012-01-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kench |first=Sam |date=June 13, 2021 |title=Quentin Tarantino's Favorite Movies of All Time — 20 Cinematic Gems |url=https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/quentin-tarantino-favorite-movies-of-all-time/ |access-date=March 7, 2023 |website=StudioBinder}}</ref> In [[Homage (arts)|homage]], Tarantino used the music cue "Sally and Jack" from the score by [[Pino Donaggio]] within his 2007 film ''[[Death Proof]]''. Noel Murray and Scott Tobias of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' put ''Blow Out'' at #1 of their list of De Palma's best films ("The Essentials"), describing it as

<blockquote>The quintessential De Palma film, this study of a movie craftsman investigating a political cover-up marries suspense, sick humor, sexuality, and leftist cynicism into an endlessly reflective study of art imitating life imitating art.<ref name="Primer">{{cite web|last1=Murray |first1=Noel |last2=Tobias |first2=Scott |date=March 10, 2011 |url=https://www.avclub.com/dive-into-the-virtuosic-thrillers-of-brian-de-palma-1798225034 |title=Dive into the virtuosic thrillers of Brian De Palma |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |access-date=2012-04-12}}</ref></blockquote>

In April 2011, the film became a part of the [[Criterion Collection]] with a DVD and Blu-ray release.<ref name="Criterion">{{cite web |title=Blow Out (1981) |url=https://www.criterion.com/films/27561-blow-out |access-date=1 September 2023 |website=Criterion Collection}}</ref> Special features include new interviews with Brian De Palma and Nancy Allen.<ref name="FP">{{cite web|last=Laviola |first=Franklin |title=Blow Out: Witness to a Scream! |website=Frontier Psychiatrist |date=June 7, 2011 |url=http://frontpsych.com/2011/06/07/blow-out-witness-to-a-scream/ |access-date=2011-06-07 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110612044035/http://frontpsych.com/2011/06/07/blow-out-witness-to-a-scream/ |archive-date=2011-06-12 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Criterion release also includes De Palma's first feature-length film ''[[Murder a la Mod]]''.<ref name = "FP"/>

In 2023, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' selected ''Blow Out'' as part of their list 100 Best Movies of the Past 10 Decades, praising it as "a film filled with mistrust, one where the ghosts of [[Chappaquiddick incident|Chappaquiddick]] and the [[Zapruder film]] lurk in the corners."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/collection/100-best-movies/6296049/blow-out-1981/ |title=Blow Out (1981) 100 Best Movies of the Past 10 Decades |date=July 26, 2023 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref>

===Accolades===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Subject
! Result
! {{Ref heading}}
|-
|[[1981 National Society of Film Critics Awards|National Society of Film Critics Awards]]
|[[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
|[[Vilmos Zsigmond]]
|{{nom}}
|<ref>{{cite news |last1=Maslin |first1=Janet |title='Atlantic City' Wins Critics' Prizes |date=1982-01-05 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/05/movies/atlantic-city-wins-critics-prizes.html |access-date=1 September 2023 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
|-
|[[16th Satellite Awards|Satellite Awards]]
|colspan=2|[[Satellite Award for Best Classic DVD|Best Classic DVD]]
|{{nom}}
|<ref>{{cite web |title=2011 Satellite Awards |url=http://www.pressacademy.com/award_cat/2011/ |website=International Press Academy |access-date=1 September 2023}}</ref> 
|-
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|1980s|Film|Speculative fiction/Horror|Philadelphia}}
* [[1981 in film]]
* [[Audio surveillance]]
* ''[[The Conversation]]'', 1974 film similar in content
* [[Giallo]]
* [[List of American films of 1981]]
* [[List of horror films of 1981]]
* [[List of films featuring fictional films]]
* [[List of films featuring surveillance]]
{{clear}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=a}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0082085}}
* {{TCMDb title|69185}}
* {{AFI film|68126}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|blow_out}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1830-blow-out-portrait-of-the-artist-as-a-young-gadgeteer 1981 review of the film] by [[Pauline Kael]]
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1829-blow-out-american-scream ''Blow Out: American Scream''] an essay by [[Michael Sragow]] at the [[Criterion Collection]]

{{Brian De Palma}}

[[Category:1981 films]]
[[Category:1981 crime thriller films]]
[[Category:1981 independent films]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:1980s mystery thriller films]]
[[Category:1980s political thriller films]]
[[Category:1980s psychological thriller films]]
[[Category:American crime thriller films]]
[[Category:American detective films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:American mystery thriller films]]
[[Category:American neo-noir films]]
[[Category:American police detective films]]
[[Category:American political thriller films]]
[[Category:American serial killer films]]
[[Category:Fictional portrayals of the Philadelphia Police Department]]
[[Category:Films about conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:Films about contract killing]]
[[Category:Films about filmmaking]]
[[Category:Films about hoaxes]]
[[Category:Films about security and surveillance]]
[[Category:Films about whistleblowing]]
[[Category:Films à clef]]
[[Category:Films directed by Brian De Palma]]
[[Category:Films scored by Pino Donaggio]]
[[Category:Films set in a movie theatre]]
[[Category:Films set in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Films set in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Films shot in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Filmways films]]
[[Category:Techno-thriller films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]
[[Category:English-language crime thriller films]]
[[Category:English-language mystery thriller films]]