![Blow Out (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] (1981)](/wp_content/uploads/2011/04/61uKuQYdx3L._SL500_AA300__150x150.jpg "Blow Out (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] (1981)")
BLOW OUT (1981, Blu-ray released April 26, 2011 – MSRP $39.95)
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Blow Out might not be my all time favourite Brian DePalma film but it’s certainly something special. And it’s never looked or sounded better on home video than on this fantastic new Blu-ray disc from Criterion!
- “In the enthralling Blow Out, brilliantly crafted by Brian De Palma, John Travolta gives one of his greatest performances, as a movie sound-effects man who believes he has accidentally recorded a political assassination. He enlists the help of a possible eyewitness to the crime (Nancy Allen), who may be in danger herself, to uncover the truth. With its jolting stylistic flourishes, intricate plot, profoundly felt characterizations, and gritty evocation of early-1980s Philadelphia, Blow Out is an American paranoia thriller unlike any other, as well as a devilish reflection on moviemaking.“
Man, you have no idea how much I’ve always wanted to fall in love with Blow Out. But I’ve just never been able to get over how blatantly it wears its influences on its proverbial sleeve. I mean, Coppola‘s The Conversation is literally one of my all time favourite films. Possibly my favourite. And Antonioni‘s Blow Up is right up there for me too. And Blow Out, for all of its cinematic inventiveness and awesome Travolta-ness, just lacks the sincerity of story and character that those previous entries into the “Cinema Of Surveillance” genre possess. It’s maybe a lot more fun than its predecessors – De Palma is nothing if not playful with the camera – but the desperation of the characters in Coppola’s and Antonioni’s work really sits in your gut. You feel them. You’re in the moment with them. De Palma wants his characters to have that effect on you too but is ultimately preoccupied with split screens, fancy lenses and endless steadycam shots to keep his audience on target. Blow Out is decadent cinematic craftsmanship with a sweet candy centre. But honestly, who doesn’t like candy?
Criterion have done a bang up job with their new, spruced up, high-def transfer of Blow Out. This thing looks amazing for a thirty-year old film! I can’t get over the incredible amount of detail and the vivid colours they’ve managed to wring out of the negative. I have no complaints here. Watching this Blu-ray disc is a sheer pleasure!
From the liner notes:
- “Supervised and approved by director Brian De Palma, this new digital transfer was created on a Scanity Datacine in 2K resolution from the original 35 mm camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI’s DRS system and Pixel Farm’s PFClean system, while Digital Vision’s DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.”
The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 sound track delivers on every front, as you’d expect from a film where the lead character is a sound-effects man, examining reels of tape to find evidence of a murder. Pino Donaggio‘s classic score sounds dynamic and full while dialogue is clear and clean throughout.
From the liner notes:
- “The Dolby 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from a 35 mm magnetic track with Dolby A noise reduction. Clicks, thumps, hiss and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated audio workstation.“
It’s not like there’s a long, long list of special features on the Blow Out Blu-ray disc. But the material included is pure, unadulterated gold! The hour long chat between De Palma and writer/director Noah Baumbach is revealing and candid and damn near worth the price of the disc alone. Add in a good half-hour with co-star and former Mrs. De Palma, Nancy Allen and a 15-minute chat with Garret Brown, the man who invented the steadicam and you’ve got a feature-length films-worth of behind the scenes anecdotes and detail, coupled with insider technical information you’d never hear anywhere else!
If all those goodies aren’t enough for you, Criterion have included an entire additional feature film on the disc – De Palma’s 1967 film Murder a la Mod, clips of which can be seen playing in Blow Out. It’s an 81-minute experimental feature and admittedly not the easiest film to sit through but kudos to Criterion for including it nonetheless. The disc is rounded out with a series of set photos by Louis Goldman, a trailer and an illustrated booklet.
Highly recommended!
Special Features:
- New, restored digital transfer, supervised by director Brian De Palma with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- New hour-long interview with De Palma, conducted by filmmaker Noah Baumbach
- New interview with star Nancy Allen
- Cameraman Garrett Brown on the Steadicam shots featured in the film within the film
- Select on-set photos from photographer Louis Goldman
- Original theatrical trailer
- More!
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Sragow and Pauline Kael’s original New Yorker review
[...] now. The Criterion Collection released a killer, bonus feature stacked edition of De Palma’s Blow Out back in April and now MGM and Fox are about to hit is up with the high-def debut of Dressed to [...]