Blow Out
“Murder has a sound all of its own.”
While recording sound effects for a slasher flick, Jack Terry stumbles upon a real-life horror: a car careening off a bridge and into a river. Jack jumps into the water and fishes out Sally from the car, but the other passenger is already dead — a governor intending to run for president. As Jack does some investigating of his tapes, and starts a perilous romance with Sally, he enters a tangled web of conspiracy that might leave him dead.
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Cast
52 people
John Travolta
Jack Terry
Known for
Pulp Fiction
Bolt
Nancy Allen
Sally Badina
Known for
RoboCop
Dressed to Kill
John Lithgow
Burke
Known for
Shrek
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Dennis Franz
Manny Karp
Known for
City of Angels
Die Hard 2
Peter Boyden
Sam
Also in
Kennedy
Cocktail
John Aquino
Det. Mackey
Known for
Diner
John McMartin
Lawrence Henry
Known for
All the President's Men
No Reservations
Deborah Everton
Hooker
No other roles listed
J. Patrick McNamara
Detective at Hospital
Known for
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Roger Wilson
Coed Lover
Known for
Porky's
Missy Cleveland
Coed Lover
Also in
True Confessions
Let's Do It!
Curt May
Donahue
No other roles listed
Brian De Palma Director · Bill Mesce Jr. Writer Pino Donaggio Composer
Worldwide gross $12M · Budget $18M · United States release July 24, 1981
Box office
Budget
$18,000,000
Worldwide gross
$12,000,000
Gross vs. budget
0.7×
Production
Cinema 77
Production
Geria Productions
Production
George Litto Productions
Production
Viscount Associates
Production
United States
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
English
Release dates
United States · July 7, 1981
Premiere · New York City, New York
United States · July 24, 1981
Theatrical
Australia
February 4, 1982 · Theatrical
Brazil
October 22, 1981 · Theatrical
December 24, 2003 · Physical · Fox Home mj.gov.br
Canada
August 28, 2001 · Physical · DVD
Colombia
September 22, 1982 · Theatrical
Denmark
December 26, 1981 · Theatrical
Finland
March 19, 1982 · Theatrical
France
February 17, 1982 · Theatrical
June 7, 2000 · Theatrical · Re-release
December 5, 2025 · Digital · France•tv
December 5, 2025 · TV · France•5
Germany
May 7, 1982 · Theatrical · West Germany
Greece
May 21, 2007 · Physical · DVD
Hong Kong SAR China
February 11, 1982 · Theatrical
Italy
September 3, 1981 · Premiere · Venice Film Festival
April 14, 1982 · Theatrical
Japan
March 20, 1982 · Theatrical
Mexico
February 23, 1984 · Theatrical
Netherlands
September 24, 1981 · Theatrical
May 31, 2003 · TV · V8
March 27, 2012 · Physical · DVD
Norway
April 7, 1982 · Theatrical
Portugal
April 30, 1982 · Theatrical
Spain
October 1, 1982 · Premiere · Sitges Film Festival
Sweden
November 6, 1981 · Theatrical
Uruguay
March 4, 1983 · Theatrical
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Some details come from TheTVDB.