Editing Blow Out (section)

==Reception and legacy==
''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>

Despite positive reviews, 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>

However, 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> In particular, [[Quentin Tarantino]] has consistently praised the movie,<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 three 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> In [[Homage (arts)|homage]], Tarantino used the music cue "Sally and Jack" from the score by [[Pino Donaggio]] within his own film ''[[Death Proof]]'', the second half of the double release ''[[Grindhouse (film)|Grindhouse]]''. 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" /> 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
! {{Abbreviation|Ref.|References}}
|-
|[[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> 
|-
|}