"It's hardly The Conversation is it?" is generally the comment levelled at Brian De Palma's similarly-themed and vastly underrated thriller. But while it doesn't hit the heights of the Coppola classic (nor Antonioni's masterpiece Blow-Up, which it also attempts to homage), Blow Out is intricately crafted and full of suspense.
John Travolta plays the sound technician who becomes embroiled in murderous political shenanigans when he inadvertently records an assassination, while Nancy Allen is the hooker who's seen far too many "members" of the Senate to assure her safety. Crammed with wonderful De Palma showboating and a wonderfully crackpot turn from John Lithgow as a right-wing loon.
