Physical Media Releases (Blow Out) Blow Out
Blow Out flopped in theaters in the summer of 1981, earning roughly $12 million against an $18 million budget. Its afterlife on physical media tells a different story. Over four decades, the film migrated from bare-bones VHS to a reference-quality 4K restoration, accumulating the critical apparatus of a canonized work along the way. Each format upgrade brought new audiences to a film that its own director once called his biggest disaster.
"'Blow Out' was a catastrophe when it opened, but everybody constantly talks about it as one of my best movies . . . if your work truly has any kind of staying power, well, people will be talking about it in 20, 30 years." — Brian De Palma, Cinephilia & Beyond (2012)
The VHS era gave the film a second chance
Warner Home Video released Blow Out on VHS in 1983, roughly two years after its theatrical run. The tape came in a clamshell case with no extras — standard for the format at the time. Later VHS editions followed from HGV Video Productions in Canada (1994) and Goodtimes Home Video in the United States (1995), both in slipcase packaging with a listed runtime of 107 minutes. (vhscollector)
These tapes were the pipeline through which a generation of film students and Tarantino-era cinephiles discovered the movie. When Tarantino named Blow Out as one of his three desert island films in 1994, there was no widescreen DVD or restored Blu-ray to point people toward — only VHS.
"It's Brian De Palma's finest film, which means it's one of the finest movies ever made, because as we all know, Brian De Palma is the best director of his generation." — Quentin Tarantino, Far Out Magazine (1994)
MGM issued a bare-bones DVD in 2001
MGM Home Entertainment released Blow Out on DVD in 2001 with a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital stereo audio. The disc also included a full-frame option and a theatrical trailer — nothing else. Reviewers at the time found the transfer decent: strong color fidelity, a sharp image, and some visible edge enhancement that was typical of early-2000s DVD mastering. (dvdtalk, mondo-digital)
The Mondo Digital review noted one persistent problem with the film on home video:
"The first time that funky blue-and-red-and-white wallpaper in Allen's hotel room didn't bleed all over the screen." — Mondo Digital, Mondo Digital (2011)
That observation came with the 2011 Criterion release, not the MGM disc — a measure of how far the transfer technology had to travel. The MGM DVD served its purpose for a decade, but it was a placeholder, not a definitive edition. De Palma had never recorded an audio commentary for any of his films, and MGM made no effort to commission supplementary material.
Criterion's 2011 Blu-ray was the first proper restoration
The Criterion Collection released Blow Out as spine #562 on April 26, 2011, on both DVD and Blu-ray. The transfer was a new 2K restoration of the original 35mm camera negative, supervised and approved by De Palma. The Blu-ray presented the film at 1080p in its original 2.40:1 aspect ratio with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 surround track remastered from the original 35mm magnetic elements. (criterion)
The visual upgrade was immediately apparent. High Def Digest's review called the image quality excellent:
"Clarity, contrast, and shadow delineation are excellent." — High Def Digest, High Def Digest (2011)
The audio track captured the film's layered sound design — the element that drives the entire plot — with new precision:
"Rustling leaves . . . croaking frog, the rattle of film running through a projector." — High Def Digest, High Def Digest (2011)
The special features gave De Palma his most extended interview on the film
The 2011 Criterion disc assembled a substantial package of extras — the first time Blow Out had received any supplementary material on home video.
Noah Baumbach interviews Brian De Palma (58 minutes). Baumbach, years before co-directing the feature-length documentary De Palma (2015) with Jake Paltrow, conducted a New York City conversation covering the film's genesis, De Palma's technique with the Steadicam and split-screen, his Kennedy assassination obsession, and why coverage is — in De Palma's word — "a dirty word."
"In the beginning of a movie when the audience is ready for anything — to waste that time with some boring geography shot mystifies me." — Brian De Palma, Interview Magazine (2011)
Nancy Allen interview (25 minutes). Allen discusses her chemistry with Travolta, the claustrophobic experience of filming in the submerged car, and her approach to building Sally's character.
Garrett Brown Steadicam demonstration (15 minutes). The inventor of the Steadicam demonstrates the equipment and discusses the challenge of shooting the opening horror-film-within-a-film. Brown had been excited to outdo the famous opening of Halloween (1978), only to learn that De Palma wanted the shot to look deliberately sloppy — it was a parody of a bad slasher movie.
Murder à la Mod (80 minutes). De Palma's 1967 experimental debut feature, which briefly appears within Blow Out itself, restored to 1080p HD for the Blu-ray.
Louis Goldman on-set photographs. A gallery of 24 black-and-white production stills.
36-page illustrated booklet. Includes an essay by Michael Sragow titled "American Scream" and a reprint of Pauline Kael's original July 27, 1981 review from The New Yorker — the piece that placed De Palma alongside Altman and Coppola:
"De Palma has been learning how to make every move of the camera signify just what he wants it to, and now he has that knowledge at his fingertips. The pyrotechnics and the whirlybird camera are no longer saying 'Look at me;' they give the film authority." — Pauline Kael, The New Yorker (1981)
The booklet also reproduces the frame-by-frame crash sequence that Travolta's character assembles within the film, plus a spread of the movie posters that appear in his workspace.
Interview Magazine marked the occasion:
"Travolta finally has a role that allows him to discard his teenage strutting and his slobby accents." — Pauline Kael, The New Yorker (1981)
Arrow Video released a UK edition with different extras in 2013
Arrow Video issued a Region B Blu-ray on May 27, 2013, using the same 2K restoration that Criterion had supervised with De Palma. The presentation was 1080p at 2.40:1 with English LPCM 2.0 uncompressed stereo audio. Reviewers found the image slightly brighter than Criterion's encoding, with a higher average bitrate on the AVC compression. (blu-ray.com)
The Arts Shelf called the transfer "truly superb," and the release earned 4.5 out of 5 ratings across video, audio, and extras. (theartsshelf)
Arrow commissioned its own set of interviews
Where Criterion built its extras around De Palma and Baumbach, Arrow went to the collaborators:
- "Black and White in Color" — Vilmos Zsigmond interview (28 minutes). The cinematographer discussed his approach to shooting the film with unusual sharpness for his style. Zsigmond was known for heavy diffusion and negative flashing, but Blow Out is a departure:
"Basically I just shot Blow Out straight . . . By not diffusing and not flashing as much . . . You see, I like a softer look, a more diffused look." — Vilmos Zsigmond, Black and White in Color (2012) (Arrow Video Blu-ray supplement)
- "Rag Doll Memories" — Nancy Allen interview (22 minutes). A separate conversation from the Criterion piece, covering overlapping but distinct ground.
- "Return to Philadelphia" — George Litto interview (19 minutes). The producer discusses the film's financing and production challenges.
- "Multitracking Blow Out" — Pino Donaggio interview (28 minutes). The composer speaks in Italian with English subtitles about scoring the film.
- Collector's booklet with new writing by Michael Atkinson and a conversation between Quentin Tarantino and Brian De Palma.
- Reversible sleeve with original poster art and a newly commissioned illustration by Joe Wilson.
Between the Criterion and Arrow editions, a collector who owned both had access to interviews with De Palma, Allen (twice), Zsigmond, Brown, Litto, and Donaggio — roughly three hours of first-person testimony about the making of the film.
Koch Media released a German edition
Koch Media distributed Blow Out on both DVD and Blu-ray in Germany. The Blu-ray ran 107 minutes and 48 seconds (Region B), while the DVD ran 103 minutes and 25 seconds in PAL format. Both were described as containing no censor cuts, with director-approved modifications. (dvdcompare)
The 2022 Criterion 4K UHD is the definitive edition
Criterion released a 4K UHD edition on September 6, 2022, retaining the #562 spine number. The two-disc set includes a BD-66 dual-layer 4K disc with the feature film in Dolby Vision HDR (with HDR10 fallback) and a separate BD-50 Blu-ray carrying the special features. The 4K transfer was sourced from a new 16-bit scan of the original 35mm camera negative — not the 2K scan used for the 2011 edition. MSRP was $49.95. (criterion)
The transfer was immediately recognized as reference quality
Stephen Bjork at The Digital Bits gave the video an A+ and called it "a stunning master, immaculately clean and free of any significant damage." He described the detail as "extremely well-resolved" with HDR grading that enhanced contrast without exaggeration. (thedigitalbits)
High Def Digest called it "one of the best 4K UHD renderings of a 1980s film" and rated it a Must Own:
"This transfer gracefully and seamlessly handles every challenge, faithfully honors Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography, and delivers a sublime viewing experience." — High Def Digest, High Def Digest (2022)
The Dolby Vision grading made the film's patriotic color scheme — the reds, whites, and blues that De Palma threaded through every frame — more vivid than any previous home video version:
"The deep reds on display practically crawl off the screen." — Midwest Film Journal, Midwest Film Journal (2022)
Smells Like Infinite Sadness gave the release 5 out of 5 and called it the definitive presentation:
"For De Palma obsessives it's also a must-own . . . Criterion's 4K upgrade is the impeccable rendition that this movie deserves." — Smells Like Infinite Sadness, Smells Like Infinite Sadness (2022)
The audio remained unchanged from 2011
The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track was carried over from the 2011 Blu-ray without a new mix. Some reviewers noted the absence of an Atmos remix, which would have been fitting for a film whose plot hinges on the act of listening. The Midwest Film Journal acknowledged the missed opportunity but found the existing track adequate:
"The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track sounds virtually identical to the one on Criterion's 2011 Blu-ray release, and while it's not as beefy as modern cinema sound, it has clarity." — Smells Like Infinite Sadness, Smells Like Infinite Sadness (2022)
The special features were carried over with nothing new
All supplements from the 2011 Blu-ray were ported to the included standard Blu-ray disc. No new extras were commissioned for the 4K release. The Digital Bits gave the extras a B+ and noted that the Arrow Video interviews with Zsigmond, Litto, and Donaggio remain exclusive to the UK release.
Release history at a glance
| Format | Year | Label | Region | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VHS | 1983 | Warner Home Video | US | Clamshell case, no extras |
| VHS | 1994 | HGV Video Productions | Canada | Slipcase |
| VHS | 1995 | Goodtimes Home Video | US | Slipcase |
| DVD | 2001 | MGM Home Entertainment | US (R1) | Anamorphic 2.35:1, trailer only |
| DVD | 2011 | Criterion Collection (#562) | US (R1) | 2K restoration |
| Blu-ray | 2011 | Criterion Collection (#562) | US (Region A) | 2K restoration, 1080p, DTS-HD MA 2.0 |
| Blu-ray | 2013 | Arrow Video | UK (Region B) | Same 2K restoration, LPCM 2.0, unique extras |
| Blu-ray | — | Koch Media | Germany (Region B) | Director-approved modifications |
| 4K UHD + Blu-ray | 2022 | Criterion Collection (#562) | US (Region A) | New 16-bit 4K scan, Dolby Vision/HDR10 |
Technical specifications — Criterion 4K UHD (2022)
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Disc type | BD-66 (dual-layer 4K) + BD-50 (Blu-ray) |
| Video codec | HEVC H.265, 2160p/24hz |
| HDR | Dolby Vision / HDR10 |
| Aspect ratio | 2.40:1 |
| Audio | English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio (Dolby Stereo matrix) |
| Subtitles | English SDH |
| Source | 16-bit 4K scan of original 35mm camera negative |
| Previous source | 2K scan of 35mm camera negative (2011 Blu-ray/DVD) |
Sources
- Blow Out — The Criterion Collection
- Blow Out 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray — High Def Digest
- Blow Out Criterion Blu-ray — High Def Digest
- Blow Out 4K UHD — The Digital Bits
- Blow Out Arrow Video Blu-ray — The Arts Shelf
- Blow Out Arrow Video Blu-ray — Blu-ray.com
- Blow Out — Mondo Digital
- Blow Out — DVD Talk
- Blow Out Criterion 4K — Midwest Film Journal
- Blow Out Criterion 4K — Smells Like Infinite Sadness
- Blow Out Criterion 4K — Dread Central
- Blow Out — Hammer to Nail
- Blow Out — Interview Magazine
- Blow Out — VHSCollector.com
- Blow Out — DVD Compare (Blu-ray)
- Blow Out — Cinephilia & Beyond
- Blow Out — Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia
- Pauline Kael Blow Out review — Scraps from the Loft
- Tarantino desert island films — Far Out Magazine
- Vilmos Zsigmond interview (IMDB) — Black and White in Color