Blow Out (1981): Tarantino‑praised De Palma thriller now streaming free on Tubi

Brian De Palma's 1981 thriller Blow Out is currently streaming free on Tubi and The Roku Channel, MovieWeb reports.

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has long praised the movie — while promoting Pulp Fiction in 1994 he said, "Brian De Palma's Blow Out, I think, is one of the greatest movies ever made... John Travolta, by the way, gives one of the best performances of all time in this."

The film stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a sound engineer who, while recording material for low-budget slashers, hears a car tire blow out and later realizes he recorded a gunshot before the crash. Jack rescues Nancy Allen's Sally Bedina, learns the driver was a presidential hopeful and that the crash may have been an assassination, and becomes targeted by a hitman played by John Lithgow as he and Sally get closer to the truth.

Blow Out did not initially play well with general audiences, reportedly because of its depressing finale, but critics were more positive. Roger Ebert gave the film four stars, praising De Palma's character work, and the movie has been called one of De Palma's most nuanced, with themes of political rivalry, government cover-ups and exploitation described as "eerily prescient."

Blow Out was released July 24, 1981, runs 108 minutes, and was written and directed by Brian De Palma (co-written by Bill Mesce Jr.). For now, the film is available to stream for free on Tubi and The Roku Channel.

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