Blow Out is a 1981 thriller film, written and directed by Brian De Palma. The title and themes derive from and are an homage to Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blowup. The film stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a movie sound effects technician from Philadelphia who, while recording sounds for a low-budget horror film, accidentally captures audio evidence of the possible assassination of the Pennsylvania governor who was planning to run for President.