Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

MartinHafer If you watch "Blast of Silence", I strongly recommend you watch the accompanying making of featurette featuring Allen Baron reminiscing decades later about the film. This is because it really helps you appreciate how good the movie is. After all, although the film looks very professionally made, it was assembled with a shoestring budget. In fact, the budget was so tiny that the writer/director, Baron, was forced to act in the lead. This is pretty funny, as he was just perfect in this role--yet this was only his second (and last) acting credit! I would really love it if young filmmakers today watched BOTH to get an idea of economy in filmmaking and that you don't need huge budgets nor big names to make a decent film.As for "Blast of Silence", it's a wonderful noir-like film. I say 'noir-like' because it's a lot less like an American film noir picture and more like one of the next generation that including the French noir films. In many ways, this film is comparable to those of directors like Melville--very compactly told and with little in the way of filler or remorse. Additionally, I kept thinking to myself that Allen Baron sure bore a strong similarity to one of my favorite gangster actors, Lino Ventura--the look and the style were clearly similar.The story is simple. A cold assassin named Frank Bono (Allen) is in New York to make a hit for the mob. However, he's got a few days to kill. This along with a betrayal by one of his 'associates' take Bono off his game. While the hit goes off pretty much as planned, Bono uncharacteristically shows that his nerves are on edge and he's tired of the life--both things which make him a liability.The film is told very well and I loved most of it. However, like too many gangster films of the 1940s-60s, there is an unnecessary narration. While Allen must have been thrilled to get the character actor Lionel Stander to narrate (and his voice was perfect), I don't think it added anything to the film and could have easily been eliminated. Still, it is a much better than average crime film--and a marvelous example of inexpensive filmmaking. Ironically, Allen went on to have a very long career...but almost completely with television and not in film despite the quality of this production.

kenjha A hit man comes to New York for an assignment. This was the film debut for director, writer, and star Baron, who looks like a cross between Robert De Niro and George C. Scott. Some inexplicably compared this debut to Orson Welles and "Citizen Kane." Baron proves a failure in all three roles. The script is dull, the acting is amateurish, the direction is incompetent, and the cinematography is drab. There are too many shots of Baron walking from one place to another. What silence? The film starts with Lionel Stander, in his signature gravelly voice, providing the narration, and he hardly ever stops blabbering. He is so annoying that one wishes the hit man would take him out.

st-shot Blast of Silence is a bargain bin noir with a lot of heart. It's sloppy in spots and paced poorly at times but writer, director, actor Alan Baron establishes a dark sinister atmosphere with effective imagery and an impressive stoic performance as Cleveland hit man Frankie Bono.Bono has come to New York to perform a contract killing on a mobster. It shouldn't be any different from any other whack but matters both professional and of the heart complicate matters. Things get ugly with an ex-girlfriend and he's double crossed by a gun runner who keeps rats for pets. Things only get bleaker for Bono whose life and outlook on it (narrated in gravelly detail by Lionel Stander) seems to be one of self fulfilling prophecy. Blast's uncompromising grim viewpoint, amoral take and style evoke comparison to Sam Fuller and the French new wave of the times (Breathless before, Shoot the Piano Player after). Substitute Stander's thick pulp with a French narrator and you have a Jean Pierre Melville and all the praise to go along with it. In its own uneven way Blast earns it. It may not be a classic but it is interesting to look at and imaginatively strung together by auteur Baron who does an admirable job of wearing many hats at once.

fredmelden-1 I find it hard to believe that this was seriously considered at Cannes in 1961, and praised at the Munich Festival in 1987. Let me list a few of its flaws, and giving a wide allowance for the fact that it was an independent film. First, the quality of the video is poor; for an indie, that's probably expectable. Second, the music is heavy and awful - probably cliché even for 1961. Further, the music often adds nothing to a scene, and frequently feels totally out of pace with it. For example, why would it have the kind of music it uses to accompany the stalking of the victim? Third, The walking scenes are far too long, especially those where no stalking is occurring. We see Bono just walking and walking and... We see this at night and in the daytime, and frankly, posing the 'city as a character' doesn't justify it. The director/writer takes no pains to actually explore the city AS a character; he merely displays it, and that is something quite different. Fourth, this is heavily narrated. Narration is normally considered a weakness, a crutch used when the action and dialog do not do their job of fully conveying the what and why of the story - a perfect description in this case. Fifth, the actor displays almost no emotion. Of course, one could say this is congruent with the character - a hit man. However, the narration establishes the 'fact' that Bono gets himself worked up into a hate for his victim. If that's his M.O., it should show on the screen. It absolutely does not, but his bad acting does. Sixth, he fights Big Ralph in an apartment, and in the process pretty much tears the place up. Surprisingly, no neighbors come out to see what's happening. It may be a minor point, but there are several such that destroy the film's credibility. Seventh, so does the silencer. He fires the gun and it makes a fairly loud sound, despite the silencer. Eighth, (going back to Ralph), it's unlikely he would threaten to rat on - of all people - a hit man! 'If I hear he dies, I'll know you killed him, and I'll tell on you, unless you pay me.' Uh, huh. Ninth, the contractor gives Bono half the money and promises the rest later. You don't have to be a mafioso to know it's never done that way. I don't know that it was EVER done that way, but certainly not in 1961. Just a plot device? Maybe, but a pretty weak one. Tenth, the movie is a short hour-and-a-quarter. Perhaps I should consider this a plus! I could go on, but I'm tired of writing, and these cover the main problems. Even allowing for the low budget, this is a poor film. Hearing that he was considered back then a new-generation Orson Welles is ridiculous. Welles might have considered Baron as a gaffer, but little more. As a TV director or producer, he may have been adequate, but not as a movie director or screenwriter.