Blown Away is a 1994 action thriller film starring Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones. It was directed by Stephen Hopkins. The movie was financed by MGM, a studio which was in financial difficulty at the time. The head of the studio was Frank Mancuso.
It was the first action film starring Jeff Bridges, who was by then a 43-year old character actor. Bridges said he was always interested in the genre, particularly as his father, Lloyd Bridges (who co-stars in the film) appeared in High Noon fighting Gary Cooper. Stephen Hopkins said that Jeff Bridges was his first choice to play the lead. "I was very lucky that MGM backed me up, because he doesn't seem to be the obvious choice for this kind of genre film," said the director. "Then I had to persuade him to do it, because it wasn't something he was comfortable with at first."