Customer Reviews

Face/Off (2 Disc Special Collector's Edition)

5 star:		(183)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

John Travolta and Nicolas Cage star in "Face/Off". FBI Special Agent John Archer (Travolta) has been chasing super terrorist Caster Troy (Cage). Eventually Cage is arrested but comatose, which is problimatic because there is a huge bomb somewhere in L.A. After exhasing all conventional methods, Archer decides to assume Troy's identity through an experimental surgury that allows one to wear the others face. Things go way wrong when Troy wakes up and takes over Archer's life. Ok, the plot is unbelievablely silly. But Travolta and Cage are very interesting and you can never take your eyes off them, even if it's hard to tell who's who. The supporting cat is amazing as well. Gina Gershon and Joan Allen are excellent as the woman in the men's life. They are both tough, resourseful, and smart (though both are these qualitys but in defferent ways). The action is first rate. John Woo was an expert in hyperactive actioneers in Hong Kong, now he finally gets to apply his style to a major American movie. The violence is grusome, but not to a slasher movie mentality. It's just an all around great movie.

Legendary Hong Kong action director John Woo (The Killer, Hard Boiled) helped craft a modern mainstream action classic in 1997 with Face/Off. Despite the film's absurd premise: FBI Agent John Travolta swaps faces and identities with psycho terrorist Nicolas Cage, that doesn't take away from the high impact drama and superb performances from Travolta and Cage. And did I mention the action scenes? Face/Off contains some of the best action sequences to ever be seen in film today, and this film is still the best Woo film to be made in America. Travolta and Cage perfectly imitate each other's traits while caught in Woo's balet of blood and bullets. The only flaw of Face/Off is the DVD itself. While the picture and sound quality are superb, there are no extras to be had other than the film's trailer. Hopefully someday Paramount will have the good sense to re-release the film packed with extras. Mainstream action rarely gets better than this.

he best movie in the ear 1997 it is perfect action good and adventure good nice acting for john travolta and nice acting for nicolas cage

Place this modern action classic up there with DIE HARD, SPEED, and THE NEGOTIATOR as one of my personal favorite action films.

Before watching FACE/OFF completely, I had taken a look at one of director John Woo's Hong Kong action epics, THE KILLER. I must say, I prefer FACE/OFF better. Sure, both films have that same over-the-top operatic style, but at least FACE/OFF isn't as shamelessly sentimental as THE KILLER was. In THE KILLER, Woo's main characters both demolished hundreds of extras in graphically bloody style, and towards the end it got a bit too much even for me. In FACE/OFF, the gore isn't quite as graphic, and while the body count is still pretty high, it never got to the point that I was disgusted.

I'm not a knee-jerk admirer of John Woo as some people are. That slow-motion technique of his can become wince-inducingly excessive, especially now that many lesser action directors have started to rip off his style. In this case, though, one is too engrossed in the plot and in awe of the high-energy action staging to notice.

Of course, most people probably already have an idea of what the plot is about: criminal Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) dies, but he has planted a bomb somewhere in LA, so obsessive detective Sean Archer (John Travolta) literally swaps identities with his arch-nemesis to go undercover at a high-tech prison to find out where that bomb is. Obviously, this situation leads to various complications as Troy wakes up from his coma, takes Archer's face, kills the doctors who performed the operation, and then tries to find Archer. It's the typical body-switch, and I would be remiss to mention that Troy is responsible for the death of Archer's son many years ago, and thus Archer has a vendetta against him that explains his obsessiveness.

It's a potentially laughable premise, but the actors and director make you buy it. Travolta and Cage are both convincing and have a lot of fun playing each others' characters, and the supporting cast is just as believable. The script, by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, may have its bum dialogue lines here and there, but it's filled with ingenuity, plot-wise, as Troy tries to fit in with Archer's family and Archer tries to function in a prison. And of course the script gives director Woo plenty of leeway to go all-out with action scenes, and Woo does not disappoint, giving us plenty of stylish gunplay and loud explosions for about three action films, and even an audacious soundbite of "Over the Rainbow" as characters blow each other away. Woo sure lets his inventiveness run free here.

So okay, the film may be a little overlong, and that final gun battle at a church is perhaps too reminiscent of a similar battle in THE KILLER, right down to the flying pigeons motif. But all its flaws are forgivable in this case, since the movie is so thrilling matters of logic fall by the wayside. FACE/OFF may not be Woo's best film ever (I haven't seen HARD-BOILED yet), but it's pretty close to it, and in comparison to other modern action films, it stands pretty high there too. It'll ceratinly forever be one of my favorites. Recommended.

While the plot of this movie is relatively interesting, this movie is really about two things:
First, the lead actors get to do the characters they do best as fully as they know how. Cage is his typical, neurotic, repressed, and emotionally conflicted self. Travolta hams it up in the outlandish, larger-than-life way that he often does. Despite what could be seen as overacting by both the leads, the almost absurd disparity between them is one of central things that makes this movie work.

Second, this movie has the most beautiful action sequences of any action movie I have ever seen (excluding epic-type movies, i.e. LOTR, Star Wars, Braveheart, etc.). This is a film that knows it's an action movie and revels in it. The cinematography in the fight scenes simultaneously displays the nature of the characters and the intensity of the battle between them. There are so many moments when you will just delight at the visual art that is every action sequence in this film. Needless to say, this movie has all the gunfights, fistfights, chases, and large explosions that one would expect in a serious action film.
If you like action movies, this is the first one I would recommend.

This John Woo action movie doesn't really bring any great surprises to the table, but it is a highly entertaing, and well done film. You have to excuse the believability of it first of all, but after that you can sit back and enjoy it. Cage gives a good performance. Alessandro Nivola, who plays Pollux Troy, gives a great performance. And Travolta gives a five star, truly remarkable performance. He mimics Cage perfectly. Travolta truly shows how great of an actor he is here. This is one action movie I do recommend.

John Travolta plays FBI agent Sean Archer, whose son is tragically shot by Castor Troy (Nic Cage) while playing on a carousel. Archer vows revenge and thus the plot begins. In a ploy to bring down the terror network which he runs, Archer arranges to have Troy's face surgically removed and attached to his own while Troy lies unconscious in a hospital.

Troy of course awakens, discovers what happened and has the doctor put Archer's face on his own. Now each man is behind the mask of the man he hates most. (Everyone I know says "if I lost MY face, I would not smoke a cigarette where my lips used to be", as Troy does in one of the grossest images in movie history.)

Turns out Troy has a family as well (as does Archer - he has a teenage daughter as well as his wife) and each must tell their family what is going on and gain their trust, all the while impersonating the other in a race against time.

As with all John Woo films, this does not end with almost every vehicle imaginable (car, boat, etc) blowing up in a chase. This gets tiresome fast.

But overall, a very good, creative film.

FACE OFF has some of the most visceral, imaginative and jawdropping action scenes on film. John Woo's direction is perfect in capturing the action scenes, whether he uses slow motion, or regular, he makes each action scene a cacophony of sight and sound. Since we all know the plot, let's look at the talented actors who help make this movie such an intense entertainment!
John Travolta and Nicolas Cage are excellent in their roles; having to transfer from good guy to bad guy and bad guy to good is handled very well by these two actors who get better as they mature. ALthough Nicolas has a couple of scenes that border on hamming it up, he nevertheless conveys the grief and hopelessness he is forced to deal with. Travolta meanwhile goes from dull agent to sassy villain with immaculate ease.
Joan Allen, one of our finest actresses, does a marvelous job as Travolta's wife; Alessandro Nivola as Troy's nerdish brother oozes demonic sleaziness; Gina Gershon as Sasha does a very good job as Troy's mistress; Dominique Swain (Lolita) gives a nice turn to Travolta's misguided teen; Nick Cassavette as the baldpated Dietrich, Harve Presnell as Travolta's overwrought superior; John Carroll Lynch as the prison guard; CCH Pounder as one of the agents responsible for the switch, and even Thomas Jane (The Punisher) in a brief role as a downhome prisoner---all add to the quality of the movie and its outcome.
This one packs a punch and even though lengthy, it certainly held my interest. The speedboat finale is awesome!

Dont take my low vote on this movie the wrong way. I'm not voting down the movie, the movie is a great movie, a definit 4 star movie for me. But I rate the DVD down for the Australian (regioun 4) version which has "Special Edition" written on it! And I want to know what exactly makes it a special edition? It comes a with a trailer ... whoopie... it has somthing called "Action Overload" which i thought might have been a featurette? but it was just a 60 second montage of the action in the film! Basicly it was another trailer! and of coarse "Cast biographies" which wernt planned out very good, they dont even give you a list of movies Travolta or Cage have been in! It just mentions a small bit of details and somthing about an awarard?

If your looking specificly for this movie on DVD? Then i rate it a 4! Also, if you havent seen it? Then i recomend you at least rent it, and decide if you'd be intrested in buying it? But if your not intrested in bonus material, then its worth it!

But if you where like me? and was hopeing that "Special Edition" ment more then 2 trailers (which i dont consider bonus features, they should be standard. and pretty much are), a terribly thought out biography, and Wide Screen (if you consider that any kind of bonus?) then i dont recomend you pay alot for it, to me this was just the way a normal DVD is usualy represented. What is "Special" about this "Special Edition?"

This movie has a great premise. Take the face of your enemy and become him to destory him. But I promise you, if you have any intelligence what so ever you will realize that this the dumbest idea ever. At least whoever the hell wrote the movie, tried to make sense out of it, tried to make sense out of cutting your d*mn face off. But the whole thing could have been avoided if they had just beat the crap outta who they needed to get the info from. Nick Cage and John Travolta have no where near the same body. How'd they change that? Yeah, John lost weight but how'd Nick gain weight? You'd have to smoking rocks in order to believe they could pull this movie off, and then smoke more rocks to think that someone could be talked into having their face cut OFF. If you buy this movie, you should also buy some Enron stock and book your flight for Iraq for that mid-summer vacation. Trust me and keep your face on.