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Face/Off

Face/Off

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best action film ever.
Review: Being as it is one of the most controversial and talked about movies of 1997, I'll keep my review fairly short. Woo's ultra-violent masterpiece is about an FBI agent who swaps mugs with a suave terrorist in order to gather information about the location of a massive bomb (which is threatening to blow up the whole city) from his snidely brother. Thus begins John Woo's "Face/Off," a slam-bang action movie that at the same time packs one hell of an emotional wallop. Unlike Woo's previous American film, "Broken Arrow," "Face/Off" focuses more on it's characters than the splenderous action. That's certainly not a bad thing, considering you'll drool at the poetically choreographed shootouts. First-rate acting, dynamic photography, razor-sharp editing, clever script (more clever than your usual action yarn at least) and John Powell's excellent film score are all excruciatingly brought together to form Woo's sci-fi realization, and the result is grand. Some say it was too boring during the emotional scenes, others say it was too far-fetched during the shootouts/chases. But let's get real here. What were you expecting? It's about time we got an action movie with some plot and interesting characters. And what are the key words there? "Action movie." It's an action movie. So of course you're gonna have these two go at it until the very last bullet is fired; until the very last irrelevant cop/crook victim has died; or until an explosively entertaining climactic speedboat chase is over and done with. With it being the best action film ever made (in my humble opinion), I think Paramount could have done just a tad better with the extra features on the DVD. Still worth every penny though, and I couldn't be happier with it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Woo-hoo!
Review: I saw this in the theater when it was first released and then again last night on DVD. This is a great thriller that you've gotta see. Yes, it's action-packed and the body count is pretty high. Woo wows the audience with some really artful scenes: Cage walking down the tarmac in all his glory, Cage and Travolta facing off (uh, get it?) with the mirrors, the little church with the doves. Oh yeah, there's lots of gun fights and explosions and stuff.

Face/Off isn't even a double entendre. It's at least a triple. And very clever. Get over the ridiculous surgery thing. You'll still be wowed by the performances by Cage and Travolta as they believably master dual roles. Good transforms into evil; evil transforms into good.

So why does this get a "4" and not a "5"? The sound on this disc is great, but lack of extras is disappointing. (If it matters, the sound more than makes up for the lack of extras.) I think the writers tried to appease the female demographic by adding some sappy relationship stuff - the film could have done without it. But I guess the #1 reason I didn't give it top ratings is that I couldn't get over how "stupid" Sean Archer's staff (and wife and daughter) suddenly became when Sean no longer acted like Sean. Hello folks - did you check your brains at the door? Don't let that stop you from seeing this flick. The "good" far outweighs the "bad". Just acknowledging that the plot isn't bulletproof.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Woo: check Cage: check Travolta: huh?
Review: First: what kind of weird coincidence causes me to suddenly rent two films containing tracks by Tricky, when I didn't know either did? Weird, that. (and "Christian Sands" is one of my faves, too...)

Another movie I'm split on, but in this case I know why: while Nicholas Cage shone in this film in a way I've never seen before, John Travolta couldn't hold up his end of it at all.

Cage was brilliant. Best I've ever seen him do. Bounces from complete fanatic to distraught cop with no problems at all, and plays both roles so convincingly you can actually believe they could suck a face off person A and deposit it on person B. On the other hand, Cage walked into Travolta's role halfway through this film, with Travolta having set him up badly. And that was the role Travolta played _well_. I don't know why he was so off here, but he just wasn't up to snuff, especially after the switch. He just didn't work as a psycho (odd, considering he worked so well as an antisocial murderer in Pulp Fiction). Go figger.

So ultimately, the movie has to stand or fall on the ensemble cast, since Travolta's given it two strikes. And it stands. Alessandro Nivola, especially, is wonderful as Nicholas Cage's brainy, sociopathic brother, and Nick Cassavetes makes a fine, fine bad guy. Add in the patented John Woo action sequences, and this becomes a couple of hours of good escapist fluff, if you can get past John Travolta as Mr. Wooden Personality.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: i can eat a peach for hours
Review: You want action? We got action. This movie is why we spend thousands of dollars on a home theater. The DVD picture and sound rock.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another Great Movie
Review: Nicholas Cage and John Travolta put on some great performances in this movie. The great thing about this is movie is, both Travolta and Cage get their shot at playing the good guy and the bad guy, In the SAME movie. The amazing thing is both actors give compelling performances in each role they have in FACEOFF. If you can get past the premise behind the movie ....FACE-OFF..(Cage could never pass for Travolta or vice versa)then you will love this movie! Buy this one!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Every action fans dream come true!
Review: John Travolta & Nicolas Cage are wonderful in this excellent action movie from Hong Kong director John Woo (Hard Boiled, A Better Tomorrow 2). The plot of this movie is John Travolta plays FBI agent Sean Archer who is tracking down Nicolas Cage's Character Castor Troy. Archer catches Troy in an exciting air-plane hanger sequence. Archer then ''swicthes'' faces with Troy who is in a coma, to find this bomb Troy placed somewhere in the city of L.A. So while Archer is pretending to be Troy, Troy comes out of his coma and takes Archer's face.If your lost don't fear theres a great action scene every 15 mins. So if your not doing anything, go to a video store and pick this up. Action fans will not be disapointed.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The Most Ridiculous Idea for an action movie
Review: This overblown excuse for a movie makes Delta Force Seven look like a documentary. All action movies are a bit far fetched, but this has face transplants and action sequences where the viewer couldn't be suprised if the main characters sprouted wings and fangs. I guess its Woo's comic book action style on steroids. I'm sure all the twelve year olds out there will hate to hear this but there are only half as many slo-mo replays during an entire Sunday of NFL Football. All the stylish acting and clever dialouge can't make up for the boring silly plotline that goes from unusal to just plain dumb. Don't bother wasting your money here.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good movie, OK DVD
Review: Getting beyond the utter implausibility of the plot (Travolta could never ever ever pass for Cage, and vice versa), you'll find an entertaining movie. The acting is decent and the gun battles are thrilling. This isn't one of the best movies made, but is still a good movie. John Woo does a better job here, than his first US movie Broken Arrow. The DVD, unfortunately, is disappointing. The only extra is a single theatrical trailer. The DVD format is a great way to enhance the movie watching experience, but the studio apparently didn't feel Face/Off was worth it. Luckily the transfer is clean and crisp. If you have the equiptment, you'll find the Dolby Digital 5.1 track to be a great demo disc for friends. The bullets go flying around your head! Bottom Line: Despite the mediocre DVD, this film still manages to be very enjoyable.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Who needs a plot when John Woo is directing?
Review: John Woo has a definite directiong style. Lots of slow-motion, and an emphasis on guns. For a viewer who usually dislikes slow-motion because it is kinda hokey I think he uses it so well it adds a lot to the film, and I'm not just talking about the minute count. Watching the action sequences there are times where a gun falling to the ground seems to be the only thing happening. Somehow Woo weaves these moments into the action so artfully the viewer can believe he is an omnicient observer, able to see and hear everything necessary to fully appreciate the action. The framing is superb -- the wide shot of Castor Troy as his jacket billows or the shootout in the hangar, where Troy dives out of the plane with both guns firing are both suitable to hang on the wall.

The acting is so well done even the most cynical viewer would be lying to say he didn't believe every second of the "no more drugs for that man" scene.

This movie is so solidly shot and acted it feels like it is more real than any other movie this reviewer has seen. Never mind the stupid face switching scene, or the rediculous boat chase, this movie is masterfully made.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Travolta and Cage at their worst
Review: One of the worst action movies i have ever seen. Maybe if my education level never progressed beyond 5th grade i could have enjoyed this movie. This was completely unbelievable, i am not an expert on the human facial composure but i think there may be a few NERVES and TISSUES that might make cutting around the face and simply lifting it off a little difficult. The movie made the swapping of faces look as simple as cut and paste on your pc. Not to mention the ridiculous action scenes, i don't know about you but i see big boned Travolta and scrawny Cage and all i can think is after that they should be dead. But no, they just wipe the dirt off their slacks and begin another scene twice as ridiculous, predictable, cliche and impossible as the previous one. Forget Dvd or vhs this belongs on the slide reel.


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