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Face/Off

Face/Off

List Price: $14.99
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: He literally loses face!!!
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WOO!!!!
Review: 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!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Dumb Action Movie.
Review: 'Face/Off' is yet another dumb action movie. I don't think even action movie fans could like it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Put the face back on... actually never take it off
Review: 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.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Way too LOOOOOOOOONG
Review: This movie started off pretty good, I was ready to sit back and enjoy. But as it progressed, I just wanted it to end! There were Really good action scenes, but they were just sooo loooong. There were several parts of the movie where you thought it would be the end, and it just dragged on into another big oreal. It was pretty hard to sit through, especially those action sequences. Cage and Travolta are geat, they really are. That was the only reason this film gets and extra *star* from me.

~Sorry!
~LOL~

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: switched identies
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Good Combination!
Review: John Travolta and Nicholas Cage make for a good team with this film. I've never been a huge Nic Cage fan, but i'm glad I bought this film on dvd. It gets a bit bloody at times, but it more than makes up for it with superb performances by Travolta and Cage! I can't even remember how many times i've seen this film. If you like good action movies that have a real story behind them, this film is the one to get.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Face Off? Take my eyes and ears with it!
Review: I can't stand John Woo films. All his "action" sequences are done in such a long, drawn-out, slow motion, way that they become simply painful. They are so slow, they don't feel like action at all. In my opinion, you don't get the feel of the impacts in the way he does things. If you like action that looks and feels like real action, and real stunt work, go for Jackie Chan's Rumble in the Bronx, or Brandon Lee's Rapid Fire, or The Crow.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mainstream action doesn't get any better than this
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Clever and Original
Review: I haven't seen many movies like Face-off, especially with its original plotline and all-star cast of characters. John Travolta and Nicholas Cage team up in what could be the best acting jobs by both of them. Cage starts off in the beginning as the villain and Travolta the good guy. After their faces are switched, then they reverse roles. Before this movie was released I know some people had been skeptical towards Travolta playing a villain. We're all used to seeing him play good guy characters with morals (i.e. Phenomenon, Michael, etc.). I'm sure he put those ballots to rest because he did a tremendous job as the villian. Cage also did a good job the short time he played the villian and did an even better job as the hero. The plot is powerful throughout the whole movie and keeps you motivated to keep watching. You have to see it to believe it, and I recommend this movie to everyone.


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