“Hoo-whee, you good lookin’!  You’re hot!  It’s like looking in a mirror, only…not!”

Face/Off was one of director John Woo’s biggest successes in the United States grossing over $100 million at the box office back in 1997 (which back then was a huge haul) and garnering loads of critical acclaim (and being that its a campy action flick, that was a big accomplishment).  It helped stars John Travolta and Nicolas Cage keep their careers skyrocketing upwards (both actors were on huge rolls at the time) and it helped launch some of its smaller supporting actors into the larger roles (Joan Allen and Alessandro Nivola).

Face/Off is about an obsessed cop Sean Archer (Travolta) willing to do anything to capture at large criminal Castor Troy (Cage).  Castor had mistakenly killed Archer’s young son while trying to assassinate Archer.  Since the accident, Archer has been consumed with catching Castor.  After a tip comes in as to Castor’s whereabouts, Archer and his team battle Castor and his thugs.  During the gunplay, Castor is captured by Archer and is hurt so badly he is put into a coma.  Archer, thinking his nightmare is over, goes home to his wife Eve (Allen) to tell her the good news and let her know he’s done with active duty and will take a desk job so he can reconnect with her and save their marriage.

But soon afterwards, it comes to the police’s attention that Castor has planted a nuclear bomb somewhere in L.A. and it is set to go off in just a few weeks.  Frantically, Archer and his team round up Castor’s known confidants and try to get the bomb location out of them.  But no one seems to know anything.  The only other soul who knows where it is located is Castor’s brother Pollux (Nivola) who is locked up in prison and would die before giving up that location.

So with no other avenues available, Archer is brought in to meet with a doctor who can do something no one ever dreamed possible.  The doctor can take Castor’s face off and put it on Archer’s and make all the necessary adjustments elsewhere so that Archer truly becomes Castor Troy (in order to infiltrate the prison and get the bomb’s location out of Pollux).  After the obvious hesitation period, Archer agrees and is transformed into his arch enemy and thrown into the prison with only the doctor and a very small team of agents that know he’s not actually Castor.

Well, as fate would have it, Castor wakes up from his coma and is a little pissed because something is missing: his face!  So Castor does the next logical thing: he kidnaps the doctor, has him transform him into Archer, and then kills the doctor and Archer’s whole team so that there is no one left that knows that the Castor in prison is actually Archer.

CRITIQUE

Face/Off was always one of my favorite action films but I was wondering how it would play now since I hadn’t seen it in about five years or so.  As it was the first time I saw it, this is truly a stellar, engaging action film that balances entertaining action sequences (featuring Woo’s trademark balletic gunplay) with extremely entertaining, campy, and pitch-perfect performances from its two stars.  It’s the performances, along with the clever story, that make this action film rise above the pack and (in my opinion) establish it as one of the best action films of the past ten years.

Woo has basically disappeared lately; he had huge success with Broken Arrow, this film and Mission Impossible 2 and then he failed with his passion project Windtalkers and the actioner Paycheck with Ben Affleck (neither of which were awful, they just weren’t anything special).  And since that last failure of Paycheck back in 2003, he really hasn’t done any movies, which is a shame because he’s a huge talent in the action genre (even if he started relying too much on the slow-mo, balletic gunplay moments).

Face/Off is when he was at the top of his game.  The action sequences are still terrifically entertaining.  They do not rely on CGI trickery or ridiculous martial arts as most action films these days do.  And he balances these so flawlessly with the progression of the story, character development and (most of all) campy fun with these two great leads.  Woo focuses in on the emotions of the story without ever taking it too seriously.  He lets his actors and the action get loose and crazy, and then slows it all down to focus on the emotions of these characters and what motivates their actions. 

John Travolta and Nicolas Cage were truly at the top of their game during this time and the two obviously had a ball with this film.  They get to let loose and make these characters jump off the screen.  Travolta is terrific when he’s playing Castor; he’s consistently engaging and interesting.  The two times he’s played bad guys for Woo (in Broken Arrow as well) he’s been extremely charismatic and hilariously over-the-top which worked beautifully for both films.

There have been a couple other roles where Travolta played the bad guy and it didn’t work anywhere near as well because of the tone and direction of those other films.  His delivery fits perfectly in these Woo films as they are a bit over-the-top and campy at their core.  And Cage is the absolute master of campy, over-the-top villainous acting so it’s no surprise that he is perfect here.  There are so many classic scenes and quotable dialogue in the film between the two actors that make this such fun to watch multiple times.  Cage’s outburst at the very end when he does in Travolta is one of my favorites.

The supporting cast is also first-rate and truly makes this a stronger and more complete film.  Especially Joan Allen who infuses the film with grounded emotion and a bit of reality mixed in with all the craziness.  Allen is one of the best actresses out there and having someone of that caliber in a loopy action flick is a huge help for the dramatic moments.  Too many action films fail in the small, intimate dramatic moments because of poor dialogue and bad supporting acting.

Face/Off has many of these small, dramatic moments that build character and motivations and the great supporting cast makes each of these shine.  The other standout would be Allesandro Nivola as Pollux.  He makes Pollux into a perfectly evil, sniveling little worm of a man that nicely complements Castor’s bluster.

THE VIDEO

The transfer is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen and the film looks dazzling.  The bold colors, rich hues, and sharp contracts just jump out of the screen and this is a big improvement over the bare bones original DVD release.  There are no visible grain or edge enhancement issues; this is a terrific transfer.

THE AUDIO

Face/Off is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 EX Surround Sound and DTS 6.1 mixes and the audio presentation is tremendous.  The dialogue comes through crystal clear while the action sequences give your surround and your subwoofer a nice workout. 

THE EXTRAS

This DVD is has a bunch of extras.  All though, for a two-disc collector’s edition I expected a little bit more.  There is some filler and you’re basically left with your standard commentary track, making-of featurette and an alternative ending.  These are average extras, I was hoping for more.

There are two Feature Commentary tracks; one with director John Woo and the co-writers and one with just the two writers.  Personally, I think it’s ridiculous to have two commentaries featuring the exact same people (minus one).  It’s not necessary as you get pretty much the same information out of both of them (even some stories are repeated).

The one with Woo is the better as you still get the writers’ perspective but you also get to hear Woo’s thoughts on his vision for the film and what it was like working with these two great actors.  The commentary is very informative and technical; they get into a lot of different areas of the production and have interesting sidebar discussions.  But it is not exactly entertaining.  If only they could of gotten Woo, Travolta, Cage and the writers all on one commentary track (now that would have been a reason alone to buy the DVD).

There are also a handful of Deleted Scenes which are mostly just extended scenes save for one nice scene featuring Travolta breaking down in his son’s old room which I felt would have helped in the film establish even more motivation.  The scenes include commentary from Woo explaining the scene and why it was cut.

There is also an Alternative Ending for the film which I actually liked better than the original ending.  It’s not so much as a different ending just a tacked on scenes at the very end of the film that leaves the film on a darker note.  But the studio didn’t like it and Woo had to cave on it (he prefers the ending as well).

Then there are two featurettes that run about an hour and a half in total.  One is called The Light and the Dark: Making Face/Off which is a bit sloppily put together but has very informative, interesting and entertaining substance.  It’s a very complete making-of piece featuring interviews of the principal cast and crew and many behind-the-scenes moments.  It is interesting to see how Woo puts together these action films and how he visualizes the sequences and then puts everything in place to make it a reality (using no CGI, just stuntmen and sets).  This is the only extra in the set besides the alternate ending that I would really recommend spending time on.

The second featurette is called John Woo: A Life in Pictures that gets into the director’s filmography and his life.  It’s a bit too short but it does a nice job at personalizing the man but doesn’t really shed anything new for Woo fans.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Face/Off is definitely one of the best action films of the past ten years featuring a clever story, exciting action sequences that still pack a punch, amazing direction from John Woo, and (best of all) two terrifically entertaining, campy, and energetic performances from two excellent actors at the top of their game.  This DVD release captures the film as best as it has ever looked and the audio is outstanding, but the extras are only average (I was hoping for more there).