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Amazon.co.uk Review
At his best, director John Woo turns action movies into ballets of blood and bullets grounded in character drama. Face/Off marks Woo's first American film to reach the pitched level of his best Hong Kong work (Hard-Boiled). He takes a patently absurd premise--hero and villain exchange identities by literally swapping faces in science-fiction plastic surgery--and creates a double-barrelled revenge film driven by the split psyches of its newly redefined characters. FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) must play the villain to move through the underworld while psychotic terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) becomes a perversely paternal family man, while using every tool at his disposal to destroy his nemesis. Travolta vamps Cage's tics and flamboyant excess with the grace of a dancer after his transformation from cop to criminal, while Cage plays the sullen, bottled-up agent excruciatingly trapped behind the face of the man who killed his son. His attempts to live up to the terrorist's reputation become cathartic explosions of violence that both thrill and terrify him. This is merely icing on the cake for action fans, the dramatic backbone for some of the most visceral action thrills ever. Woo fills the screen with one show-stopping set-piece after another, bringing a poetic grace to the action freakout with sweeping camerawork and sophisticated editing. This marriage of melodrama and mayhem ups the ante from cops-and-robbers clichés to a conflict of near-mythic levels. --Sean Axmaker
Amazon.co.uk Review
At his best, director John Woo turns action movies into ballets of blood and bullets grounded in character drama. Face/Off marks Woo's first American film to reach the pitched level of his best Hong Kong work (Hard-Boiled). He takes a patently absurd premise--hero and villain exchange identities by literally swapping faces in science-fiction plastic surgery--and creates a double-barrelled revenge film driven by the split psyches of its newly redefined characters. FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) must play the villain to move through the underworld while psychotic terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) becomes a perversely paternal family man, while using every tool at his disposal to destroy his nemesis. Travolta vamps Cage's tics and flamboyant excess with the grace of a dancer after his transformation from cop to criminal, while Cage plays the sullen, bottled-up agent excruciatingly trapped behind the face of the man who killed his son. His attempts to live up to the terrorist's reputation become cathartic explosions of violence that both thrill and terrify him. This is merely icing on the cake for action fans, the dramatic backbone for some of the most visceral action thrills ever. Woo fills the screen with one show-stopping set-piece after another, bringing a poetic grace to the action freakout with sweeping camera work and sophisticated editing. This marriage of melodrama and mayhem ups the ante from cops-and-robbers clichés to a conflict of near-mythic levels. --Sean Axmaker
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best collection yet !,
By
This review is from: Nicholas Cage Collection [DVD] [1997] (DVD)
These are 3 of the best Cage films that exist. The Rock features Nicolas Cage as a bio-chemicals specialist (along with being a beatles maniac), and Sean Connery, the only man to have ever escaped from the most secure jail in the world - Alcatraz. Now, after some members of the public have been held hostage, Connery needs to be the only man to have ever broken into the place! It's a brilliant film offering something for everyone including adventure, excitement, comedy... and Cage! Face/Off is another classic film. John Travolta and Nick Cage star together impecibly. A fantastic storyline offering the viewer suspense, drama, brilliant acting and an intense thriller! Gone in 60 seconds is a 'must-see'. After Cage's brother gets into trouble, the only man that can save him is Nick! To do this, he needs to reunite his old friends and if that's not enough, steal 50 cars in just one very short night! Watch this film if you like amazing acting, comedy, and of course... cars!3 wonderful films bringing complete entertainment into your home!
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE BEST ACTION THRILLER EVER!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Face Off [VHS] [1997] (VHS Tape)
This film I honestly thought was the best action thriller I have ever seen, with amazing gun fights, excellent stunts and a brilliant plot. John Travalta is Sean Archer, a top FBI Agent who was just brought to justice the killer of his young son, Castor Troy. But there is a complication. Although his family can settle down and live in peace, there is a bomb planted somewhere in LA but only Castor and his buddies know where. To solve this, Archer agrees to a ridiculous operation to have his face swapped with Castor's (who is in a coma), his voice and his hair aswell. As Archer goes undercover as Castor in a high-force prison, he finds out information about the whereabouts of the bomb. But then the real Castor wakes out of his coma and burns all the documents that prove the face-swap ever happened and kills all the people who know about it. Sean soon realises that he is stuck in jail, whilst Castor lives his life. As further complications ensue, the action and stunts of John Woo get better and better. Both Nicholas Cage and John Travolta have to act each other's characters and do it very well when they must. This film is absolutely brilliant. BUY IT NOW!!!
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Cut by the censors,
By Paul P (Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Face/Off [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
Good film - but you need to buy the US release to avoid the censorship cuts. US version is unfortunately region coded. What is the point of region coding older films apart from being able to charge more in the UK? In fact what is the point of region coding period.
UPDATE : I wrote this review ages ago and have stumbled across some comments which warrant a response. The current US version is NOT region coded, as pointed out. (I think the initial pressing was, at the time of writting, but the US version is now a Paramount release which is region free). The BBFC website shows if films are cut. Sometimes the guidance changes and previous cuts are waived, this is noted in any new classifications. There is no mention of previous cuts waived. With older releases such as this, it is sometimes more difficult to establish if there are cuts, as the video version will be labelled as 'uncut', but there will be a note indicating 'as UKCV', so you then need to check if the UK cinema version was cut. Sometimes this note is not there, so although the BBFC entry might say 'passed with no cuts' there are caveats to this. Unless the reclassification says 'all previous cuts waived' then tread with caution.
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