Relentless fbi agent sean archer must go dangerously undercover to investigate the location of a lethal biological weapon planted by his arch rival the sadistic terrorist-for-hire castor troy. After undergoing a radical surgical procedure archer borrows troys face and identity. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 08/22/2006 Starring: John Travolta Joan Allen Run time: 140 minutes Rating: R Director: John Woo
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-barreled 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
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-barreled 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
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
its john woo what more do you want :D:
After Hard Target and Broken Arrow another american movie with the action movie master director in the director chair.
have a plenty of guns, bullets, winds, doves and slow motion, mix them perfectly, chill for a while and voila you have a great action film only Mr Woo can deliver. a must see for his fans and wanna be action movie directors :D
Face off in HD Special collectors edition 2 disc:
I saw this movie when it was first released in 97 and This is a Special Edition two disc HD DVD and a Great movie & sound & acting and now have the 3 in standard & HD & Blu Ray so if you like action movies as much as I do four and a half out of five Recommended .
fantastic:
love this movie and again one i have not seen for a while, i liked the story and thought it was well done, and the blu-ray copy just blew me out the window very nicley done, on the whole enjoyed this movie more than some of the movies that have come out latley.
Great Job:
Face/off is one of my favourites and i was looking forward for Months to watch it in HD format. I must admit they did a fantastic job transferring this classic to HD ... if you like this movie, you will LOVE it in Blu-ray.
