DVD Review: Face/Off (Two Disc Special Collector's Edition)

DVD Reviews

By Adnan Tezer Sep 19, 2007, 15:55 GMT

John Woo is indicative of many a great oversees director that, upon coming stateside, becomes hamstrung by the Hollywood studio system that goes completely against what made them so successful in their native land.

John Woo caught the eye of Hollywood and action enthusiasts with his Hong Kong classics The Killer (1989) and Hard Boiled (1992). He was brought over to the states to helm the Van Damme film Hard Target (1993). He had constant battles with Universal over content, number of bullets that could be fired, etc. His original cut was NC-17 so the studio hired an editor to cut it down to an R and basically took Woo out of the loop. The film died a quick death.

Two of his other Hollywood films Broken Arrow (1996) and Mission Impossible 2 (2000) were hugely successful financially but had all the emotion and humanity of a dead tree stump while Windtalkers (2001) and Paycheck (2003) were outright disasters.Face/Off, released in the summer of 1997, represents the one Hollywood film Woo made where he was given creative control, this time by Paramount, and was able to make a film with all the Woo flourishes that he became known for in Hong Kong while still being able to make it a human drama and not just an excuse for elaborate, Peckinpah-infused action sequences. Face/Off, which has finally been given a proper DVD release in the form of a 2 Disc Collector’s Edition, remains one of the best action films of the 90s while providing a real heart and soul behind the bullets; something that today’s summer flicks could sorely use.

FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) has been obsessed for six years with bringing down arch-terrorist Castor Troy (Nicholas Cage). This goes beyond the normal cliché of “noble lawman wanting to bring the bad guy to justice” for Castor inadvertently killed Archer’s son Michael while trying to kill Sean. This has driven Archer into a personal war with Castor to the point where he has become non-existent physically and emotionally to his wife Eve (Joan Allen) and jailbait daughter Jamie (Dominique Swain).
The film wastes no time getting started as Archer’s back story is quickly established while the eccentric Castor is introduced planting a bomb in the L.A. Convention Center while dressed as a priest. Castor and his brother Pollux (a wonderfully shifty, paranoid Alexandro Nivolo) board a plane but are quickly surrounded by Archer and a multitude of Feds and cops. This sets up a thrilling chase sequence aboard the runaway and subsequent shootout in the hanger that leaves both Troys captured. Archer figures that the nightmare is finally over and he and his family can move on but, in fact, it has just begun.

Castor is in a coma and Pollux won’t reveal the location of the bomb. The only solution is an original, radical one; Archer will switch faces with Castor via surgery, a microchip is implanted in his larynx so that his voice sounds like Castor and his physical features are altered to fit Castor’s. He will then be sent to a maximum security prison where Pollux is being kept and get the location of the bomb from him at which point he will be quickly taken out and have his face switched back. There are risks beyond the obvious; Archer can’t tell anyone including his own family.

Of course as one might predict, things don’t go smoothly especially when Castor awakens from his coma, without a face, and has Archer’s face put on his. After eliminating all the evidence and humans that are aware of the switch, Castor assumes Archer’s life, job and family while Archer as Troy is stuck in a prison posing as an oil rig in the middle of the ocean that tracks the convicts through magnetized boots. Now things get interesting.

Suspension of disbelief is crucial to enjoying the film, as there are several plot points that upon rational thinking make absolutely NO sense. At the time, 1997, even the facial surgery seemed far out but thanks to ever evolving technology, even that is possible now. Woo is able to do what he did in The Killer and Hard Boiled; that being make the action sequences seem like Peckinpah-infused, balletic, chaotic, bullet laden dances using slow motion. The key here is that the action doesn’t overwhelm the human elements at play. There are four key action sequences (the opening chase/shootout at the airport, Archer’s breakout from the prison, a shootout at a loft and the final showdown which involves a shootout in a church followed by an adrenaline-pumping boat chase) that Woo wisely places at strategic points in the film so as to make them more urgent based on the emotional investment you have in the characters. The airport and boat sequences which bookend the film are amongst the most thrilling action sequences ever put on film, especially when you consider they were done WITHOUT CGI.

You may not think four action sequences are much but they are elaborately choreographed (especially the loft shootout which features a fascinating use of “Over the Rainbow” as the shootout is viewed through a child’s eyes) and there are more bullets present than in Tony Montana’s wildest coke-infused hallucinations. Woo makes full use of his trademark touches including the use of doves, Mexican standoffs, heavy use of Christianity usually in the form of churches, hospital scenes and of course his slow motion, perfectly choreographed action sequences inspired by his love of Hollywood musicals and Sam Peckinpah’s work.

At 140 minutes, the emphasis is largely placed on Archer’s family and their continued grieving over Michael’s death. The action never seems to be inserted just for the hell of it but rather to heighten the intensity. The screenplay by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, which was originally much more futuristic, does an excellent job of giving the characters little touches that define them even if there are no words (Archer touches the faces of his family moving his hand down vertically, Castor ties the shoelaces of his brother Pollux). It also is able to suggest the question; how much do our faces and our physical aspects shape our humanity or lack of it?

For a film like this in order to work, the actors must be familiar to us so that we are in on the joke of their mimicking each other’s physical and vocal tics. Travolta and Cage are perfect for the roles here and seem to be having a great deal of fun playing off of the other’s unique persona. Few actors are as good at scenery chewing and both are up to the challenge whether it’s being flamboyant and over the top as Troy or quietly suffering as Archer. Both Travolta and Cage do some of their best work as the tortured Archer as you have no doubt how deeply wounded this man is due to the death of his son. It isn’t often that you see action protagonists break down in tears but few action films do what this one does.

Troy is definitely the showier, fun part and the few moments that Cage gets with him at the beginning are layered with classic quirky, twitchy Cageisms. Travolta has a great deal of fun playing Troy but coming off the heals of Broken Arrow where he also played a flamboyant villain, it’s not quite as novel an idea had Face/Off been made first. However, hearing Travolta poke fun at his own body and “ridiculous chin” will have you in stitches as will the scene where he teaches his daughter about carrying protection after saving her from nearly being raped.

Troy as Archer is overwhelmingly cheery with his co-workers who have gotten used to his sullen disposition and assures his angry daughter that “You’re gonna be noticing some changes around here.” His wife is taken aback by his sudden renewed romantic interest in her and his FBI superior is bewildered as to how he suddenly knows where all the criminals are in L.A. Meanwhile Archer as Troy surprises his criminal associates including his old girlfriend (an always yummy Gina Gershon) by how soft-spoken and remorseful he’s become. The highlight comes when he wigs out after ingesting some type of drug with his old criminal friend Dietrich (wonderfully played by Nick Cassavetes) to which Dietrich replies, “No more drugs for that man.”

Aside from Travolta and Cage, the real emotional anchor is Joan Allen’s remarkable performance as Eve Archer. Sean isn’t the only one who has suffered the loss of their son and she brings her trademark grace and intelligence to the role. It is through her eyes that we are grounded in the reality/insanity of the whole face-swapping aspect and just how violated she is as a result. There is a beautifully emotional scene near the end where Troy as Archer has to convince her that he’s really Archer and recounts to her their first, problematic date. Both Cage and Allen make this moment work and the scene is emblematic of the heart of the film. Look for small early roles by future Desperate Housewives star James Denton and The Shield star CCH Pounder as FBI agents.

Seldom does a action film’s score play an important factor in the proceedings but to composer John Powell’s credit, he creates a score that, combined with the events on the screen, can be at times lyrical and wistful to the point of bringing one to tears (see the ending) and breathtaking and relentless capable of jacking up one’s heart rate and exemplifying that expertly filmed action and the right music can give one a natural high that can produce sheer tears of joy for a man (see the airport runway and boat chase sequences). Only a handful of modern action films (amongst them Raiders of the Lost Ark, Terminator 1 and 2, and Die Hard) can make that claim.

The previous DVD version of the film had ZERO extras save for a trailer so this is a no brainer upgrade. Disc one includes two commentaries: one by Woo and the other by writers Werb and Colleary as well as seven deleted scenes with optional commentary by the aforementioned three men. While both commentaries are informative and anecdote laden, I think real fans of the film like me were secretly hoping for a commentary with Travolta and Cage. That would’ve been a real treat.

Disc two contains the original theatrical trailer as well as a five-part making of documentary The Light and The Dark: Making Face/Off which runs a little over an hour and the brief 26-minute John Woo: A Life in Pictures which highlights the director’s upbringing and some of his work. The making of documentary is not quite as good as others, mostly due to the fact that the clips from Travolta and Cage were taken from onset interviews when the film was being shot 10 years ago. It does do a thorough job, however, of explaining how the original script differed from what was finally shot and how Woo, after initially passing on the project, finally came back to it.

Face/Off may not make any logical sense but from a human standpoint it is able to transcend the action genre and make for a very moving film. The amazing action sequences are almost like an added bonus so that there is something that can appeal to both men and women. It is a film that can still thrill and move and will stand the test of time for decades to come. For an action film, it rarely gets better than this. Face/Off – Collector’s Edition is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.