DVD Reviews
Blu-ray Review: Face/Off
By Jeff Swindoll
May 20, 2008, 14:25 GMT

HD DVD and Blu-ray had a face off and HD DVD ended up being the one skinned and bloody. 

Now that the war is over some titles that appeared solely on HD DVD are making their way to Blu-ray. 

John Woo’s action masterpiece about identity has all the bluster of an action comic sprung to life. 

It may be over-the-top occasionally but it’s a heckuva lot of fun.  

FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) is riding a merry-go-round with his young son when terrorist for hire Castor Troy (Nicholas Cage) fires his high power rifle.  Troy is aiming to take down Archer but the bullet goes through Archer’s chest and kills the boy.  Several years later, Archer has made it his mission in life to take Troy down.

Troy and his brother Pollux (Alessandro Nivola) are tracked down to an airport and Pollux is captured and Troy appears to have been killed in the melee.  It’s soon discovered that Pollux designed a powerful bomb and it’s set and primed to go off on the 18th. 

Now the agency has to find the location of the bomb before it goes off.  A surgeon, Dr. Malcolm Walsh (Colm Feore), has pioneered a radical technique that allows him to take one person’s face and transplant it to the head of another.  Archer is shocked to learn that Troy wasn’t killed in the raid but that he’s in a coma and at the Walsh Institute. 

The only way to find out the location of the bomb is for Archer to undergo the operation, take Troy’s face, go into the high security prison that Pollux is held in, and find out the location of the bomb.  The operation goes smoothly and Archer finds out the location of the bomb. 

However, he gets a visitor and the face is very familiar – it’s his own.  Troy came out of his coma, forced the surgeon to put on Archer’s face, and burnt the institute to the ground along with everyone that knew that Archer was on this mission. 

Now Archer has to break out of the prison and try and keep Troy away from his wife (Joan Allen) and daughter (Dominique Swain).

Face/Off takes its name from two different meanings.  Both in the fact that in a science fiction twist there’s the ability to take the face off of one character and put it on another and also that these two characters are going to face off against each other. 

In the beginning Nicholas Cage is a bit too over-the-top for my tastes but he acquits himself nicely when he has to play Travolta trapped inside another’s body.  Travolta never had a terrible acting moment to me and he really seems to be having a good time playing the Cage role (and didn’t seem to go as over-the-top as he did, though he does come close at times). 

Since this is a John Woo film we’re treated to a lot of slow motion and some flying pigeons.  It really is full of action and both Cage and Travolta acquit themselves nicely in the role (despite my dislike of the wild eyed Cage in the start). 

Paramount had announced a Blu-ray version of Face/Off before signing to release HD DVD titles exclusively and some copies did sneak out online. 

Now with the war over Face/Off finally makes it to Blu-ray and looks spectacular.  Originally announced as a two disc set at that time, it now appears that they were able to fit the same content on one Blu-ray without that second disc.  

Face/Off is presented in 1080p anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. 

Special features include a commentary by director John Woo and writers Mike Webb and Michael Colleary.  A second track features the writers only.  All the rest of the special features are presented in high definition. 

First up are 8 minutes of deleted scenes with an alternate ending and feature an optional commentary with Woo and the writers.  There’s also an expansive 64 minute making of called the “Light and the Dark.”  Next is the 26 minute “John Woo: A Life in Pictures” which covers the director’s film career.  Finally, you get the 2-minute theatrical trailer.  

Face/Off is a great action film from director John Woo.  There are really some fine performances as the actors get to portray each other’s characters.  The film is finally on Blu-ray and it’s quite a treat.

Face/Off [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon. Visit the DVD database for more information.