X
- 1997
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 2 h 18 m
- 1997
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 2 h 18 m
Summary FBI agent Sean Archer (Travolta) knows how to stop elusive terrorist Castor Troy (Cage). He'll become him. Archer undergoes a futuristic surgery and has Troy's face mapped onto his, then infiltrates the terrorist's world to discover his deadly secrets. But as much as Archer looks and acts like Troy, he doesn't really know him. He never f...
Directed By: John Woo
Written By: Mike Werb, Michael Colleary
- 1997
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 2 h 18 m
- 1997
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 2 h 18 m
Face/Off
8.7
Where to Watch
Summary FBI agent Sean Archer (Travolta) knows how to stop elusive terrorist Castor Troy (Cage). He'll become him. Archer undergoes a futuristic surgery and has Troy's face mapped onto his, then infiltrates the terrorist's world to discover his deadly secrets. But as much as Archer looks and acts like Troy, he doesn't really know him. He never f...
Directed By: John Woo
Written By: Mike Werb, Michael Colleary
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 26 Critic Reviews
82
88% Positive
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
12% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 26 Critic Reviews
82
88% Positive
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
12% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
But it is the steady accretion of hundreds of small moments in this elegant, high-spirited, intensely satisfying production -- the director's third American movie, but the first to approach the dazzle of his Hong Kong stuff -- that, toted up, makes everything right about this des- perately welcome thriller.
Exciting and then some, Face/Off blends the director's supercharged images of balletic brutality and spiritual catharsis with an off-the-wall humor that allows John Travolta and Nicolas Cage to really let it rip.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 723 User Ratings
8.7
89% Positive
646 Ratings
646 Ratings
7% Mixed
48 Ratings
48 Ratings
4% Negative
29 Ratings
29 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 723 User Ratings
8.7
89% Positive
646 Ratings
646 Ratings
7% Mixed
48 Ratings
48 Ratings
4% Negative
29 Ratings
29 Ratings
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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A delirious mixture of spectacular gun battles, furious explosions and breathtaking stunt work, it's also one of the strangest stories to ever get the green light at a Hollywood studio. You have to take your hat off to Paramount Studios for allowing such inspired weirdness to see the light of day.
This isn't just a thrill ride; it's a rocket into the thrilling past, when directors could scare you with how much emotion they packed into a movie.
Woo, who is known and appreciated for his unique stylistic approach to violence and bloodshed, creates a kinetic ballet of bullets and explosions that drives the adrenaline level through the roof.
Face/Off wouldn't work without two great actors, and it doesn't always work with them. But their gifts justify the whole loony enterprise.
The trouble comes when Woo's patented - that is, oft-repeated - style overwhelms any hope of discerning story or acting through the haze of burning, crashing, bleeding and exploding.
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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so why don't we trade back..
Face/Off
The concept will take its time to let it sink in but before you do, you find yourself already enjoying these characters of John Woo which offers kick back to the movie and bursts it out of the door.
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After watching this movie and reading the reviews, I finally realize why ignorant **** like Transformers and The Fast & Furious franchise make money. How can you people actually try to defend this movie as some sort of craft and not just action stereotypes thrown together? The acting is not intentionally bad. If these actors were doing these performances as some sort of ironic disrespect of the material, I might respect it. In retrospect, however, both Travolta’s and Cage’s careers have shown that this is the result of them ACTUALLY TRYING. That’s embarrassing to say the least. Typical of two privileged Hollywood types who have found a way to entrench themselves in the system. The ONLY entertainment value this movie has is watching it to make fun of it.
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It starts off well but as soon as their faces swap, it sinks real low. John Woo's action sequences were not enough to salvage this violent, overwrought mess. It gets worse when one who's in a different face, meets his wife in one lousy sequence. This movie just ****!
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Production Company
Permut Presentations,
Touchstone Pictures,
Paramount Pictures,
Douglas/Reuther Productions,
WCG Entertainment Productions
Release Date Jun 27, 1997
Duration 2 h 18 m
Rating R
Tagline In order to catch him, he must become him.
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 2 Wins & 10 Nominations
MTV Movie + TV Awards
• 2 Wins & 6 Nominations
