This next review is another action film, one which I would consider to be a great film, not only because of the starts involved in the film, but rather the unique storyline of the film, it was something that had yet to be done, and in my opinion was just done brilliantly. I am reviewing the 1997 blockbuster hit "Face Off", directed by John Woo and starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. For me this film was just genius, because it took an unheard idea or concept and made it somewhat watchable, on top of that I consider these two actors to be brilliant and watching the film, showed how well these two characters seemed to work with one another. It was action, drama and excitement throughout and I don't think I can remember a moment were I was bored.
Director:
John Woo has been a huge director for some time now; I must confess I hadn't actually heard of him until he made Broken Arrow in 1996, in which he also worked with Travolta. However since then he has gone on to make some really good films, including Face Off and Mission Impossible 2. He has a knack of creating some really
good films, he knows what audiences want and delivers, his films have action, drama and lots of intensity.
Plot:
Terrorist-for-hire Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) has been pursued by FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) for many years now. It was some time ago that Troy killed Archers young son, and ever since then Archer has tried to capture the infamous Troy. The film starts off with the FBI on the tail of Castor's little brother Pollux who is waiting to board a plane, it would seem that were ever Pollux goes his brother isn't to far behind. Well they were right, Troy is also located their and Archer is now on the pursuit of this terrorist, after a unique and exciting action scene that starts at the beginning Troy is caught by Archer. However, the film can't end after 10 minutes and so there is a big twist coming up. It would seem that Troy has planted a bomb somewhere in LA, which could kill thousands, the only way to find out were the bomb is, would be to ask the little brother. Archer is approached by a group of special scientists who offer him a way of finding out were the bomb is, Archer must switch faces with Troy and in essence become Troy, in order to get close to his brother. Archer knows just how tough and serious this job is, he will miss his family, but really wants to find the bomb, so he agrees. However nothing in Hollywood is hunky dory and Castor now awaken from a comma, steals Archers face and starts living the life of Archer. All the evidence pointing to this procedure has been destroyed and now it would seem the two men and stuck with new identities. Can the once good guy, who is now a bad guy gets his good guy, face back? Or will he be stuck with this awful new life?
Characters:
Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage):
Castor is the bad guy played by Cage; he is what you would consider the stereotypical villain, he hates the law, likes making money and killing people. His character has no compassion for killing, and this is evident when he kills Archer's son. However, he in essence becomes a good guy because of the face swap, and it's so unique and original to see this evil man now portray a good guy. I must praise Cage for playing such two unique character styles, much like Travolta, it must be hard to play both and make it seem believable and real.
FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta):
Archer is the good guy in the film, he has been on the tail of Troy ever since he killed his son a few years back, his obsession over finding Troy has ruined his relationship with both his wife and daughter and he won't rest until Troy is dead. Again after the face swap Archer in theory becomes a bad guy and again like Cage, it is brilliant to see how they manage to portray an opposite character so well.
My View:
For me this film was just simply brilliant, and so much praise must go to the director, the writers and most importantly the two lead actors. Would drew me to this film wasn't because of the big starts, but rather the complexity and difference in the way the film was portrayed. Never had a film show a successful storyline were two characters switch faces, and in therefore making the villain a goody and vice versa. I always preferred Travolta as a villain and Cage as a goody, and so the transformation was most pleasing to me. Although one could argue this story is about out of this world, I think that's what attracted me to watching it, it was a think outside the box film, however at the same time, and it was to some extent believable that something like this could actually happen. The film was really fast moving, I don't think I could say I ever got bored; the special effects were what you would expect from a big budget film. However for me this film had everything moulded together, which was why it was so watchable. The film had more of a psychological feeling to it; it showed what it was like for these two men to become totally new characters, how they adopted their new power and the consequences of this.
Film Info: The original idea was to have both Arnold and Sylvester as the lead characters, and making the film more like a demolition man style film they even considered Harrison Ford, however he later become a producer rather than a actor.
Cast: John Travolta Nicolas Cage
Run Time: 138 minutes Budget: $80 million Turnover: $245 million
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
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An international terrorist for hire named Castor Troy is being relentlessly pursued by ... more
Sean Archer an FBI agent whose son Castor accidentally killed in an assassination attempt years earlier. After finally catching Troy Archer's troubles have only ju...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Oscar. winning superstar Nicolas Cage (Con Air) and screen icon John Travolta (Pulp ... more
Fiction) battle head to head in FACE/OFF...the ultimate cat and mouse thriller directed by the world's most acclaimed action film director, John Woo! To avenge the sens...
Advantages: Fantastic dialogue, action, and well, everything really. Disadvantages: The parallel port Zip drive used in the film has an unbelievably quick seek time.
thedeadparrot 13.06.2001 (14.06.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Face/Off (DVD)
Advantages: i personaily think that 2 out 0f 3 of these films are brilliant really worth watching Disadvantages: has to be the fact it has the film the rock
Feb 17th, 2008
very helpful by (100%):
