favorite movie: face off

This is a very entertaining, very stylish film, done by Hong Kong action guru John Wood and featuring two fine actors. However, its almost too much to watch in one viewing. It just wears you out! If this film was cut from 140 minutes to 120 it would have been much easier to watch.

Woo's action scenes includes tons of explosions and breaking glass. This director just can't get enough of those explosion scenes. Some of those segments are excellent but many of them go on too long, particularly at the end of the film where it went on what seemed like forever.

The best part of the film are the two lead actors and the interchangeable characters they play. John Travolta and Nicholas Cage are extremely entertaining in here. If they kept the story more about those guys and their switched identities and didn't have eight thousand explosions, this could have a super movie.

If you have not watched this, it's worthy to have a look.

I only saw this when I was very young so I will have to give it enough go. I think I fell asleep when I watched it the first time, I must have been very tired!

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Wait, it "could have [sic] a super movie," but it's your "favorite"? Huh?

i'm a HUGE fan of John Woo and his symphony/ballet style of directing action movies. Face Off was basically an introduction for the american audience who may never have seen his previous work.(and if you haven't - do so! and if i may, allow me to suggest The Killer, my own personal favorite of John Woo)

This film had far too many gaps in logic for me to take seriously.

Face Off

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I like Woo, but hated this movie...

The Killer is pretty awesome. Highly recommended.

Yeah, I love me some John Woo, but I'm no big Face/Off fan. I do think the idea had some potential and if they had gotten a lot more creative in casting the two leads, well, then it could've really been special. I'd love to see a kinda Face/Off remake, like if they swapped Nic Cage out for Jeff Goldblum and John Travolta for someone like John Malkovich or maybe Willem Dafoe. That would be a beautiful movie.

Jeff Goldblum, by the way, is the weirdest dude ever. I think he's a great, interesting actor and all, but I saw him on Conan the other night and he's just so eccentric and bizarre and out-there. I can't figure that guy out. His new movie, Adam Resurrected, looks like it's either the most spectacularly brilliant thing ever or else the most tasteless piece of garbage imaginable. Either way, I wanna see it.

Crap. I like Face/Off. It's Woo's best American film and is really rather clever. Then again, I don't slam movies when certain actors are in them, at least unless they act like shite in them. I'll go off the deep end and be honest: .

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4484728.stm

When I first heard this news, I thought of this film.

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Suspect's Reviews

I dunno, I guess I just think that, in 1996, it was easy for them to say "Hey, let's get Cage and Travolta to do this movie". And for what it is, Face/Off is okay; but with that premise and Woo directing, I'd expect a little more. I think if you swap out one of those guys, probably Travolta, for a more offbeat, less ordinary actor like John Malkovich or something, the movie's ultimately more memorable and probably a lot funnier.

I thought the scene of Cage in the long black coat with the wind blowing was pretty cool… and Travolta and Cage both did a good job mimicking each others mannerisms... but I had to shake my head at the whole "switch-a-roo" thing...

2½/5

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VERY true, but i kept seeing shadows of Chow Yun Fat, but i guess you can chalk that up to a personal bias, since i did the exact same thing every time tom cruise spun around with a gun in his hand in Mission Impossible II

I can't let my man Mr. eff hang out all by himself... I really like it too.

I'd give it a solid . Its just an action movie guys, but its a good one. I should write a book on the difference between a good action movie and a bad one. It would be a good book too because I know almost everything. Short... but good.

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Not a John Woo fan but I actually like this better than The Killer (much better) and maybe even Hard Boiled. It's certainly no more ridiculous than those two. No more sentimental. And unlike them it actually feels like a full movie story (albeit a stupid one) rather than a simplistic excuse for those lame-ass posters of Chow Yun-Fat straddling a motorbike with the toothpick/sunglasses/machine-gun, which belong in the dustbin of entertainment history along with Pro-wrestling and Rob Liefield and "concert photography". Ug!

But yeah, I don't think Face/Off is bad, well, I mean I can think of plenty of comparably cheesy films that I'd much rather watch and are more interesting for a number of reasons but I won't hold a grudge against people who are into that one.

Whatever. Keep in mind Knock Off is in my top five movies of 1998. I'll be honest, I fell asleep when I tried to watch The Killer, and I wasn't even tired.

Once a Thief is decent too, and I really liked two almost-identical scenes in A Better Tomorrow (though as a whole I prefer A Better Tomorrow 3).

Are you guys kidding!? Face/Off was one of the best thrillers I have ever seen!

My rating:

What, out of the whole 2?

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I love this movie and felt it had a great deal of re-watch appeal, I've lost track of how many times I've watched it, but now that you mention it, a little more focus on the Sean Archer/Castor Troy relationship and their exchanges with each other couldn't have but, as is, this is still a great action flick.

A film. A Cage performance*.



* In terms of hilarity.

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

Personally, I love FACE/OFF...and this is from someone who really doesn't like action/adventure films. It is a little exhausting keeping up with everything that happens here, but I think it's well worth it and I think Cage and Travolta have rarely been better.