Review of Face/Off (Reissue)

Introduction

In order to trap him, he must become him.

After FBI agent Sean Archer`s son is brutally murdered by Castor Troy, a deadly terrorist, he sets out on a personal vendetta. And after Troy becomes comatose after a showdown in an aircraft hangar with Archer, the case is nearly complete. Apart from a minor problem. Troy and his brother, Pollux, have planted a bomb somewhere in Los Angeles, but only they know where it is. The incarcerated Pollux isn`t talking, so there is only one radical alternative. Due to cutting-edge surgery, Archer is enable to transfer Castor`s face and physical appearance to his own body, and his own face will remain in the hospital, awaiting the reversal procedure. He is then sent to the Federal prison where Pollux is being held, in order to try and coax the location of the bomb out of him. But then the real Castor Troy awakes and assumes Archer`s identity...

Face/Off is a mixture of action, thrills and in some places drama. From the raw emotion that Archer and his wife face after losing their son to the exhilirating set-pieces staged by action maestro John Woo, it will entice you with its accessibility but then also entertain you on a completely different level - a level that is more subtle than engaging in some hi-octane gun battle.

John Travolta`s performance as Archer is good, it isn`t his best by a long way, but then again it won`t sour his CV. However, the real star is Nicolas Cage - whether he`s playing the evil Castor Troy (although it seems that Travolta can play a darker bad guy than Cage, who always seems to be the hero) or Archer in disguise. It was quite a feat for the two leads to completely swap roles, and it is pulled off well.

Video

It is presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, and the visuals are deep and well defined, with no compression signs visible. The palette is used to good effect, and the print is constantly crisp and clear.

The action sequences are staged excellently, from the tense shootouts to the high-speed boat chase. Woo definitely brings the best out of his SFX crew, and you can clearly see the results on screen. One of the moments that sums up Face/Off perfectly is during a shootout between Archer and Troy (after the face off procedure) in a loft, when they are each side of a double-faced mirror. So, they attempt to shoot through the glass, and what do they see when they`re shooting? The reflections of themselves - and their current physical appearance is the person they want to kill...it`s an intelligent way of describing the tone of the movie in one fell swoop.

Audio

A DD 5.1 track is on offer, and the surrounds spring to life when the action commences on screen, and every line of dialogue is reproduced well by the crisp and clear audio stream, and the ambience level is just right.

There is one fault with the script: implausibility. Apart from the plot, the actual screenplay is strong, and it doesn`t let up the pace - but the whole `face-changing` idea is just too far-fetched to make this a movie that is to be taken seriously. Perhaps if it was done on a psychological level: for example if Archer and Troy transformed mentally, instead of physically it would have been much more plausible.

Features

When this first saw the light of day on DVD, it was packaged on an extraless disc. So, here is the re-release:

Action Overload - now most people would think that this is a featurette delving into what must have been an interesting shoot. However, we instead are given a collection of the action sequences from the movie. A clever way to avoid offering a decent extra methinks...

Cast Biographies - the CV`s of all the main players.

Theatrical Trailer - the usual affair.

Sneak Peek - this is a trailer of Pearl Harbor, and it seems to creep onto every Buena Vista re-release.

The menus are animated well, both visually and with some music in the background.

Face/Off is presented on a Buena Vista Special Edition DVD, in a black Amaray case, with an 8-page booklet containing production notes and the chapter listings.

Conclusion

The movie is a great blend of different elements that combine to make an entertaining tale, with strong performances and some great set-pieces. The supporting actors are good, especially Joan Allen (The Contender) as Archer`s wife and Gina Gershon as Castor Troy`s lover. However, due to the implausibility level and the slightly overlong running time, Face/Off doesn`t live up to its full potential.

Disc wise, the quality levels are good, but for a re-release the extras are poor. DVD has been around for a long time now, and the days of the odd measly extra are behind us. It`s a shame that once in a while distributors forget that...

Overall, Face/Off is definitely worth a rent, and for some it`ll be worth spending some notes on, but you`d be best off waiting for a 2-disc collector`s edition.