Face/Off

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2:02

Face/Off

R

1997

2h 18m

Action

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

97 Reviews

82%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

Obsessed with bringing terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) to justice, FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) tracks down Troy, who has boarded a plane in Los Angeles. After the plane crashes and Troy is severely injured, possibly dead, Archer undergoes surgery to remove his face and replace it with Troy's. As Archer tries to use his disguise to elicit information about a bomb from Troy's brother, Troy awakes from a coma and forces the doctor who performed the surgery to give him Archer's face.

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Critics Consensus

John Travolta and Nicolas Cage play cat-and-mouse (and literally play each other) against a beautifully stylized backdrop of typically elegant, over-the-top John Woo violence.

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Jake Cole

Slant Magazine

Face/Off immediately dials in on the operatic lunacy of its two leading men.

Dec 17, 2023

Full Review

Patrick Z. McGavin

Chicago Reader

Redeemed by Woo’s bravura skills, Face/Off becomes more than just a genre exercise.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 15, 2022

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David Ansen

Newsweek

Woo, a master of poetical carnage, mixes kitsch, sadism, sentiment and comedy with choreographic precision.

Feb 28, 2018

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Gayle Sequeira

BFI

In John Woo’s Face/Off, the unhinged intensity of the actors’ performances and outlandish absurdity of its plot is matched only by the relentless excess of its action.

Nov 17, 2024

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

In a time when the action genre seems to struggle to find its identity, it says something that the 27-year-old “Face/Off” still holds up against much of what passes for action cinema today.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 28, 2024

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Allison Rose

FlickDirect

Face/Off's action sequences are classic Woo with bullets flying every which way and plethora of guns to go around.

Rated: 4.5/5

Dec 28, 2023

Full Review

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D P

Just now watching this movie, and I don't understand why there was ever any hubbub about this film. First, the acting was atrocious. At one point, I thought we were going to get an interesting depiction of how easy it is to become the hero given one's circumstances versus how easy it is to become the villain given one's circumstances. But, no, it was just a run-of-the-mill action movie with bad acting and a cheesy, happy ending.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

11/03/25

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YoYo

I remember loving this movie so bad when I was younger. This was a seriously tough rewatch. How it’s rated this high is WILD. I’m perplexed lol.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/29/25

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Emerson H.

The story is strange, and it’s awfully long. However, I got hooked by the second half of the movie, and the acting performances are great.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/19/25

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Travis C

I would love to see a reboot of this movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/24/25

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Michael D L

Awesome action movie exciting story great action scenes

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/16/25

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Daniel M

A classic movie with great performances from trabolta and cage. It’s probably one of my favorite Cage performances ever. Fun story right till the end

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/15/25

Full Review

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John Woo

Director

John Travolta

Sean Archer

Nicolas Cage

Castor Troy

Joan Allen

Dr. Eve Archer

Alessandro Nivola

Pollux Troy

Gina Gershon

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Synopsis

Obsessed with bringing terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) to justice, FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) tracks down Troy, who has boarded a plane in Los Angeles. After the plane crashes and Troy is severely injured, possibly dead, Archer undergoes surgery to remove his face and replace it with Troy's. As Archer tries to use his disguise to elicit information about a bomb from Troy's brother, Troy awakes from a coma and forces the doctor who performed the surgery to give him Archer's face.

Director: John Woo
Producer: Terence Chang, David Permut, Barrie M. Osborne
Screenwriter: Mike Werb, Michael Colleary
Distributor: Paramount Pictures, Buena Vista Pictures
Production Co: Touchstone Pictures, Paramount Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 27, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $112.3M
Runtime: 2h 18m
Sound Mix: Surround

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