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Face/Off

Play trailer 2:02 Poster for Face/Off R Released Jun 27, 1997 2h 18m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
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93% Tomatometer 98 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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Face/Off

Face/Off

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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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Critics Reviews

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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 Full Review David Ansen Newsweek Woo, a master of poetical carnage, mixes kitsch, sadism, sentiment and comedy with choreographic precision. Feb 28, 2018 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Does this movie have a lot to say about our society? Not really. Will it change how you view your place in the universe? Probably not. Will it entertain you with 90s action hysteria? Abso-freaking-lutely. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/06/24 Full Review Daniel C. M Amazing performances and action, though quite a inflated runtime. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/26/24 Full Review Christopher L If you just extend your belief this is an enjoyable and dumb action movie. A nicely ridiculous performance by Cage and Travolta is Travolta-ish. I think I’d enjoy this movie more if they did sort of a quantum leap kind of sci-fi thing with the body switching. That would have made the movie a bit more of an easier pill to swallow. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 10/19/24 Full Review Scott S The over-the-top campy performances from Cage and Travolta aren't nearly enough to overcome the mind-numbingly stupid plot. Woo goes for broke and the actors appear to be enjoying themselves, but I could never get interested in this silly, unnecessary, eye-roll-inducing film. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 10/14/24 Full Review Nathan W This is easily one of the most ridiculous, yet completely awesome ideas I've ever come across. The ultimate cat and mouse game, that felt like a crazy B-movie plot, with a bigger budget and a bad*ss director. Things started with a brief look at the backstory of our two main characters, but we're pretty much of to the races after that. (Which I always like). Nic Cage plays the eccentric villain just perfectly, and I really wish he did it more. His character was intense, amusing, and he genuinely looked to be having a good time. Travolta was a little slower out of the gate, but he really turned it up after the first act, and it was a pleasure to see them working so well together. (It can't be easy to play a character playing another character, but they both rose to the occasion). The supporting cast was solid too, but some of the deliveries could have been better, and most of the interactions felt a little off to me. I can't say that the script was all that strong either, but the dialogue was good enough, and the overall story was so cool that it hardly even matters. The plot was incredibly entertaining, and it never stayed in one place for too long. (Kept things fresh, and allowed for enough substance to fill the runtime). It went from an undercover cop flick, to a prison break film, and finally, the classic revenge plot. (I especially liked the prison complex they created for that section... Reminded me of the one from the 1992 movie, "Fortress"). I also thought it was pretty well filmed overall. Maybe a touch 90's with all the slow motion action scenes, but interestingly shot nonetheless. The CGI surprised me with how good it was for the time, and there was some really cool high tech science going on as well. (Things that are just now becoming a reality). There was lots of great action sequences, that started in the first reel, and only got better as time went on. (Not just cheap shootouts, generic chases, and a few measly explosions, but some fairly complex stuff, that went on for extended periods of time). The entire last reel was one crazy sequence of events after another, and it almost felt like something out of a Tarantino picture. It's really hard to put into words why this movie is so special, without giving too much away, you just kind of have to see it for yourself. It's truly a one-of-a-kind idea, that makes for such a unique and enjoyable viewing experience, provided you can overlook the silliness of its premise. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/12/24 Full Review Bernardo D The main idea isn’t bad, but the whole movie feels sooooo ridiculous that it’s hard to watch Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/09/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Face/Off

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Cast & Crew

Face/Off

Face/Off: Official Clip - I Am the King Face/Off: Official Clip - I Am the King 2:12 Face/Off: Official Clip - Prison Escape Face/Off: Official Clip - Prison Escape 2:13 Face/Off: Official Clip - It's Like Looking in a Mirror Face/Off: Official Clip - It's Like Looking in a Mirror 2:13 Face/Off: Official Clip - Let's Just Kill Each Other Face/Off: Official Clip - Let's Just Kill Each Other 2:13 Face/Off: Official Clip - We Both Know Our Guns Face/Off: Official Clip - We Both Know Our Guns 2:13 Face/Off: Official Clip - Speedboat Chase Face/Off: Official Clip - Speedboat Chase 2:13 Face/Off: Official Clip - Crashing the Plane Face/Off: Official Clip - Crashing the Plane 2:12 Face/Off: Official Clip - What a Predicament Face/Off: Official Clip - What a Predicament 2:13 Face/Off: Official Clip - This is Turning into a Real Marriage Face/Off: Official Clip - This is Turning into a Real Marriage 2:13 View more videos
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Movie Info

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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