Face/Off (1997) Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray Review

Plot: Icons of cool John Travolta (Pulp Fiction, Broken Arrow) and Nicolas Cage (The Rock, Con Air) let the bullets fly in this mind-blowing, face-swapping action epic. FBI agent Sean Archer (Travolta) knows how to stop elusive terrorist Castor Troy (Cage). He’ll become him. Archer undergoes a futuristic surgery and has Troy’s face mapped onto his, then infiltrates the terrorist’s world to discover his deadly secrets. But as much as Archer looks and acts like Troy, he doesn’t really know him. He never figures Troy will retaliate and force doctors to transform him into Archer. Now the agent faces a shattering nightmare: his archrival is living with his family. The Travolta/Cage star-power comes on strong and so does the excitement in this roaring thrill machine of a movie from master action director John Woo (The Killer, Hard Target). So buckle up. It’s going to be a furious fight.

Review: I just got the Kino Lorber 4K of John Woo’s Face/Off starring Nic Cage and John Travolta, so I thought now would be a good time to do a new review for the film.

I hadn’t watched it for a few years, but if I’m honest between this, The Rock and Con Air, Face/Off was always my least favourite mostly due to the utterly outlandish concept and over the top performances.  If you can get past that then it remains one of the best action movies of the 90’s in terms of sheer spectacle; it has John Woo’s trademark style galore with Mexican stand-offs, religious symbolism, double gunplay, slow motion and of course doves.

It’s fun to watch both actors try to outdo each other and they are actually both convincing in their portrayals of Castor Troy and Sean Archer. Nic Cage is at his most outlandish here especially in the “Hallelujah” scene, but when he becomes Archer he gives one of his best performances to date. He is just in the seventh circle of Hell; he is put in prison, his nemesis shacks up with his wife and his life generally goes down the toilet. Since the death of his son at the hands of Troy, Archer is utterly bereft and essentially ignores his family as he obsesses with taking down Troy. When he assumes his identity and escapes from prison Archer (disguised as Troy) befriends Troy’s son Adam and essentially learns what it is to be a father again. Troy takes over Archer’s life and arguably becomes a better father than Archer has been as he takes an interest in his daughter’s life, even protecting her from a potential rapist at one point.

There are all sorts of interesting dynamics in the story and it isn’t just action for the sake of it; but let’s just talk about the action. Face/Off has a scale we just don’t see in modern movies without CGI. The speedboat chase, the plane crashing into the hanger and the various shoot-outs are genuinely spectacular and are what make the movie stand out as a classic of the genre.

I noticed even more clearly on the 4K that during the opening hanger scene you can see one of the stuntmen on a wire as he is pulled back after being shot; but also when Archer drops Pollux Troy through the skylight, you see the wire on Cage’s back too. It does ruin the magic a little and I kind of wish they’d digitally removed them.

I do think Joan Allen deserves more credit in this film as Archer’s under appreciated wife Eve; she is arguably treated better by Castor Troy and goes through her own kind of Hell having unknowingly slept with the man who murdered her son.

The music score has a memorable main theme courtesy of John Powell which can sound sad one minute and exciting the next, working perfectly in moving the story and action along.

Kino’s new 4K looks and sounds decent, but not spectacular mostly due to it being a film from the 90’s which I find lack the vibrancy in terms of colour of some newer films. It still the best the film has looked and it’s one of the few movies I don’t require subtitles for as the dialogue is crystal clear.

There are hours of special features on the Blu-ray that comes with it; a lot of which were previously available before, but if you don’t already have the Blu-ray then this is worth the upgrade.

DISC 1 (4KUHD):

• Brand New HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
• Audio Commentary by Director John Woo and Writers Mike Werb and Michael Colleary
• NEW Audio Commentary by Action Film Historians Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
• Audio Commentary by Writers Mike Werb and Michael Colleary
• 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Stereo
• Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc
• Optional English Subtitles

DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):

• Brand New HD Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
• Audio Commentary by Director John Woo and Writers Mike Werb and Michael Colleary
• NEW Audio Commentary by Action Film Historians Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
• Audio Commentary by Writers Mike Werb and Michael Colleary
• 7 Deleted Scenes (8:26) – with Optional Audio Commentary by Director John Woo and Writers Mike Werb and Michael Colleary
• The Light and the Dark: The Making of Face/Off Documentary (64:20)
• John Woo: A Life in Pictures – Featurette (26:03)
• Theatrical Trailer (2:08)
• 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Stereo
• Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
• Optional English Subtitles

Overall, Face/Off is one of the craziest concepts you’ll ever see for a movie and it may not be for everyone, but Cage/Travolta are on entertaining form and it never loses its heart; the action scenes are still jaw dropping where we generally see nothing like it today. I think I prefer Hard Target in terms of Woo’s Western features, but Face/Off is still hugely enjoyable and this 4K is a worthy addition to your collection.