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Face/Off 1997
"Dress up like Halloween, and ghouls will try to get in your pants."
Somewhere in the transition between the 90s and 00s, Hollywood mistranslated the recipe for how to make an amazing action movie, and we've ended up with the grey, tasteless guck that we have now.
I believe the biggest problem is the misunderstanding regarding seriousness in action movies. If a director and actors are taking serious stuff in a film seriously, it's not fun. But, if a director…
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Face/Off 1997
Face/Off is not your average run-of-the-mill action flick. It has a really fun good story, nice characters, and an interesting premise. Special effects and over the top action are present in this movie, but they are only in there for the heck of it. The performances are really good, especially the two leads. They are a bit over the top, but it doesn't matter, they don't take away from the experience. You need to watch this movie. It won't make it on any top 100 lists, but it is a treat :)
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Face/Off 1997
Face/Off is far and away John Woo's best American film. In fact it is only good one as the rest range from okay to downright sucks. I remember this being one of my most favourite action films and after watching it again it still holds up remarkably well.
Starring Cage and Travolta in their ultimate mid nineties heyday when both were at the top of their game. Cage does a fantastic job here even though it is filled with his…
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Face/Off 1997
Face/Off is one of those films where I wish I was a fly on the wall while it was being made. It is 90's cheese at its absolute finest with two of my favourite over-actors of all time duking it out. The action is over the top and confidently directed by John Woo with absolutely none of this shaky cam bullshit! And the symbolism has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
The plot is about FBI agent Sean Archer (John…
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Face/Off 1997
I have to admit that this was a big disappointment to me when I first saw it almost 20 years ago now.
This was when I was going through a massive John Woo and Hong Kong action film phase, and Woo had successfully transferred over to America. But I just couldn't really get into this. It felt to me like a pale imitation of all the best aspects of Woo's Hong Kong work, with comparatively few actual action scenes, and…
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Face/Off 1997
Paramount. DVD
2.35:1
Color
35mm
18"Y'know, I could eat a peach for hours"
Utterly outrageous from inception to final product, never failing to entertain its audience with sheer over the top action and storytelling. Cage and Travolta are both let loose by Woo but miraculously steered into strong emotional performances with fantastic intensity throughout. It hasn't all aged very well with its special effects and Woo's little nods, while held back are still noticeable. The first hour isn't necessarily paced very well, it's slow and rather bloated but does add a great deal of weight for the final act.
84
