FACE/OFF: 4K UHD Blu-ray (Paramount, 1997) Kino Lorber

The pseudo-intellectual sparring between a raging career criminal, played with venomous aplomb by Nicholas Cage, and hardened FBI agent, reinvented by John Travolta, culminates in one of the best actioners of the late nineties. Yes folks, director, John Woo’s Face/Off (1997)…of thee, I sing, with some high praises. The tale concocted by writers, Mike Werb and Michael Colleary is a dilly, forcing the hunter to adopt not only the pose, but also the face of the hunted to infiltrate and foil a colossally over-the-top terrorist organization. In an era of top-flight action movies, certainly, nothing like Face/Off had ever been attempted. Nor have we seen its like again since. The genius here is that, somehow, even against all odds of accepted suspension of disbelief, the picture delivers on its totally improbable scenario. At the time of its theatrical release, Face/Off represented a renaissance for its costars; Travolta, having crawled out from under some bad press and even worse, post-Saturday Night Fever (1977)/Grease (1978) movies to attain a cult following in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994), and Cage, after spending much of the 1980’s in career limbo, hitting it hard as an action star of the first magnitude in a triumvirate of doozies, of which Face/Off would mark the third and final ‘best of’ – previously fronted by The Rock (1996), and Con-Air (also 1997).

Both actors here are going for broke. Travolta’s pit bull of a law man, Sean Archer, driven to near remorseless insanity after the murder of his only son at the hands of Cage’s Castor Troy, is swimming on the edge of some hardcore recklessness. In a world where nothing matters, Archer is precisely the antidote to Cage’s undeniably crazy, yet queerly engaging psychopath, employing an arsenal of deadly toys to mark his territory. Woo’s reluctance to direct Face/Off is worth noting. His tenure as a director in Hong Kong dates back to the early seventies, but would suffer intermittent occupational burnouts before rising like a phoenix from the ashes with A Better Tomorrow (1986) – a financial colossus, fortified by Woo’s unique blend of high-stakes drama, slow-mo’ gunplay, and, urban atmospherics. Woo’s American debut, Hard Target (1993) ran afoul of Universal Studio’s desire to produce a ‘suitable for American audiences’ actioner as it debased the director’s original intent.  It would be three years before Woo would direct again states’ side. But the result was Broken Arrow (1996) – a picture coming closer, if not entirely to fulfil Woo’s expectations. Alas, it too showed only a modest profit. Fearing studio interference on Face/Off, Woo rejected it several times until Paramount Pictures made certain assurances Woo would be allowed to pursue the project according to his own likes.  

Face/Off begins in earnest with the brutal slaying of Archer’s young son, Michael (Myles Jeffrey). The death leaves FBI Special Agent, Sean Archer emotionally scarred, yet doggedly committed to bringing Castor Troy to justice. Time passes. Six years, to be exact. But time has not mellowed Archer’s resolve to destroy Troy. If anything, Archer has transformed his obsessive crusade into a personal vendetta, culminating in an ambush of Troy and his younger brother, Pollux (Alessandro Nivola) at a remote desert airstrip. Troy provokes Archer with veiled references to a bomb set to detonate somewhere in L.A. Alas, before Archer can glean anymore information, Troy slips into a coma. Unable to make Pollux talk, Archer does the unthinkable. He orders Dr. Malcolm Walsh (Colm Feore) to perform a dangerous face transplant to ‘become Castor Troy. As Troy, Archer enters the maximum-security prison and manages to convince Pollux he has somehow survived.  Alas, the real Troy unexpectedly stirs, forcing Walsh to transplant Archer's face onto him. Troy then murders everyone who know about the switch.

On the cusp of learning of the bomb’s whereabouts, Archer-as-Troy is confronted by his arch nemesis, now impersonating him. Troy-as-Archer vows to assume Archer’s life on the outside, and destroy it with sinister relish before forcing another transplant to get back his own face. Confused, Pollux informs Troy-as-Archer of the bomb’s whereabouts and is freed. Now, Troy-as-Archer decides to get closer to Archer's wife, Eve (Joan Allen) and, their daughter, Jamie (Dominique Swain). In prison, Archer-as-Troy stages a daring riot and escapes. As he appears now, ever more the villain, Archer-as-Troy retreats to Troy’s headquarters where he finds Troy’s sister, Sasha (Gina Gershon) and her son, Adam (David McCurley). Haunted by remembrances of his own child, Archer-as-Troy learns Adam is, in fact, Troy’s son. Now, in a race against time, Troy-as-Archer launches a full-scale manhunt for Archer-as-Troy. Alas, the raid turns deadly. In the hailstorm of bullets, several of Troy’s gang, some FBI agents, and, Pollux are mowed down. Archer-as-Troy manages to save Sasha and Adam. Archer's superior, Director Victor Lazarro (Harve Presnell), blames Troy-as-Archer for the bloodbath. In retaliation, Troy-as-Archer murders Lazarro, but makes it appear as a heart attack. And thus, Troy-as-Archer gets promoted as acting director.

Meanwhile, Archer-as-Troy approaches Eve. She is, understandably shaken until her husband gets her to perform a blood test, proving to Eve the naturally appearing Troy is actually Archer in disguise. Now, believing Archer-as-Troy, Eve suggests the optimal opportunity to recapture Troy-as-Archer will be at Lazarro's funeral. Unfortunately, Troy-as-Archer has anticipated this move and takes Eve as his hostage. Sasha rescues Eve from certain death but takes a fatal bullet for her efforts. As she dies, Archer-as-Troy vows to look after her son. Troy-as-Archer flees to a nearby church, taking Jamie hostage. Mercifully, she stabs her captor with the butterfly knife Troy-as-Archer provided earlier for her self-defense. A wounded Troy-as-Archer commandeers a speedboat, forcing Archer-as-Troy to steal another and engage in a head-on collision. Now, fighting mano a mano, Troy-as-Archer tries to mutilate Archer’s face. Instead, Archer-as-Troy impales his nemesis on a spear gun. After another successful face transplant, Archer returns to Eve, adopting Adam to keep his promise to Sasha.

Despite its highly improbable plot, the ultimate in kabuki, and, an even more unmanageable runtime of 140-mins. (usually, the kiss of death for box office success, as it hinders scheduling during peak audience attendance timeslots) Face/Off became a sizable hit for Paramount, earning $245 million at the box office worldwide. The picture was also Oscar-nominated for Mark Stoeckinger’s SFX Sound Editing. In hindsight, it is interesting to consider what Face/Off might have been had it come about under different creative auspices. As early as 1991, the project was bounced around Hollywood, briefly optioned by Joel Silver at Warner Bros. When this failed to gel, the option was allowed to lapse, whereupon Paramount snatched up the rights to produce it instead. The initial idea was to pit Sylvester Stallone against Arnold Schwarzenegger. Indeed, both were muscle-bound titans at the movies. But when this fizzled, producers set their sights on Michael Douglas vs. Harrison Ford; then, Alec Baldwin against Bruce Willis. For a brief wrinkle, Johnny Depp pursued the role of Sean Archer. Woo, however, had Travolta and Cage in mind. And Douglas, not particularly bitter at having lost out to star, assumed the role of executive producer instead.

Viewed today, it is difficult not to consider Face/Off as John Woo’s American masterpiece. In spirit, tone and overall attention to hand-crafted, nail-biting action set pieces, Face/Off comes closest to the inimitable high standards Woo set during his tenure in Hong Kong. It is a very grand, explosively eviscerating, and ultimately heart-palpating brilliant actioner in the American pantheon. Curiously, some of Woo’s potency still gets blunted in the transference from ‘East’ meets ‘West’.  Hollywood’s need for a ‘happily ever after’ blunts the darkness, drenching its surviving cast in a necessary ‘feel good’. Even so, this feels slightly disingenuous against all the chaos gone before it. In hindsight, Nicholas Cage is most in tune with Woo’s apocalyptic verve. And Cage goes for the brass ring here, attaining a level of brute insanity, pretty hard to dismiss and/or top. Cage’s Troy is evil incarnate, crazy to a fault, perversely manipulative, wickedly bizarre, yet strangely compelling – even likeable, in spots – in all his grotesque moral depravity. Comparatively, John Travolta stifles, seemingly out of his depth or uncomfortably weary about pressing the boundaries to rival Cage’s poisonous octane in their no-holds-barred/all-or-nothing confrontations. We can permissibly accept Travolta’s reluctance even with these acting misfires, chalking it to that unsettling prospect of switching faces. Frankly, this concept, unheard of in 1996, still leaves me feeling a bit queasy. So, does Face/Off still hold up? Mostly. Actually, almost completely. Removed from its generation of grand actioners, Face/Off remains a daring, expertly crafted thrill ride. It’s a roller coaster on steroids with a dash of testosterone-infused, fatalism on tap for good measure.

Interestingly, Paramount has farmed out Face/Off to Kino Lorber for the 4K heavy lifting. How does it all look? Predictably, up to studio and distributor’s high standards in the UHD medium.  The 4K was struck from an original camera negative with Dolby Vision and HDR grading. The results are tremendous. In projection, there is a film-like quality that belies the digital source. Everything looks immaculate to the nth degree. Color fidelity and saturation are magnificent. Flesh tones pop. Contrast is superb. Fine details could scarcely be better. Interestingly, the Blu-ray – derived from the same 4K master – looks almost as good. There are subtle nuances that pop best in 4K. But mostly, you have to pause and look for them, which is either saying something about the masterful integrity of the Blu or a lacking in the 4K. Personally, I think the former is more accurate. Because the 4K is astounding.

The Blu is too.  There are two audio options: DTS 5.1 and 2.0.  While some might poo-poo the lack of a 7.1 Atmos, the 5.1 is certainly no slouch.  Prepare to give your speakers and sub some real exercise. This is one explosive sound mix – literally and figuratively. The 4K includes a new audio commentary from critics, Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. There’s also another archival one featuring John Woo, Mike Werb and Michael Colleary. Werb and Colleary get another commentary of their own and it is more comprehensive. The rest of the goodies are housed on the standard Blu. The best is the hour-plus-long documentary, The Light and the Dark: The Making of Face/Off. This is followed up by John Woo: A Life in Pictures; a half-hour retrospective. Finally, there is barely 9 minutes of deleted scenes and a theatrical trailer. Bottom line: Face/Off is a bizarre actioner that continues to hold its own. If anything, the counterculture absurdity of our present-age crumbling epoch in North American society has caught up to the fanciful darkness depicted in Woo’s Franken-cinema. Is it still a good show? Yes – mostly. Is it a perfect entertainment? Few movies are. Consider Face/Off among the top-tier of the majority. Highly recommended!

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

4

VIDEO/AUDIO

4.5 - both 4K and Blu-ray

EXTRAS

5+