After scoring big in the Far East with his stunning action ballets THE KILLER and HARD-BOILED amongst others, John Woo arrived in America – and brought his own unique approach to action in a stunning epic that has an opening that could be a mini-action thriller in itself.
Sean Archer (John Travolta) is a US Special Agent with the CIA out to hunt down and capture even mad dog Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) who has planted the mother of all bombs.
Troy, you see, killed Archer’s son by accident when he was meant to shoot Archer – and Archer is understandably miffed about it. Capturing him after a tense opening chase on a runway at high-power, a proposal is made to him to confer with his brother who is in prison to reveal the location of the bomb – by surgically taking the face off Troy and placing it on Archer.
Unfortunately, the ruse is a bit too convincing, as Troy is wearing Archer’s face – and with all the life luxuries he has with his wife (Joan Allen) and daughter (Dominique Swain). Will Archer be able to convince others if he can escape from the prison?
Without question one of the all-time classic action films from the 1990s alongside the likes of TERMINATOR 2 and the DIE HARD sequels, FACE/OFF erupts in a dynamite fusion of explosions and twister characterisation – and two near-perfect performances from John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.