I know lol Rotten Tomatoes, but choosing a movie with a Tomatometer score in the 90s for a bad movie night sounds ridiculous. I'm not saying every movie acclaimed by critics is automatically good, but I've never seen such a movie I thought was outright bad even if I didn't like it. And yes I've seen The Last Jedi.
The movie actually received positive reviews and even was mentioned to be the movie that inspired Infernal Affairs (and that one inspired The Departed).
@@BirdsElopeWithTheSun09 I did really like Wintalker 17 years ago when I saw. Even own the directors cut on DVD. I guess 19-20 year old me wasn't that critical. Really liked the battle-action scenes. Nicolas Cage is more Rambo in that then Rambo was in any of his films.
Shit happens lol The vast majority of my subscribers seem to be unaware of this. But since I don't upload with any kind of consistent schedule I don't blame them haha
Face/Off is very good and the rubbish scenes make it even better. I can't think of this movie without picturing two dozen shots of Cage and Travolta pulling off stupid facial expressions, and it's glorious.
I can't tell if this movie would have been as good as it is if it was Arnold and Stallone, but it sure as hell would have made millions at the box office. Question is, who would play Caster Troy?
I think it's because John Travolta is fantastic at playing charismatic villains. I never really liked him before, but after those two films he was actually my favourite actor for a brief time.
Me too. Although now that I'm older and rewatching them, I have more appreciation for Face/Off than I did back then. I still love Broken Arrow. One of my favorite movies ever.
One brilliant thing in the film that I don't see discussed a lot in how masterfully Woo subverts expectations in the Loft shoot out. Notice how having the hero and villain on essentially the wrong sides of the shoot out completely changes the dynamics of the scene. Suddenly the FBI SWAT team adopts the blood thirsty tactics of bad guys, spraying the room with bullets with no warning as well as nearly gunning down a little child. Likewise the hoods of Dietrich's gang act heroically fighting with handguns against the FBI onslaught of machine gun fire. It's the hoods who do the heroic dives, slides, and spins that Woo loves so much, not the traditional forces of good in such movies. Putting an exclamation point on this is that it's Dietrich, the hood's leader, who we see standing tall wielding a 12 gauge shotgun, Woo's second favorite weapon we've seen Chow Yun Fat wield in so many of Woo's Hong Kong classics, in the fight. We never know who is leading the SWAT team, we know Archer(Castor) called them in but, just like a villain, we don't see him leading them. He stays back like a coward until he strikes from the shadows to pick off the survivors. Dietrich, who prior to this sequence we thought of as villain who helped make a bomb that would kill hundreds of thousands, has now become heroic and has gained our admiration by his final sacrificial act. The world has truly been turned upside down by this sequence. Woo has taken an action scene that in another director's hand could have jerky, hard to follow, or perhaps just bland, and he has taken it to level of dare I say art. Then he caps it off with a one on one encounter between the two main characters that you could use to teach a master class on mise-en-scene. This is what makes FACE/OFF a masterpiece we likely will never see again in American Cinema.
Yeah that's always existed in Woo movies. You always find that one criminal with a code of Honor, Mad Dog in Hard Boiled and that creepy assassin guy in A Better Tomorrow II. I also find this same element in Johnnie To's movies. Like in Breaking News where the criminals cook dinner together before the final stand.
It really is. This movie and the rock is some of the 90s action highlights. You just get blown away the whole way through. Not intellectual movies, but they are so fun.
I really love the early 90's action film. You had Total Recall, Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Last Boy Scout the best Steven Seagal films, Hard Target and Hard Boiled. Renny Harlin was on a streak with Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger and the Long Kiss Goodnight (I guess that is 96 so late 90's). I do find it hard to remember an early 2000's action film that is not a Matrix sequel, a comic book film, Bad Boys 2 or Mission Impossible 2. I actually need to think about what was the best action film of the early 2000. Gladiator?
Late 90s is when action movies became dull PG-13 movies. Face/Off and Con Air are among the last good ones before Armageddon ruined the genre for a decade.
Rossatron, I'm rewatching your interview with Eddie Hamilton and discussing the oprah scene in Rouge Nation, which reminds me of how I sometimes like suspenseful scenes over action. I think you should do a video about Suspense vs Action, and where suspense might work better. I really love the suspenseful action of a Brian De Palma film like the chainsaw scene in Scarface, or the foot chase at the end of Carlito's Way, or the breaking into Langly in Mission Impossible. Another great example is a chase scene in No Country of Old Men. A masterful scene of suspsensful action. Of course MI Fallout is a master of suspenseful action.
Surprised when I found out on IMDB that Face Off was so polarising that people loved it or hated it. I thought like The Matrix most people thought it was a generally good action film. Good action, comedy and interaction between Cage and Travoltas character that they really had fun with the concept of the body switching roles. Lost art from 90's action films of the movie villian being genuinely good and memorable (Speed, Face-off, Con-Air, etc).
Con Air, Face Off, National Treasure, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Rock and Kickass hell ya personal favorite for me when i grew up in Keanu Reeves, Nic Cage and Tom Cruise Era
Okay first of all the face touch thing is actually a thing that John Travolta actually does that they decided to use for the film, so yeah. As for the over acting. Nicolas Cage is a man who turned overacting into a goddamn art form and this film was made with him at the top of his game. I've seen a video a few months ago where he talked about what he was going for. He deliberately tries to use German impressionistic techniques in his style of acting. For this film in particular he was trying to communicate Archer losing his goddamn mind at how fucked his situation is. This is just the dumbest fucking film and I goddamn love it.
I hope you do Under Siege some time, Segal's A list movie... Edit: I see you sort of did... What Was The Appeal Of Steven Seagal? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SbioIx12k7s.html
Some of the sheer brilliance of this film is in its over-the-top silliness, and when you have NIcolas Cage and John Travolta BOTH going over-the-top, you can't get much better than that.
Nope. Saw it in the theater at the perfect age. I was 14. It was bad then and it’s still bad now. Nothing can ever convince me to take Face Off seriously.
I really think that this movie hasn't aged really well; which is not like I'am saying that I have realized this one to be a bad film, I do still find it fairly entertaining to watch but I never thought of it as an outstanding film to begin with. When it comes to John Woo's American films, I tend to prefer the grossly underrated Broken Arrow and Paycheck over this one.
No, however A Better Tomorrow, Bullet In The Head, The Killer and Hard Boiled are fantastic. If you want old school Woo, watch the equally awesome Hand Of Death and Last Hurrah For Chivalry.
So bad its good, more entertainment than high art - most of it is stuff youve seen before, but with a high concept idea not too easy to explain. You can enjoy it in a group viewing, but maybe not alone - the definition of a bad film. But if you like it, you like it, no one can take from you.
Choreographed shootouts by John Woo,the OG of Gun Fu. Nic Cage & John Travolta,overacting their socks off. Operatic soundtrack. Because some pretentious spoons like NC say otherwise,it doesn´t make this a bad movie. Hell,I wished 90% of what passes today as an "action" movie,were as "bad" as Face/Off.
I always thought John Woo should remake FACE/OFF with the same cast, but 20 years older and Nicolas Cage as Sean Archer and John Travolta as Castor Troy. And they switch!
Face/Off is not really a "good" film per say but it's well made entertainment that goes to 11. Most John Woo films are like this. They are sensory experiences rather than stories, or even coherent narratives. And when they work they really work. And that's just fine by me!
Cage and Travolta are probably the two best possible choices for such intentionally over-the-top performances in 1997. Stallone and Schwarzenegger would have resulted in a very different film, even with an otherwise identical plot.
Something not mentioned was how good the pacing of Face/Off is. It gets to the point and you're never bored. I honestly think it's a textbook example of how to do pacing in a film.
This was during nicolas cage's short lived reign in Hollywood. He did gone in 60 seconds, con air, and face off; all 3 were awesome. This movie Reminds me of middle school in the 90's.
@@christianmendozatapia295 I'd argue The Rock is better than Con Air and Face/Off, but I'll ignore the existence of Gone in 60 Seconds, it wasn't very good.
I adore Nic Cage, literally got a DVD shrine with his complete filmography here, BUT I never understood the fascination for either "Con Air" or "Face/Off". They give me nothing as action films and are too cheesy to be actually entertaining comedy. "The Rock" is where my money's at. That's a 90s action masterpiece like no other.
I still stand by that Hard Target is Woo's best American film. Nothing comes close to his Hong Kong work, The two A Better Tomorrow films, Hard Boiled, The Killer and Bullet in The Head also his underrated heist comedy Once A Thief. I never quite got the love for Face/Off, Cage's over acting was never funny to me and Travolta never convinced me as a action hero. A silly premise and Woo in second gear isn't my cup of tea.
Face Off is hardly a cult classic, but it's an awesome movie. There are some ludicrous parts, but it's a movie, what do you expect?? Great action thriller, plus it's John Woo, so plenty of bitchin slow mo before everyone started abusing it.
Why ask questions you already know the answer to!? The movie is ridiculous as fuck and totally knows it but gives no fucks because it’s also balls-out awesome!!!
The first rated R movie I saw in the theater. I was 8 I probably shouldn’t have been there lol. But it will always be a gem to me. People seem to forget that the whole film works because they chose genuinely talented actors to ground the movie in an oddly perfect way.
In it's defense, "Windtalker" is the second best Woo Hollywood movie. It's a great drama/war movie with solid action scenes and fine actors... + Nicolas Cage!!! But yeah, as goofy as the premice of "Face/Off" can be, it is perfect. When did "beeing realistic" became the "Most Important Thing" for a movie to be? A movie is by definition fiction : Actors pretending to be people they are not with directors and technicians putting the "magic" into it!
Doesn't Cult Classic actually mean that something is well known and beloved by almost everyone? I could understand someone discribing it as "hidden gem", or "underrated" but if this is a Cult Classic, what are "Back to the Future", "Ghostbusters", or "This is Spinal Tap, since everyone turning up "something to 11" quotes that movie? Face Off is an entertaining Movie with outlandish story that has lots of flaws, some of them effectively add to the movie, others don't, and contains a couple of brilliant Actionscenes. It's certainly on the more original side of 90's Actioners but that's pretty much it.
haha this pretty much same with DENIRO/PACINO face off in michael mann heat...if both movie were 2 be arnold vs sly or bruce vs arnold/sly i think both movie will fail big time
It's no oscar winner, but face-off is a fantastic movie just for how entertaining it is. There's not a second of this film that's boring or drags, neither does it ever feel like it moves to fast. Something modern cinema in general should take notes on.
I think my biggest problem with Face/Off is one minute it wants to be serious and the next minute it wants to be completely ridiculous, Now I love Heat (1995) and Commando (1985) but I would never mix those two genres together.
Is an over the top action science fiction fantasy, if you want realism go to another place. 90% of the fun of the film is the fantastic, none difference from many modern superhero films.
0:19 oh my fucking god I thought about that video Patrice video when I saw the notifications for yours I didn’t think you’d actually bring it up cuz I was just thinking “yeah I seen this one video before and it definitely isn’t still good maybe he should watch it” and here we are That was so unexpected
Hey Ross, have you ever looked into 80s Hong Kong action films? Especially the Girls with Guns fad that was hugely popular at the time... I've been on a binge of such films from that Era recently and discovered a whole archive of obscure titles starring Asian actors and actresses that are not widely known in the West, I believe this was also where Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock got their start as well....but some of the more obscure names who were mostly famous in Asia at the time are Moon Lee, Sibelle Hu, Cynthia Khan, Yukari Oshima, Michiko Nishiwaki, Kara Hui and a few others I'm unable to recall right now... But there were a few really good action films starring some badass lead female actresses that came out at the time... Would love to know your thoughts on films from that Era if you've ever checked any of them out
Face Off is all over the top and cheesy from start to end... but that it's part of its charm. Pleanse, make a video about CONAIR, which I consider amazing.
I firmly believe overacting is typical of any film that is intended to be released to a global market rather than one exclusive to its home audience. Dubbed dialogue and overly expressive acting are synonymous with old karate movies. Modern films that are overacted have the same quirks. Imagine Face/Off dubbed in Mandarin. All the performances and expressions are exaggerated and understandable in any language. Another modern example would be Pacific Rim.
To me it’s a crappy movie, but I love watching it, it’s so entertaining!!! It’s over the top and both Travolta and Cage are overacting, and the plot is ridiculous (I mean swapping the faces with no scars whatsoever or transplant rejection? Hahahaha!!) but it’s so funny, satisfying and a hell of a ride!!! It’s shit, but I love it!!!
Answering the title of the video: No. Is it fun? So so. Despite being a Nicholas Cage movie, it's no Ghost Rider or Wicker Man (which are genuinely so terrible they're good).
I loved Face/Off as a kid. As an adult I saw that same clip from the O&A show years ago and it completely ruined the film for me because Jim Norton is completely right ahahaha. I still love the film but omg is it ever bad. I'll never be able to look at it the same way again. The full clip from the O&A show is hilarious (RIP Patrice O'Neal)
It's a no-brainer that this was John Woo's best US film. The closest he came to his acclaimed HK films. One of the best action films of the 90s for sure. If one can suspend disbelief, the payoff is good for anyone who just wants to enjoy a popcorn action film that doesn't go for a screenplay award, though it's well-acted. Heck, screw the haters for this one.
Yes!!!! Yes it is. I don't even have to see the video. It is a great Movie, its AWESOME. Just by questioning its greatness with this video makes you sound ridicules.
