Face/Off
HD DVD
Paramount

With Face/Off, Hong Kong action master John Woo (Hard-Boiled) struck American gold in a plot that offered leads John Travolta and Nicholas Cage to each play the hero and the villain as they literally exchange faces. Once you get into the suspension of disbelief over the switch being possible, you get one helluva rolletcoaster ride.

As FBI agent, Sean Archer (Travolta) wants to wipe Cage’s callow terrorist, Caster Troy, who murdered his young son, off the map. Travolta gets to go from family dad to flippant terroist creep (since at one pint Travolta is Cage and Cage is Travolta). The same goes for Cage, whose shift in eyes, from hard and evil to liquid and caring, tell the tale.

Both Travolta and Cage must have studied each other’s mannerisms carefully to pull off this, at times, semi-confusing who’s-who that results in mass violence and the ultimate final confrontation. Sure, the two leads performances are often over-the-top, but this one grabs you by the collar (or neck) and just doesn’t let go until the big finish.

In HD, the action scenes are so in-your-face, it’s remarkable, though even the few reflective moments gave greater depth. The deleted scenes offer some moments that could’ve worked and you wonder why they weren’t used, while the second disc’s documentary takes us behind the scenes of this mind-game, face-swapping movie that’s really already a classic. There’s also a fine, brief look at Woo’s cinematic history too.

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