An FBI agent undergoes experimental surgery to swap faces with a comatose terrorist to get intel, but things change when the terrorist wakes up.

ACTION/CRIME

Face/Off (1997)

Directed by John Woo

Written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary

Starring John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola, Gina Gershon, Dominique Swain, Nick Cassavetes, Harve Presnell

Oscar Nominations - Best Sound Editing

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Connor Eyzaguirre

April 19, 2022

9/10

You'd be hard-pressed to find a 90s onscreen duo more energetic and wild than John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. The hatred between Sean Archer and Castor Troy was palpable, and you could feel how high the stakes were at every moment. That was the magic of Face/Off, one of the greatest action classics of the 90s, maybe ever. When John Woo came to Hollywood, he brought the fury and insanity of his Chinese action classics with him, providing audiences everywhere with a unique blend that stood out. Not to mention the genius concept. FBI agent and terrorist swap faces and chaos ensues. Sign me the hell up.

FBI Agent Sean Archer (Travolta) has been hunting international terrorist Castor Troy (Cage) for six years, ever since Troy murdered Archer's son. When Archer finally gets Troy and puts him in a coma, things are far from over. Troy put a bomb somewhere in L.A., and only Troy's younger brother Pollux (Nivola) knows where. Archer begrudgingly undergoes an experimental surgery to have Troy's face put on his body. Archer is then put into the prison system as Troy to grill Pollux. Nobody counted on Castor Troy waking up and stealing Archer's face, and thus his entire life. Now, Archer must escape prison, save his family, and stop Troy once and for all. Sure, it gets silly at times, but that's the beauty of it. Without Travolta and Cage committing a hundred percent, this thing doesn't work nearly as good.

This is one of those rare occasions where Cage is actually out-crazied. Travolta goes full looney tunes as Troy, and it's equal parts hilarious and terrifying. This is one of those lightning in a bottle kinda movies. Everything works or nothing works. It's an action classic that has stood the test of time.