Face/Off

Blu-ray Review

Paramount

Released: June 3, 2008

Face/Off has received the full-out Blu-ray treatment thanks to Paramount which out-performs any home release yet for this absolutely classic action-film.

Face/Off released back in 1997 and is considered one of the best achievements of master action director John Woo. It stars Nicolas Cage and John Travolta in an action movie which revolved around Sean Archer, played by Travolta, as he tries to stop the terrorist Castor Troy played by Cage.

Just about any action fan has probably already seen Face/Off but for those who do not it is an action film which combines science-fiction and swapping identities as well. FBI Agent Sean Archer is forced to become the villain while the terrorist Castor Troy becomes the normal everyday man. The two men square off against each other in what is an absolute treat for action fans. The other great aspect is that there is also a very moving and thorough story here with Face/Off as well making it one your wife or girlfriend may actually enjoy watching.

Woo does an amazing job with this film and is one of his best American films ever hands down.

The video presentation of Face/Off is a fantastic release for the Blu-ray format with a lot of high quality video making for a great presentation. The black levels as well as colors used make for an amazing level of clarity unlike anything seen before in any previous release of this film. Compared to the DVD release, Face/Off on Blu-ray is completely superior in both audio and video quality. The action sequences look fluid and near perfect.

The audio presentation in this release of Face/Off is well put together with a Dolby Digital 6.1 track as well as an Dolby 5.1 EX list. The only downside to this Blu-ray release is that there is no uncompressed audio track. This does not matter all that much though as this is one great sounding release with tons of quality special effects, a great musical score and solid dialogue. The special effects blaze through the rear channels and subwoofer like never before. Face/Off has never sounded this clear and impactful! The musical score which was done by composer John Powell was a home run when it originally released and sounds incredible on the next-gen format.

This release of Face/Off has many similar extra features to the two-disc special edition DVD release. The extras include two commentaries, one by John Woo and the other by writers Mike Webb and Michael Colleary.

Also on disc one are seven deleted scenes which all have optional commentary to go along with them by all three men from the original two commentaries. The deleted scenes are going to make fans of the film very happy as they show a lot more and will likely be the first time anyone has seen these before.

There is also the original theatrical trailer as well as a making of documentary which is split into five parts.

The Light and The Dark: Making Face/Off is an hour documentary which presented how the film is made and also has many on-set interviews from the original filming. It explains the original script and how it evolved into what the classic action movie ended up being.

There is also a roughly 30-minute John Woo: A Life in Pictures feature which shows how Woo was brought up as well as some of his other directorial works. For John Woo fans this will very interesting but for other it may be a bit boring.

Another big thing to note is that there is a very entertaining alternate ending offered on this special edition release of Face/Off as well. I will not be the spoiler so you will have to check it out for yourself it is very fun to watch though.

Face/Off is one of the best action films of all time in the minds of many as you will see tons of bad guys getting blown to nothing every few minutes or so. The Blu-ray release has a solid set of special features as well as some great audio and video making for a tremendous release by Paramount. Action junkies will absolutely love Face/Off on Blu-ray

Film: 9.5

Face/Off is one of the best action films of all time and a true achievement for John Woo as it has amazing action as well as a terrific and moving story.

Video: 9.2

The transfer looks great considering the source movie. The video quality has some great black levels, contrast, and colors. A solid video presentation to say the least.

Audio: 8.8

No uncompressed audio track is a disappointment buy the Dolby Digital 5.1 EX track and DTS 6.1 tracks sound great with amazing use of the rear channels and subwoofer.

Extra Features: 8.5

Plenty of special features here with the documentaries and audio commentary!

Final Score: 9.0