Face/Off (HD-DVD)
Studio: Paramount Home Video
Rated: R (For intense sequences of strong violence and for strong language)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
HD Encoding: 1080p
HD Video Codec: VC-1
Audio: English 6.1 DTS; English 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus EX; Spanish, French 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish; English SDH+
Time: 140 minutes
Disc Format: 2 SS/DL HD-DVD
Case Style: Dual keep case
Theatrical Release Date: 1997
HD-DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007
After the ho-hum showings of Chinese action director John Woo’s first two American productions, Hard Target and Broken Arrow, I was prepared for a let down with Face/Off. Here Woo had once again teamed with John Travolta as he was riding the wave that only Quentin Tarantino could set off, and Nicholas Cage may or may not be willing to be edgy in his performances. After about thirty minutes into Face/Off, I knew Woo had remembered to do what made him famous in the first place: make the heroes and the villains look cool and show their deep angst, give us action like we’ve never seen before, and have the story culminate in a religious setting with doves flying all over the place. Travolta and Cage also bought into it bringing out manic and impassioned performances.
The story is borderline sci-fi: FBI agent Sean Archer’s (Travolta) son is mistakenly killed by Castor Troy (Cage) in an assassination attempt on Archer. Archer makes it his mission to catch Troy and his brother, Pollux (Alessandro Nivola) in any spectacular fashion necessary. And speaking of spectacular fashion, Troy loves to look good and he loves to be around good looking things: guns, women, etc. As the Troy’s try to escape Archer once and for all, he captures them with Castor almost dying in the process. Intel soon discovers the Troy’s have planted a bomb somewhere in LA that will wipe out a square mile, and the only way Pollux will talk is if he can be reunited with his brother. The problem is, Castor is in a coma. Archer’s aids tell him of a revolutionary process where two people may exchange faces (and haircuts, and voices) so that Archer may wear Castor’s face into the prison where Pollux is to find the location of the bomb.
This plan is fool proof until Castor wakes up missing his darn face, and he subsequently forces the lab to put Archer’s face on him, and then he assumes Archer’s identity and life. Archer and his wife, Eve (Joan Allen) live in a borderline dead relationship with intimacy replaced by the anger and hurt of the loss of their son. Castor, now as Archer, brings some spark back into the Archer house, even going so far as to almost seduce Archer’s teenage daughter. Archer, as Castor, soon escapes the prison and he sets out to catch Castor once and for all, not letting property damage or believability get in the way of a good story!
Although Face/Off seemed fresh and new at the time, I now find it to be more over the top than I originally remember. Maybe it’s the language barrier, but when you compare this picture and its characters to Woo’s masterpiece, The Killer, it comes off as a more successful fraternal twin. The shots are very similar, as are the locales for the shooting, but yet it still works, and if I had to introduce a regular Joe into the world of Woo, this is where I’d start. To start them off with any of Woo’s later Hong Kong pics demands more from a viewer than simply reading the subtitles. Woo’s flair for teeth-clenching, angst ridden characters is in full bloom here, only the stunts and action pieces benefit from a bigger budget. And bigger is not always better, as Woo was able to convey the same themes in Hong Kong, but with less yen. It leaves me to wonder if Paramount told Woo, “We love what you do now here’s a pile of cash to do it bigger.” Face/Off comes in at a verbose 140 minutes, and Woo explains in the commentary to the deleted scenes that he wants his action scenes as long as they can be so the work of the stunt people can be appreciated. That’s all well and good, but you can’t let the picture as a whole suffer to appease the ego. In Woo’s later American films, we have seen the plots and characters become less and less important in the shadow of bigger action pieces (yes, Mission: Impossible II I’m talking to you).
The over the top performances of Travolta and Cage make this picture succeed, and it was great to watch both the actors picking up little traits from each other. They both realize the suspension of disbelief (and, boy, does this picture demand it) rests on their shoulders and both prove willing to do the job. As I said, the plot truly has a sci-fi core with a severe psychological leaning, but it always gets lumped in with action films. Such is the mark of Woo, and we and the picture are just fine with it.
Video:
Note: I am watching this title using a Marantz VP 11-S1 DLP projector, which has a native resolution of 1080p. I am using a Toshiba HD-XA2 HD-DVD player while a Denon 3808CI does the switching and pass through of the video signal. I am utilizing the HDMI capabilities of each piece of equipment. Since the Toshiba XA2 is having technical issues displaying 1080p, it is outputting a 1080i signal and the Marantz is responsible for the scaling to 1080p.
Face/Off is encoded in the VC-1 codec at 1080p with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. This is a nice looking transfer, with crisp lines and good detail. Fine background detail comes through and edge enhancement was rarely noticed. Colors are good, but they seem to be just slightly toned down. I really expected the scenes in the Walsh Labs to pop more. Flesh tones are accurate, and there is excellent separation of colors without any bleeding. Black levels are good and deep with some good detail in the shadow and darker parts of the image. This appears to be the same transfer from the previous SD-DVD edition: there is some video noise evident from time to time and I noticed minor amounts of dirt throughout the feature. This is a very small complaint to an overall great picture.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital Plus EX soundtrack was attained by the HDMI connection of the Toshiba XA2 to the Denon 3808CI.
The Dolby Digital Plus EX soundtrack is forward heavy through most of the movie, with the surrounds engaging during the action scenes. When they do engage, they provide a good sound field. Fidelity is average producing a somewhat muted high end. There just seems like there should have been more brightness to the ricochets of the bullets and the crack of the explosions, almost making this soundtrack sound dated. Bass effects come alive in the action scenes, obviously, but they do not overshadow the rest of the soundtrack. Voices are marred by the same muffling of the highs and ADR is noticed in a couple scenes. The DTS track is noticeably louder and it provides a better sound field. The issue I had with the muted highs seems to not be quite so bad on the DTS track. Bass effects are also…bigger, is about the best way to describe it. I watched several scenes with the DTS track and I jumped back and forth between it and the DTS track. If I watch this disc again, I believe I will prefer the DTS over the DD+.
Bonus Material:
All of the bonus material is presented in HD (MPEG-4 AVC).
This release comes on two discs and it ports over the material that was on the two disc SD-DVD release from earlier this year:
Disc One
One commentary by Director John Woo and Writers Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, and a second one by just Werb and Colleary: I don’t quite understand why the writers have their own separate and different commentary track as they really don’t tell us much alone as they did with Woo. As such, both commentaries have the participants talking about the usual stuff, and Werb and Colleary come across as a bit geeky at times, not only about the fantastic elements of the story, but to be working with Woo as well.
Deleted Scenes (8:18): These scenes, available with or without the commentary from Woo and the writers, really don’t add much to the film. Woo seems a bit put off by having to edit, but such is life in Hollywood. There is also an alternate ending.
Disc Two
The Light and Dark of Making Face/Off (1:04:17): this is a pretty comprehensive piece that can be watched in parts or all together. Woo, the actors and the crew all contribute and discuss the story, Woo’s style, stunts, effects.
John Woo: A Life In Pictures (26:02):this is a short biographical piece as told by Woo. He talks about his rough childhood and formative years and how this contributed to his films. This also goes into a study of his work as well as interviews with those who have worked extensively with him.
Theatrical Trailer
Conclusions:
This is the Hollywood picture John Woo was destined to make, and I hope he gets back on track with more pictures like it soon. Paramount’s HD-DVD looks and sounds great, highs aside, and there is a great set of extra’s to delve into.
I wonder if they just use a dartboard to make the audio spec decisions on these HD releases.
Oh, God, kill me now! 
