Face/Off begins with FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) riding a carousel with his son. It's at this point where criminal mastermind Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) tries to shoot Sean from long range, but only ends up killing Sean's son. Cut ahead a few years, and now Archer has now committed his life to capturing Castor, no matter what the cost. And he does indeed get his man, much to the relief of his neglected family. But soon after the collar, Sean learns that Castor has set a bomb to go off somewhere in Los Angeles, and only Castor's brother knows where it is, as Castor himself is in a coma. Archer has no idea how to get the information, until a revolutionary method is brought to his attention: Sean can swap faces with Castor. Yes, he could actually take on Castor's actual face and take on his identity to get the information he needs. And it seems to work, until Troy wakes up, and takes Sean's face, destroying all records of the operation. Now Sean, as Castor, must break out of jail and find Castor, as Sean, and take him down, in order to save himself and his family.

If the plot synopsis sounds confusing, then it's to the picture's credit that Face/Off plays out much better on film than it does in print. The root of this is a pair of compelling characters, written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, and brought to life by John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. Travolta was still riding high from the career resurrection afforded him by Pulp Fiction, and Face/Off is probably his best post-Tarantino performance. Nicolas Cage was also, at the time, just finding fortune as an action star, having appeared in The Rock a year prior. The film caught them both at a time when they were loved by the public, before their career choices took a turn for the worse. The team up felt iconic and generated a level of expectation that, thankfully Woo and company were able to meet.

Make no mistake about it: Face/Off has the most kinetic and satisfying action of all of John Woo's American works. From the larger than life opening sequence at an airport to the Mano-a-Mano ending confrontation, this is the one time where John Woo even came close to the audacious epics that he orchestrated in Hong Kong. In fact, everything about Face/Off feels epic. Perhaps that's why Travolta and Cage's hilariously over the top performances work. When Archer is sent to jail in Troy's place, it's not just any normal prison, but a futuristic sci-fi jail where everyone wears magnetic boots and watches a giant bank of monitors. And the havoc the Woo wreaks is simply fantastic. Gunfights, fistfights, boat fights, harpoon gun fights, it's all here. The whole thing takes on a sense of delirium that is simply breathtaking.

Despite that, there's a few flaws that prevent Face/Off from really taking off. For one thing, why would the doctor who did Archer's surgery agree to place Sean's face on Castor, knowing full well that Troy is an uncontrollable sociopath who would probably kill him, anyway? And do we really need that huge futuristic prison? The magnetic boots and so on really add nothing to the story. And, come to think of it, why do we need so many scenes of Archer in jail anyway? Face/Off runs 138 minutes, and that's at least 20 minutes too many. Granted, some of the scenes are nice character development moments that most action pictures wouldn't even bother writing, let alone shooting and including in the final cut, but I could name several scenes that really do nothing but add bloat to an already long and complicated film.

Still, when Face/Off works, it's really a sight to behold. I don't know what it is that's held John Woo back in America. Perhaps it's poor scripts, or lack of studio support, or maybe just a lack of inspiration (Woo has returned to China for the first time in sixteen years to direct his latest epic, Red Cliff), but that undefinable element is present in Face/Off. No, it's not The Killer, and it's not Hard Boiled, but it's a brief, fleeting, and tantalizing glimpse of how good a mix John Woo's style with American sensibilities could have been.

The Blu-ray Disc:

The Image:
I'm somewhat amazed to read several positive, and at times even glowing reviews of this disc. Frankly, my reaction to this AVC-encoded 1080p 2.35:1 transfer (encoded before Paramount became HD DVD exclusive) was that it was one of the weakest HD transfers I've seen in a long time. For one thing, the print looks both faded and dirty, with colors that look not just muted, but drained, and specks of dirt clearly visible. Not only that, but Paramount decided to riddle the image with noise reduction, resulting in images that are far too soft, with the skin tones at time looking downright waxy. I'm just going to have to go against the grain (that is to say, whatever grain is left after all that noise reduction has been applied), but I was sorely disappointed by this transfer.

The Audio:
Paramount offers a Dolby Digital 5.1 EX and a DTS 6.1 mix for Face/Off. Neither are lossless. Despite this, both mixes sound pretty good, with strong frequency response and excellent bass. The surrounds are often active, perfect for selling Woo's carnival of destruction. The DTS has louder volume and the added rear channel, but neither mix is a slouch. Also available are Dolby Digital 5.1 French and Spanish mixes, as well as Spanish, French, English, and English SDH.

The Supplements:
Despite being a single disc, all the features from the two disc DVD and HD DVD are present here on the Blu-ray, and all are in high definition.

• Commentary by Director John Woo and Writers Mike Werb and Michael Colleary: This is a fairly dry commentary that is almost entirely dominated by the writers, who are either alternately praising Woo or criticizing Cage for daring to improvise instead of using the script. When Woo does speak, he's so soft spoken, and his accent is still thick, so he's often difficult to understand. Not worth the time it takes to listen.
• Commentary with Writers Mike Werb and Michael Colleary: I don't really know why this commentary was included, because Werb and Colleary already dominated the previous track, and pretty much no new ground is covered here.
• Deleted Scenes/Alternate Ending: Given that Face/Off already feels too long, these extended and/or deleted scenes feel extra unnecessary. And the alternate ending is pretty bad. There's optional commentary by Woo and the writers, explaining why each scene was cut. Despite being in HD, the image quality on these scenes is worse than the already less than great image on the main feature.
• The Light and the Dark - The Making of Face/Off: A five part, hour long documentary that covers about everything you'd want to know about making Face/Off. All the major members of the cast and crew are interviewed, including John Woo, John Travolta, and Nicolas Cage. Everything from the pre-production stage through to the final reception is covered. While it's mostly talking heads, there's some good behind the scenes footage.
• John Woo - A Life In Pictures: While seemingly a retrospective of John Woo's career, this half hour extra mostly ends up covering his two Paramount productions: Face/Off and the utterly unwatchable Mission: Impossible II. Woo does recall some of his early Hong Kong days, but there's not much meat here.
• Trailer.

The Conclusion:
Face/Off is the one time when John Woo's American work came within shouting distance of the quality of his Hong Kong cinema. John Travolta and Nicolas Cage both give deliciously over the top performances that's fully in line with the crazy mayhem Woo cooks up. It's not his best work, but it's easily Woo's best movie since Hard Boiled. Unfortunately, the image on this Blu-ray is disappointing, although the sound is still very good, and all the extras are in high definition. Despite the poor image quality, this title is still Recommended.

Daniel Hirshleifer is the High Definition Editor for DVD Talk.