This is of those movies that could've only been made in the 90's

We tried Face/Off for a bad movie night, and it was honestly that night’s low point. I’ve never been more disappointed by a movie being good.

@JustGrowingUp84

5 жыл бұрын

Lol :D

@snoot6629

5 жыл бұрын

Yea The movie was fun as hell and its a joy to see Cage doing his shit in this one

@LinkMarioSamus

4 жыл бұрын

I know lol Rotten Tomatoes, but choosing a movie with a Tomatometer score in the 90s for a bad movie night sounds ridiculous. I'm not saying every movie acclaimed by critics is automatically good, but I've never seen such a movie I thought was outright bad even if I didn't like it. And yes I've seen The Last Jedi.

@osmanyousif7849

3 жыл бұрын

The movie actually received positive reviews and even was mentioned to be the movie that inspired Infernal Affairs (and that one inspired The Departed).

It's utterly ridiculous but that's part of the reason why it's so damn fun!

@samuelraji8343

5 жыл бұрын

Exactly what I was thinking. It's so insane that you can't take your eyes of it.

It's John Woo and Nicholas Cage, of course it's good.

@BirdsElopeWithTheSun09

5 жыл бұрын

You must never have seen Windtalkers

@ghosface353

5 жыл бұрын

@@BirdsElopeWithTheSun09 I did really like Wintalker 17 years ago when I saw. Even own the directors cut on DVD. I guess 19-20 year old me wasn't that critical. Really liked the battle-action scenes. Nicolas Cage is more Rambo in that then Rambo was in any of his films.

@gilgamesh310

5 жыл бұрын

I liked the battles in Windtalkers a lot too. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen it through, so I don’t know what I’d think of it now.

@CrashSable

5 жыл бұрын

but John Travolta is abysmal (at least as the villain, he was good in the brief time he was the hero).

@manavbhalla2861

5 жыл бұрын

Pre 2000 cage

A mix of intentionally and unintentionally comedic. But in the best way possible.

@sonny5387

5 жыл бұрын

Yo I haven't checked ur channel in awhile and saw all the videos r gone, it sucks that u had too delete it.

@jamyangpelsang3099

5 жыл бұрын

Shit happens lol The vast majority of my subscribers seem to be unaware of this. But since I don't upload with any kind of consistent schedule I don't blame them haha

@sonny5387

5 жыл бұрын

Well...hope you make new videos later on

@jamyangpelsang3099

5 жыл бұрын

Same....

Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert raved about this movie. 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, Metascore of 82.

Face/Off is very good and the rubbish scenes make it even better. I can't think of this movie without picturing two dozen shots of Cage and Travolta pulling off stupid facial expressions, and it's glorious.

Is it good? No, it's a bloody masterpiece.

@pretorious700

5 жыл бұрын

The dumbest comment section in known KZread history.

@SPL1NGYDUDE

4 жыл бұрын

@@pretorious700 no u

It's bad but it's good. It has two phenomenal actors that overact and have to change acting strategies when they switch characters.

One brilliant thing in the film that I don't see discussed a lot in how masterfully Woo subverts expectations in the Loft shoot out. Notice how having the hero and villain on essentially the wrong sides of the shoot out completely changes the dynamics of the scene. Suddenly the FBI SWAT team adopts the blood thirsty tactics of bad guys, spraying the room with bullets with no warning as well as nearly gunning down a little child. Likewise the hoods of Dietrich's gang act heroically fighting with handguns against the FBI onslaught of machine gun fire. It's the hoods who do the heroic dives, slides, and spins that Woo loves so much, not the traditional forces of good in such movies. Putting an exclamation point on this is that it's Dietrich, the hood's leader, who we see standing tall wielding a 12 gauge shotgun, Woo's second favorite weapon we've seen Chow Yun Fat wield in so many of Woo's Hong Kong classics, in the fight. We never know who is leading the SWAT team, we know Archer(Castor) called them in but, just like a villain, we don't see him leading them. He stays back like a coward until he strikes from the shadows to pick off the survivors. Dietrich, who prior to this sequence we thought of as villain who helped make a bomb that would kill hundreds of thousands, has now become heroic and has gained our admiration by his final sacrificial act. The world has truly been turned upside down by this sequence. Woo has taken an action scene that in another director's hand could have jerky, hard to follow, or perhaps just bland, and he has taken it to level of dare I say art. Then he caps it off with a one on one encounter between the two main characters that you could use to teach a master class on mise-en-scene. This is what makes FACE/OFF a masterpiece we likely will never see again in American Cinema.

@tylerdordon99

2 ай бұрын

Yeah that's always existed in Woo movies. You always find that one criminal with a code of Honor, Mad Dog in Hard Boiled and that creepy assassin guy in A Better Tomorrow II. I also find this same element in Johnnie To's movies. Like in Breaking News where the criminals cook dinner together before the final stand.

It's beyond good. John Woo had full control of the creativity of the film. That's what made it fantastic

Definitely a fun ride with over the top acting and cheesy moments. Classic John Woo!

Face/Off is a damn masterpiece of 90s action!

@TheBarser

4 жыл бұрын

It really is. This movie and the rock is some of the 90s action highlights. You just get blown away the whole way through. Not intellectual movies, but they are so fun.

I can't tell if this movie would have been as good as it is if it was Arnold and Stallone, but it sure as hell would have made millions at the box office. Question is, who would play Caster Troy?

@osmanyousif7849

3 жыл бұрын

Stallone as Archer and Arnold as Troy. Arnie would give a a Terminator type of performance to his character as a psycho.

Come to think about it. Those magnetic boots look a lot like they’ve been repurposed from the Super Mario Bros movie. Lol! 😂

@Rossatron

5 жыл бұрын

They were.

you should do broken arrow now, a highly underrated movie

@juan.nassiff

5 жыл бұрын

Now that's a good action movie.

@sarkastikleader4708

5 жыл бұрын

Agreed!!! Broken Arrow gets no love and I still don't know why even till this day

@TheArchersTungsten

5 жыл бұрын

Broken arrow is way better than Face Off

@whoelsebutmeofcoursei

4 жыл бұрын

Seeing this comment I must say now it's overrated

I always preferred Broken Arrow. Not sure why.

@Artificer1911

5 жыл бұрын

Definitely!

@imonymous

5 жыл бұрын

I think it's because John Travolta is fantastic at playing charismatic villains. I never really liked him before, but after those two films he was actually my favourite actor for a brief time.

@LilyRose8959

4 жыл бұрын

Me too. Although now that I'm older and rewatching them, I have more appreciation for Face/Off than I did back then. I still love Broken Arrow. One of my favorite movies ever.

One of my favorite movies of my childhood. How dare anyone question it's weird awesomeness?!

6:30 break neck pace...... I see what you did there.

@Rossatron

5 жыл бұрын

Wait till you catch the sleight of hand bit. Although it may edit a little quickly.

@UltimateCerberus666

5 жыл бұрын

Damn, beat me to it

Some of the sheer brilliance of this film is in its over-the-top silliness, and when you have NIcolas Cage and John Travolta BOTH going over-the-top, you can't get much better than that.

I feel like people's inability to enjoy a good old-fashioned crazy action flick is a large part of modern day cinema's problems...

Con Air, Face Off, National Treasure, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Rock and Kickass hell ya personal favorite for me when i grew up in Keanu Reeves, Nic Cage and Tom Cruise Era

Rossatron, I'm rewatching your interview with Eddie Hamilton and discussing the oprah scene in Rouge Nation, which reminds me of how I sometimes like suspenseful scenes over action. I think you should do a video about Suspense vs Action, and where suspense might work better. I really love the suspenseful action of a Brian De Palma film like the chainsaw scene in Scarface, or the foot chase at the end of Carlito's Way, or the breaking into Langly in Mission Impossible. Another great example is a chase scene in No Country of Old Men. A masterful scene of suspsensful action. Of course MI Fallout is a master of suspenseful action.

Man...I love the editing of this video. Well done mate.

I liked it but....Hard Boiled and The Killer leave it full of holes and bleeding out on the ground.

love the movie, and honestly i miss late 90s and early 2000s action movies they were genuinely really fun. and also i love your videos!

@ghosface353

5 жыл бұрын

I really love the early 90's action film. You had Total Recall, Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Last Boy Scout the best Steven Seagal films, Hard Target and Hard Boiled. Renny Harlin was on a streak with Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger and the Long Kiss Goodnight (I guess that is 96 so late 90's). I do find it hard to remember an early 2000's action film that is not a Matrix sequel, a comic book film, Bad Boys 2 or Mission Impossible 2. I actually need to think about what was the best action film of the early 2000. Gladiator?

@SomePotato

4 жыл бұрын

Late 90s is when action movies became dull PG-13 movies. Face/Off and Con Air are among the last good ones before Armageddon ruined the genre for a decade.

Rossatrobn, Love the opie and anthony clips spliced in with your video essay. It's funny and entertaining.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this in any of your previous videos, but your editing work has gotten VERY good. As the caliber of your content has gotten better, so too has your production value and attention to detail risen as well. You obviously put in a lot of work for us. Thanks!

That edit at 8:30 with the song is amazing! A wonderful summation of the movie!

I don't care what anyone says. I effing love face/off. That movie is a classic in so many ways

Surprised when I found out on IMDB that Face Off was so polarising that people loved it or hated it. I thought like The Matrix most people thought it was a generally good action film. Good action, comedy and interaction between Cage and Travoltas character that they really had fun with the concept of the body switching roles. Lost art from 90's action films of the movie villian being genuinely good and memorable (Speed, Face-off, Con-Air, etc).

Gina Gershon sporting The Rachel? Yes please. Though the goodbye kiss with her brother is... weird.

The 90’s was one of the best decades of action movies period

this movie is crazy fun and thats all that matters : D

@user-fm3xr9yz3i

5 жыл бұрын

Bizarro is that you?

i just love that you included jim nortons face off rant

It's not just good, it's a masterpiece.

So happy u put Patrice Oneal and Jim Norton in this!

The finger running over the face thing is actually really good at bringing family closer together without words. I'll often use it when out and about even with friends and with people i know casually i did it with a cashier at my supermarket recently. Although i have to admit im now banned.

Ross, you look exactly as I imagined. Ooowe! You good lookin'!

Something not mentioned was how good the pacing of Face/Off is. It gets to the point and you're never bored. I honestly think it's a textbook example of how to do pacing in a film.

One of the greatest laughs I’ve ever had to this day was Jimmy turning Patrice on Face/Off

I always thought John Woo should remake FACE/OFF with the same cast, but 20 years older and Nicolas Cage as Sean Archer and John Travolta as Castor Troy. And they switch!

I re-watched it a few months ago and I still love it lol

Awesome video as always, hope you get 100k subscribers now!

Fantastic video as usual :D

love that break neck part :D

The whole face touching is a way to know whos who, just something a character does

You legitimately made me tear up a bit with that ending dude!! Very good analysis. While I would never put FO on the level of Woo's Hong Kong flicks, it is by far the best of his American efforts. It had a ridiculous but intriguing plot, Cage and Travolta are clearly having fun in their roles, and it manages to balance it's theatrical but campy tone brilliantly. It's just a shame that the rest of his American filmography (possible exception being Hard Target) comes off as so lackluster in comparison. The action set pieces are also some of the best in Woo's career. The man truly made over-the-top action into an art form.

Okay first of all the face touch thing is actually a thing that John Travolta actually does that they decided to use for the film, so yeah. As for the over acting. Nicolas Cage is a man who turned overacting into a goddamn art form and this film was made with him at the top of his game. I've seen a video a few months ago where he talked about what he was going for. He deliberately tries to use German impressionistic techniques in his style of acting. For this film in particular he was trying to communicate Archer losing his goddamn mind at how fucked his situation is. This is just the dumbest fucking film and I goddamn love it.

Thank you so much for creating this video. Within the last 20 years I constantly faced this arrogant attitude from people towards Face/Off. It definitely is John Woo’s greatest achievement so far. Every single actor did have full understanding of what this movie wants to be and the result is the highest form of art in action cinema within its decade. As a long time Face/Off Fan I even decided to start sculpting on statues of Castor Troy and Sean Archer as a way to express the duality of good and evil.

Great video. This is one of Cage's best 90s films along with Con Air and 8mm. Just wish that he and Travolta can go back to making films like they did in their prime. Though Cage did star in the spectacular Mandy recently.

Gonna have to rewatch this movie. I remember loving this in theaters and haven't watched it since 2001.

O&A is always a win!

8:32 that is the quote of the year for me

I want to see a sequel!

Patrice's laugh always puts a smile on my face RIP

Oh cool! This is neat!

Hey Ross, have you ever looked into 80s Hong Kong action films? Especially the Girls with Guns fad that was hugely popular at the time... I've been on a binge of such films from that Era recently and discovered a whole archive of obscure titles starring Asian actors and actresses that are not widely known in the West, I believe this was also where Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock got their start as well....but some of the more obscure names who were mostly famous in Asia at the time are Moon Lee, Sibelle Hu, Cynthia Khan, Yukari Oshima, Michiko Nishiwaki, Kara Hui and a few others I'm unable to recall right now... But there were a few really good action films starring some badass lead female actresses that came out at the time... Would love to know your thoughts on films from that Era if you've ever checked any of them out

Damn I didnt expect you to look like this basing on your voice. What a handsome rossatron

Dude your editing just keeps getting better and better, at this point you might as well direct your own film.

@Rossatron

5 жыл бұрын

I am working on this now actually, and have directed a number of shorts over the years

@cptdoobs3691

5 жыл бұрын

@@Rossatron Well hot damn, thats good news for us all

This is such a fun movie even though it's silly! I loved it :) nice review!

One of my favorite film of 90s!

Please do a video one the 2000s movie Versus

Face off is full of cheese but as far as a 90s action film. Its in the top 10

before watching the video: yes, it is

I have the score by John Powell it’s absolutely brilliant

Face Off is one of my all time favourite 90s action movies, it's theatrical action at its finest. Great story, wonderful performances and masterful action set pieces. People often talk about the Matrix for it's "groundbreaking" action, but for me its T2 and Face/Off.

Please do a commentary on Last action Hero !

Couldn't agree more about casting. Cage and Travolta really are the X factor that make the whole thing work. I can't think of any other two actors that would've made all the silliness bearable and the drama believable.

Jim Norton ripping Face Off kind of make more sense when you listen to his Nicholas Cage plane ride story.

Travolta and Cage had good on screen chemistry and both handled the dual roles awesomely. Their performances made this film.

Any chance of you doing a video on Hard Target?

I liked your montage of face/terminator/mad max/off :)

I saw how this film was done in DTLA. Today it's called Pacific Electric Lofts

It’s perfect!

The first rated R movie I saw in the theater. I was 8 I probably shouldn’t have been there lol. But it will always be a gem to me. People seem to forget that the whole film works because they chose genuinely talented actors to ground the movie in an oddly perfect way.

Arnold and Stallone in Face/Off sounds amazing, have them ham it up just like they do in the current version.

In this movie John Travolta & Nicolas Cage portrayed each othee, in a manner of speaking

What are your thoughts on Iron Fist season 2? Would you say the action has been improved?

I'm REAAADDDYYYY.... READYYY FOR THR BIG RIDE BABBBYYYY!!!!!

It was my favorite movie for a ling time as a teenager in the 90s.

And Cage's performance is brilliant!

I wish Hollywood would remember that this was how you shoot action!

Opie Anthony and Patrice O'neal haha hilarious

Face Off always reminded me of an earlier John Woo movie The killer from the two leads being opposites to each other, even the doves in the church.

A vlog about a movie called "Face/Off" sponsored a company that makes money because people want to put blades up to their faces.

Maybe not, but “so bad it’s good”, at the very least. I frikkin’ love this film.

Do The Rock! Best cage action movie with michael bay actually putting in competent work. Definitely a cult classic

I Love it have it on dvd

I loved it as a child and I still think is a hell of a ride

It is batshit crazy, but it is brilliant.

This was during nicolas cage's short lived reign in Hollywood. He did gone in 60 seconds, con air, and face off; all 3 were awesome. This movie Reminds me of middle school in the 90's.

@evilspeak5702

4 жыл бұрын

No love for The Rock? (the Cage film, not the plank of wood masquerading as an actor).

@christianmendozatapia295

4 жыл бұрын

@@evilspeak5702 Damn, i cant believe i forget about The Rock! That was an awesome movie!! The 90's were awesome.

@evilspeak5702

4 жыл бұрын

@@christianmendozatapia295 I'd argue The Rock is better than Con Air and Face/Off, but I'll ignore the existence of Gone in 60 Seconds, it wasn't very good.

Thank you so much for my new band name: Noisy Trenchcoats

You can argue the merits/demerits of this movie but one thing you can’t argue is how awesome it’s teaser trailer was.

Loved it then....still love it now

The guy on that podcast sounded like he enjoyed it despite riffing on it. I love face/off, feels like a big budget early Segal or chuck Norris flick.

No, however A Better Tomorrow, Bullet In The Head, The Killer and Hard Boiled are fantastic. If you want old school Woo, watch the equally awesome Hand Of Death and Last Hurrah For Chivalry.

Hell yeah it is!

i love this movie so much, i even read the script

Love this movie so much!!!