Did you know that John Travolta has gills?
Recently Tom and I not only watched, but purchased our very own copy of the action classic Face Off. Now our movie collection is complete! We have both seen this movie numerous times and really enjoy it because of its goofiness and horrible over acting. When we bought the DVD (at Big Lots for $3, just in case you want a copy of your very own) the cashier asked us if it was a good movie because a coworker told her it was awesome. We really didn't know how to respond, because, well, it IS awesome, but not because it is a good movie.
If you are not familiar with this awesomely bad action film from 1997 by the great John Woo, it's a real shame. It is full of action, gun fights, chases, escapes, cheesy one-liners, crazy/unbelievable medical procedures and awful over acting. It really is everything you could ask for in a movie starring both John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, two of my favorite bad actors of all time. (Although I should mention that Nicolas Cage was a good actor until he started working to pay the bills. He used to make quirky, independent films but has since become a parody of himself.)
It should be noted that Ancient Alien Astronaut Theorists believe that Mr. Cage experienced a true life face off with Mickey Rourke circa 1995. Rourke's de-evolution from chiseled handsome actor to walking meat loaf is the exact opposite of Cage's transition from Ichabod Crane to Ichabod Crane's toupee wearing, plastic surgery getting, douche bag brother.
Here is another example of walking meatloaf:
Anyway, Face Off begins with John Travolta as Sean Archer, the good guy/FBI agent whose son is murdered by the maniac terrorist, Castor Troy, played by Nicolas Cage. Very early in the movie, Archer gets his man in an over the top, John Woo style shoot out, but come to find out, Troy is not really dead. He is actually in a coma and being kept alive via life support courtesy of the police department. Meanwhile, during the shoot out, Troy's brother Pollux is arrested and ends up incarcerated in a floating magnetic prison. Once in jail, Pollux tells the FBI that their terrorist organization had planted a bomb somewhere in the city but...here is the catch... he refuses to tell the police the location (suprise, suprise). The good guys decide that the only way to get this important information from Pollux, Archer (Travolta) must undergo a top secret and state of the art procedure in which they surgically removed his face and replace it with the face of Nicholas Cage so he can go undercover as Troy and get the bomb's location from Pollux. So, from here on out, the characters switch bodies and John Travolta gets to play the bad guy and Nicolas Cage gets to play the good guy pretending to be the bad guy. Are you confused yet?
It really was a brilliant idea to have Cage and Travolta switch roles part way into the movie. It gave them both an opportunity to show off their
Another example of two actors switching roles part way through a movie is when Dennis and Mac swap roles in Lethal Weapon 5.
The thing that I enjoy the most of this Face Off character switch is that once Nicolas Cage becomes the good guy pretending to be the bad guy we are treated to some really great over the top Cage-faces. If you have no idea what I mean by that, here are some awesome examples of the Cage-faces that I love so much.
I.LOVE.CAGE-FACES.
Once Archer (in the body of Troy) is locked up the the floating magnetic prison, he is able to procure the bomb location from Pollux, but then realizes that he now has to escape from prison because (of course) their brilliant plan has back fired (how could that have possibly happened?). While the hero is incarcerated, Troy wakes up from his coma (now with no face, remember), forces the doctor to make him look like John Travolta (why would anyone want that Travolta butt chin?) and then kills everyone involved in the project. Once this transformation from Cage to Travolta is complete, Castor Troy in Archer's body, visits the real Archer (in Troy's body) in prison. This is one of my favorite scenes because we are treated to some really terrible wonderful Travolta over acting. Do you remember when he squeals and says "Ain't you good lookin?" it's just awful. This encounter is how Archer discovers that Troy has stolen his identity and is sleeping with his wife. Ouch. So, Archer now has to break out of the floating magnetic prison. He somehow gets his magnetic boots off (did I forget to mention that the prisoners all wear magnetic moon boots?), fools the guards (because apparently guards at maximum security prisons are really dumb), and escapes by jumping off the roof and swimming to safety, all while helicopters are searching for him. The only way this would be possible is if John Travolta, who is in Nicolas Cage's body, had Water World type gills so he could swim underwater all the way to shore.
In the words of Bella Legosi "BULL SHIT!"
I mentioned earlier that Face Off was directed by John Woo (The Killer, Hard Boiled, Hard Target) who is famous for billowing coats and flying doves during action sequences. This movie is no exception. There is a great scene where Nicolas Cage gets out of a car and his trench coat billows up and around him in a very dramatic way. This is a pretty famous scene too, they even used it in the trailer.
The movie ends with an over the top, violent shoot out (I'm not ruining the ending for you, it really is the only way this movie could possibly end) that, of course, features doves flying around. John Woo can't not put doves in his shoot outs. Here is a great video featuring John Woo's trademarks. I know it is long, but it is definately worth watching.
The same day that we watched Face Off we also watched the classic Corey Haim and Corey Feldman movie Licence to Drive from 1988.
Strangely, out of the four main actors in these two films, the Corey's (even though their later carriers were absolute train wrecks) were by far the superior actors. Don't get me wrong, Licence to Drive is a ridiculous movie, but the Corey's pull off the roles of girl crazy, dumb high schoolers really well. They don't over act and are genuinely believable as their characters. This is a huge contrast to Cage and Travolta, who are considered serious actors but whose performances in Face Off are laughable.
For those of you not familiar with this 80's gem, it features Corey Haim as Les Anderson, the 16 year old slacker who is about to take his road test, and his best friend Dean, played by Corey Feldman. The whole premise of this movie revolves around Haim getting his licence so they can pick up girls and go to lame parties. Early in the movie, he takes his road test with DMV examiner Uncle Phil, who is a tough guy that enjoys the simple things in life, like a good cup of coffee.
His love for coffee is actually really important to the story, because the only way for Haim to pass his road test, is to not spill a drop of Uncle Phil's scalding hot, filled to the brim, Styrofoam cup with no lid that rests on the car's dashboard.
Haim miraculously passes his road test but in a cruel twist of fate, fails the written test and does not get a driver's licence. Now, here is where the hilarity begins. He lies to his family and friends in order to borrow his Grandfather's BMW to drive a girl home from school, but of course, his parents discover the truth and ground him for lying and driving the car without a licence. So he is forced to sneak out of the house once his parents are asleep and takes the car anyway.
Now the Corey's are on a collision course with wackiness.
I am sure you are able to guess what happens next, the Corey's get into trouble. Haim's girl gets drunk and they put her in the trunk when she passes out, they go to a drive in and drive away with their tray of food still attached to their window while being chased by tough guys and ultimately wreck the car that they have essentially stolen.
Despite all the things that these out of control teenagers do, License to Drive still has a happy ending. This movie is absolutely ridiculous; but even though it is ridiculous, cheesy and stars the Corey's, it is still way more believable then Nicolas Cage and John Travolta switching faces.
All in all, I would recommend both Face Off and Licence to Drive if you have not already seen them. They are both silly and mindless yet entertaining films. I will end this post with a video that has nothing to do with either movie, but is very entertaining to watch. Here is Corey Feldman dancing like Michael Jackson. Enjoy.
