Face/Off

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Face/Off is a movie from 1997 directed by John Woo and starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. It was the 10th top-grossing film in 1997.

Face/Off is considered one of Woo's most successful Hollywood works, not only because of its intense Gun fu action sequences, but also because it required Travolta and Cage to each play two personalities. As a result of emotional characterization the viewer does not lose sense of who is the FBI agent or terrorist, despite switching to a different actor. Another reason for its success was because Woo enjoyed the most creative control over the project, enabling him to put his trademark on it.

1 Plot
2 Others
3 Cast
4 External links

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Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Face/Off is the story of FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) who has spent the last 6 years hunting down a terrorist / hitman named Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage). Troy had attempted to assassinate Archer, but ended up killing his son instead. Acting on a tip, Archer and a team of FBI agents move in on a jet that contains Troy and his brother and partner-in-crime, Pollux. The jet runs into a hangar and the brothers try and escape. Castor kills a number of agents in a huge gun battle, but he is eventually put in a coma by Archer and Pollux is captured. However, it is revealed that Castor and Pollux were hired to blow up some part of L.A. using a biological weapon. After Archer interrogates some of Castor's friends, it becomes apparent that Pollux is the only one who knows where the bomb is and he will only talk about it with his brother. A government official tells Archer about a new surgicical technique where one person's face can be transferred to another(see face transplant). Archer realizes that this is the only way that he can "become" Castor Troy and get the information he needs out of Pollux. He agrees, but due to the secrecy of the operation, he cannot tell his wife and daughter or anyone else in the agency. The operation is a success, and Archer is transferred to the security prision that houses Pollux.

At the prison, Archer manages to get the location of the bomb and that its in the L.A. convention center.However, the real Castor Troy wakes up from coma and he captures the doctor who did the surgery and has Archer's face put onto his. He and his men then burn all the people who knew about this operation and set fire to the building, thus destroying all the evidence and documentation that connects the two of them. Castor then vists Archer in prison and boasts about switching faces and then has his brother Pollux set free. He then has Pollux "confess" to the location of the bomb and defuses it, thus becoming a hero. He then uses his power to conduct raids on rival criminals throughout the city. He then goes home and interacts with Archer's family. In the prison, Archer manages to escape with the help of another prisoner and gets back to L.A. Archer then vists an old friend of Castor's, Dietrich Hassler, and wants him to help kill "Sean Archer". However, Castor learns about Archer's arrival there and has an FBI task force raid the house. A huge battle starts and Archer gets Castor's ex-wife, Sasha and her son out of the house. Archer and Troy end up fighting each other and in the process, Pollux Troy gets killed and Archer escapes.

The FBI Director Victor Lazarro shows up in Castor's office furious at the bloodbath that happened at the house. Victor tells Castor (still impersonating Archer) that he is terminating his so-called war on terrorism and wants his raids to stop. Castor kills Victor and tells everyone that Victor had a heart attack. As Castor is promoted to FBI Director, Archer goes back to his house and tells his wife what happened and pleads with her to believe him. She finally believes him when she sees that their blood types don't match just as Castor starts getting suspicous of her. Castor and Archer's wife go to Victor's funeral, unexpectedly meeting Archer and Sasha. A fight breaks out, leading to Castor trying to get away on a boat. After a chase scene, a furious Archer kills Castor Troy. Archer gets his face back and goes back to his family.

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Others

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

It is likely that John Woo used clear symbology for the names of his main characters. We can see how Castor and Pollux are in greek mythology two brothers killed by an archer, a clear reference to the primary protagonist Sean Archer. The Greek influence in the surname Troy could be seen as confirmation of this idea.

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