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Camp, Wit, and Slo-Mo Doves: 20 Face-Ripping Facts About 'Face-Off'

A perfect storm of otherworldly talent, creative freedom, and studio backing.

Camp, Wit, and Slo-Mo Doves: 20 Face-Ripping Facts About 'Face-Off'

October 14, 2022

Gang, we’ll just say it: we’re really scared of Just leave it alone.

Face/Off was a perfect storm of otherworldly talent, creative freedom, and studio backing. When it came out, critics even called it the craziest movie ever backed visionary John Woo. We examine its writing, its production, and some peachy nuggets of trivia we didn’t even know until a few minutes ago. It’ll be awesome, cheesy jokes, perfect set pieces, slo-mo doves… Just awesome.

20

Freedom

FACE/OFF JOHN WOO GOT A LO OF FREEDOM. Woo said in 1997, I'm really grateful to Paramount because ... they let me do whatever I wanted to do, because they like my style. Also ... the script was exactly what I like to do with two very different characters, who also have something in common. CRACKED.COM — Source: Venice Magazine (via The Hollywood Interview)
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

19

Face/Off

FACE/OFF THE SCRIPT WAS SOLD TWICE. Mike Werb and Michael Colleary sold the script to Warner Bros. in 1991, but the project was shelved because the studio thought it looked like Demolition Man. By 1994, the rights had expired, and a Paramount exec who ed it bought it yet again from the two Mikes. CRACKED.COM — Sources: Mental Floss, Wikipedia
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

18

Stallone and Schwarzenegger

CRACKED.COM FACE/OFF IT WAS WRITTEN FOR SYLVESTER STALLONE AND ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER. The pairing might sound stale today, but in the early '90s, that was the writers' original vision. Other pairs considered were Michael Douglas/Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin/Bruce Willis, and Johnny Depp/Nicolas Cage. — Sources: Pajiba, Cinemablend
Image Credit: MGM, Warner Bros.

17

Johnny Depp

CRACKED.COM FACE/OFF JOHNNY DEPP WAS DISAPPOINTED IT WASN'T A SPORTS MOVIE. The studio wanted to drop the slash and turn the title into Face-Off, but the writers argued this would make people think it was about hockey. Depp did, in fact, make that mistake, and turned down the movie when he saw he was wrong. — Sources: Cinemablend, Shortlist
Image Credit: TriStar, Mandalay Entertainment

16

Sci-Fi Movies

FACE/OFF IT WAS ORIGINALLY STRAIGHT SCIENCE FICTION. Between the magnetic boots and the face-swap, Face/Off has a near future, Black Mirror thing going on, but the script was much more futuristic. John Woo didn't think he could pull it off, and he didn't like the sci-fi concept taking the focus away from the characters, either. CRACKED.COM — Sources: Pajiba, Mental Floss
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

15

Face/Off

FACE/OFF THE WRITERS TRIED SEVERAL WAYS TO PUT CASTOR TROY IN A COMA. Those included Castor being cryogenically frozen by accident, falling from an air control tower, and getting zapped by high-voltage wires. CRACKED.COM — Sources: Pajiba, Mental Floss
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

14

John Woo's Involvement

FACE/OFF IT WASN'T GOING TO BE A JOHN WOO MOVIE. Rob Cohen signed in when it was a Warner Bros. project, but he then moved to Dragonheart when it all went into a limbo. Years later, the writers were watching The Killer and suddenly went, Holy sh*t, Face/Offis a John Woo movie! CRACKED.COM — Sources: Shortlist, Wikipedia
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

13

Michael Douglas, Producer

CRACKED.COM FACE/OFF IT WAS PRODUCED BY MICHAEL DOUGLAS. The actor is also a prolific producer, having worked behind the cameras in such films as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Flatliners, and The Rainmaker. — Sources: Mental Floss, Wikipedia
Image Credit: Everett Collection/Shutterstock

12

Cinematography

FACE/OFF THE MOVIE'S AESTHETICS ISN'T ALL JOHN WOO. Cinematographer Oliver Wood worked on Die Hard 2 and around 50 Miami Vice episodes. Woo considered him for Broken Arrow, but when Wood had an injury while doing Cutthroat Island, Woo told him, Maybe next time. This was next time. CRACKED.COM — Sources: Mental Floss, Wikipedia
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

11

Homework

CRACKED.COM FACE/OFF JOHN TRAVOLTA AND NICOLAS CAGE STUDIED EACH OTHER. One actor would play his character, and then the other would try to play it the same way. They did this a few times, and then just went with it. Travolta also told Cage to study some of his movies, like Phenomenon and Michael. — Sources: Cinemablend, ScreenSlam/YouTube
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

10

'Con Air'

FACE/OFF THE SHOOT STARTED THE DAY AFTER CON AIR WRAPPED UP. The very first scene shot is Cage (as Archer) talking Archer's wife (played by Joan Allen) after she leaves the shower. This must have been useful for the entire cast and crew, as the movie's plot is explained in that scene. CRACKED.COM — Source: Pajiba
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films

9

Opening Scene

FACE/OFF THE DARK OPENING WAS JOHN WOO'S IDEA. Face/Off immediately sets the stage with the sepia- toned sequence of Troy trying to kill Archer, and killing his child instead. But the scene was originally a mid-film flashback, and it was Woo who thought of beginning the movie with it instead. CRACKED.COM — Source: Pajiba
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

8

Animatronics

CRACKED.COM CHARCHER A6AS97-A FACE/OFF LIFE-LIKE DUMMIES WERE USED. The Travolta and Cage stand-ins during the face- swapping surgery were animatronics that moved like they're breathing, and even twitched at random times, like someone under general anesthesia. — Source: That's Entertainment/YouTube
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

7

"I'm Castor Troy!"

CRACKED.COM FACE/OFF NICOLAS CAGE GOT TOO LOST IN THE CHARACTER. How unhinged must a Nic Cage performance be for him to find it unhinged? During the prison fight scene, Archer begins shouting I'm Castor Troy! like a true man. I got scared, 'am I acting or is this real?' I can see it if I look at the movie, that one moment, it's in my eyes. — Source: Entertainment Weekly
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

6

Travolta's Chin

CRACKED.COM FACE/OFF JOHN TRAVOLTA OBJECTED TO CALLING HIS CHIN RIDICULOUS. John, the joke is that you're such a famously handsome person, the writers explained to him. That's the joke, that Nicolas Cage doesn't understand how good-looking he now is. Apparently it worked, because Travolta nails the line. — Source: Shortlist
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

5

Nicolas Cage's Stunts

FACE/OFF NICOLAS CAGE DROPPED 200 FOOT INTO THE WATER. Face/Off's stuntmen are a bit too noticeable sometimes-but when Archer drops from the futuristic prison into the water, that's actually Cage overcoming his fear of heights. Не called it one of the more frightening moments of his life. CRACKED.COM — Source: That's Entertainment/YouTube
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

4

Face/Off

FACE/OFF GINA GERSHON AND NICK CASSAVETES MADE THEIR CHARACTERS INCESTUOUS. John Woo gave his performers a lot of space to create their characters, which included allowing Gershon and Cassavetes to explore their idea of giving their sibling characters a weirdly incestuous vibe. CRACKED.COM — Source: Mental Floss
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

3

"Over the Rainbow"

CRACKED.COM FACE/OFF OVER THE RAINBOW Woo understood that the big midpoint shootout needed an emotional breather among the chaos, and thought of little Adam listening to Puff the Magic Dragon. In the end, however, he changed it for Over the Rainbow, given his own childhood memories of The Wizard of Oz as a refuge. — Source: Pajiba, Mental Floss
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

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2

Face/Off

CRACKED.COM FACE/OFF PROPS WERE RECYCLED FROM THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE. The magnetic boots that keep Nicolas Cage stuck to the prison's floor were used a few years earlier by Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo to hop around. - - — Source: Slant Magazine
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures, Hollywood Pictures

1

Alternate Ending

FACE/OFF THE ENDING WAS CHANGED Despite the creative freedom Woo got, the studio did object to his dark ending featuring Archer looking at himself in the mirror and seeing Troy's reflection. Audiences didn't like it either, so the studio ponied up the money to get the cast back together and show the Archer family adoptingTroy's little kid. CRACKED.COM — Sources: Mental Floss, Alternate Ending on YouTube
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

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