"Both actors...I could see them in both roles" Good news!

"I'm fairly certain that's now how that works." How do you know, George? Have you ever taken your face......OFF???

“Whys it exploding??” The 90’s, that’s why lol

If I remember correctly, Travolta thought this was going to be a "phone it in, throw it away movie" that would make a few bucks and be totally forgotten. But when he arrived on set and saw some dailies of Cage's early scenes, he literally said, "OK - I guess we're actually going all out on this one." Cage's lunacy really ramped up Travolta's performance.

The adoption at the end is wild. "His mother died protecting me, thinking I am the father of her child, and I killed his dad. Anyway..."

I worked on this! We made all the face/off effects. Duplicate bodies for Travolta and Cage. I specifically did the mechanical elements underneath the skin that makes them seem alive and asleep. Good times. The painters and hair people worked for weeks making them look perfect.

True story time, Cage and Travolta weren't the originally intended stars for this and when they cast them both there were concerns that the two actors wouldn't get along. Both have their famous and infamous on-set stories to contend with but they got along REALLY well and started bonding over each others quirks and film roles within minutes of being together. This amazing chemistry really carried this movie as you can tell they're both having an absolute blast in both of them getting to play the hero AND the villain.

I think this movie doesn't get enough credit for what the actors had to do to play their roles. You had to know and understand the other character well enough to know how they would play your original character. It's so very interesting.

[sees the thumbnail] "HALLELUJAH!!!"

"I could listen to trivia for hours." 🤣 🤣 🤣 Good one, Simone!

In the beginning when you asked where the doves were, I found myself saying “wait George, just wait.”

I like how the poster shows the actors playing the characters after the switch. That’s why Cage looks so sympathetic around the eyes and Travolta looks evil

So glad George called out Danny masterson and knew doves were coming

This is one of those movie premises where I'm sure everyone in Hollywood shot it down for being too ridiculous, but we the audience were like, "I don't care. I will grant you the ridiculousness. I just want to see what happens."

"No more drugs for that man."

'is it a hockey movie' is that the most Canadian thing ever said about Face Off? :)

"I could listen to trivia for hours" is an absolutely genius line.

"No more drugs for that man..." Top 5 .most quoted lines of all time in my circles.

"Heart attacks... famously causes external chest bruising". No... but chest compressions do.

14:33 Thomas Jane, the Punisher himself, in a completely unrecognizable role.

YES, you just completed one of the best runs of any actor ever: The Rock, Con Air and Face/Off were filmed and released in a single year (from mid 1996 to mid 1997) and after that Nic got superstar status. It remains to this day an impressive achievement in many ways specially for the action genre. Also, i think you are the only reactors that completed this run in chronological order (not that it matters but it is cool).

I forgot Danny Masterson was in this movie... being himself. Jesus that was a whiplash.

Less than 8 years after this film released, the first partial face transplant took place in France in 2005. The patient was Isabelle Dinoire (1967-2016).

This movie is over the top ridiculous, but it makes me genuinely love the characters. There are also a lot of little things I love about the writing, such as how important the wife's role is later in the film and how her treatment at the hands of Troy is taken seriously. I love showing this movie to friends who have no idea about the concept and then seeing the ARE YOU SERIOUS??? reaction when they put the pieces together.

“Peach. I could eat a peach for hours.” 👌🏾

More than explosions I'd say Michael Bay's signature is his Hero Shot, telephoto lens moving around the subject from below.

29:00 in context of all the outlandish science in this film, that portrayal of a blood group test is shockingly accurate.

Don't worry George. Learning that Rocky IV is about a US USSR fight or that Face/Off is about trading faces isn't a spoiler. I mean it's heavily advertised as the premise of the films.

John Travolta trying his best to outcrazy over-the-top actor Nicolas Cage himself. Amazing stuff right there! Also, in this movie, the studio basically told John Woo, "You know what? It's all yours, you have ALL the control." This movie really is an example of why studios should give the directors more creative control. Well, the good directors.

"Take his face...off...". Now that line will stay with you forever.

Oh man, the glory days of Travolta as the action villain. Gotta watch Broken Arrow!

Another director signature: Sam Raimi puts the car from Evil Dead in every movie he directs.

"The scar I don't need it anymore, got myself a replacement kid, it's all good."

Fun fact: The song Cage keeps singing, 🎶 Ready, ready for the big ride baby 🎶 Cage made it up on the spot and everyone on the set was worried about the copyright. Cage assured them he made it up on the spot.

In The Rock, Cage says he drives a beige Volvo. In this one, he steals a beige Volvo.

You two have been the best entertainment I have for the last three years ever since the pandemic and other things. George, you’re awesome. And Simone. I’m a contractor Carpenter if you guys ever need any advice or help with any contraction problems, please let me know. It’s least I can do for all the entertainment. You guys gave me for last three years. Thank you!

George: "I'm fairly sure that's not how that works, there's connective tissue-" No, George. If you pull the skin on your nose hard you will notice that your face will sort of tent out from your head and will be all loose and hang down and you won't be able to see out your eyes anymore because your forehead will sort of hang down and block it. That's totally how it works.

This is John Woo's 3rd Hollywood film after Hard Target (1993) & Broken Arrow (1996), which also stars Travolta. I believe this is Cage's first time (edit: apparently not) playing a villain, even though he spends most of the runtime playing the hero. Other famous director trademarks I know are: Spielberg = spheres/circles, Hitchcock = blondes, Nolan = drowning, Shyamalan = twists, Abrams = lens flare, De Palma = POV shots, Zemeckis = lightning, Burton = gothic atmosphere, Raimi = kinetic camerawork, Chan = fight scene props, etc...

This movie was one of five that my college roommate and I had on hand back in 2000. Every now and then, we’ll just text each other a quote to say hi.

Castor and Pollux were twins from Greek mythology. Troy is the famous ancient city. Archer is a reference to Apollo or possibly Artemis.

Nick cage is one of the greatest actors ever and this is a perfect example of his range him just playing a completely unhinged lunatic 😂

The guy that played Dietrich also directed "The Notebook".

20:30 - this moment requires both Troy and Archer havin the same "tool".

Wes Anderson is known for trying to have symmetry in a lot of his shots. And Sofia Coppola always has her characters looking out windows, contemplating things.

Being 16 and seeing this movie on the big screen, this was the coolest shit back then and it aged beautifully. Great dumb action cinema. And this is the one that brought the slomo dove scene to america.

The charm of this movie is how over the top, preposterous, and melodramatic it is. Just like his Hong Kong movies but with a bigger budget and American actors.

Remember, everything Woo picked up about slow motion he got from Sam Peckinpah (check the opening and ending scenes of the Wild Bunch (1969), or almost anything else he did.

It's been normalized now, but in the '90s teenagers having a lot of makeup and face piercings was a lot less common, and usually a sign that the kid was acting out or being rebellious in some way. In this case, the point wasn't that the makeup/piercings were extreme, so much as that they weren't normal for Jamie, and were her way of dealing with her trauma at losing her brother and her difficult home life. Hence why we don't see them at the end, because she's comfortable with being her true self again.

You really gotta remember the number 1 rule in movies. Sometimes cool works better then logic, always remember that lol

The trailers for the movie explains fully that they switch faces. That's not a big reveal, we all went to the theater knowing that part.

Nicolás Cage is an actor that we will never understand but we will not stop watching his films

"Is that Danny Masterson. . . oh, playing himself." Jesus George :D Never change.

Travolta's playing as Cage was so sublime. Another American John Woo is Broken Arrow, which was before this movie, also with Travolta. And Hard Target with Jean Claude Van Damme

There are only a few movies that are pure 90s like this film is. To the point there are 90s films all connected in the same universe. The common traits are quirky, fashionable, slightly unrealistic science, and intelligent drama.

I am so happy that Simone laughed at "Sasha, what the fuck are you doing here?" as that is my single favorite line delivery from John Travolta across his entire filmography.

1:33 "I really like this casting already, because both actors, I can see them in both roles." And you WILL see them in both roles!

I'm sorry, but Simone's face when Cage said the infamous "I can eat a peach for hours" was just amazing lol and I know some people say some of Cage's other movies have an even more unhinged performance, but this one is just the top of the Cage mountain of insanity acting for me. And the fact that Travolta basically pulled off doing a Cage impression and vice versa is just amazing for a crazy premise of a movie plot lol

John Woo is a treasure when it comes to action goodness.

Btw, the bald guy directed The Notebook (2004)

I remember Sharon Stone going on David Letterman and exclaiming, "Wow! When they say Face/Off they really mean face off. I mean literally FACE . . . OFF!" Letterman was like, "Yeah, okay, I get it."

Both Nicolas Travolta and John Cage were excellent in this.

7:19 Simone, you've seen The Rock and Con Air. You should be used to Nic Cage being "action-y" by now.

I don't know if it was intended at the time, but what the peach emoji is used for now gives me a whole new meaning to "I could eat a peach for hours". 🍑

John Travolta playing Nicholas Cage playing John Travolta vis-à-vis Nicholas Cage playing John Travolta playing Nicholas Cage. Just perfect

"It's the Zodiac killer..." I prefer to think of him as Norm Gunderson.

This film is were Nic Cage started showing his craziness. This and Con Air are my favourite movies of his. Honorable mention Snake Eyes, Gone in Sixty Seconds, and The Rock.

Michael Mann's signature is the circling shot with the main characters rising up and seeing them in semi silhouette

Something I love about this movie, which I feel also applies to The Fifth Element, is that they both feel like live action cartoons. Ridiculous premises and some over the top/hammy performances that result in a wild, fun ride.

My favorite part of this movie is how each actor is trying to portray the other and it is just hilarious to see Travolta go full Cage. That and the face waterfalls of course (shout out to How Did This Get Made?)

I loved that the face-off procedure is also a body-swap 😂😂😂

I’m sorry Simone but that was the most Canadian thing I can think of when the first time you hear face off you think hockey

"Shoot the tires of the plane!" Fun fact for Simone: in a very general sense, planes can take off with one or two tires deflated (it's not optimal, it can cause a bad situation; but it has happened). Depending on the airplane, each landing gear "leg" has two tires: one in the outside and one on the inside, making it more difficult to just shoot them both in rapid succession. In some cases, the location of the landing gear complicates even more this: in some cases, the landing gear door opens outwards, creating an accidental shield for the wheels, or (in the case of the film's plane, a Lockheed L-1329), the landing gear is directly below the wings (making the angle for a direct shoot even more complicated). Thus, destroying an engine or two is a safer bet to stop an airplane from taking off (keep in mind one thing: that regularly has to be done below a speed called V1 or "decision speed"; if the plane is going faster, the pilot may be commited to take off, no matter what, because the plane now is going too fast to stop inside the runway, or even inside the airport; the procedure recommends to lift off, circle around and make an emergency landing in order to use all the runway available). So, there you have it; if you ever need to stop a plane, cut the epic chase short and destroy the engines first :P. "This is outrageous... XD" At the time, face transplants were being researched, but still were just a theory, given the complexity mentioned by George (as mentioned in other comments, they were eventually figured out as technology and tools could handle all the delicate elements needed to connect and reconnect all the muscles needed to have facial movement). This, on a story telling aspect, opens an interesting question: true, films can be more enjoyable when grounded in tangible reality... But films are also a show so... shouldn't we just take some partially grounded premise and enjoy the ride, more often than not? The film is enjoyable not because it's 100% scientifically accurate and it explains every single aspect of a face transplant and the ridiculous body transformation both characters have to take to have the average complexion of the other; it's a blast because it has great casting, good performances, the actors seemingly had fun, everything explodes with minimal touch and John Woo had his doves. Back in the day, the possibility existed and was being researched, but the film simply said "the hell, we are not going to provide accurate answers, when medical science still doesn't know how to pull this trick"; and an enjoyable ride was made. Anyway: nice reaction and see you in the next one.

31:11 “See you next Wednesday” for John Landis. A 1973 Delta 88 for Sam Raimi.

Yeah, as awesome as both actors were, I was in awe of how perfectly Travolta nailed Cage's personality, mannerisms, and body language. In the prison scene between Troy and his brother, it felt like I was literally listening to Cage even though it was actually Travolta mimicking him! lol But it never felt like mimickry. I personally think this is is one of Travolta's top 3 film performances along with Blow Out and Pulp Fiction. Cage was of course superb as well. Also, this film is easily John Woo's best American movie, imo.

I also heard that initially, Nic Cage wasn't interested in playing another villain. However, when he found that he'd be the hero for most of the film, he agreed to it...

The names Castor and Pollux are based on the twin brothers of Greek mythology.

I think John Woo shared a visual style with Tony Scott. They worked with the same editor, same composer, and a few of the same actors. While Woo is famous for the slow motion doves, Scott was known for showing white curtains blowing in bedroom scenes in a ton of his films with the lighting giving either a blue, orange, or pink tint.

I was reminded about Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck... There's a short in which Bugs imitates Daffy and Daffy imitates Bugs... the same actor doing both characters imitating the each other and it came out very good, Mel Blanc was a great actor :)

George: "Sorry ... I kinduv know the premise" Everyone who remembers the tv trailers that came out in the weeks before this hit theaters: "S'alright, George ... we ALL did." The commercials were unavoidable on MTV, at the time.

Watching Nic Cage act like John Travolta acting like Nic Cage is almost as hilarious as watching anyone, let alone Simone, start watching this without previously knowing the main premise..

I just watched the best Nic Cage movie the other day. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call: New Orleans. Its sooo fucking funny. The cast is stacked, and Cage's performance is so wild. He's basically a piece of shit cop, and he's got a messed up back, so his left shoulder is always higher than his other one. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a wild Nic Cage performance.

This is, by far, John Woo's best American made movie. If you want to see his best movie ever, watch Hard Boiled or The Killer. Both were made in Hong Kong prior to his American debut.

The face change was either a selling point or widely known at least. I watched this movie in theaters as a 13 years old (theaters were very loose with the age restrictions back then hahahahaha) and i knew that was the main point of the movie but it didnt matter for my enjoyment. Im not sure if it was in the trailers or people just talked about it openly.

its funny that they ask about the scar being on his chest and that is what the wife could notice ........ what about the fact that unless Shawn and Castor have the same exact D then she should have noticed that wasnt her husband right away.

"A replacement son"... You know... As you do...

I could listen to trivia for hours 😆

RE: Other directors "signature" shots: Kubrik loved one-point perspective; Wes Anderson loves symmetry and a distinct colour palette; the dolly zoom is sometimes known as the Hitchcock Zoom for a reason; Tarantino (in addition to his foot thing) loves to use POV shots from inside a car's boot/trunk. There are lots more examples.

Travolta and Cage do an AMAZING job in this movie.

There's a movie called Switchback that came out a little while after this, and I used to joke that it was the sequel. As an actor, I'm friends with Dominique Swain, who played the daughter. We used to play Words With Friends all the time, and she would kick my butt. If you like this sort of dynamic with identity, you should watch Darkman. You already saw Mission Impossible, or else I'd recommend that too.

Also, Im surprised George didnt notice that Caster and Pollocks Troy were named after the brothers in Greek Mythology..😊

This is one of the most hilarious, cheesy yet awesome films of the 90s. LOL

His uncanny ability to make over the top, hammy acting a thing of beauty is what i love about Nick Cage! And he does not disappoint in this whatsoever

31:10 From the top of my head: Nolan, showing a character from the back while slowly zooming in. Snyder, a character looking into the distance while the camera pans across the horizon to show the action. Anderson, symmetry. So much symmetry. Villeneuve, gigantic landscape shots.

7:58 laughing at that 90s reveal of OMG PIERCINGS AND EYE LINER WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR DAUGHTER

This movie is so ridiculous yet such a blast. This seems like a lost art in Hollywood, where everything needs to be serious nowadays, no matter how outlandish it is. But it's exactly what made so many action flicks in the 80s and 90s so great.

Cinebinge: "THATS IMPOSSIBLE" ; John Woo: "Nerds"

What I love most about this movie is that Both Actors got to play Villain and Hero

I'm glad you recognized Bunny Colvin, but you missed Frank Sabotka. He was the prisoner that helped Nic escape.

Simone wins this video with “I could listen to trivia for hours”

This movie has a few connections to live-action versions of The Punisher. The bad guy kills the main character's son in a carousel, which also happens in the Netflix version of The Punisher. John Travolta plays the bad guy in the 2004 version of The Punisher. And even 2004's Punisher himself, Thomas Jane, has a small role in this film.