Do you know what Face/Off and the Super Mario Bros. movie have in common?
In 1997, Paramount Pictures released Face/Off, an utterly ridiculous action epic starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. Directed by legendary Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo, the film is excessive even by his standards.
The premise is absurd on its face. FBI Agent Sean Archer (Travolta) has the face of high-profile terrorist Castor Troy (Cage) surgically implanted onto him, so that he can double as Troy and go undercover to track down the location of a bomb.
Unfortunately, Troy subsequently has Archer’s face implanted onto him, and poses as the hero FBI agent. And thus, for the next two hours or so, we’re treated to John Travolta acting like an evil Nicolas Cage, and Nicholas Cage acting like a heroic John Travolta. If there was an Oscar for “Most Acting” rather than “Best Acting,” these two would be tied.
Remember that Simpsons episode where Mr. Burns learns that all the deadly diseases in his body have achieved a perfect harmony and are keeping him alive? The same principle applies to Face/Off. Nothing about it should work. But it does, largely due to everyone’s unflagging commitment–Big explosions, bigger gunfights, biggest scenery-chewing performances. Face/Off is widely considered to be the best of Woo’s American-made films and made close to $250 million at the box office.
Here are 23 details and facts you might not know about Face/Off, but definitely should. Note: Any Easter Egg that is not explicitly cited or linked to is attributable to the Face/Off’s DVD/Blu-Ray commentary, in which director John Woo and writers Mike Werb and Michael Colleary did an extensive breakdown of the film.
1. The Carousel Scene Was Moved To The Beginning
The opening carousel scene, where Troy accidentally kills Archer’s son, was originally in the middle of the movie. Woo insisted on moving the scene to the beginning, according to an interview on the special edition DVD release. It was, in hindsight, the right move. It establishes our emotional connection to Archer and hatred of Troy, which is necessary because Troy is so over-the-top and funny. Of course, the murder of a child is also a truly shocking way to kick off the movie.
2. Castor and Pollux
Castor Troy’s weaker brother is named Pollux. In ancient Greek mythology, Castor and Pollux were half-brothers who had the same human mother but different fathers: Castor’s father was human, but Pollux’s father was the god of thunder, Zeus. That the film’s writers made Castor the stronger brother was an inversion of expectations–perhaps it was an ironic joke between the brothers.
3. Lawrence of Los Angeles
The shot of Nicholas Cage’s coat rippling in the wind was inspired by Peter O’Toole’s robe in the 1962 dramatic epic Lawrence of Arabia.
4. Carved Dragons
John Woo states that Castor’s carved golden guns were Cage’s idea–particularly the dragons carved in the handles. This is because Cage was born in 1964. On the Chinese Zodiac calendar, this is the Year of the Dragon.
5. Steering Wheel Initials
The steering wheel has the initials JW on it, which is an explicit reference to director John Woo.
6. Dual Pistol Jump
Firing two pistols while jumping through the air is a signature John Woo shot that has since been used in countless other action movies, and has even appeared in video games like Max Payne. Woo also uses his signature shot in movies like Hard Boiled, starring Chow Yun-Fat, and Mission Impossible 2, starring Tom Cruise.
7. Real Stunts
When watching Face/Off, it’s important to remember that it was released in 1997. CGI was not as sophisticated as it is today, and many of the most eye-popping sequences were practical effects. The plane that Troy crashes into the hangar area? Completely real. Woo shot this scene from 13 different camera angles to ensure he got the footage he wanted; he knew he wouldn’t have another opportunity.
8. Causes of Castor’s Coma
The filmmakers went through several different ideas to put Castor in a coma. One of the originally proposed (but abandoned) ideas was for Castor to fall out of an air traffic control tower. It was rejected, because from a logical, narrative standpoint, such a fall would involve too many broken bones.
9. Animatronic Bodies
During the surgery sequence, the bodies of Troy and Archer are actually latex dummies with animatronic features, which simulated breathing and facial movements. There are several Reddit posts that show the original Travolta and Cage torsos on display; they are undeniably creepy looking.
10. Plumber Boots
The magnetic boots that Archer wears in the prison are the same boots that the Goombas wear in the movie Super Mario Bros. They were simply repurposed for Face/Off.
11. A Lesson In Mimicry
Cage and Travolta got together before the filming began to develop Archer and Troy’s characters. Specifically, they planned out and exaggerated each character’s mannerisms and tics beforehand, like their hand motions or vocal cadences. That way, when they “switched” faces, they could more easily slip into one another’s roles.
12. Travolta Insults Himself
This learning-by-doing approach to character development allowed Travolta and Cage to improvise. According to Travolta, he added several lines where he insulted himself; the crack about his “ridiculous chin” was his idea.
13. The Ingen Company
In the prison during Archer’s escape, you can see a cabinet marked “Ingen.” Ingen is the genetic research company in Jurassic Park, which researches how to clone dinosaurs. That makes Ingen the world heavyweight champion in using cutting-edge technology toward questionable ends. It also potentially means Face/Off and Jurassic Park exist in the same universe.
14. Tribute to Spielberg
The shark that Eve places on her son’s tombstone is Woo’s tribute to Steve Spielberg’s classic thriller film Jaws. Woo is a huge admirer of Spielberg’s work, specifically Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
15. Writer Cameo
Mike Werb, the co-writer of Face/Off’s screenplay, cameos as the concerned father during the hospital scene, when Eve receives a call from Archer-as-Troy for the first time.
16. Getting Drunk
The filmmakers used real whiskey on set during the scene where Archer-as-Troy returns to the loft, which helped everyone get into character.
17. Fingers Down The Face
Archer has this gross, awkward move, where he brushes his fingers down the center of his loved ones’ faces to say “I love you.” The daughter even does this to the poor kid at the end of the film; he’s already traumatized enough. On the commentary, John Woo refers to this move as the “love touch.”
18. Doves
Doves during action scenes are another Woo signature. Woo attributed his use of doves to celebrating the hero’s purity of heart, in an interview with Premiere Magazine:
“I love doves. I am a Christian. Doves represent the purity of love, beauty. They’re spiritual. Also the dove is a messenger between people and God.”
19. The Boat Scene Was Legit
The climactic boat chase was done with practical effects, which looks great but has its own drawbacks. A stuntman nearly died in the process of filming the scene; he almost got run over by the boat while in the water, and his leg, which took the brunt of the blow, swelled up so much that the crew had to cut him out of his pants.
20. The Ending Was Almost Different
Face/Off ends with Archer adopting Troy’s son. Originally, the movie ended without the adoption, but the test audience responded negatively. So the studio spent a lot of money to rehire John Travolta, Joan Allen, and Dominique Swain, and they shot the ending we see now. As it turns out, the adoption ending was also the screenwriters’ original intent.
21. Castor Troy Is In Archer’s Head, Alternate Ending
The special edition DVD of Face/Off includes an alternate ending that’s more ambiguous than the storybook ending we got in theaters. Archer looks in the bathroom mirror, and his wife sees Troy’s face instead of her husband’s. Later, when they hug, Archer makes Troy’s signature smirk behind her back.
How are we supposed to interpret this? It echoes back to what Troy said to Archer right before he died: “Every time when you look in the mirror, you’ll see my face.” Whether Troy is possessing Archer supernaturally or only symbolically, this is definitely a sadder, creepier ending than the crowd-pleaser we got.
22. Oscar Inspiration
Director Alan Mak confirmed in an interview with Hong Kong Cinemagic that his Hong Kong action movie classic, Infernal Affairs, was inspired by Face/Off. However, Mak thought the sci-fi aspect of switching faces was too extreme. So instead, he came up with the idea of simply reversing the two characters’ roles: the cop would pretend to be a Triad, and the Triad would pretend to be a cop.
Martin Scorsese would later remake Infernal Affairs as The Departed, which won the Oscar for Best Picture and gave director Martin Scorsese his first Oscar for Best Directing.
23. A Reboot?
In early September, Paramount Pictures announced they would be producing a remake of Face/Off with a new cast. The studio has not announced the director or the lead actors, but Oren Uziel, who wrote 21 Jump Street and will be writing the upcoming Detective Pikachu 2, is writing the screenplay.
