Face/Off: Operation Terror

Rock Savage Jan 11 2009

I did not like Face/Off. It was a huge disappointment considering the excellent work John Woo had been doing in Hong Kong with films like A Better Tomorrow (1986), Hard-Boiled (1992) and the classic The Killer (1989).

I remember walking out of the cinema during the boat chase.

So CBB has made a FanEdit of Face/Off called Operation Terror. Due to the high standard of CBB FanEdits, I was interested to see it this movie could be improved.

Unfortunately this Fanedit cannot correct the embedded stupidity of this film. CBB has toned down some painful acting and ridiculous direction but the performances are still well over the top as is the super-hero action. Yes, the movie is more tolerable because there is less of it to watch but I think more could have been pruned.

Entertainment 2 – Editing 4 – Audio 5 – DVD – 5

4/5

joebshmoe jan 18 2009

i enjoyed all of these cuts minus one (…or two, read on…) – the flight attendant kissing scene!?!? best quote of the whole damn movie. i really can’t believe this was cut. this IS over the top. but easily the only thing nicholas cage has ever done that is remotely awesome.

i MUST bring this up… the process of removing nicholas cage out of any movie (or at least minimizing him) has to be one of the best ideas ever. thank you, boon, for taking on such a mission!

with that being said, i think a bit more needed to be done here. this movie needs to ALSO be de-woo-ified (slow motion, doves, ridiculous dual pistol shootouts jumping out of airplanes, etc.) AND one HUGE issue for me: the whole bloody (pun!) face removal procedure needs to be changed to not look totally f**kin stupid. you can’t just make a laser cut around your face and then the whole thing pops off… ridiculous. i think this could be masked (oh shit! another pun!) by simply editing the procedure in such a way that the audience assumes that we aren’t seeing EVERYTHING that is happening. also, why does castor troy have bloody eyelids? nose cartilage? lips? his quick reveal to the doctor needs to go.

also, i think the subplot of castor’s SON needs to at least be mentioned in the film. sasha lays it on pretty thick so either her role needs to be minimized OR this element (vital?) should be present. i think that WITH the reveal of castor’s son, we have a better comparison between the two men at the focal point.

is the “6 years later” title card necessary? i don’t think so. also, sometimes the fanedited intro and credits pull me out of a film (unlike, say infodroid’s handling of the indiana jones edits)

so after all that, this is OF COURSE a better movie – but not as much as i was expecting.

entertainment 3/5
fanediting 4/5
video 4.5/5
audio 5/5
original 3/5
fanedit 4/5

4/5

“If I were to let you suck my tongue, would you be grateful?”

ok… i also feel i need to say that i am a HUGE HK woo fan. the killer and hard boiled are two of my ALL TIME FAVORITE movies (with the killer being my favorite of the two). it just doesn’t *feel* right when he imports his techniques and over-emphasizes every damn shot for artistic impact here in face/off.

I love Face/Off. Awesome Woo action. Travolta at the height of his career in full-on Nic Cage mode. Nic Cage. What more do you want?

A/V Quality - Bad by today's standards, still totally watchable.

Visual Editing - Some cuts looked a little odd but was good.

Audio Editing - Good amount of hard cuts in this one.

Narrative - 20 less minutes doesn't harm the story, improves characters.

Enjoyment - Still prefer the original, but this was really good too.