Goldfinger Review Revisited "Ejector seat? You're joking!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, figured it was time for another post on here and this one is yet another revistation of sorts and will be of the one of the great James Bond classics, Goldfinger. So, it will be the usual expansion stuff of the previous review, also given it is the film's 60th anniversary, its as good a time as any to revisit it. 

So, let's take another look at this classic Bond flick from the 60's once again.

The usual warning is of course coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!! 

STORY 

So, the story begins with Bond (Sean Connery) sent on a mission to destroy a drug laboratory in Latin America (followed by the credits).  After this Bond goes to Miami where he receives instructions from his superior, M (Bernard Lee) via CIA agent Felix Leiter (Cec Linder) to observe a bullion dealer named Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) who happens to be staying at the same hotel as Bond.  Bond then spies on Goldfinger as he spots him cheating during a card game and he locates Goldfinger's employee, Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton) who observes the card game from a telescope and via a microphone tells Goldfinger the hand of his opponent.  Bond however foils Goldfinger's game and tells him off for cheating and switches off the mic and proceeds to seduce Jill, however after they sleep together, Bond is knocked out by Goldinger's Korean manservant, Oddjob (Harold Sakata) who then kills Jill by spraying her body with gold paint, thereby suffocating her.

Bond then returns to London where he meets with M who tells him he is to determine how Oddjob smuggles the gold internationally.  Bond then meets Goldfinger for a game of golf where they play a high stakes game, which Bond wins by switching Goldfinger's golf ball during the game.  Bond later follows Goldfinger into Switzerland and stops off at a point where Goldfinger buys some fruit but a gunshot is fired from above at Bond by a girl, Tilly (Tania Mallett).  Bond follows her and disables her car with a special gadget that blows out her wheels and he later drops her off.  Bond later at night infiltrates Goldfinger's plant and discovers that he smuggles the gold by melting it down and having it structured into the bodywork of his car.  

Bond soon finds Tilly again who turns out to be the sister of Jill and she is out for revenge for Goldfinger having her sister killed, however Tilly is soon killed by Oddjob with his bowler hat and Bond is captured.  Bond later comes to, to find himself strapped onto a table and Goldfinger has a laser beam aimed at the table and activates it as it starts cutting its way slowly up the table towards Bond's privates.  As Goldfinger is ready to having Bond killed, Bond reveals that he knows something of Goldfinger's operation "Operation grand slam" as he overheard him say it earlier in the film, which causes Goldfinger to spare Bond's life and instead Bond is taken onboard Goldfinger's private jet piloted by Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman).

Bond is then taken to Goldfinger's stud farm situated near Fort Knox where he is placed in a cell.  Goldfinger in the meantime meets with some American mafia associates and he tells them of his operation to enter Fort Knox where he intends to use nerve gas to disable the army personnel surrounding it.  Bond then manages to escape his cell after luring in and knocking out one of the guards and he spies on the meeting only to be spotted by Pussy (does that sound right?!).  However after the meeting Goldfinger has the Mafia associates all killed using a lethal nerve gas.  

After the meeting Bond talks with Goldfinger who tells him that he intends to detonate a bomb within Fort Knox that would render the gold within it useless so he can increase the value of his own gold.  Bond later walks with Pussy and the two of them having a playful play in the....erm hay where Bond seduces her (albeit forcefully!).  Bond is then soon taken to Fort Knox along with Goldfinger after Pussy and her team of female pilots spread gas over the area knocking out the army soldiers and the CIA.  And from here Bond must find a way to stop Goldfinger from his nefarious plan.....

THOUGHTS AND SOME BACKGROUND NOTES

Goldfinger is often regarded as one of the very best Bond films and it has to be said its easy to see why as to this day its still a highly entertaining and at times thrilling movie which features so many memorable moments not to mention memorable characters and action set pieces.  The film was also quite racy for its time in terms of its double entendres and introducing such an outrageously perversley named character as Pussy Galore, which for its time surprisingly there was little controversy over it even though at one point the producers considered renaming her "Kitty Galore".  

The film was also well noted for its scenes at Fort Knox during the film's climax where Bond is trapped inside Fort Knox and handcuffed to the bomb that is set to go off as for the filming of these scenes, the film crew were not allowed to actually film inside Fort Knox itself.  So as a result of this the film's designer, Ken Adam, imagined and designed a set for Fort Knox as they thought it might appear and later on Adam himself received a letter from the management at Fort Knox complimenting him on the set design itself.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES 

As for the performances well they are pretty good here.

Starting off with Sean Connery who is great once again in his role as Bond and he plays part with a sly charm and strong sense of self assuredness.  

Connery naturally has some great scenes in the film such as his opening scene in Latin America where he fights off a henchman come to kill him and he throws the henchman into the bath and then flings a fan at him, electrocuting the man and afterward Bond says "Shocking!  Positively shocking!" before leaving.

Then we have the scene is when Bond after sleeping with Jill goes to get some wine from the fridge of her hotel room and he tells Jill "My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perignon '53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That's just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs!" just before being knocked out by Oddjob. 

Then there is the scene where Bond meets with Q and he shows him his new Aston Martin and highlights some of the gadgets in it including the ejector seat and as Q tells him about it the button that activates. So, Q says to Bond "Whatever you do don't touch that button?" and Bond asks "Why not?" and Q tells him "Because it will remove this section off the roof and with it, it will eject the seat" and Bond says incredulously "Ejector seat?!  You're joking!" and Q says "I never joke about my work, 007!".  

Another good scene is when Bond plays golf with Goldfinger (Connery himself later took up the game after the film) and as Goldfinger loses his ball on the fairway, Oddjob drops another one discreetly.  And Bond's caddy says "If that's his original ball I'm Arnold Palmer" and Bond says "It isn't" and the caddy says "How do you know that?" and Bond says "I'm standing on it!" and he lifts his shoe to reveal the ball.  

And of course there is the classic scene when Bond is captured and tied to the table with the laser beam being fired and edging closer to his private parts!  And in the scene Bond tries to persuade Goldfinger to switch it off by saying "You're forgetting one thing, if I fail to report back, 008 replaces me!" which falls on deaf ears to Goldfinger who says "I trust he will be more successful".  And Bond continues to try and stop Goldfinger from killing him by saying "Well he knows what I know" and Goldfinger says "You know nothing, Mr Bond" and Bond nervously says "Operation grand slam for instance".  And Goldfinger takes a moment and considers the implications of Bond knowing this and says "Two words you may have overheard, which cannot have the slightest significance to you or anyone in your organization" and Bond anxiously says "Are you willing to take that chance?" which leads to Goldfinger finally switching off the laser.  

Another interesting but controversial scene is when Bond plays with Pussy Galore in the haybarn and as she is about to leave he grabs her and says "What would it take for you to see things my way?" and Pussy defiantly says "Alot more than you've got!" and they proceed to playfully throw each other in the hay.  And Bond finally seduces her by saying "Let's both play!" and Pussy finally gives into his forceful advances.  

Then lastly there is the scene near the end when the CIA rush in and switch off Goldfinger's bomb and Felix asks Bond how did he get Pussy to change her mind about switching the gas canisters to knock out the army soldiers rather than kill them, and Bond says "Well I guess I must have appealed to her maternal instincts!".

Next is Gert Frobe who is great as the ruthless Auric Goldfinger and he delivers one of the series most memorably villainous performances. It is worth noting however that Frobe's actual voice was not used during the film as it was dubbed by the British actor, Michael Collins but Frobe's real voice can be heard in the scene where Bond is directly underneath the room where Goldfinger briefs some gangster associates over his plan to rob Fort Knox. 

Frobe also has some great scenes such as the scene where Goldfinger first meets with Bond for a game of golf and after he loses he warns Bond not to cross him again and points to Oddjob's hat, who takes it off and throws it and cuts the head off one of the statues on the grounds of the club. So, Bond says to him "But what would the club secretary have to say" and Goldfinger says "Oh nothing, Mr Bond.  I own the club!".  

Then there is the classic scene where Goldfinger has captured Bond and places him on the table with an industrial laser aimed right at the table it starts to cut through it.  And Bond says to Goldfinger "You expect me to talk?" and Goldfinger turns and says to him "No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die!".  And in the same scene Bond says to Goldfinger "You're forgetting one thing!  If I fail to report back, 008 replaces me!" and Goldfinger smugly says "I trust he will be more successful!". So, as Bond tells him about overhearing the words "operation grand slam" and Bond says "You will take that chance?" that he doesn't really know anything. So, Goldfinger relents and turns the laser and says to Bond "You're right, your more important to me alive".  

Then there is the scene where Goldfinger tells the American mafia associates his plan to infiltrate Fort Knox and later he leads out one of the associates, Mr Solo who decides to renege on Goldfinger's plan and he is driven away by Oddjob and later killed and crushed inside the car down at a junkyard.  And in the scene Goldfinger says to Bond "You will need to excuse, Mr Solo, he has a pressing engagement!" only later to see the car come back in a neatly squashed square and he says to Bond "Forgive me, Mr. Bond, but, uh... I must arrange to separate my gold from the late Mr. Solo!".

And last of all there is the last scene where Goldfinger smuggles himself onboard a private jet for Bond going to the Whitehouse and Goldfinger wearing a high ranking army uniform says to him "You have interferred in my plans for the last time, Mr Bond!". So, Bond asks "Where is Pussy?" and Goldfinger says "I will deal with her later but right now she's up at the controls" and Bond struggles with him and fires off Goldfinger's gun shooting out one of the windows, which causes the plane to lose cabin pressure and Goldfinger is then sucked out of a plane window!

Then there is Honour Blackman who is very good in her amusingly named role of Pussy Galore, Goldfinger's personal pilot who later switches allegiances to help Bond and has a good chemistry onscreen also with Connery.  

Blackman also has some good moments in the film too such as her first scene where Bond wakes up to see Pussy and she says to him "My name is Pussy Galore".  And in the same scene she takes out her gun and rubs it closely on his cheek saying "You like close shaves don't you?". Bond then tries to use his charm on her and she says "You can turn off the charm, I'm immune" which has suggested as the book states that she is a lesbian but of course Bond sees to that later!  

And as Bond teases her about being Goldfinger's personal pilot he says to her "Oh, just how personal is that?" which pisses her off and she snaps back "I'm a damn good pilot!  Period!".  And then there is the scene where Oddjob opens the door of a car for Bond and Pussy to get in and Bond says to her "You know he kills little girls like you" and Pussy retorts "Little boys too!".  

Then there is the scene where Bond and Pussy play in the hay and he grabs her and eventually seduces her. So, in the scene as they walk together, Bond says to her "Oh, trying a different tactic" and as they go into barn, Bond tries to persuade her to see that Goldfinger is crazy "He's quite mad, you know" but she doesn't listen. So, Bond then grabs her as she tries to leave and he says "What would it take for you to see things my way?" and Pussy says "Alot more than you've got!" and Bond asks "How do you know?" and Pussy says "I don't want to know!". So, they playfully toss each other about in the hay and Bond finally says "Right, let's both play" and he forces himself on her and she gives in for a passionate embrace. 

Harold Sakata even though he never has any lines of dialogue also makes a memorable appearance in his role as the Korean mute henchman, Oddjob who does Goldfinger's evil bidding.

Sakata also has his moments in the film such as the scene where Oddjob first throws his bowler hat at a statue, decapitating it and later in the scene Bond throws him Goldfinger's golf ball saying "I believe this is yours" and Oddjob catches and crushes it with his fist, smiling.  Then of course there is the climactic fight scene between Oddjob and Bond which is one of the best fight scenes in the series and ends up with Bond frying Oddjob by electrocuting him.

And last few cast members I will mention include Desmond Lewellyn who is great again as Q and his only scene is a highlight in itself where he tells Bond about the different gadgets of his Aston Martin. 

So, in the scene Q points out a red button on the gearstick of the car "Now this one I'm particularly keen about. You see the gear lever here? Now, if you take the top off, you will find a little red button. Whatever you do, don't touch it!" and Bond asks "Why not?" and Q tells him "Because you'll release this section of the roof, and engage and then fire the passenger ejector seat. Whish!".  And Bond says "Ejector seat?!  You're joking!" and Q seriously says "I never joke about my work, 007!".

Then there is Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterson and she is quite good as Goldfinger's employee but after she sleeps with Bond, she is famously bumped off by being covered in gold paint, suffocating her skin.  

So, I will mention the scene where Jill lies down looking through a telescope, spying on Goldfinger's card game to help him cheat via a hidden microphone. 

So, in the scene, Bond turns up in the room and she turns around and asks "Who are you?" and Bond says that classic line "Bond, James Bond". So, Bond asks her "Tell me, what's your name?" and Jill says "Jill Masterson" and Bond asks "Tell me, Jill, why does he do it?" and Jill says "He likes to win" and Bond asks "Does he pay you to do it?" and Jill says "He pays me" and Bond asks "Is that all he pays your for?" and Jill says "And being seen with him" and Bond enquires "Just seen?" and Jill says "JUST seen" and Bond smiles and says "I'm so glad". Bond then turns off Goldfinger's connection and taps the mic loudly and says to him "Now, you better losing, Goldfinger. Nod if you understand?" and Goldfinger, frustrated nods, which allows his opponent to win and Goldfinger breaks his pencil in disgust. So, Bond says on the mic "Over and out" and he turns it off and turns to Jill who says to him "I think I like you, Mr Bond" Bond then says "What are we going to do about it?" and "I'll tell after dinner" and Jill asks "Where?" and Bond says "Oh, I know the best place in town!" and they kiss. 

Bernard Lee also makes a brief appearance again in his role as Bond's superior M and he is solid as ever in the part but given little to do though. 

So, I will mention the scene where M meets with Bond not long after Jill's death and Bond explains to M "She died of skin suffocation. Its alright if you leave a small bare patch of the skin at the spine to breathe" and M says "Someone obviously didn't" and Bond says "I know who". M then warns Bond "This isn't a personal vendetta, 007. Its an assignment like any other. And if you can't treat it as such, coldly and objectively, then 008 can replace you". M then continues to chastise Bond "You were supposed to observe Mr Goldfinger, not steal his girlfriend. Its only by the good grace of God and your friend Letier, that you are not in the hands of the Miami beach police!". Bond then says "I am aware of my shortcomings, sir. I will continue to approach this assignment in the spirit you suggest, if I KNEW what it was about". M then asks "What do you know about Gold? Not painted bullion." and Bond says "I know it when I see it" so M tells him "Meet tonight at seven. Black tie".  

Tania Mallet is also pretty good in her role as Tilly, the sister of Jilly, who is out for revenge after Goldfinger has her killed and Bond tries to help her. 

So, I will mention just one of her scenes, as she only has a couple really and its the one where Bond finds her in the dark as she tries to find a way to kill Goldfinger. Bond, who is trying to infiltrate Goldfinger's base finds Tilly and he says surprised "What the hell are you doing here?" and Tilly angrily says "Let me go, I want to kill him!" and Tilly says "Goldfinger, he killed my sister". Bond the asks "Why were you shooting at me?" and Tilly says "I wasnt, I was shooting at Goldfinger!" and Bond says "Well, you're a lousy shot!".

And last of all we have Cec Linder who does very well in his role as Felix Leiter and I would have to say he ranks as one of the better Leiter's in the series.  And Linder has some good lines in the film as well such as in the scene near the end where Leiter leads Bond toward a private jet that will take him to meet the president at the Whitehouse and Leiter says to Bond "I told the stewardess liquor for three" and Bond asks "Who are the other two" and Leiter says "Oh there are no other two!".

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Now getting on the director, Guy Hamilton who has done an excellent job in his debut Bond film (with Terence Young having directed the first two) and he confidently handles the film's action scenes and he never let's the film's pace lag at any time and he has almost succeeded in creating the perfect Bond film here alone.  Hamilton would then go on to become a directorial stalwart of the series as he would direct several more films in the series including Diamonds are Forever and Live and Let Die.

As for the film's music it features a great score by John Barry which is also very memorable and it features some great tracks and notably one of the pieces of music was even sampled by the band Sneaker Pimps taken from the scene where Bond finds Jill's body covered in gold paint.  Then of course there is the film's very memorable Bond title theme as sung by Shirley Bassey which easily goes down as one of the series best and most recognisible Bond themes.

FLAWS

As for Goldfinger's flaws.... yeah OK its not quite perfect and to start it has to be said it has some silly moments in the film such as the scene at the start where Bond infiltrates the drug lab and he climbs the wall by shooting the grappel gun, but we clearly see the rope shoot up long after its being fired!  So it makes for one of the film's more clumsy technical moments.  And in the next scene we have Bond set his plastic explosives around neatly placed barrels of nitro explosives and it makes you wonder just why the hell would they even be placed there in the first place???!  Certainly the drug dealers and drug lords associated with the lab will not assume that this could be at any stage problematic!

Then there is the scene where Bond derails Tilly's car off the road by using retracting blades that come from his tires and cuts right her wheels and into the bodywork of the car itself.  Now the fact that Tilly survived the crash herself is in itself a miracle but not only that she never really suspects that it was Bond the did the damage himself!  But clearly Bond was the only one that was right next her on the road so she must have figured it had to be him!  And to top that off its also a bit of a cliche that Tilly is as Bond puts it "a lousy shot" when he fails in her attempt to kill Goldfinger on the hilly roads in Switzerland.  Not only that the gunshot doesn't even get any sort of reaction at all out of Goldfinger himself and only just a smile from Oddjob!  These guys really aren't concerned much by this are they????!!

Another thing that springs to mind is in the scene when Goldfinger has all the American mafia associates killed after his meeting with them.  Now he has just killed, what I presume to be several high ranking Mafia associates and with them dead, questions will surely be asked and no doubt eventually the Mafia would suss things out and send someone to kill Goldfinger himself!  But of course because of the convenience of the film we never really get to that and instead we just carry on with the rest of the plot and well...Goldfinger will meet his end soon enough.

Then there is of course the famous or infamous scene where Bond seduces Pussy Galore, which even has some romantic music in the background by John Barry. However, this scene looking at it today, seems to be far from romantic as Bond really does force himself on Pussy, giving her no choice but to accept his aggressive advances, which is almost tantamount to sexual assault. In fact the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) said recently if the film was ever to be re-released again it would be certified as 12 instead of a PG, for this scene alone. So, in retrospect this scene definitely is quite uncomfortable to watch. 

Another silly moment comes in the Fort Knox sequence where Pussy and her pilots fly over Fort Knox and spray the nerve gas knocking out the army and CIA immediately, which seems a bit daft at just how quickly it affects them!  Now I don't really know if the affect of such a nerve gas would be as instantaneous but far as I'm concerned its one of the scenes that stands out as being really comical and stupid the way we see the actors instantly collapse, although its later claimed they were faking it???  Hmmm.  Well if that was the case surely this would have roused the suspicion of Goldfinger as he must know of the effects the gas will have on the soldiers and whether it would be instant or not.  

Then we have the scene of course where after Bond has dealt with Oddjob he tries to find a way to switch off the bomb, which is counting down pretty fast, so fast in fact there is no way it wouldn't count down to zero BEFORE Felix and the other CIA agents could race down the stairs!  So that whole scene in itself is crap and one of the agents neatly knows just where the off switch is also and it stops at 007!  Nice touch but then if there was an off switch its funny how Bond didn't try and think of looking for that himself rather than piss out about with trying to pull out the wires!  Ah well common sense eh?   

And last of all there is the scene where Bond offs Goldfinger by shooting one of the windows of the private jet during their struggle causing Goldfinger to be sucked out of the plane window and for the plane to suffer cabin depressurisation.  But in reality there is no way this would happen not to mention that if anyone were to be sucked out surely it would be Bond and not Goldfinger given how heavy he is by comparison! ;-)

Anyway that's it for my looking at the flaws.

SUM UP

So summing up I think Goldfinger remains one of the strongest Bond films in the franchise and after 60 years its still as entertaining as it was on its release.  The film is easily one of the most memorable as well and it has so many memorable moments, characters and lines that's what makes it one of the best and for that alone its a film that warrants repeated viewing. 

So, I will rate Goldfinger:

9.5 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post.

Till then its bye for now! 

Face/Off Review (Revisited Part 2) "Woo-wee you good lookin!"

 

 

 

 

So, its only a couple of years since I did a relook at the subject of this post, which is of course my review of the 90's action thriller, Face/Off starring John Travolta and Nicholas Cage.

So, with that all said, let's take another look at this actioner and see how it fairs 27 years onward...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, the story begins with an assassination attempt being made on FBI special agent, Sean Archer (Travolta) by a freelance assassin Castor Troy (Nicholas Cage) which Archer survives however his young son Michael was killed instead as a result.  Six years later Archer carries on with his personal vendetta to try and bring down Castor and he eventually manages to ambush and capture Castor at a small aiport in Los Angeles along with his brother Pollux Troy (Alessandro Nivola).  

Castor however reveals a plan to detonate a bomb somewhere in LA during his fight with Archer but is knocked into a coma before he can say anymore.  Archer then confirms that the threat of bomb is real but he is unable to get Pollux to talk about where it is.  However Archer's partner Tito (Robert Wisdom) tells Archer that there is another option open to them which would involve Archer having to undergo facial surgery to have his face removed and replace with Castor's who is being kept alive while in a coma.  Archer eventually agrees to undergo the surgery and he takes on the appearance of Castor (with Cage now playing Archer) with the idea of going into the prison where Pollux is kept where he must try and learn the location of the bomb.  Archer goes into the prisoner as a prisoner and he manages to persuade Pollux to tell him where the bomb is.

In the meantime however Castor awakens from his coma to discover his face is missing and he calls his gang and they force the doctor who supervised the surgery, Dr Walsh (Colm Feore) to put Archer's face on Castor.  Castor (now played by Travolta) kills Walsh and Archer's partner Tito and everyone linked with the undercover operation and pays a visit to Archer in prison where he goads him by saying he intends to take over his job and personal life.  Castor then has Pollux released from prison by posing a deal that Pollux tells them where the bomb is located giving Castor the idea to get credit for finding and deactivating the bomb which he does.  

Castor then starts to move in on Archer's personal life as he get's close with Archer's wife Eve (Joan Allen) and daughter Jamie (Dominique Swain).  Archer while still in prison manages to stage a prison riot and escapes from the prison along with the help of fellow inmate Dubov (Chris Bauer) who is killed during the riot.  Archer then makes it back to LA where he heads to Castor's headquarters and meets Sasha (Gina Gershon) who is the sister of Castor's drug kingpin, Dietrich (Nick Cassavettes).  Archer while there meets Sasha's and Castor's son, Adam who bears a resemblance to Archer's son Michael.

However Castor soon learns of Archer's escape and raids his headquarters with FBI agents in a bloody fight with fatal casualties on both sides, including Dietrich and Pollux however Archer, Sasha and Adam manage to escape.  Castor distraught at Pollux's death is soon confronted by Archer's boss Victor Lazarro (Harve Presnell) who blames him for the raid turning bloody but Castor then quietly admits to Lazarro in his office that he is in fact Castor Troy and then kills Lazarro and makes it look like a heart attack.  

Archer then meets with Eve and eventually manages to convince her that he is Archer by telling Eve his real blood type and Castor's.  Eve then takes a blood sample from Castor during the night and tests it revealing it to be as Archer said.  Eve says that however as Castor is now the acting director of the department that he will be very tough to get to but with Lazarro's funeral being planned, Castor will be in attendance and Archer could take Castor there.  And from here it leads into the film's climax with literally all guns blazing.....

THOUGHTS

As an action film Face/Off works pretty well and its an entertaining action movie which was saw its director John Woo makes a successful transition from his Hong Kong action flicks to America (although this was his second Hollywood action film with Blue Arrow being his first also starring Travolta).  The concept for the film also makes for something slightly different and unique in the action genre with both Travolta and Cage playing their opposite roles for the better part of the film.  Woo here also employs his trademark use of slow motion and visually stylised action scenes, guys flying through the air while firing their guns of which this film has plenty of that!

PERFORMANCES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers and strong language!)

As for the performances things are pretty good here with both the leads giving enjoyably hammy performances.  

Starting with John Travolta who relishes the double role of Archer and Castor and he plays both of them pretty well as his Archer is pretty sombre and serious whereas his Castor is playful and psychotic all at once. Johnny Deep was actually once considered to play the role himself but was later replaced as he was not so keen on the script, so Woo ended up casting Travolta.

Travolta naturally has some highlights in the film such as the first scene where he is revealed as Castor (wearing Archer's face of course, yep its confusing!) to Archer in prison.  And in the scene Castor smiles looking at Archer saying "Wooo-wee you good lookin! Its like looking in a mirror but not!" and follows it up by saying "Now I've got to go.  I've got a government job to abuse and a lonely wife to fuck!".

Then there is the moment where Archer having deactivated the bomb get's alot of credit and applause from the FBI agents back at the office and smiles thriving off the attention he says to them "Everybody I want to thank you for enduring all these years that I was an insufferable bore!". And one of the agents Wanda, asks him "Sir, did you have a surgical procedure?" and Castor a little agitated asks "What do you mean?" and the agent says "I mean did they successfully remove the stick from your ass?" and they all laugh as does Castor.   

Another good scene is when Castor does his one good deed in the whole film when he prevents Jamie from being raped and afterward tells her "Dress up like Halloween and ghouls will try and get into your pants!".  And then Castor asks Jamie "While we're on the subject, do you have protection?" and Jamie asks "What like condoms?" and Castor then expertly pulls out a switchblade and says to her "Protection. Next time, let Carl take his pants down, slip this in his thigh, twist it. So the wound won't close.." and he closes up the knife and hands it to her and says "Now get out of here" and she leaves and he sits down and says to himself "I am the king".

And another one of Travolta's best moments comes when as Castor he suddenly for the first time (and only time) personality wise becomes like Archer when he hears that Archer has escaped but is presumed dead and Castor says "Where is his body? I must see his body".  And the agent, Wanda says "It hasn't been recovered yet" and Castor suddenly explodes "IT HASN'T BEEN RECOVERED YET????!!!  Get the LAPD on this!". Wanda then says to Castor "Even if he is alive, Castor isn't sutpid enough to come back to the city" and Castor puts his hand on her face gently and says "You must trust me...he's already here".  

Then there is the scene which is one of the best visual moments in the film where Castor raids his own headquarters to kill Archer and the two of them stand either side of a double glass windowed pillar.  And Castor says "I don't know what I hate wearing more... your face or your body!  Let's face it we both like it the other way yes?  How about we trade back" and Archer says "You can't give back what you've taken from me!" and Castor says "Oh well plan B.  Let's just kill each other!" and they both point their guns at each other from either side of the mirrors.  

Another good scene is when Castor confesses to Lazarro that he really is Castor Troy and he says to him "I've got a confession to make and you won't like it" and he grabs Lazarro and says in his ear "I AM Castor Troy!" and he attacks him and puts him on the ground with his hand over Lazarro's mouth. He then get's up and makes a call on his phone and says "Could you call the paramedics? Victor Lazarro has just had a heart attack!".   

And last of all is the scene where Castor and Archer face off (again!) at the church with Eve caught in the middle of their guns. So, Archer says to Castor "This is between us. Leave them out of this" and Castor says "No. You should have left them out of it. Your son was an accident. I wanted to kill you. But, you took it too personally. Why couldn't you just kill yourself or let it go?!" but Archer says "No father could" and Castor says "No brother could either!". And as more of Castor's men show up with their guns and the stand-off ensues, Castor smiles and says "Woo-wee! What a predicament!".

Nicholas Cage next also provides a bizzare but also pretty good performance that has a mixture of seriousness and decency as Archer and gleeful madness as Castor.  

Cage also has his moments in the film such as the start where dressed as a priest activates the bomb at the LA convention centre.  And he afterward joins the choir spotting a pretty choir girl and he goes up to her and says "I never really enjoyed the Messiah, in fact, I think it's fucking boring. But your voice makes even hack like Handel seem like a genius!" and proceeds to grab her ass and groan in orgasmic delight (classic Cage moment!).  

Then there is the scene where Castor arrives at the private airport and he pays off guards protecting Pollux and he tells them "You're paid to protect him from everyone including himself" as he hands them their money.  And Castor then says to them "Oh and avoid dowtown on the 18th as things may get a bit smoggy!" and Pollux grins as he boards the plane.  

Another good moment is when Castor and Archer face off each other at the start off the film in the airport hanger and Archer has Castor at gun point.  And Castor feigns being scared as he says "Please don't shoot me, man. I'm scared, Sean!" and then "Well, I think you better pull the trigger, because I don't give a FUCK!" and he discreetly pulls a knife out from behind his back and signs (rather annoyingly I have to admit!) "I'm ready, Ready for the big ride, BABY!".  

And then we have the scene where Castor wakens from his coma with his face wrapped in bandages he removes to see his face missing and yells out in hysteria.  And after calling his gang they bring Dr Walsh over to him and Walsh asks "What do you want?" and we see the reflection of Castor's bloody visage of the skin removed from his face he says "Take one goddamn guess!".  

Then once Archer undergoes the facial surgery there is probably the unintentionally hilarious scene where he is sent to prison and whilst in line waiting for dinner he spots Pollux but he is attacked by another prisoner Dubov.  And Archer starts to try and take on Castor's persona by suddenly grinning madly at Pollux and then beating Dubov and yelling at the inmates "I'm Castor Troy!!" and making "Wooo!!!" noises but we clearly see his pain and anguish as well.  

Then there is the scene where Archer finally speaks to Pollux and he get's him to admit the location of the bomb. And in the scene Archer says to Pollux "We're gonna blow up LA, bro, ain't it cool?" and Pollux says "Rub my nose in it, why don't you? 10 million dollar design and those Militia nuts get to keep their cash". Archer than angles for Pollux to admit to the bomb's location by teasing him and saying "Its so fucking unfair! That bomb of yours does deserve an audience. I mean its work of art. It belongs in the Louvre!" and Pollux finally admits "Yes it does. Oh well, I guess the L.A. convention center will have to do" and Archer suddenly changes tone and smiles and says to Pollux "Thank you" and Pollux, a bit surprised asks "For what?" and Archer says "You are so fucking pathetic!" and walks off.

Another amusing scene later on in the film is when Archer in prison figures out the only the way to have his magentic boots removed is to be put in the chair where they administer electric shocks.  So Archer attacks a guard and grabs a cigarette and he is taken away by the guards for electrocution and he yells out " I NEED A LIGHT!! I NEED A LIGHT!! HAS ANYONE GOT A LIGHT?!" with the inmates all cheering him on.  

Another notable scene is where Archer having made it back to LA he steals a car and calls the FBI office and speaks to Castor who answers saying "This is Sean Archer speaking" and Archer says "Well if you're Sean Archer, I guess that makes me Castor Troy!" and he hangs up with Castor sighing to himself and saying "Oh yes".  

Then there is the scene where Archer goes to Castor's headquarters and Dietrich gives Castor some drugs and under the influence he tells them his plan to get Castor (well Archer really, yep confusing!).  And one of the gang asks "When we get him, what next?" and Archer says "Tiny, tiny surgery" and then "Yes I want to take his face off".  And Dietrich asks again "I'm sorry you want to take his face off?" and Archer says "Yes.  I want to take his face... off. Eyes, nose, skin, teeth. It's coming off!".  

Another good moment from Cage is when Archer sneaks back into his house and he tries to convince Eve that he is himself and he says to her "The last time I saw you was in this room, we had a fight when I said I had to go away again I spent the night in Mike's old bed, the assignment was to enter a federal prison as Castor Troy, just fucking insane!  A special ops surgeon gave me Caster's FACE and somehow Castor came out of his coma and killed everybody who knew about the mission not before transforming into me!". And before Archer goes he tells Eve "I know you don't believe a word I'm saying, well here's proof doctor your husband, me, my Sean's blood type O-negative Castor's AB" and put his hand on her face and tells her "And I love you" before leaving a shaking Eve.   

Joan Allen provides a very good performance as Archer's long suffering wife Eve, who is a also a doctor.  

Allen also has some good moments in the film such as the scene where Castor is as Archer, drives back to Archer's home and nearly drives right past Eve as she comes out of the house. So, Castor backs up the car and get's out and smiles and Eve somewhat bemused says "Well, Sean I knew it was only a matter of time before you forgot where we lived!" and Castor grins and says "Oh come on, give me a break, all these houses on this block look the same".  

Eve and Castor visit Michael's grave and she lays down some flowers on the grave and breaks down in tears "Happy Birthday, Mikey. He took our baby, Sean. He took our little boy!" with Castor consoling her feeling a bit of remorse as a result.  

Another good scene is when Eve discovers that Castor is indeed the man posing as Archer as she has taken a sample of his blood (while Castor was asleep) and analyzes it the hospital where she works and shows Castor's blood type "AB".

So, its shocked and stands back and says to herself "Oh my God!" and we see that Archer stands behind her and says "I thought you might come here. Thank you for trusting me" but Eve then grabs her purse and takes out a gun and points it at him and says "Right now, I don't know who to trust!". Archer then moves toward her and gently moves the gun aside and places his hand on her face (in that annoying way he always does!). Archer then shares a story of their first date together and Eve finally realises that he is Archer and she says "I've been living with that man for a week!" and Archer tells her "Eve, I put you in that position and I don't know if I can ever make it up to you" and Eve turns to him and says "Well you damn well better try!".     

And lastly there is the scene I will mention is when Eve comments on her daughter Jamie not showing up for Lazarro's funeral "She stole $50 from my purse this morning and just took off.  She wouldn't even come to our son's grave so why should she give a damn about your boss's funeral!" and gets in the car leaving Castor looking a bit annoyed.  

Gina Gershon is also excellent as Sasha Hessler, one of Castor's lovers who also has a son, Adam and is mixed up their drug business along with her brother and drug kingpin Dietrich.  

And Gina has some good scenes also such as where Sasha introduces her son to Archer (as still Castor) and she says to Archer that guns are his, and Archer says "He's a good looking boy" and Gina says "Yeah, he's yours too".  And as Sasha tells Adam to go over to Archer he gives the boy a warm hug as the boy resembles his own dead son Michael and Archer starts to sob saying "Michael...Michael!" and Sasha says "Cas, stop it!  You're scaring him!".  And during the FBI raid on the headquarters there is the moment where Sasha runs carrying Adam and one of the agents stops her and she kicks him in the nuts and says "I never want to see you do that!".  

And lastly there is the scene where Sasha turns up at the funeral and points her gun at Castor (as Archer) and she asks Archer (as Castor) "Are you OK, baby?" and Castor says "Sasha, baby, I'm Castor.  THAT'S Archer" and Sasha says "And I'm bored.  Put the fucking gun down!". And after the gun fight ensues and Sasha is mortally wounded in the stand-off, she grabs Archer with her dying breath and says of her son "Take care of our baby. Make sure he doesn't grow up like us" and Archer nods and says "I promise".

And the last couple I will mention are Nick Cassavettes as Dietrich who is also good in his role and he also gets some good lines.  And as a couple of examples there is the scene where Archer arrives at Castor's headquarters and Dietrich gives him a warm welcome and says "You know, I should never have sold you those bombs, its my curse I can't say no to my friends" and Archer says "You can't say no to money!" and Dietrich says "That's my other curse!". And Archer makes a half-hearted grin at him and says "You drug dealer!" and Dietrich says "What's the matter?  You look like you've just fucked your mother!".  

And then there is the moment where Dietrich gives a glass containing solvent drugs and as Archer in a drug induced haze says of Castor "I want to take his face off!" and leaves to go to the bathroom.  Dietrich says "You want to take his face....off!" making a gesture with his hand and then says to the others "No more drugs for that man!".  

And last of all is Dominique Swain as Archer's daughter Jamie, a teenage upstart and she is also quite good in the part.  Dominique also has some good moments such as the scene where Jamie is almost raped by her boyfriend and is saved by Castor.  And afterwards as she sits in the house Jamie says "That's typical Dad.  Somebody tries to rape me and I'm to blame!".  

And lastly there is the moment where Castor (as Archer) grabs Jamie holding her at gunpoint and she manages to take out the switchblade Castor handed her earlier and she stabs him in his thigh and Castor limps off.  And Jamie hysterically sobbing hugs Eve saying "Will someone tell me what planet I'm on???!!".  

DIRECTOR

As for the director, John Woo does a fine job here and effortlessly handles the film's action scenes as it is his forte and he manages to make the scenes almost balletic in his use of slow-motion and this is most noticable in the scene where a big shoot-out is going on while Castor's son wears headphones listening to "Somewhere over the rainbow".  Woo's pacing of the film at times however is a bit inconsistent as he tends to drags things out but nevertheless he manages to keep the pace going fairly well at the right rate.

MUSIC

And then there is the music score by John Powell which is OK but it isn't anything too great to write home about and its sounds like your average, pretty generic Hollywood action score, so there's not much to separate it from other action film soundtracks out there. It does fit its purposs but overall its not one of the more memorable scores. The film also features some other tracks such as Papa's got a brand new bag" by James Brown, "Don't lose your head" by INXS and "Somewhere over the Rainbow" sung by Olivia Newton-John.  

FLAWS

So, moving onto flaws... yes, Face/Off isn't quite perfect and does have a few.

And for starters it has to be said that as I previously mentioned that the film's pacing is pretty inconsistent at times and there even some sections of the film which are a bit boring.  This is especially the case in the film's long and I mean LONG drawn out climax where after what seems an age Archer finally kills off Castor.  And the film almost has the feel of Lord of the Rings - Return of the King as it has appears to have a few moments where you think "OK now THAT should be the ending!" but it still keeps on going!  Not to mention there is also the scene where Archer escapes from the prison and he jumps off the roof and we see four separate shots of him fall toward the water before he actually finally goes in!!!  It really is overkill.   

Then there are some plot inconsistencies and one that really sticks out is the moment where Dr Walsh tells Archer after he has undergone his facial surgery he has a small micro audio sensor taped to his chest to make him sound like Castor.  And Walsh says to him "Now be careful as something as simple as a sharp sneeze could dislodge it".  OK now if that is the case then how come it never got dislodged when Archer was in prison getting the crap beaten out of him?!  I mean if I sharp sneeze could dislodge it then surely being kicked and punched in the face and stomach will certainly do it and it would instantly blow Archer's cover!  

Its also bizarre to imagine in the scene where Castor, in Archer's form while romancing Eve and taking her to "bed" upstairs, where it is implied they have sex that she wouldn't notice maybe his genitals are  a different size! Unless they somehow managed to surgically give Archer the same penis size as Castor, I mean hell, I guess they could have done that! ;-)

Another thing that bugged me was Archer's insistence on stroking his hand gently down his wife and daughter's face and (of course his late son's as seen at the start of the film) as if it was some sort of special gesture.  But I just think that this is actually pretty creepy!  And after a while it just becomes grating to watch Archer do it over and over and surely you would think his family would eventually find it tiresome as well and would say "OK!  Stop doing that!  You are creeping me out!".  But nah this is Hollywood and its seen as a sign of affection.

I also felt it was a stupid decision on Archer's part to get Pollux to admit to where the bomb is located and then instantly throw it back in his face as he calls him pathetic. Wouldn't it have been smarter for Archer to try and play along with Pollux rather than immediately call him out to his face?? Ah well, I guess in the end it doesn't matter so much given that Castor reawakens anyway.

The film also has some ridiculous moments in its action scenes such as where Archer during his escape somehow miraculously manages to dodge the prison guards bullets by diving into the corner of the room.  Also he conveniently finds a bottle of sulfuric acid nearby and having grabbed the gun from one of the guards he expertly throws it into the air and shoots at directly at two guards which explodes in their masked faces.  Now that is either some serious sharpshooting or its just a pile of ridiculous Hollywood crap, but I think we all know the answer to that one! ;-).

Its worth noting another example of this is in the scene where one of the FBI agents fires a grenade launcher right at Archer (i.e. with Castor's face) and Archer narrowly misses the explosion and the ensuing fire. Now when you look at this on screen, you just know there is no real way Archer would have survived this as he would have been fried for sure! But hey, as I said, its Hollywood! ;-)

Not to mention in the prison escape sequence as Archer finally reaches the prison's security systems he suddenly knows how to deactivate it and get outside but surely to God he would have NO real knowledge of how to actually do that given that its a prison that he knows nothing about and doesn't even know where its located!  But again, yep its a Hollywood film that defies all sense of logic and convention.

Also its funny how the film is filled with a ridiculous amount of explosions such as during the scene when during the opening chase scene with Archer trying to take down Castor shoots out one of the engines with his gun and it causes an explosion in the engine.  Now I don't know if such a small bullet could make such an impact on a big plane engine but it does seems a bit improbable to me.  And later there is the final speedboat chase scene where one of Archer and Castor's speedboats (can't remember which!) does a ramp jump through a boat causing the boat to suddenly explode into flames which frankly IS ridiculous!  Unless of course the boat itself had some flammable containers or items onboard there is no logical reason for the boat to suddenly explode like that.  So again convention is thrown out of the window.  

There is also a strange curiosity to how things go in the film in terms of Castor's better deeds in the film acting as Archer, as the most specific case in point is Castor, as Archer, saving Jamie from being raped by her high school boyfriend. This however never get's brought up at any point and is the one good deed that Castor performs in the film, although this is negated I guess by him holding Jamie at gunpoint later and licking her face. So, yeah there is a curiosit to all this but Castor could have said "Hey, I saved your daughter from being raped, can you thank me for that at least?!". but again I guess Archer wouldn't be prepared to listen. I don't know, just a thought.

And then we have the issue of Eve taking a blood sample from Castor (as Archer) when he is asleep, as he she uses some kind of sampling pen to take it with a fairly big needle, yet Castor barely flinches when she does it. Now, surely you'd imagine if someone really did that, you would feel it for sure, but again hey, its just a film.

And lastly I have to say its bizarre how Eve and Jamie don't really twig sooner how different Castor (as with Archer's face) is in terms of personality than Archer is, although Eve twigs it alot sooner but Jamie never does until the funeral!  And also even Archer's fellow FBI agents must surely twig that something is up in Castor's (again as Archer, yep it is getting confusing) drastic contrast of personality in comparison to Archer's drab and dour demeanour.  But yet again being just a movie this is never really questioned at any time and everyone just excepts it for what it is.

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Face/Off is an entertaining and highly over the top and cheesy action film, which is improbable as Hollywood action films get (or just about) but the two lead performance of Travolta and Cage make it worth watching as well as the skillfilly directed and paced action scenes by John Woo. The supporting cast are also pretty good with Joan Allen, Gina Gershon and Nick Cassavettes providing some solid performances.  

However the film is of course really silly and preposterous and its premise will intriguing leaves a whole bunch of plot holes that don't quite add up when it comes to Archer and Castor's biological make-ups as well as John Woo abusing slow-motion to the hilt throughout the film. However all that aside, Face/Off is still worth a look even 25 years onward from its original release.

So, I will give Face/Off:

8 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will return soon with another post.

Until then, bye for now!