Blu-ray Movie Reviews

The 1998 DVD of Face/Off looked and sounded great, but this new set kicks everything up a notch or two. The 2.35:1 images have enough detail that you can practically count the pores on faces. Director John Woo has always paid attention to color, and this transfer brings it all out - from Nicolas Cage's velvet outfit and golden guns to the glaring whites of the Department of Justice. And the blacks are amazingly deep; John Travolta's suit is stunning in the daylight.

If you're looking for subtle, you're in the wrong DVD. That's just as true for the 6.1-channel sonics as it is for the plot. Explosions rip through the entire soundstage, and bullets whir from left to right, back to front, and all around. The intensity seldom lets up.

The two-disc set includes a pair of commentaries. One is a workmanlike affair by Woo and the screenwriters. In the other, the writers apparently feel they have a lot of explaining to do about the plot, but the story doesn't make any more sense. Much better: an hour-long making-of doc and a slightly shorter retrospective on Woo's career.

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