Editing Face/Off (section)

===Critical response===
{{Multiple image|total_width = 280
| image1       = John Travolta 1997.jpg
| alt1         = John Travolta in 1997
| image2       = Nicolas Cage Deauville 2013 2.jpg
| alt2         = Nicolas Cage at the Deauville American Film Festival in 2013
| footer       = John Travolta and Nicolas Cage received praise for their performances.
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The review aggregation website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] records that 93% of 95 critical reviews were positive, with an average rating of 7.80/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "John Travolta and Nicolas Cage play cat-and-mouse (and literally play each other) against a beautifully stylized backdrop of typically elegant, over-the-top John Woo violence."<ref>{{rotten-tomatoes|faceoff|Face/Off|access-date=December 26, 2023}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film received a score of 82 out of 100 from 26 critics.<ref>{{Metacritic film|title=Face/Off|access-date=January 17, 2023}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.<ref name="CinemaScore">{{cite web |url= https://cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= CinemaScore |access-date= December 27, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= December 20, 2018 |url-status= dead }}</ref>

The role reversal between Travolta and Cage was a subject of praise, as were the stylized, violent action sequences. Critic [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave the film three stars out of four and remarked the basic plot concept was "utterly absurd", but Woo's inventive direction along with clever performances made the film entertaining: "Here, using big movie stars and asking them to play each other, Woo and his writers find a terrific counterpoint to the action scenes: All through the movie, you find yourself reinterpreting every scene as you realize the 'other' character is 'really' playing it."<ref name="REbert">{{cite news |url= http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19970627/REVIEWS/706270301/1023 |first=Roger |last=Ebert |authorlink=Roger Ebert |title= Face/Off (review) |work= [[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date= June 27, 1997 |access-date= June 5, 2007 |archive-date= September 30, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930041100/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19970627%2FREVIEWS%2F706270301%2F1023 |url-status= live }}</ref> ''[[Rolling Stone]]''{{'}}s [[Peter Travers]] said of the film, "You may not buy the premise or the windup, but with Travolta and Cage taking comic and psychic measures of their characters and their own careers, there is no resisting ''Face/Off''. This you gotta see."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/face-off-19970627 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |title=Face/Off (review) |first=Peter |last=Travers |authorlink=Peter Travers |date=June 27, 1997 |access-date=March 1, 2018|archive-date=March 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302044752/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/face-off-19970627 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Richard Corliss]] of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' said that the film "isn't just a thrill ride, it's a rocket into the thrilling past, when directors could scare you with how much emotion they packed into a movie".<ref>{{cite magazine |url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986612-3,00.html |magazine= [[Time (magazine)|Time]] |title= One Dumb Summer: Reviews |last= Corliss |first= Richard |authorlink=Richard Corliss |date= June 30, 1997 |access-date= November 20, 2008|archive-date= December 9, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081209080445/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986612-3,00.html |url-status= dead }}</ref>

Barbara Shulgasser of the ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]'' called the movie "idiotic" and argued that "Woo is clearly an imaginative man, and there is no doubt that he can concoct six ways to do any given piece of business{{nbsp}}... a good director would choose the best of the six ways and put it in his movie. Woo puts all six in. If you keep your eyes closed during a Woo movie and open them every six minutes, you'll see everything you need to know to have a perfectly lovely evening at the cinema."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1997/06/27/WEEKEND590.dtl|last=Shulgasser|first=Barbara|title=Trading Faces|work=[[San Francisco Examiner]]|date=June 27, 1997|access-date=June 5, 2007|archive-date=October 13, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013133743/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fe%2Fa%2F1997%2F06%2F27%2FWEEKEND590.dtl|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Anchor|Awards|Accolades}}
The film was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Sound Editing|Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing]] ([[Mark Stoeckinger]] and [[Per Hallberg]]) at the [[70th Academy Awards]], but lost to another Paramount film ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Garner |first=Chris |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/iowa-city-press-citizen-a-titanic-winn/109932077/ |title=A 'Titanic' winner |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506152141/https://www.newspapers.com/article/iowa-city-press-citizen-a-titanic-winn/109932077/ |date=March 24, 1998 |access-date=May 6, 2023 |archive-date=May 6, 2023 |page=17 |agency=[[Gannett News Service]] |newspaper=[[Iowa City Press-Citizen]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |url-status=live}} {{Open access}}</ref> ''Face/Off'' also won [[Saturn Award]]s for [[Saturn Award for Best Director|Best Director]] and [[Saturn Award for Best Writing|Best Writing]], and the [[MTV Movie Award]]s for [[MTV Movie Award for Best Action Sequence|Best Action Sequence]] (the speedboat chase) and [[MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo|Best On-Screen Duo]] for Travolta and Cage.

It has been labelled as part of the "holy trinity" of [[Nicolas Cage]] action films, along with ''[[Con Air]]'' (1997) and ''[[The Rock (film)|The Rock]]'' (1996).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://screenrant.com/con-air-honest-trailer/ |title=Con Air Honest Trailer Celebrates Peak Nicolas Cage |website=[[Screen Rant]] |date=June 6, 2019 |access-date=February 8, 2021 |archive-date=February 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214202904/https://screenrant.com/con-air-honest-trailer/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pdxmonthly.com/arts-and-culture/2020/01/hollywood-theatre-series-celebrates-the-best-of-nicolas-cage |title=Hollywood Theatre Series Celebrates the Best of Nicolas Cage |access-date=February 8, 2021 |archive-date=August 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813052928/https://www.pdxmonthly.com/arts-and-culture/2020/01/hollywood-theatre-series-celebrates-the-best-of-nicolas-cage |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2022, Cage said the film had "aged beautifully".<ref>{{cite web|title=Nicolas Cage Says He Rewatched 'Face/Off' to Prepare for New Role: 'That Movie's Aged Beautifully'|first=Benjamin|last=VanHoose|website=[[People (magazine)|People]]|date=March 18, 2022|url=https://people.com/movies/nicolas-cage-rewatched-faceoff-to-prepare-for-new-role/}}</ref>

''Face/Off'' is said to have inspired ''[[Infernal Affairs]]''. However, ''Infernal Affairs'' director [[Andrew Lau]] wanted to have a more realistic situation; instead of a physical face change, Lau wanted to have the characters swap identities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.1905.com/mdb/film/54626/feature/|title=无间道的幕后花絮|website=www.1905.com|language=zh-cmn-Hans|access-date=2018-03-21|archive-date=October 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020091439/http://www.1905.com/mdb/film/54626/feature|url-status=live}}</ref> The concept of "[[bian lian]]" or "[[bian lian|change face]]", a technique traditionally used in [[Chinese opera]], may have been used here to depict the fluid and seamless morph of Chen and Lau's characters' identities between the "good" and "bad" sides. ''Infernal Affairs'' in turn has spawned several adaptations, notably ''[[The Departed]]'' directed by [[Martin Scorsese]], which won the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]].