FACE/OFF - Face/Off is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by John Woo, written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, and starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.

The first Hollywood film in which Woo was given major creative control, Face/Off earned critical acclaim for the performances by Cage and Travolta and its stylized action sequences, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Effects Editing (Mark Stoeckinger and Per Hallberg) at the 70th Academy Awards.

DETAILED PLOT

FBI Special Agent Sean Archer survives an assassination attempt by homicidal sociopath Castor Troy, but the bullet penetrates Archer's chest and strikes his son Michael, killing the boy.

Six years later, Archer's vendetta against Castor culminates in his team ambushing Castor, who is with his younger brother and accomplice Pollux, at a remote desert airstrip. Castor goads Archer with knowledge of a bomb located somewhere in Los Angeles set to go off in a few days, before being knocked into a coma before Archer can learn more. Pollux, in custody, affirms that the bomb is real but refuses to reveal its location. In secret, Archer reluctantly undergoes a highly experimental face transplant procedure by Dr. Malcolm Walsh to take on Castor Troy's face, voice, and appearance. Archer-as-Troy is taken to the same high-security prison where Pollux is being held. He manages to convince Pollux that he is Troy, and gains information on the bomb's location.

Castor Troy unexpectedly awakens from his coma and discovers his face missing. He calls his gang, and they force Dr. Walsh to transplant Archer's face onto him. Troy then kills the only people who know of the transplant.

At the prison, Archer-as-Troy prepares to tell Biondi of the location but is surprised when Troy-as-Archer is there. Troy-as-Archer goads Archer-as-Troy that no one knows of the transplant, and that he will take over Archer's life. Pollux is freed when he willingly tells Troy-as-Archer of the bomb's location, and Troy-as-Archer disarms the bomb in a dramatic fashion. Troy-as-Archer earns admiration from the FBI office and becomes close to Archer's wife Eve and daughter Jamie, whom Archer had been neglecting while chasing down Troy.

Back at the prison, Archer-as-Troy escapes after staging a riot and retreats to Troy's headquarters. He meets Sasha, the sister of Troy's primary drug kingpin, and her son Adam, who reminds Archer of Michael. Archer discovers that Adam is Troy's son. Troy learns of Archer's escape and hastily assembles a team to raid his headquarters. The raid turns into a bloodbath and many FBI agents and several members of Troy's gang, including Pollux, are killed, while Archer, Sasha, and Adam are able to escape. Archer's supervisor, Director Victor Lazarro, blames Troy-as-Archer for the numerous slayings. Troy-as-Archer, furious over Pollux's death, kills Lazarro, and makes it look like a heart attack. Troy-as-Archer is promoted to acting director. Archer-as-Troy finds safety for Sasha and Adam. Then he approaches Eve and convinces her to test Troy-as-Archer's blood to prove his identity. After testing the blood and being convinced of her husband's identity, Eve tells Archer that Troy will be vulnerable at Lazarro's funeral.

At the ceremony, Archer-as-Troy finds that Troy-as-Archer has anticipated his actions and taken Eve hostage. Sasha arrives, and a gunfight ensues; Sasha manages to save Eve after taking a bullet. Archer-as-Troy promises a dying Sasha he will take care of Adam and raise him away from criminal life.

In a fight between the rivals outside, Jamie shoots Archer-as-Troy. Troy-as-Arhcer flees the church with Archer-as-Troy pursuing him. Troy-as-Archer briefly takes Jamie hostage, but she escapes by stabbing him with the butterfly knife that Troy-as-Archer had given her for self-defense. Troy-as-Archer reaches the docks and commandeers a speedboat, and Archer-as-Troy follows and commandeers one of his own. A chase ensues, that ends when Archer-as-Troy forces Troy-as-Archer to the shore by collision. With the boats grounded, Archer-as-Troy bests Troy-as-Archer in a melee fight. Troy-as-Archer mutilates his - Archer's - face to taunt and distract Archer, but Archer instead gains the upper hand and impales Troy with a spear gun, killing him. Backup agents arrive and address Archer by name, having been convinced by Eve of Archer's true identity.

After the face transplant surgery is reversed, Archer returns home, where he adopts Adam into his family, keeping his promise to Sasha.

SNAKE EYES

Snake Eyes is a 1998 American conspiracy thriller film directed and produced by Brian De Palma. De Palma also co-wrote the story with David Koepp, who wrote the screenplay. The film stars Nicolas Cage as a detective investigating an assassination at a boxing match in Atlantic City.

The film was released and produced by Paramount Pictures, Buena Vista International and Touchstone Pictures on August 7, 1998. The film garnered mixed reviews from critics, criticizing the film's story, writing and pacing while praising its style and the performances.

DETAILED PLOT

On a dark and stormy night, corrupt, flamboyant Atlantic City police detective Rick Santoro (Nicolas Cage) attends a boxing match at Gilbert Powell's (John Heard) Atlantic City Arena between heavyweight champion Lincoln Tyler (Stan Shaw) and challenger Jose Pacifico Ruiz. He meets up with his best friend since childhood, U.S. Navy Commander Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise), who is working with the Department of Defense to escort Defense Secretary Charles Kirkland (Joel Fabiani) and Powell at the fight after a trip to Norfolk, Virginia.

As the first round begins, Kevin is distracted by an attractive redhead named Serena (Jayne Heitmeyer) who wears a ruby ring, and leaves his seat, which is then taken by Julia Costello (Carla Gugino), a mysterious woman with platinum blonde hair and a white satin suit. When Ruiz unexpectedly knocks out Tyler, gunshots ring out, mortally wounding Kirkland and grazing Julia, who loses her glasses and blonde wig, revealing her naturally dark hair. Kevin kills the sniper and orders the arena to be locked down. Despite the lockdown, Julia escapes into the casino, covers her wounds in pieces of cloth from her blouse and, after stealing a black satin jacket, disguises herself as a hooker.

Rick notices that the "knocked out" Tyler awoke instantly when the shots rang out and, after studying the fight tape, realizes the knockout punch didn't connect. Tyler confesses that he threw the fight in order to pay gambling debts, but he was never told that anyone would be killed and reveals that Serena, the redhead who tricked Kevin into leaving his post, paid him to take a dive. With Tyler, Serena and the sniper, along with the man who signaled Tyler to go down and whoever gave him the go-ahead, involved, Rick, suspecting a conspiracy, reveals everything he has learned to Kevin, who confesses that the trip to Norfolk was to test the AirGuard missile defense system, which Powell's company was backing. He deduces that the sniper, a known Palestinian terrorist named Tarik Ben Rabat, assassinated Kirkland over the Pentagon's large-scale defense cooperation with and weapons systems transfers to Israel.

Rick studies surveillance footage to find Serena while Kevin continues searching for Julia, aided by Powell's security guards. However, once they split up, it is revealed that Kevin is actually the fifth party and masterminded the conspiracy. He kills the now-blonde Serena and Zeitz (the man who signaled Tyler to go down) in order to prevent their further involvement and then conceals their bodies, aided by his bodyguards. Kevin then enlists Tyler by revealing the truth to him.

Julia seduces Ned Campbell (David Anthony Higgins), a sleazy guest at the hotel, so she can hide in his room. Both Rick and Kevin discover this simultaneously and give chase, but Rick reaches her first and takes her into protective custody. In a stairwell, Julia confesses that she is an analyst who worked on the AirGuard tests and discovered the results were faked to make the missile defense system look like it was working when it actually was not; the system failed to work and she tipped off Kirkland to the deception. However, Kevin discovered her actions and arranged the entire conspiracy to kill both her and Kirkland, using Rabat's background as a rabidly anti-Israel terrorist to have him kill the SECDEF and then be immediately killed off himself. Rick discovers Kevin's involvement and, despite initially refusing to believe it, quickly accepts the truth. After hiding Julia in a warehouse, Rick inspects the footage of a new floating camera and discovers proof of his friend's involvement.

Kevin confronts Rick and confesses that his motive was to prevent any further attacks on U.S. ships, similar to one on the USS Renville, where Kevin had to leave several men to drown in order to prevent the ship from sinking following an Iraqi missile strike. He offers Rick one million dollars for Julia's location. When Rick refuses, since the only thing he said is that Julia did nothing wrong, Kevin has Tyler beat him up, but he still does not give in. Kevin plants a tracker on Rick and follows him to the warehouse just as a hurricane hits Atlantic City. When a tidal wave hits the boardwalk, Rick uses it as cover to rush Julia outside, where the police, tipped off by Rick, are waiting and witness Kevin opening fire. Unable to escape the police and a news crew, Kevin commits suicide during the live news feed.

Rick is later hailed as a hero, but the press soon uncovers his corruption and he loses his job and family. Before reporting for his prison term, Rick meets Julia on the boardwalk. She thanks him for his help, as Powell is completely restructuring his company and scrapping the AirGuard. Rick promises to call when he gets out in twelve to eighteen months. Ultimately, Serena's ruby ring is seen embedded in one of the concrete pillars of the new Powell Millennium Arena.