DVD review: Face/Off 2-disc Special Collector's Edition

Face/Off is one of my all-time favorite action movies. I saw it with my grandpa shortly before he passed away, and we certainly saw John Woo at the top of his American career - tons of explosions, great acting and a unique (if somewhat implausible) plot.

Ten years later, I've grown up a bit and don't find the action film quite as fascinating as I once did, but it's still a great non-stop thrill ride with plenty of over-the-top action. However, to no great surprise, Paramount Pictures has decided to release a 2-disc Special Collector's Edition DVD, a surprisingly good set that fans of Woo especially may want to pick up.

In addition to director commentary, there are seven deleted or alternate scenes that are some of the better deleted scenes you can find these days. They are most interesting with the optional commentary, as you can hear why the scenes were cut. The crew talks a bit about how some scenes (like one of Travolta crying) were cut after poor audience reactions. An alternate ending is also included, which is quite interesting as well.

The real strength of the 2-disc set are several featurettes, including an extremely interesting documentary called John Woo: A Life in Pictures. The mini-film basically has Mr. Woo talking about his struggles as a child to get out of poverty, what kinds of films inspired him (musicals!) and so on and so forth. This is one of the more interesting featurettes I've seen on the DVD.

The other big chunk of special features comes from several chapters of a making-of documentary for Face/Off, which goes fairly in depth and includes actor and crew interviews and other insight. The most interesting thing I learned was that Face/Off was originally planned to be set in the future, but due to budget cuts and a fear that some of the emotion would be sucked from the film, the story was rewritten to take place in modern day.

Read more information about Face/Off.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets Trailer!

The full trailer for Nicolas Cage's National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the sequel to the unfortunately successful action-adventure movie National Treasure, is now online. Personally, I found the first movie to be rather boring and stupid, but a lot of people seemed to like it (including my mother, who scolded me for disagreeing with her).

This sequel really looks God-awful. The movie has the same colorful look, and the plot sounds even more ridiculous (Cage decides to kidnap the President of the United States to get a book of secrets). The action looks pretty minimal, and the best punch lines are used in the trailer (and they aren't even that good... the highlight is Cage doing that "something has grabbed my hand in the hole" trick).

Not only is the trailer dull, but it shows way too much. It reveals what the book of secrets is, what the plot of the movie is, and more. How could so many good actors (Harvey Keitel, Ed Harris, Jon Voight and even Helen Mirren) get involved with a picture like this?

Also, wasn't Jon Voight's father in Tomb Raider? Isn't National Treasure just a male rip-off of Tomb Raider? Why does he do so many bad movies?

Nicolas Cage doing Snakes Eyes 2... okay, not really

Nicolas Cage is reuniting with his Snake Eyes director, Brian DePalma, for The Untouchables: Capone Rising, where he will play a younger version of the character made famous by Robert DeNiro. Capone Rising is a prequel to DePalma's 1987 classic The Untouchables, and will revolve around the early dealings between Capone and Irish cop Jimmy Malone, a role that garnered an Oscar for Sean Connery.

Principal photography on the high-profile flick will begin in October, some 21 years after its predecessor was filmed. No word yet on whether the temporary Capone Rising title will be scrapped, following the chilly response audiences gave to February's Hannibal Rising prequel.

Based on the classic 50's/60's TV drama, The Untouchables was a box-office and critical smash that announced Kevin Costner as a leading man, re-launched the career of Connery, and solidified DeNiro's on-screen tough-guy persona.

According to MTV, rumors continue to swirl that Sean Penn or Colin Farrell will be cast as the younger Connery.

So... DePalma is doing a film that will have no satisfying ending? Leave The Untouchables alone! And can Nicolas Cage match Robert DeNiro? Hell no.