Jay09101951 This is a film for the 50 and over NHL fan. Although the central plot involves A love affair between a young Hockey star and a hippie rock singer, the real stars are the dozens of clips of Toronto Maple Leaf games at the old Maple Leaf Gardens and at various other arenas such as the old LA Forum and the Spectrum in Phila. This was filmed before the influx of European stars into the NHL , in the days when every Kid in Canada dreamed of playing in the NHL. You see clips of past greats like Frank Mahovlich, Darryl Sittler, Jaques Plante, Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull and many others. It's a era long gone that only us "old time hockey fans" can appreciate.

animal_8_5 With all certainty, I am convinced that Scott Young's original novel about the tragic love affair between brash hockey player Billy Duke and high-flying rock star Sherilee Nelson, was nothing like this mediocre cinematic fare.Perhaps the night before he signed over the film rights, Scott was out socializing with son Neil and cohorts Crosby, Stills and Nash. He probably had no idea that Johnny Bassett's film crew would make his masterpiece into little more than a CTV Movie Of The Week. Young was immortalized with a cameo in the movie, alongside some of his pals from the old press box in historic Maple Leaf Gardens. We see lots of hockey stars, but mysteriously, no rock icons. A bit of a disappointment, considering the thrust of the plot.Its sad when you watch a film to enjoy the thespian abilities of George Armstrong and Derek Sanderson, more than the main actors, Art Hindle (in his pre-E.N.G. days) and Trudy Young (former CBC child star). Seeing the entire 1971 Toronto Maple Leafs roster is a treat for hockey fans of the day, even with painfully wooden speaking roles for Jim Dorey, Paul Henderson, Mike Pelyk and Rick Ley, just to name a few. True acting is found only in scenes featuring veterans Austin Willis and John Vernon, who mainly appeared together, perhaps so they didn't blow the weaker mimics right off the screen.Noteworthy about FACE OFF also, was the coming out role for by-now-grown child actress Trudy Young, who heretofore was best known as the sassy little spindle from TV's "Razzle Dazzle", "George the St. Bernard" and guest appearances in "The Forest Rangers". Trudy performed all of the special music in the film and even wrote many of the tunes. She subsequently scored only one major TV role later in the seventies as the waitress on "The David Steinberg Show", just before apparently plummeting into oblivion.It appears FACE OFF joined her in such a plummet, as it is available nowhere in the vast video wastelands. Still, it holds a fond place in the hearts of many Canadian boys and girls who were teens and pre-teens in the early seventies. If anyone out there owns the rights, why not give it a shot on DVD? Even I'd hand over a toonie to rent it!

astorianick This movie is for diehard hockey fans only. Me and my friend Jay are probably the only people who have this movie on tape and play it on a regular basis. the acting is terrible but who cares? Long live Billy Duke. I wish he was skating this coming Tuesday against Carolina. This is a classic hockey cult film.

godofthunder2001 I always find the films of the canadian tax shelter to be sort of surreal: The snowy locations the washed out cinematography, the stilted acting...canadian gothic. This film is one of my personal faves. It is SO 70's that it almost seems from another world or dimension or something. It's really kind of haunting and poetic, with a sense of doom pervading the whole production and the ending makes little sense. Combined with the endearingly awful songs, and truly touching performance by Trudy what's her name, the viewer feels like they dreamed the movie. Very weird and strangely, cheaply beautiful...