Face-Off

I liked this movie a lot because it reminded one of the 1970 era and I had a similar girlfriend and was hockey crazy.

I was also the same age back then so it would hit me different because of that I prefer a better ending tho.

I also know most of the players names by sight on all the teams shown and it was before they were forced to wear helmets

It captures the era and the hippie generation and the clash perfectly.

The movie is on the Roku channel free right now just watched it again after many years

In 1970 there were no credit cards or cell phones or computers like today .

Also no ATM machines average salary was 8k and Billy is getting 65k.

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.

I lived in Canada for 30 years and I am still an avid hockey fan, even though I now reside in Malta. I seen 'Face Off' on CTV 'Movie of the Week' in the 70's and I still remember parts of it. The story doesn't interest me that much, but I remember most of the 1971 Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Team. This is a very nostalgic film to me simply because I really appreciate watching those Maple Leaf Stars of that era. It's a great 'Memory' film because I remember the original six teams very well, and used to travel to the Montreal Forum and the Detroit Olympia to watch the Leafs playing in those cities. In Toronto I remember when the Montreal Canadians came to play our Leafs the whole City used to be glued to the TV sets, and Maple Leaf Gardens jammed packed! Problem is that I cannot purchase a copy of this great film anywhere, whether on VHS Tape or DVD. I hear that it is still being shown on Canadian Satellite Stations. I would appreciate it greatly if anybody would provide me with information where I could get a copy of this Film. I still watch hockey in this Country via Cable on NASN Station. I would just like to see it again for the Hockey. My Canadian born son lives in England now and would like to see it too!

Thank you for your time and look forward to positive feedback. Have a good day.. Regards, Joe

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.

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!