Lord of War (2005)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Andrew Niccol

Writer (WGA):

Andrew Niccol (written by)

Release Date:

16 September 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The first and most important rule of gun-running is: never get shot with your own merchandise.

Plot:

An arms dealer confronts the morality of his work as he is being chased by an Interpol agent.

Plot Keywords:

1980s | Arms Dealer | Interpol | Warlord | Immigrant

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Nicolas Cage	...	Yuri Orlov
Bridget Moynahan	...	Ava Fontaine
Jared Leto	...	Vitaly Orlov
Shake Tukhmanyan	...	Irina Orlov (as Shake Toukhmanian)
Jean-Pierre Nshanian	...	Anatoly Orlov
Jared Burke	...	Ukrainian Mobster
Eric Uys	...	Ukrainian Mobster
David Shumbris	...	Ukrainian Mobster
Stewart Morgan	...	Ukrainian Mobster
Jasper Lenz	...	Gregor
Stephen Gregor	...	Eli Kurtzman
Kobus Marx	...	Boris
Stephan De Abreu	...	Liev
Jeremy Crutchley	...	Arms Fair Salesman
Ian Holm	...	Simeon Weisz

Also Known As:

Lord of War (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, drug use, language and sexuality.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English | Ukrainian | German | Spanish | Russian | French | Arabic | Turkish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #41968) | Ireland:16 | Canada:18A (Alberta/Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:16 | Philippines:R-13 (cut) | Brazil:16 | Taiwan:R-18 | Australia:MA | Norway:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Sweden:15 | Czech Republic:12 | France:-12 | Canada:18A (Ontario/British Columbia/Saskatchewan) | Singapore:M18 | Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Hungary:16 | Portugal:M/16 | New Zealand:R16 | South Korea:15 (theatrical rating) (cut) | South Korea:18 (DVD rating) (uncut) | Malaysia:18PL | Japan:R-15 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Bozi Dar aerodrome, Bozi Dar, Czech Republic

Company:

Entertainment Manufacturing Company

Trivia:

No US studios would back the film. International finances were secured instead.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When narrating the story about early stages of his business in 1980s, Yuri Orlov mentions that he has carried several passports at that time, including the Ukrainian passport. Ukraine was not in existence as an independent state up until early 1990s.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Yuri Orlov: [voiceover] You don't have to worry. I'm not gonna tell you a pack of lies to make me look good. I'm just gonna tell you what happened.

Movie Connections:

References Goodfellas (1990)

Soundtrack:

Coyita

Another powerful well-made political drama with an excellent story and a powerful performance by Nicolas Cage

"Lord of War" is about a man named Yuri (Nicolas Cage) who in the early 80's decides that he doesn't want to just work in a restaurant for the rest of his life and decides that instead he wants to be an arms dealer. Once he makes his first sale, Yuri is hooked on the feeling of making big money for selling firearms, and continues to sell the firearms but he wants more and more of a profit and more and more of a challenge. It's not until an Interpol agent (Ethan Hawke) is hot on Yuri's case that he begins to question the nature of his business and whether what he is doing for a living is moral and if he should be responsible for the hands these weapons get into and what they are used for. A powerful performance by Nicolas Cage, as well as a great thought-provoking movie ensues… I love movies like this one for a few reasons. The main reason is that for the most part you can't predict what is going to happen next or where the film is going. Another reason I like movies like this is because it's powerful and its makes you think. And lastly I like a movie like this because it doesn't end in a typical way and actually leaves you feeling blown-away and surprised.

The filmed starred Nicolas Cage who lately has done of some the best work of his career. His performance here is top-notch and powerful. There are so many other people in the film including Jared Leto, Ian Holm, Ethan Hawke and Bridget Moynahan to name a few who are also very good at the roles they played. This film is written and directed by Andre Niccol the same man who wrote "The Terminal" and "The Truman Show" so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised by why I actually liked this film so much, it had a good lead actor and a good screenwriter.

I guess this movie all comes down to how open minded the movie-goers who see this are. I guess it also amounts to where you stand on the political fence. The film is not for those who don't have an open mind about things that are going on in the world today. The movie is based on true events so be warned that some of things shown in the film are happening in real life or did happen at one point in time. To be honest, I do believe what the film states in the end, it doesn't seem at all far fetched. It's like Yuri says in the film "it's not our war and no matter what we do we can't stop it" and that's true it's like smoking kills people every day but there are people who run cigarette companies everyday knowing that they are killing people every single day and getting people addicted to something that in the end will kill them. Is that moral? What can we do to stop it? These are questions this film asks and leaves it to the viewer to decide on.

So in the end, this movie isn't for everyone. In a sense this film is kind of like the movie "Blow" because it's about a man who feels his life isn't complete without selling something that is bad. He has everything he could ever want but still needs to sell the firearms. It's an amazing and powerful story which I feel really puts things in perspective as far as us Americans look at things. Nicolas Cage's performance is incredible as he seems to not care at all for the people's lives he puts at stake every day and when it comes to his own life he still seems unemotional and doesn't seem to worry. Personally I think this is one of the best film's of year and is in fact just as good as the other political drama currently released called "The Constant Gardner" so if you have an open mind about things and enjoy movies that will make you think, well check out "Lord of War" because it's well worth the price of admission at the theater.

MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Lord of War" is a 9/10.