Memorable quotes for
Lord of War (2005) More at IMDbPro »

Yuri Orlov: There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That's one firearm for every twelve people on the planet. The only question is: How do we arm the other 11?

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Yuri Orlov: Without operations like mine it would be impossible for certain countries to conduct a respectable war. I was able to navigate around those inconvenient little arms embargos.

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

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Anatoly Orlov: Is this how you want to be remembered?
Yuri Orlov: I don't want to be remembered at all. That means I'm dead.

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Yuri Orlov: I sell to leftists, and rightists. I sell to pacifists, but they're not the most regular customers.

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Andre Baptiste Jr.: Can you bring me the gun of Rambo?
Yuri Orlov: Part One, Two, or Three?
Andre Baptiste Jr.: I've only seen Part One.

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Yuri Orlov: There are two types of tragedies in life. One is not getting what you want, the other is getting it.

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Yuri Orlov: [to a pilot, who doubts that he can ditch the plane] You are the shit, you are the shit!

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Jack Valentine: Do you know why I do what I do? I mean, there are more prestigeous assignments. Keeping track of nuclear arsenels - you'd think that be more critical to world security. But it's not. No, nine out of ten war victims today are killed with assault rifles and small arms - like yours. Those nuclear weapons sit in their silos. Your AK-47, that's the real weapon of mass destruction.
Yuri Orlov: I don't want people dead, Agent Valentine. I don't put a gun to anybody's head and make them shoot. But shooting is better for business. But, I prefer people to fire my guns and miss. Just as long as they are firing. Can I go now?

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Andre Baptiste Sr.: They say that I am the lord of war, but perhaps it is you.
Yuri Orlov: I believe it's "warlord."
Andre Baptiste Sr.: Thank you, but I prefer it my way.

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Angel: My name is Angel.
Vitaly Orlov: Her name really is Angel! Let's put her on the Christmas tree!

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Yuri Orlov: The problem with dating dream girls is that they have a tendency to become real.

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Jack Valentine: I would tell you to go to hell, but I think you're already there.

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Simeon Weisz: Bullets change governments far surer than votes.

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Vitaly Orlov: [in Russian] Oh God!
Yuri Orlov: [voice-over] Always resort to your native tongue in times of anger. And in times of ecstasy.

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Yuri Orlov: In the most AIDS-infested region of the globe - where 1 in 4 is infected - Andy's idea of a joke was to put a young Iman and a young Naomi in my bed - and no condom within a hundred miles.

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Yuri Orlov: They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."

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Ava Fontaine: I feel like all I've done my whole life is be pretty. I mean, all I've done is be born! I'm a failed actress, a failed artist... I'm not much good as a mother. Come to think of it, I'm not even that pretty anymore. I have failed at everything, Yuri... but I won't fail as a human being.

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Andre Baptiste Sr.: Welcome to Democracy!
Yuri Orlov: Democracy? What have you been drinking Andy?
Andre Baptiste Sr.: Heh, you have not seen the news. You know, they accuse me of rigging elections. But after this -
[holds up a newspaper with the headline "U.S. Supreme Court Reverses Recount Ruling"]
Andre Baptiste Sr.: - with your Florida and your Supreme Court of Kangaroos, now, the U.S. will shut up forever!
[laughs]

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Yuri Orlov: Every faction in Africa calls themselves by these noble names - Liberation this, Patriotic that, Democratic Republic of something-or-other... I guess they can't own up to what they usually are: a federation of worse oppressors than the last bunch of oppressors. Often, the most barbaric atrocities occur when both combatants proclaim themselves freedom-fighters.

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Yuri Orlov: The reason I'll be released is the same reason you think I'll be convicted. I *do* rub shoulders with some of the most vile, sadistic men calling themselves leaders today. But some of these men are the enemies of *your* enemies. And while the biggest arms dealer in the world is your boss - the President of the United States, who ships more merchandise in a day than I do in a year - sometimes it's embarrassing to have his fingerprints on the guns. Sometimes he needs a freelancer like me to supply forces he can't be seen supplying. So. You call me evil, but unfortunately for you, I'm a necessary evil.

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Yuri Orlov: Thank God there are still legal ways to exploit developing countries. The only problem with an honest buck is they're so hard to make - the margins are too low, too many people are doin' it.

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Simeon Weisz: The problem with gun runners going to war, is that there is no shortage of ammunition.

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Yuri Orlov: After the Cold War, the AK-47 became Russia's biggest export. After that came vodka, caviar, and suicidal novelists.

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Yuri Orlov: Of all the weapons in the vast soviet arsenal, nothing was more profitable than Avtomat Kalashnikova model of 1947. More commonly known as the AK-47, or Kalashnikov. It's the world's most popular assault rifle. A weapon all fighters love. An elegantly simple 9 pound amalgamation of forged steel and plywood. It doesn't break, jam, or overheat. It'll shoot whether it's covered in mud or filled with sand. It's so easy, even a child can use it; and they do. The Soviets put the gun on a coin. Mozambique put it on their flag. Since the end of the Cold War, the Kalashnikov has become the Russian people's greatest export. After that comes vodka, caviar, and suicidal novelists. One thing is for sure, no one was lining up to buy their cars.

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Andre Baptiste Sr.: Personally, I blame MTV.

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Yuri Orlov: The second rule of gun-running is always ensure you have a foolproof way of getting paid.

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Yuri Orlov: Enjoy it.
Jack Valentine: What?
Yuri Orlov: This. Tell me I'm everything you despise. That I'm the personification of evil. That I'm what- responsible for the breakdown of the fabric of society and world order. I'm a one-man genocide. Say everything you want to say to me now. Because you don't have long.

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Yuri Orlov: Back then, I didn't sell to Osama Bin Laden. Not because of moral reasons, but because he was always bouncing checks.

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Yuri Orlov: Selling a gun for the first time is a lot like having sex for the first time. You're excited but you don't really know what the hell you're doing. And some way, one way or another, it's over too fast.

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Yuri Orlov: You know who's going to inherit the world? Arms dealers. Because everyone else is too busy killing each other.

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[last lines]
Yuri Orlov: You know who's going to inherit the Earth? Arms dealers. Because everyone else is too busy killing each other. That's the secret to survival. Never go to war. Especially with yourself.

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[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.

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Yuri Orlov: Luckily we live in a world where suspicion alone does not constitute a crime.

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Yuri Orlov: Some of the most successful relationships are based on lies and deceit. Since that's where they usually end up anyway, it's a logical place to start.

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Yuri Orlov: I sell guns to every army but the Salvation Army.

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Borneo Officer: We're with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Yuri Orlov: Let me guess... this isn't about the alcohol or tobacco.

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Vitaly Orlov: You fuck! You fucking fuck! You fuck- you fucking fuck! What the fuck is the matter with you?

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Yuri Orlov: [trying to talk him into being his partner] I've tasted your food, you're no fucking chef. I can eat there for free and I still don't eat there.
Vitaly Orlov: Fuck you.

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Jack Valentine: I don't think you fully appreciate the seriousness of your situation.
Yuri Orlov: [pauses,sighs] My family has disowned me... my wife and son have left me... my brother is dead. Trust me, I fully appreciate the seriousness of my situation.

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Andre Baptiste Jr.: [Vitaly is seen grabbing a grenade from box] What are you doing?
Vitaly Orlov: [his last lines] Something for Yuri.

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Yuri Orlov: I had a flair for languages. But I soon discovered that what talks best is dollars, dinars, drachmas, rubles, rupees and pounds fucking sterling.

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Yuri Orlov: Any friend of my brothers' is a... a friend of my brothers'.

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Yuri Orlov: Where there's a will, there's a weapon.

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Arms Fair Salesman: Sir! Sir, may I interest you in the shoulder fired S-37 surface-to-air missle? It's the old Chinese model. Not so effective against modern military aircraft but deadly if used against a commerical airliner.

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Yuri Orlov: The primary market was Africa, Eleven major conflicts involving twenty three countries in less than a decade. A gunrunner's wet dream. At the time the West couldn't care less, they had a white war in what was left of Yugoslavia.

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Jack Valentine: Do you know why I do what I do? I mean, there are more prestigeous assignments. Keeping track of nuclear arsenels - you'd thing that more critical to world security. But it's not. No, nine out of ten war victims today are killed with assault rifles and small arms - like yours. Those nuclear weapons sit in their silos. Your AK-47, that's the real weapon of mass destruction.

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Yuri Orlov: [after Andre shoots one of his suboordinates]
[Yelling]
Yuri Orlov: Why did you do that?
Yuri Orlov: [pauses and then speaks calmly] Now you have to buy it. It's a used gun.

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Yuri Orlov: Why are you so fucked up all the time?
Vitaly Orlov: Because I am.

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Vitaly Orlov: Yuri... What do you know about guns?
Yuri Orlov: I know which end I'd rather be on.

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Ava Fontaine: I don't care if it's legal! It's wrong.

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Yuri Orlov: You can't force someone to fall in love with you but, you can definitely improve your odds.

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Ava Fontaine: We have enough. You can stop now.
Yuri Orlov: It's not about the money.
Ava Fontaine: What is it about?
Yuri Orlov: I'm good at it.

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Yuri Orlov: The ones who care don't know anymore, and the ones who know don't care.

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Yuri Orlov: You've got nothing on me, except cuffs.

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Yuri Orlov: I think I've been cursed, with the curse of invincibility.

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Yuri Orlov: You can fight a lot of enemies and survive, but not your biology.

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Yuri Orlov: We saw something in each other that neither one of us liked, or maybe we were just looking in the mirror.

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Jack Valentine: He must be lying... He's talking.

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Yuri Orlov: You read the newspapers, Vit?
Vitaly Orlov: Newspaper? It's always the same.
Yuri Orlov: You're right. Every day there's people shooting each other. You know what I do when I see that? I look to see what guns they're using and I think to myself, why not my guns?

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Vitaly Orlov: Yuri, what the fuck do you know about guns?
Yuri Orlov: I know which end I'd rather be on.

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Yuri Orlov: Vitaly, I've tasted your borscht. You're no fucking chef. I can eat in the restaurant for free and I still don't eat there.
Vitaly Orlov: Fuck you.
Yuri Orlov: We're doing nothing with our lives. I mean, this is shit! This is shit!
Vitaly Orlov: It's true. But maybe doing nothing's better than doing this.

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Yuri Orlov: Can I go now? You got nothing on me. Except cuffs.

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Jack Valentine: Since your so concern with the law, you must know that I am legally permitted to hold for 24 hours without charging you. You might ask why I would do that, and I can assure you its not because I enjoy you company because I don't. *No*. The *Reason* why I will delay you for *every sec* of the permissible 24 hours is I'm delaying your deadly trade and the deaths of *your* victims. I don't think of it as taking a day away from you but giving a day to them. Some innocent man, woman or child is going to have an extra day on this Earth because you're not *free*. So I will see you in 23 hours and 55 mins.

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