Trivia for
Lord of War (2005) More at IMDbPro »

• According to Andrew Niccol, the filmmakers worked with actual gunrunners in the making of the film. The tanks lined up for sale were real and belonged to a Czech arms dealer who had to have them back to sell to another country. They used a real stockpile of over 3,000 AK-47s because it was cheaper than getting prop guns.
  
  
• Yuri Orlov is a composite of five real arms dealers.
  
  
• Nicolas Cage's Yuri Orlov is largely based on the exploits of international arms dealer Viktor Bout, a former Soviet officer, who was finally arrested by Thai authorities in March 2008. Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death," was trying to ship arms to American agents in Colombia who were posing as Farc insurgents when he was apprehended. Currently languishing in a Bangkok prison where he awaits extradition by the US.
  
  
• No US studios would back the film. International finances were secured instead.
  
  
• Before shooting the scene where tanks were lined up for sale, the filmmaker had to warn NATO, lest they think a real war was being started when they see satellite images of the set.
  
  
• The character of Andre Baptiste is loosely based on famous warlord, and ex-leader of Liberia, Charles Taylor.
  
  
• The Antonov An-12 airplane number 9Q-CIH filmed in the movie was owned by a Russian citizen Evgeny Zakharov. On January 8, 2005, the plane crashed at Bukalaza, Uganda; all six crew members were killed. The plane departed Entebbe airport with destination Kinshasa. It was reportedly carrying humanitarian relief items.
  
  
• The "Bombay Theme" music composed by A.R. Rahman was originally created for Bumbai (1995).
  
  
• Kono, the name which the ship is changed to, is a diamond-rich area of Sierra Leone as well as the name of a tribe in Sierra Leone.
  
  
• Visible hanging on the wall in Yuri's weapons container is a nickel-plated AK-47 rifle that was originally used in Belly (1998).
  
  
• Monica Bellucci was originally supposed to play the role of Ava, but had to back out due to scheduling conflicts. The role eventually went to Bridget Moynahan.
  
  
• The character, Colonel Oliver Southern, is an obvious nod to Lt Col. Oliver North who was tried, and ultimately pardoned, for selling arms to Iran to raise money to support the Contra movement in Nicaragua.
  
  
• When it was released on DVD in the United States, the studio accidentally released it in 1:66:1. The correct aspect ration is 2:35:1.
  
  
• The helicopter that is taken apart by the mechanic just before Agent Valentine arrives is an Mi-24 Hind-A. It is distinguishable from later versions of the Hind due to the "greenhouse" cockpit. Later versions had two rounded canopies.
  
  
• When Nicolas Cage asks Jared Leto, "Why . . . Why . . . Why are you so messed up all the time", this is a direct quote from Rumble Fish (1983) where Mickey Rourke asks the same of Matt Dillon. Rumble Fish (1983) was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Nicolas Cage's uncle.
  
  
• Nicolas Cage's son Weston Cage plays the young Mi-24 Hind helicopter mechanic Vladimir. In the movie, Cage's character speaks to the mechanic in Russian: "Son, get off there before you get hurt."
  
  
• The jets seen on display at the Berlin Arms Show are Blackburn Buccaneers.
  
  

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