Lord of War | 
| Director: Andrew Niccol
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan, Shake Tukhmanyan
Category: DVD
Buy New: $28.66
New (3) Used (5) from $9.06
Rating:  217 reviews
Sales Rank: 181282
Format: Ntsc
Languages: Arabic (Original Language), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), German (Original Language), Russian (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), Turkish (Original Language), Ukrainian (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Running Time: 122 Minutes
UPC: 057373169902
EAN: 0057373169902
ASIN: B000BYY0OM
Theatrical Release Date: September 16, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The lethal business of arms dealers provides an electrifying context for the black-as-coal humor of Andrew Niccol's Lord of War. Having proven his ingenuity as the writer of The Truman Show, and writer-director of Gattaca and the under-appreciated Simone, Niccol is clearly striving for Strangelovian relevance here as he chronicles the rise and inevitable fall of Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage), a Ukrainian immigrant to America who makes his fortune selling every kind of ordnance he can get his amoral hands on. With a trophy wife (Bridget Moynahan) who's initially clueless about his hidden career, and a younger brother (Jared Leto) whose drug-addled sense of decency makes him an ill-chosen accomplice, Yuri traffics in death the way other salesman might push vacuum cleaners (he likes to say that alcohol and tobacco are deadlier products than his), but even he can't deny the sheer ruthlessness of the Liberian dictator (a scene-stealing Eamonn Walker) who purchases Orlov's "products" to expand his oppressive regime. Niccol's themes are even bigger than Yuri's arms deals, and he drives them home with a blunt-force lack of subtlety, but Cage gives the film the kind of insanely dark humor it needs to have. To understand this monster named Yuri, we have to see at least a glimpse of his humanity, which Cage provides as only he can. Otherwise, this epic tale of gunrunnng would be as morally unbearable as the black market trade it illuminates. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 212 more reviews...
 ok movie June 27, 2009
Muscovite (TX)
The theme is compelling but I was a somewhat disappointed with the story line. There is some good action and a little suspense but it all just seemed to dissipate into something else.
3 stars out of 4 June 10, 2009
One-Line Film Reviews (Ann Arbor)
The Bottom Line:
Not only is Lord of War utterly fascinating, with good performances by Cage and Hawke, but unlike other movies that feature a protagonist making his living through things that kill people (like, say, Blow), Lord of War manages to both make us sympathize with the main character and yet realize how much he's helping evil to thrive; it's a film you'll remember and a film you should see.
 Enjoyable as it is informative. May 29, 2009
*Bling-Bling* (Lompoc, CA)
I thought this movie was well directed and well made. Although, it may not appeal to every audience because this film is paced as a documentary of Cage's character so there is plenty of dialogue and it may become rather boring due to the lack of action sequences. But the performance and depth of the casts truly makes up for it.
Hey! Its entertainment April 24, 2009
Eric E. Weinraub (Issaquah, Washington United States)
Funny to read the 'righties' and 'lefties' searching for political messages and hidden agendas... PEOPLE!!!!! This movie is ENTERTAINMENT!!!! So, with a grain of salt, realize this movie is SATIRE and BLACK COMEDY with gun running as the vehicle.
With that disclaimer out of my system, let me say, i really enjoyed the movie. Nicholas Cage, when allowed, has an incredibly wry sense of humor.
Does for Gunrunners what Goodfells did for gangsters April 15, 2009
Mr. Stephen Kennedy (Doha, Qatar)
A surprisingly good movie, this tale of a gunrunner over several decades of his life is not an action movie, and not just a drama. It's an all round look at what it means to be a gunrunner - how it came about that he became one, the good times - the bad. The effect on family and loved ones. At times serious, at times downright funny, often poignant, it's all the way through laced with its own style - a style which manages to pull off the difficult feat of mixing entertaining and thought provoking. Through frequently quite imaginative editing and narrative, the story never gets dull.
Cage is good in the role, but it's an all round effective supporting cast which make it really work - making his transition believable. The change from just another immigrant, to a man dabbling in the guns business, to a man sucked in by his own choosing to a world of ugliness by the lure of riches - or rather, as he puts it.. just because it's what he's good at. A particularly effective and revealing moment comes when Cage is faced with a seemingly arbitrary murder during one of his sales pitches with the pistol he is selling. His look of horror is quickly masked and replaced with indignation that the new gun has been soiled by use and is now worth less. It's a theme throughout - at one point is it no longer possible to separate the business of what you are doing from the effect of what you are doing. Does it happen immediately you start down the path - or does it happen after a time? Of note is the contrast to how his brother, played by a fantastic Jared Leto, is affected.
How far embroiled in a world can you be without being affected... it's an interesting question, and one made all the more fascinating by the context of how much gunrunning our own governments do routinely, as the movie points out.
Definitely recommended as an entertaining blockbuster - but with some brains to go with it.
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