Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3994 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-04-03
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 117 minutes

Synopsis
Based on actual events, this black comedy-drama stars Nicholas Cage as international arms smuggler Uri Orlov. The story follows Uri from his humble beginnings as a Soviet immigrant in 1970s Brooklyn and peaks with his involvement in selling off the stockpiled arsenal of post-Cold War Ukraine to among other top clients the sadistic African dictator Andre Baptiste, Sr. (Eamonn Walker). Jared Leto co-stars as Uri's little brother Vitaly, whose conscience and a burgeoning cocaine problem get in the way of business. Ethan Hawke is good as a sanctimonious Interpol agent with a vendetta against Uri, but the film's biggest dose of onscreen gravitas comes from Walker, whose Baptiste seethes with a heavy, serpent-like malevolence. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol, the film makes fine use of the brisk stream-of-consciousness narration style that Martin Scorcese brought to the true crime genre with 'Goodfellas' (1992), and a near constant flow of action and classic rock songs that ensure a speedy, riveting ride through three decades of global carnage. Cage, who coproduced, lets his patented oddball magnetism slowly change polarity, until viewers realise they've been led into a moral quagmire by falling for his self-delusory spiels about supply and demand, making this one of the bravest and most jet-black comedies of its decade.

Customer Reviews

A flawed but excellent film
This film manages to walk the tightrope of being an edgy and enjoyable critique of the international arms trade, no preaching and no easy answers, and yet managing to present us with the terrifying facts.

The locations were are stunningly shot, and the action scenes excellent.

The acting is variable, Cage is on his best form, but his 'brother' (Jared Leto?) is better at being cute than he is at being convincing.

Not a 'feel-good' film... some of the scenes are gritty, and it leaves you with more questions than answers... but well-worth a watch.

"Evil Prevails"
'Lord of War' is a spectacular film in every sense of the word, with neither the story getting in the way of the message or the message getting in the way of the story.

Indeed, even the spoof 'QVC' commercial before the film, offering AK47's to anyone who can afford to pay is worth the price of the DVD. But in the end, the film boils down to that immortal quote by Edmund Burke:

"Evil prevails when good men do nothing."

Or as Nicholas Cage states rather bluntly, "Evil Prevails."

By far the most powerful example of this is the character of the Gunrunner's brother; a 'Good Man' who is sickened and enraged by the sight of the weapons his brother sells being used to murder women and children. But instead of killing his brother or even speaking up, he struggles to drown out the screams of his conscience by turning to booze and cocaine.

Towards the end of the film however, he tries to do the right thing; giving his life in the failed attempt to protect a refugee camp full of women and children. But by then, it is already far too late, and the massacre still goes ahead as planned.

Of course, it's the President of Liberia who has some of the best lines in the film.

"A 'USED' Gun? That's a good one."

"I try to set an example but it is difficult, eh. Personally, I blame MTV."

"A bullet from a 14 year old is just as effective as one from a 40 year old. Often more effective. No one can stop this bath of blood."

But when push comes to shove, it is Nicolas Cage's soliloquy after he's been arrested which really drives the nail home:

"Soon there's gonna' be a knock on that door and you will be called outside. In the hall, there will be a man who outranks you. First, he'll compliment you on the fine job you've done; that you're making the world a safer place, that you're going to receive a commendation, a promotion. And then he's going to tell you that I am to be released.

You're gonna' protest. You'll probably threaten to resign. But in the end I will be released.

The reason I'll be released is the same reason that 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 those men are the enemies of your enemies. And whilst the biggest arms dealer in the world is your boss, the President of the United States who ships more merchandise in a day then I do in a year, sometimes its embarrassing to have his fingerprints on the guns. Sometimes he needs freelancers like me to supply the forces he can't be seen supplying."

And finally, just to annoy those people who still support the `War on Terror,' here is a quote from an American comedian that really sums up this "Battle of Good vs. Evil" for me:

"Saddam has terrible weapons of Mass destruction."

"How do you know?"

"Err, we looked at the receipt."

Polemic against the arms trade

One of the adverts at the start of the version of this DVD which I watched was placed by a campaign against the arms trade. The advert took the form of a spoof TV advert for weapons. It's difficult to see what the people who paid for this advert thought they were adding to what is already on the disc; essentially the film itself is a much longer and more sophisticated version of the same point.

Nicolas Cage plays the central character and narrator Yuri Orlov, who was born in what is now the Ukraine and emigrated from the former Soviet Union with his parents. He becomes an international arms dealer.

Obviously damaged inside by the human consequences of his trade, Orlov tries to deal with them by distancing himself from the actions of his customers and avoiding crimes other than gun-running. When a Columbian drug baron wants to pay him in cocaine rather than money, Orlov protests "I'm am arms trader, not a drug dealer." At one point one of his customers tries to "reward" Yuri by providing on a plate the opportunity to take revenge on a rival arms dealer who had murdered one of Yuri Orlov's close relatives; Orlov does not want to pull the trigger himself even under duress.

Cage is one of very few actors who could bring off the studied understatement and ironic black humour required of the central character and narrator to make this film work. You are never quite sure what exactly is going on inside Orlov's head. When he sees Gorbachov on TV announcing the end of the cold war, Yuri is so delighted that he barely hears his wife Eva (Bridget Moynahan) saying that their baby son is walking for the first time; but you are unclear whether he is so pleased because he cares about the country of his birth or because this will mean more opportunties for gun running.

But most viewers will be clear that for all Orlov's wealth they would not want to change places with him: at one point Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke) who is the nearest thing the film has to a hero says to him "I'd tell you to go to Hell - but I think you're already there."

Stong performance from a number of other cast members. Jared Leto is Yuri's brother and sidekick Vitaly Orlov who has even more trouble dealing with guilt about what they do; Bridget Moynahan gives a sterling performance as the trophy wife who is deeply disturbed to learn where the wealth which supports her comfortable life comes from.

Eamonn Walker gives a chilling performance as Orlov's most lucrative and dangerous customer, President Andre Baptiste of Liberia. This character appears to be based on former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is currently awaiting trial on War Crimes charges before the Hague tribunal.

Ethan Hawke plays an idealistic Interpol agent who will do almost anything, except break the law himself, to stop gun-runners like Orlov.

If you have seen the trailer for this, be warned that like that for Cage's recent film "The Weather Guy" much of the black humour in the film is laugh out loud funny out of context (e.g. in the trailer) but is not so amusing in context. Despite there being a lot of witty black humour in the film, it is in no sense a comedy.

As an edgy thriller or a story of moral destruction this film works. As a political polemic, a number of the points it makes are direct hits but the argument is easy to pick holes in and rather one-sided, especially at the end where the film suggests all government supplies of arms are morally equivalent to traders like Orlov.

Some government supplies of arms may be on that level, but without an arms industry to supply weapons we would have had nothing with which to fight evils such as the Nazis. Those of us with no Jewish blood would have to ask "How High?" when a fascist Gauleiter said "Jump!" and those with Jewish ancestry would not be alive.

For fans of Nicolas Cage this is possibly the best performance of his career. Worth watching if you want to see a dramatic portrait of material success and moral decline. Not a good film to watch if you want a piece of light entertainment or need cheering up.