OK, not the hugest Nick Cage fan but I have to admit when my friend showed me Lord Of War I was impressed. Lord Of War covers the rise of Uri Olov a Soviet Immigrant living in Brooklyn who sees arms dealing as his only way out of a neighbourhood where murder was a daily occurrence. We then follow him and his brother as they start to sell guns and before long Uri is on his own with his brother off his head on cocaine and alcohol. As the film roles on it just gets darker and darker as we see just how callous this man really is as his dry and sardonically funny narration guides us through his rise as one of the biggest arms dealers in the world and even starts dealing guns to General Baptiste Sr (if you dont know your history google this dude, he was a viscous killer). Eventually Uri's journey brings him back to himself as most good self examination films do and maybe most disturbingly of all is how macabre this character really is. Nick Cage is awesome, Nick Cave is a fantastic actor… more »

OK, not the hugest Nick Cage fan but I have to admit when my friend showed me Lord Of War I was impressed. Lord Of War covers the rise of Uri Olov a Soviet Immigrant living in Brooklyn who sees arms dealing as his only way out of a neighbourhood where murder was a daily occurrence. We then follow him and his brother as they start to sell guns and before long Uri is on his own with his brother off his head on cocaine and alcohol. As the film roles on it just gets darker and darker as we see just how callous this man really is as his dry and sardonically funny narration guides us through his rise as one of the biggest arms dealers in the world and even starts dealing guns to General Baptiste Sr (if you dont know your history google this dude, he was a viscous killer). Eventually Uri's journey brings him back to himself as most good self examination films do and maybe most disturbingly of all is how macabre this character really is. Nick Cage is awesome, Nick Cave is a fantastic actor he just happens to pick really awful movies a lot but not here.
The DVD is juiced up with a directors commentary with Andrew Niccol who is very informative about his inspiration for the film and the processes they went through to film it, there's a 1-on-1 interview with Nick Cage as he discusses getting into the right frame of mind. There's a documentary about the real world of gun trading which may scare you when you realise that the facts and sights you see in the movie are totally authentic and real. There's also a making of featurette and a couple of trailers to wind down the special features.
In short you're buying this film for 3 reasons, a brilliant performance by Nicholas Cage, a great performance by Ethan Hawke and because this film is everything films should be, it's a story about a man's journey through life and the things he does to succeed and how far he'll go not to wind up on the wrong end of one of his own pieces of merchandise. As Cage says in the opening monologue there are enough guns so that 1 in every 6 persons in the world can have a gun, the question is how do we supply the other 5?

LORD OF WAR is a rare film - one dealing with the lucrative but cutthroat world of the International Arms Trade. NICHOLAS CAGE (who also produced the film) stars as Yuri Orlov, a Ukrainian-born American who after a chance encounter tires of working in the family restaurant business and decides he can become rich by dealing in firearms.

Using various contacts including his Uncle Dmitri (a famed General of the Soviet Union), Yuri soon becomes one of the world's leading gunrunners, selling weaponry to eight of the ten top war zones.

Director ANDREW NICCOL has created a unique look at this high-risk and profitable business. While many feature drug and even Human trafficking, there are few films dealing with this subject and even less where the main character is involved.

Assisting CAGE is an impressive cast. JARED LETO plays Yuri's cocaine-addicted younger brother Vitaly and BRIDGET MOYNAHAN the woman of his dreams (and later his wife), while veteran actor IAN HOLM has… more »

LORD OF WAR is a rare film - one dealing with the lucrative but cutthroat world of the International Arms Trade. NICHOLAS CAGE (who also produced the film) stars as Yuri Orlov, a Ukrainian-born American who after a chance encounter tires of working in the family restaurant business and decides he can become rich by dealing in firearms.

Using various contacts including his Uncle Dmitri (a famed General of the Soviet Union), Yuri soon becomes one of the world's leading gunrunners, selling weaponry to eight of the ten top war zones.

Director ANDREW NICCOL has created a unique look at this high-risk and profitable business. While many feature drug and even Human trafficking, there are few films dealing with this subject and even less where the main character is involved.

Assisting CAGE is an impressive cast. JARED LETO plays Yuri's cocaine-addicted younger brother Vitaly and BRIDGET MOYNAHAN the woman of his dreams (and later his wife), while veteran actor IAN HOLM has (sadly) little more than a couple of brief appearances as a rival arms dealer. More screen time is given to ETHAN HAWKE, who shines as honest Interpol agent Jack Valentine - an obsessed man who makes bringing down Orlov his personal business!

The film is based on true events and highlights how easy it is for an arms dealer to find new and lucrative markets in the numerous trouble spots around the world, with CAGE'S narration often throwing in vital statistics to back up the film's claims. While there is humour to be found (note the cash register kerching as one freedom fighter fires his machinegun!), NICCOL has a serious story to tell and does so superbly. The film is described as "A blockbuster with brains". How true.

The second disc contains a nice array of extras including ten deleted and extended scenes, Making Of and Inside The International Arms Trade featurettes, cast interviews and an original Cinematic trailer. Before the film itself is a spoof Teleshop advertisement featuring a serious message from Amnesty International which is also worth watching.

Fans of NICHOLAS CAGE, or anybody wishing to see a film on an unusual subject, will certainly not be disappointed with LORD OF WAR.