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Lord of War (2005)

tomatometer

61

Average Rating: 6.2/10
Reviews Counted: 141
Fresh: 86 | Rotten: 55

While Lord of War is an intelligent examination of the gun trade, it is too scattershot in its plotting to connect.

42

Average Rating: 5.6/10
Critic Reviews: 33
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 19

While Lord of War is an intelligent examination of the gun trade, it is too scattershot in its plotting to connect.

audience

84

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 363,779

My Rating

Movie Info

One man demonstrates how to get rich selling warring nations the tools of their deadly trade in this dark comedy drama. Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage) is an opportunistic businessman who stumbled into a gold mine after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Huge caches of Soviet weapons became available at bargain prices (and even for free if one wasn't above stealing), and as literally billions of dollars' worth of Soviet military technology disappeared, it began finding its

R, 2 hr. 2 min.

Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense

Andrew Niccol

Jan 17, 2006

$24.0M

Lions Gate

Cast

All Critics (146) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (89) | Rotten (57) | DVD (23)

ELord Of War drops the hammer slowly, laying out the fascinating parameters of Cage's world before opening up its argument in an astonishing denouement.

October 7, 2006 Full Review Source: Salon.com | Comment
Salon.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A caustic satire masquerading as an action adventure.

September 24, 2005 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A raffishly ironic and insinuating movie -- and probably the most sheerly enjoyable film of the year so far.

September 20, 2005 Comment
New Yorker
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There are the makings here of a really good feature or an even better documentary, but as it stands, Lord of War is not quite either.

September 16, 2005 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Lord of War tosses grenades and then fearfully runs from them.

September 16, 2005 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment (1)
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Lord of War has a hip, gonzo energy to it and it's often transfixing to watch and listen to. But it's finally just as empty as the man it's about.

September 16, 2005 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A carefully choreographed devil's dance in which Nicolas Cage finds fleet-footed rejuvenation as a man aware evil can't exist without good, but that evil often wins. This uniquely unsympathetic, world-weary film earns the right to fling that truth.

September 19, 2010 Full Review Source: Suite101.com | Comment
Suite101.com

A fine, grown-up movie, half thriller, half black comedy.

September 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

Ambitious but uneven; way too violent for kids.

July 16, 2008 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment (1)
Common Sense Media

The movie ultimately crushes itself in a vise of self-loathing.

March 11, 2008 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

Niccol is no stranger to hot-button issues, but he outdoes his previous efforts by injecting this satire of war profiteering in the Halliburton age with a wicked arsenic wit.

August 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Time Out New York | Comment
Time Out New York

I'm beginning to get discouraged about Andrew Niccol.

July 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | Comment
Big Picture Big Sound

Satire is rarely so hard-hitting, or high calibre.

July 10, 2007 Full Review Source: Eye for Film | Comment
Eye for Film

previ%u0161e gorka i politi%u010Dki nekorektna pilula za holivudske i mnoge druge autoritete

June 21, 2007 Full Review Source: Index.hr | Comment

This film fails so miserably don't be surprised to find yourself often rooting against the supposed good guy.

May 26, 2007 Full Review Source: Upstage Magazine | Comments (9)
Upstage Magazine

More preoccupied with attitude than accuracy, Lord Of War conceives of a small time gun runner turned international major player arms dealer who functions equally beyond governments and historical fact.

March 31, 2007 Full Review | Comment
Long Island Press

That the CIA engages in these activities with all sorts of Orlovs no doubt slithering around in the mix somewhere, is a far more intriguing huge chunk of vital information that sadly never made it to the screen.

February 8, 2007 Full Review Source: WBAI Web Radio | Comment
WBAI Web Radio

Lord of War has a surreal edge, despite being enmeshed in world events, with absurdity and dark humor laced throughout.

September 27, 2006 Comment

Una película frívola y superficial sobre un tema serio e importante como el tráfico de armas. Entretiene, pero como denuncia cínica se queda corta.

September 13, 2006 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | Comment (1)
Uruguay Total

The movie's too flippant for good drama and not funny enough for satire, but the morbidly fascinating subject and Cage's reptilian performance hold our interest.

May 12, 2006 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | Comment
Sacramento News & Review
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Lord of War

Nicolas Cage is an arms dealer who is at the top of his profession but when he wants to give it up, but it's not that easy.

July 21, 2007
thmtsang
Candy Rose

Super Reviewer

One of my friends told me that this film had one of (if not THE) best/coolest opening credits sequence ever. He wasn't kidding. It's awesome. So is the rest of the movie. Taking a break from Sci-Fi, the imaginative and brilliant Andrew Niccol directed this biting and sardonic satire concerning the life and career of an

June 9, 2006
cosmo313
Chris Weber

Super Reviewer

    1. 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.
    – Submitted by Daniel K (2 months ago)
    1. 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 embargoes. There are three basic types of arms deal: white, being legal, black, being illegal, and my personal favorite color, *gray*. Sometimes I made the deal so convoluted, it was hard for *me* to work out if they were on the level.
    – Submitted by rob g (9 months ago)
    1. 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?
    – Submitted by rob g (9 months ago)

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