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Movies / On DVD / Lord of War
Lord of War

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Lord of War (2005)

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Reviews Counted:138

Fresh:85

Rotten:53

Average Rating:6.2/10

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

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong violence, drug use, language and sexuality

Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins

Genre: Thriller, Theatrical Release

Theatrical Release:Sep 16, 2005 Wide

Box Office: $24,033,036

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... 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 André Baptiste, Sr. (Eamonn Walker). Jared Leto costars 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 realize 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. [More]

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan, Ian Holm, Sammy Rotibi, Eamonn Walker

Director: Andrew Niccol

Director: Andrew Niccol
Screenwriter: Andrew Niccol
Producer: Philippe Rousselet, Norm Golightly
Composer: Antonio Pinto
Producer: Nicolas Cage
Studio: Lions Gate Films

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Release:

Jun 27, 2006

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Reviews for Lord of War

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When all is said and done, Lord of War presents us with a hopeless world. War is hell, but what are you going to do about it?

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
09/16/05
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

Moral ambiguity has rarely been so well done on screen.

Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
09/20/05
Mike McGranaghan
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

Niccol layers in smart comedy with ample action and falters only when attempting to hammer home moments of poignancy.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
09/15/05
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

[Cage] makes everything bearable, applying his usual talent for giving unsavory characters some attractive traits.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
09/15/05
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Lord is dull. Dirty dishwater dull. Terminally dull.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
09/15/05
Bob Longino
Bob Longino
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Messy and ill-defined, and as scattershot as its grand topic.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
09/18/05
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

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

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
Keith Phipps
Keith Phipps
AV Club

Amid all the spent bullets and criticisms of our current president, there still is room for irony in "Lord of War." Unintentional, yes, but it's there.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
09/22/05
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

[W]hile the film is powered by a righteous anger, it is also very funny, stylish and daring.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
10/08/05
Andy Jacobs
Andy Jacobs
BBC

I'm beginning to get discouraged about Andrew Niccol.

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

Niccol squeezes his cartoonish irony for pathos, as if retelling Superman from the dark side but softening it to make us lament, 'Poor Lex Luthor. Poor, lost Lex Luthor'.

Full Review Source: Blogcritics.org | comment Comment
10/12/05
Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Blogcritics.org

'Tween the multi-million dollars films, Cage often brings us the real stuff...

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
09/15/05
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

Lord of War is advocacy entertainment -- an act of mainstream provocation -- and, for the most part, it works unusually well.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
09/16/05
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
09/24/05
Boston Phoenix

A battle to sit through.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
09/23/05
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

For a movie dealing with so much explosive firepower, Lord of War is a damp squib.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
09/16/05
Shlomo Schwartzberg
Shlomo Schwartzberg
Boxoffice Magazine

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

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/19/08
Ceri Thomas
Ceri Thomas
Channel 4 Film

A caustic satire masquerading as an action adventure.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
09/24/05
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A bleak comedy, funny in a Catch-22 sort of way, and at the same time an angry outcry against the gun traffic that turns 12-year-olds into killers and cheapens human life to the point where might makes not only right, but everything else.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
09/15/05
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film is morally unsettling on its surface, and then you realize the surface is all you're going to get.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
09/15/05
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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