Review of Lord of War (2005) by Stuart K — 06 Feb 2015

Written, produced and directed by Andrew Niccol (Gattaca (1997), Simone (2002) and In Time (2011)), this crime drama is ever so partially inspired by an amalgamation of true stories, where the lives of real life arms dealers were combined to make the main character in this film.

While the film might seem a little far fetched, there are people like this out there in the world, and they don't take sides, as it's their job. It begins in Ukrainian-American Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage) is introduced to the dangerous yet tempting world of gunrunning after seeing a mob hit.

He goes into business with his brother Vitaly (Jared Leto), and their first deal comes when they sell guns to all sides in the 1982 Lebanon War. Yuri goes solo after Vitaly becomes addicted to drugs in Colombia, and Yuri hits the jackpot when the Soviet Union falls in 1991, and he ends up buying loads of tanks and guns illegally through his uncle General Dmitri Orlov (Eugene Lazarev) to African dictator André Baptiste Sr.

(Eamonn Walker). By this point, Yuri is being investigated by Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke). It's a well made film, and it does raise some serious points about this industry, and it's a morality tale questioning whether it's right or wrong.

Cage turns in a good performance, his Yuri doesn't seem to regret his choice in life, as it's stated at one point in the film, it's a "necessary evil", which gives the film a scary edge.