Review of Lord of War (2005) by Alex R — 02 Oct 2010

The Lord Of War focuses on a man who deals in the illegal arms business as he dodges the authorities bullets left and right to sell arms at the four corners of the world. Yuri Orlov is an opportunistic arms dealer, and he seems at the top of his game.

Nicholas Cage gives a splendid performance as Yuri Orlov. Cage is at the the top of his game, and he proves that he still has some decent enough acting in him. Lord Of War follows Orlov played by Cage as he rises to be one of the best illegal arms dealer in the world.

He acquires wealth, a beautiful wife, his own planes, but all at a cost. His brother also his ex business partner is now a bonafide cocaine addict due to a sale where the customers paid in cocaine, he constantly juggles the authorities and he constantly lies to his wife.

Whats very interesting about this film is that we are given a candid look into this business, and the damage it does to others (civilians, refugees, etc). One thing that Lord Of War does so well is painting a portrait of both sides, the arms dealer and dictators.

The film doesn't pick one side over the other, it shows the ugliiness of both sides and makes the dictators just as guilty as the arms dealers. Andrew Niccol's film is a film that should be seen by everyone because this is what happens in some countries.

People are providing other people the means to killing each other. But no one cares because most of this happens in the poorest countries on Earth. Nicolas Cage definitely gives his all as Yuri Orlov and he really does make light up the screen.

What I found interesting about the character is at times he almost seemed unrepentant in how he was conducting his business and loosing everything afterwards. Lord Of War is one powerful film that tackles an all too important subject that shouldn't be ignored.

Hopefully this film has shed some light on illegal arms trading. Lord Of War is a great film with a terrific cast and will definitely make you think about some of things thats going in third world countries.