 | |
List Price: $14.98 | | Label: Lions Gate
Salesrank: 3379
Released: January 17, 2006 |
| Our Price: $6.98 |
| Used Price: $1.80 |
|
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
This charts the rise & fall of yuri orlov from the early 80s in little odessa selling guns to mobsters in his local neighborhood into the early 90s where he forms a business partnership with an african warlord & his psychotic son. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 08/28/2007 Starring: Nicolas Cage Jared Leto Run time: 122 minutes Rating: R
Description of Lord of War (2-Disc Special Edition):
The lethal business of arms dealers provides an electrifying context for the black-as-coal humor of Andrew Niccol's Lord of War. Having proven his ingenuity as the writer of The Truman Show, and writer-director of Gattaca and the under-appreciated Simone, Niccol is clearly striving for Strangelovian relevance here as he chronicles the rise and inevitable fall of Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage), a Ukrainian immigrant to America who makes his fortune selling every kind of ordnance he can get his amoral hands on. With a trophy wife (Bridget Moynahan) who's initially clueless about his hidden career, and a younger brother (Jared Leto) whose drug-addled sense of decency makes him an ill-chosen accomplice, Yuri traffics in death the way other salesman might push vacuum cleaners (he likes to say that alcohol and tobacco are deadlier products than his), but even he can't deny the sheer ruthlessness of the Liberian dictator (a scene-stealing Eamonn Walker) who purchases Orlov's "products" to expand his oppressive regime. Niccol's themes are even bigger than Yuri's arms deals, and he drives them home with a blunt-force lack of subtlety, but Cage gives the film the kind of insanely dark humor it needs to have. To understand this monster named Yuri, we have to see at least a glimpse of his humanity, which Cage provides as only he can. Otherwise, this epic tale of gunrunnng would be as morally unbearable as the black market trade it illuminates. --Jeff Shannon
Lord of War (2-Disc Special Edition) Reviews:
Loved the movie so much I paid full price on Amazon 
2008-11-09 - Loved the movie so much I paid full price on Amazon. I love this movie for it's realistic and believable look at the irony of weapons dealing. It also points out the hypocrisy of certain democratic African countries. Also showed the hypocrisy of the USA that looks down on those countries. Also shows us there good people can do evil things when they have to.
Great Movie!
2008-10-27 - A interesting ficticious insight into a serious topic, the spread of weapons. Humerous and great character portrayal by Nicolas Cage.
Great movie, terrible product. 
2008-10-19 - I enjoyed the film and would rate it 4/5 stars. However, this review is of the product itself - the film's Blu-ray disc edition. I have a Sony receiver, and watched the (Sony!) Blu-ray disc on my Sony PS3.
The picture is great, but the sound mix is AWFUL. 50% of the time people are whispering their dialogue and you have to crank up the volume. The other 50% of the time, the soundtrack/explosions/other sound effects are so loud you have to really dial back the sound. It's as if the sound engineer had two buttons on his mixer - "quiet" and "loud" - with no dynamic range in between.
Watching this movie was like watching a television show that only included used car ads.... "whisper whisper BUY A NEW CAR NOW AT JOE'S CAR PALACE whisper whisper whisper."
Completely inexcusable. DO NOT BUY THIS EDITION.
Cage-Niccol Collaboration A Tour-De-Force 
2008-09-28 - "Lord of War" is a crafty, deceptively powerful film that comes off as a black comedy, but when measured in full effect, also serves as a potent statement on world arms, cynicism, and the very human of mental conditions - rationalization.
The movie follows the career of Yuri Orlov, played by Cage, who steadily but artfully crafts a career as an arms merchant, eventually becoming one of the world's most successful at his trade. Along the way, he accumulates a trophy wife (beautifully played by Bridget Moynahan), his brother (played by Jared Leto) becomes a drug addict, he becomes rich beyond his wildest dreams, and he acquires a mortal enemy in a persistent Interpol agent, played by Ethan Hawke.
It is not an understatement to say that Yuri goes through cataclysmic changes, and loses his soul and humanity along the way. As amoral a creature as we have seen in recent films, he can make excuses and has an answer for everything he does. Cage plays him first as an ambitious hustler who gets in over his head, then as a savvy professional, and finally, as an amoral, venal, megalomaniac who only cares about himself and his business. Everything else is to be managed, lied to, and avoided.
Andrew Niccol has become quite savvy at writing and/or directing films that make very adept and pointed social commentary with films like Gattaca, The Truman Show, The Terminal, and Simone. But he may have topped himself with this film, which take a hard look at the buying and selling of arms like any other commodity. "The Lord of War" is a fine, provocative film that takes a hard look at how cheap life can become when money and power are in play.
Outlaw Illegal Arms Sales Now ...
2008-09-22 - ... but have some compassion on the criminals profiting, after all, it's the fault of governments and military leaders. This sums up the "deep" message of this "based on some real events" hollywood [sic] dribble.
We put off watching this one not long enough.
Oh, it is believable and there is little doubt in my mind that some similar activities do take place, but the only naive reviews, in my opinion, are the ones that see this crap as entertainment or somehow feel more enlightened by any movie, much less one that never claims to be a documentary.
