Lord of War
| Lord of War | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Andrew Niccol |
| Produced by | Andrew Niccol Chris Roberts Nicolas Cage Philippe Rousselet Andy Grosch Norm Golightly |
| Written by | Andrew Niccol |
| Starring | Nicolas Cage Jared Leto Bridget Moynahan Eamonn Walker Ian Holm Ethan Hawke |
| Music by | Antonio Pinto |
| Cinematography | Amir Mokri |
| Editing by | Zach Staenberg |
| Studio | Entertainment Manufacturing Company |
| Distributed by | Lions Gate Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | September 16, 2005 (United States) January 4, 2006 (France) |
| Running time | 123 minutes |
| Country | France Germany United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$50 million[1] |
| Gross revenue | US$72,617,068 (worldwide) |
Lord of War is a 2005 political thriller film written and directed by Andrew Niccol which stars Nicolas Cage.
It was released in the United States on September 16, 2005, with the DVD following on January 17, 2006 and the Blu-ray Disc on July 27, 2006. Cage plays an illegal arms dealer with similarities to post-Soviet arms dealers Viktor Bout[2][3][4] and Leonid Minin. The film was officially endorsed by the human rights group Amnesty International for highlighting the trafficking of weapons by the international arms industry.[5][6]
A scene in the movie featured 50 tanks, which were provided by a Czech source. The tanks were only available until December of the year of filming. They were to be returned so they could be, ironically, sold to Libya.[7]
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[edit] Plot
Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage), an American gunrunner of Ukrainian origin, stands in a sea of spent shell casings. He states that there is one firearm for one out of every twelve people on the planet, and he wants to figure out how to arm the other eleven.
In 1982, through voice-over, Orlov describes the beginnings of his career. After he sees a Russian mobster kill two would-be assassins in a restaurant, he notices that the restaurant's purpose was to fulfill a necessity for food, so he decides to fulfill a necessity by providing firearms. He partners up with his brother, Vitaly (Jared Leto), and forms his own arms business. Yuri's first break comes during the 1982 Lebanon War, during which he sells guns to all sides of the conflict.
As his business grows, Yuri tells of his first incident with Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke), an Interpol agent who refuses bribes. Yuri avoids arrest when he changes his boat's name from the Kristol to the Kono, which confuses Valentine.
During a business deal with a Colombian drug lord, Yuri is paid with six kilograms of cocaine instead of cash. The contact is unable to pay him anything else, and Yuri, who is shot in the process, is forced to accept it. Vitaly takes one kilogram in order to get high, and becomes addicted.
Yuri checks Vitaly into a drug rehabilitation center. From that point onward, he conducts his arms business alone. Soon after, he courts and marries model Ava Fontaine (Bridget Moynahan) and they have a child named Nikolai (Nicky).
Yuri gets his second big break after the Soviet Union dissolves. Yuri rushes to Ukraine after watching Mikhail Gorbachev's Christmas Day 1991 speech of resignation on television. He begins illegally buying tanks and other weapons from Ukraine's new military to expand his operations.
One day, Valentine reveals to Ava that Yuri is an arms dealer. Ava convinces him to stop dealing. Yuri complies for a short while, but it is difficult for him to make the same kind of money he once did. He is lured back in when his old client, the dictator of Liberia, Andre Baptiste Sr., approaches him and offers him more money.
Yuri brings Vitaly along to Liberia, saying he can't trust anyone there. During the transaction, Vitaly sees a group of villagers kill a woman and her child with machetes and tries to convince Yuri to stop. When Yuri refuses, Vitaly takes a grenade and blows up half the gun shipment. He runs to the other truck to blow up the other half, but a few nearby soldiers immediately kill Vitaly.
Back at home, Valentine follows Ava as she finds Yuri's security container. She and Yuri's parents disown him. Yuri is arrested after a bullet is found in Vitaly's chest as it passes through customs. Valentine, convinced that he can now find evidence to convict him with, tells Yuri that he has found his security container. However, Yuri reveals to Valentine that his superiors at Interpol will not allow him to be convicted, as he has positioned himself as a "necessary evil", someone who is able to distribute weapons when first-world governments do not wish to become directly involved. This proves to be true, and Yuri is released after United States Army officer Colonel Oliver Southern speaks to Valentine.
A brief postscript notes that, while private arms dealers do conduct a lot of business, the five largest arms exporters – the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China – are also the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
[edit] Historical accuracy
Plot details on the illegal arms market, particularly regarding purchases for Tropical Africa in early 1990s, are closely based on real stories and people originating from the former Soviet Union.
- The main protagonist's name, Yuri Orlov, corresponds to the last name of Oleg Orlov, a Russian businessman arrested in Ukraine on suspicion of smuggling missiles to Iran. The real Orlov was strangled in Kiev's Lukyanivska Prison in 2007 during the investigation.[8]
- The character Andre Baptiste, Sr. is partly based on Charles Taylor, the President of Liberia until 2003.[9]
- The character of Colonel Oliver Southern is evidently hinting of Oliver North, most famous for his involvement in the Iran-Contra Scandal.
However, the scenes of direct shipping of weapons from Ukraine's army storages is fictional.[8] Portrayal of the Interpol as an acting security agency is also entirely fictional.
[edit] Cast
- Nicolas Cage – Yuri Orlov
- Bridget Moynahan – Ava Fontaine Orlov
- Jared Leto – Vitaly Orlov
- Ethan Hawke – Jack Valentine
- Eamonn Walker – André Baptiste Sr.
- Tanit Phoenix – Candy
- Ian Holm – Simeon Weisz
- Donald Sutherland – Colonel Oliver Southern (voice only)
- Sammi Rotibi – André Baptiste Jr.
- Eugene Lazarev – General Dmitri Orlov
- Kobus Marx – Boris
[edit] DVD release
The UK DVD release of Lord of War includes, prior to the film, an advert for Amnesty International, showing the AK-47 being sold on a shopping channel of the style popular on cable networks. The American DVD release includes a bonus feature that shows the various weapons used in the movie, allowing viewers to click on each weapon to get statistics about their physical dimensions and histories. The DVD bonus section also contains a public service announcement from Nicolas Cage, addressing the issue of illicit arms sales.
[edit] Reception
[edit] Critical
Lord of War received fairly positive reviews from critics. The film received a 61% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it also received a special mention for excellence in film making from the National Board of Review.
[edit] Box office
The film grossed $9,390,144 on its opening weekend (2,814 theaters, $3,336 average). After the film's 7-weeks release it grossed a total of $24,149,632 on the domestic market in the US, and $48,467,436 overseas.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] Warzones featured
- Sierra Leone Civil War
- Lebanese Civil War
- Somali Civil War
- Civil war in Afghanistan
- Second Liberian Civil War
[edit] References
- ^ a b Lord of War at Box Office Mojo
- ^ Viktor Bout: in the Movies...
- ^ Bertil Lintner: "A necessary evil"
- ^ William Norman Grigg: "Permanent War, Perpetual Profiteering"
- ^ Amnesty International (2006). "Lord of War". Press release. http://www.amnestyusa.org/Artists_for_Amnesty/Lord_of_War/page.do?id=1104972&n1=2&n2=22&n3=797. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
- ^ Hamid, Rahul (Spring 2006). "Lord of War/Syriana". Cineaste 31 (2): 52–55.
- ^ History Television, series Fact and Film, episode "Lord of War" hey alora!
- ^ a b Brokers of War
- ^ Burr, Ty (September 16, 2005). "Provocative 'War' Skillfully Takes Aim". The Boston Globe: D1.
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Lord of War |
- Official site
- Lord of War at the Internet Movie Database
- Lord of War at Allmovie
- Lord of War at the TCM Movie Database
- Lord of War at Rotten Tomatoes
- Lord of War at Box Office Mojo
- Guns featured in the film
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