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

Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins

Genre: Thriller, Theatrical Release

Theatrical Release:14-10-2005

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

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Lord of War

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81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

When scenes, performances and even individual shots in Lord of War are considered alone, they're brilliant.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
09/16/05
M.E. Russell
M.E. Russell
Oregonian

It's worth overlooking Lord of War's flaws.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
09/16/05
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post

Instructive, but rarely interesting, and plot-free, but not in a way that favors good characterization.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
09/16/05
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News

Lord of War mixes gallows humor with moral outrage over the way people like Yuri are allowed to make a living.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
09/16/05
Loey Lockerby
Loey Lockerby
Kansas City Star

Movies usually show bullets as if they're generic, anonymous masses of metal coming off a conveyor belt, while Lord of War wants us to see that each bullet is inscribed with somebody's name.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
09/16/05
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News

The story is a strange mix of action/adventure, character development and comedy. Here is the sort of wonderful writing that will have you laughing out loud at gunplay and rooting for an utterly amoral broker of death.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
09/16/05
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

Its best moments burn with irony.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
09/16/05
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

Cage keeps us entertained on the path to Armageddon, which is more consideration than any of the real masters of war have shown.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
09/16/05
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

It's just a well-intended essay, a movie when necessary but not necessarily a movie.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
09/16/05
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail

As a drama, it isn't much. As education, its heart is certainly in the right place. As an entertainment experience, it's more than a bit of a repetitive.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
09/16/05
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

The real pity is that the film could have made its points without being so insufferably preachy and ponderous.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
09/16/05
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

There should be a phrase for the errors Lord of War makes: Call them substance abuse.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
09/16/05
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post

It gives moviegoers something to think about. If that recommendation sounds too dutiful, let it be known that it's exciting as well as thought-provoking.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
09/16/05
Philip Wuntch
Philip Wuntch
Dallas Morning News

This is a political, thinking person's film, not the action-comedy previews might suggest.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
09/16/05
Tyler Hanley
Tyler Hanley
Palo Alto 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

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

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

Glib as its protagonist, it wants to talk its way into the pantheon alongside 'Dr. Strangelove'; still, it's a worthy addition to a movie culture that fetishizes firearms...

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
09/16/05
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Slick and undeniably entertaining.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
09/16/05
Jeff Otto
Jeff Otto
IGN Movies

Charming and amoral, intense and indifferent, Cage continues to deliver the kind of dominating performance that elevated quirky efforts such as Adaptation.

Full Review Source: Lawrence Journal-World | comment Comment
09/16/05
Jon Niccum
Jon Niccum
Lawrence Journal-World
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
all

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