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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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101 - 120 (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
 
 

Lord of War lacks the major gravitational pull that a film of its scope should exert.

Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine | comment Comment
09/16/05
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
Now Playing Magazine

What a total misfire.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
09/16/05
E! Online

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Scott Mantz' Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/16/05
Scott A. Mantz
Scott A. Mantz
Scott Mantz' Movie Reviews

When Niccol allows the movie to stop and breathe for a while, it's often powerful.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment Comment
09/15/05
Josh Bell
Josh Bell
Las Vegas Weekly

Niccol’s attention to detail perks up the screenplay, and constantly strengthens the ideas that he’s frantically trying to communicate.

Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com | comment Comment
09/15/05
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
FilmJerk.com

While not shining as brightly as Niccol's other writing work [Gattaca, The Truman Show, The Terminal], Lord of War definitely deserves a look once it hits DVD.

Full Review Source: Supercala.com | comment Comment
09/15/05
John Venable
John Venable
Supercala.com

Lord of War is an extremely compelling tale with fantastic acting performances, great dialogue and dark humor that still makes you laugh in the middle of gripping drama

Full Review Source: WaffleMovies.com | comment Comment
09/15/05
Willie Waffle
Willie Waffle
WaffleMovies.com

'Tween the multi-million dollars films, Cage often brings us the real stuff...

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
09/15/05
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

it’s a point weakly made, with depressingly little to back it up

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
09/15/05
Chris Barsanti
Chris Barsanti
Filmcritic.com

Any time you're watching a film in which the statistics in the voice-over have more intrinsic drama than the protagonists' lives, you know you're in trouble.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/15/05
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Intelligent but not particularly involving.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
09/15/05
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today

The blitzkrieg of images and rapid-fire narration takes us on a breathtaking inside tour of a scary world.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
09/15/05
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The blitzkrieg of images and rapid-fire narration takes us on a breathtaking inside tour of a scary world. It's an extraordinary expose.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
09/15/05
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Gripping and unforgettable.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
09/15/05
Piet Levy
Piet Levy
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Andrew Niccol takes on a huge issue and gives it the Goodfellas treatment...[but it is] less successful, overlong and not as emotionally engaging

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
09/15/05
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

a classic hubris rise-and-fall story, chillingly real and contemporary and very scary.

Full Review Source: Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies | comment Comment
09/15/05
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

Nicolas Cage stars as a globe-trotting gunrunner in this misfire of a political satire about the international gun market.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
09/15/05
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[Cage] makes everything bearable, applying his usual talent for giving unsavory characters some attractive traits.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
09/15/05
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

For all its intelligence, the film gradually sinks under the weight of its own sense of mission.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
09/15/05
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Newsday

Lord of War would have worked better if its message had been more muted, muffled. Niccol could have used a silencer on his gun.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
09/15/05
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
 
 
101 - 120 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
all

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