El señor de la guerra

Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage) is an Ukrainian immigrant living Little Odessa in New York. Vitaly (Jared Leto) is his brother. His dream girl is the neighborhood beauty queen Ava Fontaine (Bridget Moynahan). After witnessing a gangland hit, he decides to start selling weapons along with his brother. Meanwhile, he's being hounded by incorruptible Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke) and fellow gunrunner Simeon Weisz (Ian Holm).

I love the matter-of-factness to Cage's narration. The story is fascinating and spans the world. But it's Cage that sells it. He still has the charm. Before you realize it, you're rooting for an amoral death dealer, a Lord of War. Jared Leto is terrific as the drugged out brother who's struggling with more than his addiction. This is one of the better black comedies with an anti-gun message.

A movie about a gunrunner who arms the dictators, tyrants, and genocide-perpetrators of the world should not be this deliciously funny. Lord of War is story-telling perfection. The opening scene depicts the life of a bullet, from its creation in the factory to the moment it blasts through the head of a poor African child. Nicolas Cage is Yuri Orlov, the son of Ukrainian immigrants, who becomes the world's most successful arms dealer. Writer/director Andrew Niccol took every major world conflict of the part 25 years and seamlessly incorporated them into a smart, funny, complex story about violence, corruption, and the essence of warfare. Lord of War has no clear-cut, black-or-white, good-or-evil "moral of the story," but no intelligent observation ever does. It's just a fabulous film. "I never sold to Osama Bin Laden," Yuri tells the audience. "Not on moral grounds, but because his checks were always bouncing back then."

Many people might walk away from this one not feeling "entertained" because it's not your typical Hollywood thriller. It's not a "Feel Good" movie you should take a date on in the hopes of coming away high on life and hand in hand. It's a movie that'll make you think and might disturb the uninformed viewer who knows little about the politics of war.

This is a movie based on actual events (that means it's a movie that has some truth to it). From what I heard the director made quite a bit of research of the gun running world when creating this movie.

This movie takes a look at the gun running business through the story of one particular trafficker played by Cage. It goes through two decades of wars & conflicts and how the business and politics of gun running works. Cage is the middle man in that world, who navigates through it very professionally and coolly. Cage's character is made to be likable, but not a hero by any means.

Many people may think that this movie depicts certain cultures and races in a bad light, but if you know anything about history and keep up to date with world events you'll understand the truth behind these portrayals.

The movie is interesting because it is as close as to a realistic look to arms trafficking as Hollywood could produce without making a documentary. It's refreshing because of this.

I hope people see this movie because it very much shows the truth behind how wars are supplied and how the richest nations in the world have done this for the ultimate prize… that thing that makes the world go round – Money.

The movie as a whole is produced very well and the acting and cinematography is up to par with the type of film it is (as mentioned before, don't expect a big production Hollywood action flick).

Don't expect your typical Hollywood ending here either.

(I'd compare this movie with Buffalo Soldiers (2001) with Joaquin Phoenix)

Apart from the very serious topic, this is just an incredibly well made film. There are many scenes in this movie which stay with you long after the credits have rolled, the darkly funny ones as well as the truly horrific ones, and to me this is something only the best movies ever achieve. Intelligent and stylish: this is one of very few so called "films with a message" that I can watch again and again, because it's so cleverly constructed and so beautifully shot and acted. A personal favorite, 10 stars out of 10.

Favorite films: IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/

Lesser-Known Masterpieces: imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

A kind of dark comedy concerning a crazy, rogue arms trader (Nicholas Cage) and delivers one of his best ever performances (in a film quite like no other). It contains a very serious message throughout and some highly quotable lines to, such as "The 'AK-47' being the biggest weapon of mass destruction, as it's killed more than anything else". The tile is a clever word play and a featured mad dictator who gets everything backwards, such as "Bath of Blood", instead of 'Bloodbath' and "Lord of War" replacing 'Warlord' and so on. Has a ring of a terrible truth, with death, destruction and murder, being such a lucrative trade.