Lord of War (2006, DVD)

Lord of War (2005)

There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That's one firearm for every twelve people on the planet. The only question is: How do we arm the other 11? Yuri Orlov

The Lord of War shows Nicolas Cage doing what he does best - black comedy set in a compelling tale of international arms trafficking.

The credits sequence shows the biography of a cartridge - from its creation through the manufacturing process, inspection, crating, shipment, unpacking, loading into a magazine, cycling through the rifle s action and its final destination.

Director Andrew Niccol made the film after the fashion of Martin Scorsese s Goodfellas with a voiceover narration from Cage and punctuated by classic rock songs at appropriate moments.

A rags to riches tale of a Ukrainian immigrant boy living the American dream, directed by Andrew Niccol, no American studio would touch it, so it had to be made with international financing. Rather than the more common drug trafficking, Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage) decides to sell arms, getting his first Israeli-made Uzis from a contact at the synagogue and selling them to the neighborhood gangs. He operates at a similarly low level for several years until the collapse of the Soviet Union, whereupon he becomes a force to be reckoned with in the sale of Ukrainian war materiel, mostly going to fuel the endless African conflicts. Although he offers everything from tanks to attack helicopters, the premier product is the Avtomat Kalishnikova, or AK-47 assault rifle as we more commonly know it.

Cage s family forms the first part of the narrative and we are introduced to a Ukrainian immigrant family with a restaurant, somewhere in the Bronx. His brother (Jared Leto) is his partner at first, but cannot stay off the drugs, so Cage has to abandon him. He earns enough money that he is able to seduce his dream girl (Bridget Moynahan - The Recruit) by telling her he is in international transport. They marry and have a child and a fabulous New York home. To counterbalance Cage s success as arms dealer, he is continually stalked by Interpol Agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke).

The story, by Andrew Niccol, is compelling and well written, and Cage gives it due impact with his reading. It s told unapologetically from the dark side; Cage is not going to be redeemed, nor does he want to be. After he loses family, wife, money, everything, he continues on

They say that evil prevails when good men fail to act. It oughta be evil prevails. Yuri Orlov

Most of the supporting cast is excellent, however Jared Leto as Vitaly was not a big asset to the story with his continual drug use and partying. The arms dealing sequences were well done and offer an interesting look behind the scenes of a shady subject, much as Casino showed the dark side of gambling.

The Lionsgate DVD is in 1.85:1 format, in color, and runs 122 minutes.

Those that like a view behind the scenes of some of the darker occupations will enjoy The Lord of War.