In order to foil an extortion plot, an FBI agent undergoes a facial transplant surgery and assumes the identity and physical appearance of a terrorist, but the plan turns from bad to worse when the same terrorist impersonates the FBI agent.
A mild-mannered chemist and an ex-con must lead the counterstrike when a rogue group of military men, led by a renegade general, threaten a nerve gas attack from Alcatraz against San Francisco.
M.I.T. professor John Koestler links a mysterious list of numbers from a time capsule to past and future disasters and sets out to prevent the ultimate catastrophe.
Director:
Alex Proyas
Stars:
Nicolas Cage,
Chandler Canterbury,
Rose Byrne
When motorcycle rider Johnny Blaze sells his soul to the Devil to save his father's life, he is transformed into the Ghost Rider, the Devil's own bounty hunter, and is sent to hunt down sinners.
This movie charts the rise and fall of Yuri Orlov, from his early days in the early 1980s in Little Odessa, selling guns to mobsters in his local neighborhood, through to his ascension through the decade of excess and indulgence into the early 1990s, where he forms a business partnership with an African warlord and his psychotic son. This movie also charts his relationship through the years with his younger brother, his marriage to a famous model, his relentless pursuit by a determined INTERPOL Agent and his inner demons that sway between his drive for success and the immorality of what he does.Written by
davidgraham83@hotmail.co.uk
In the opening "Life of a Bullet" sequence during the opening credits, the ammo box on the conveyor belt ahead of the one the bullet is traveling in has a label in Cyrillic-lettered Russian. It translates as: S/N (Seriynyy Nomer, or "Serial Number") 83027 / Odessa, Ukraine / Code: DD / KOL-RO 1588. The second line spells "Odessa, Ukraine" the Russian way rather than the Ukrainian way. This is not an error; it is common practice on Ukrainian export ammunition to former Soviet client states, even non-Russian speaking clients. The third line uses the code letters "DD," presumably to denote the bullet type. The last line has two errors that seem to be deliberately inserted for English-speaking audiences. KOL is an abbreviation for KOLICHESTVO, or "number of," RO is an abbreviation for "rounds," and 1588 is the total number of cartridges in the crate. The standard Russian/Warsaw Pact term for items per package (like bullets) is Wtyka (SHTUKA > "Pieces") and is shortened as Wt. (Sht.). This was probably done to avoid confusion with the Western abbreviation "Wt." used to denote a package's weight. The letters "RO" for "rounds" should be "PU" or "PULI" for Puli, the Russian word for "bullets". See more »
Goofs
When Yuri and Uncle Dimitri discuss the arms stockpile Yuri mentions that it's "dangerously depleted for a battalion" with "only" 10,000 assault rifles. However, the average infantry battalion has about 500 riflemen, so 10,000 rifles is a ridiculous amount. Also, as a Major-General, Uncle Dimitri would not be in charge of a battalion, but of a division (in which case a stockpile of 10,000 rifles would make considerably more sense). See more »
Quotes
Yuri Orlov:
[Narrating]
The first and most important rule of gun-running is: Never get shot with your own merchandise.
See more »
Crazy Credits
Before the end credits roll a message appears stating that the top 5 sellers of arms in the world are China, Russia, the UK, USA, and France - all of whom make up the permanent five members of the UN security council. See more »
Alternate Versions
For the US DVD release the aspect ratio of the film was changed to 1,78:1. A few weeks after the initial release the DVD was reissued with the film in its original aspect ratio of 2,35:1. See more »
Lord of War is about an arms dealer named Yuri Orlov who confronts the morality of his work while being chased by an Interpol agent. This is a very interesting film brought by director and writer of the film, Andrew Niccol (Gattaca). This is another great film of his that will boost up his career even more. Nicolas Cage puts up another great performance of the year and although his acting is very ostentatious, his narrating just like in The Weather Man, which came out a couple months later, is perfect. The dialogue is very good and the script couldn't be any better. Most of all, I clearly gave respect to Andrew Niccol, because honestly, he deserves the most credit out of any one who worked on the film. My hat goes off for him. Overall, great film of 2005 and I'll be paying more attention to Andrew Niccol's movies. I highly recommend it.
Hedeen's Outlook: 8.5/10 ***+ B+
79 of 114 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Lord of War is about an arms dealer named Yuri Orlov who confronts the morality of his work while being chased by an Interpol agent. This is a very interesting film brought by director and writer of the film, Andrew Niccol (Gattaca). This is another great film of his that will boost up his career even more. Nicolas Cage puts up another great performance of the year and although his acting is very ostentatious, his narrating just like in The Weather Man, which came out a couple months later, is perfect. The dialogue is very good and the script couldn't be any better. Most of all, I clearly gave respect to Andrew Niccol, because honestly, he deserves the most credit out of any one who worked on the film. My hat goes off for him. Overall, great film of 2005 and I'll be paying more attention to Andrew Niccol's movies. I highly recommend it.
Hedeen's Outlook: 8.5/10 ***+ B+