Lord of War

I like Nicholas Cage movies, although the Weatherman is not what I would classify as a movie, more like a huge train wreck, were bodies and all were caught on film and then labeled as the Weatherman. More or less, most his Nick Cages movies are pretty good. He is a good overall actor and is one of the few men that can handle the lead role in a movie and be basically the sole good character in an entire production such as I felt was the case in 8mm. I wanted to see Lord of War when it came out in the theaters, but since I never got that chance I had to wait until it came out on DVD and lets just say that Im glad that I waited and didnt pay 8 bucks, and instead rented it for $3.99 at Blockbuster. Not to say that Lord of War is a bad movie, because it isnt, but what I think really hinders most of Cages movies is that they are one-dimensional. The development of the storyline of LOW is good and pretty basic. And action scenes are decent, but what really gets me about this film is that it jumps around from one story line to the next. At one point in the movie Cages character is selling his first machine gun in the bedroom of a hotel, the gentlemen buying the gun from Cage takes the gun out of the case and holds it to Cages head, as if we to display that is a very dangerous business to be in. I think that is a given, considering that it is illegal arms dealing and every body that are going to encounter in this business is breaking the law of every country throughout the world that has a legit government. The next thing you know Cage is at a worldwide conference of arms, and arm smuggling. What struck me is how he went from small time, one gun at a time dealer to rubbing arms with the big wheels of the business just like that. I would have liked a little bit more detail of how you become the Lord of War. Of course, just like in any business contacts are the most important aspect and that is defiantly true it the arm running business as this movie plainly shows. But I believe that there is not enough detail in the movie of how the relationships are started, maintained and carried out in a business, which could land you years behind bars throughout most of the world. Cage is simply too cool throughout the movie in a business that probably gets a lot of people killed each year. And to me that coolness factor played well in a movie like Matchstick Men, when the stakes were relatively low(a few million dollars) versus this movie where he played the middleman by selling weapons that killed thousands of people in many countries throughout the world. To me, this movie needed a leading man more like out of the Harrison Ford type, rigid, rough, strong and could be a totally nice guy that would blow your brains out if he needed to. The type of guy that you could trust if you were going to make a deal with him, but that you would not mind taking out because he was a totally jerk and you didnt care for him in the first place. LOW is a three and half star movie that could have had better story development, character development and perhaps could have been rolled into two movies considering that the subject of the movie is a large one. But then again, how many other movies are about American men of Russian decent selling gun on a worldwide level? Not many, and that is why I think a better job could have been done making this one.

The trailer for this movie makes it appear to be something it is not; a semi serious semi funny action adventure movie. This movie is all serious with very few places to smile. All of the cast does a good job as far as I can tell. Its not as violent as you would think, but it certainly has its moments. Overall Its pretty good, but just a little too hopeless and depressing for me. The best line in the movie: always remember son, there is something above you.

Nicolas Cage can really speak pretty good Russian!

This review is for the special edition 2 disc version. First, a note about the technical specs. Its in 16:9 widescreen, as correctly specified in the product description. In the extras that are in disc 2, however, the deleted scenes are in 2.35:1 theatrical widescreen. I wish the entire movie had been offered in 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The deleted scenes seem crisper and sharper, more visually stunning than the movie itself. The 16:9 is watchable and enjoyable, but I think I would have preferred the theatrical aspect ratio. Now, on to the movie. This is a thinking mans drama/action movie, with a surprisingly large amount of narration. It follows the story of a quasi illegal arms dealer as he goes from middle class restauranteur to world class gun runner. Im not a Nicholas Cage fan, as I think hes vastly overrated as an actor. In this movie, however, he seems to have found his raison detre. Ive probably seen about a dozen or so of his films, and this is the best by far. He delivers a pretty good performance, albeit missing any Eastern European accent. The supporting actors are also good. His brother in this movie is particularly memorable, evoking images of a young Alain Delon. There are many instances of philosophizing in the dialog that are obviously relevant to our currently turbulent times. Does eliminating guns or gun runners eliminate war and violence? The short answer is hell no, because there will always be someone else manufacturing more guns and selling them to those who will pay for them. The long answer is no as well, because until and unless you eliminate the root causes of war, there will always be war and violence. And as long as there is war and violence, people will make weapons and sell and buy them. On that note, I will say this: there is a comment in the extras by one guy who insightfully says that if you want to stop war, stop buying gasoline and diamonds. Because those are the kinds of commodities that drive the unrest in the middle east and Africa. I will go a step further and say that eliminating the gun and weapons trade will not stop war or violence. People who have a vendetta will kill, regardless of what weapons are available. If you took away AK-47s, theyd use sticks and stones. If you took away those as well, these are people whod use fists and even tear out throats with their teeth. Are you going to make fists and teeth illegal as well? As eastern philosophies and western religions have taught, there will be no peace on earth until every one of us changes and destroys the demons within us. Namely, those root causes of dissatisfaction, which is the real reason why humans kill each other. Violence has been with us well before guns and modern weapons. The Trojan War and even the prehistoric story of Cain and Abel amply demonstrate that we kill just as easily with primitive weapons as with modern guns and ammo. War is caused by two things. The have-nots who attack the haves; and the haves who abuse the have-nots until they revolt. Basically all are economic or political in nature. All result from that root cause of dissatisfaction inside all of us. The only thing that will break these cycles and free us is eliminating that dissatisfaction within ourselves. Finally, another note on the extras. There is a guns of the trade feature showing eight common small arms weapons. The specs for the M16, which shows a example of an M16 with what appears to be a grenade launcher attached under the barrel, are way off. It says the M16 is 7.62 mm and 10.4 kg. The intern who put that part in must have been working late on Friday! As far as I am aware, the M16 has always been a .223 caliber (5.56 mm) rifle and the 5.56 mm cartridge has been NATO standard for years as a result. The M16 only weighs about 4 kg, so the weight is also ridiculously wrong. It wouldnt be 10.4 kg even with the fully loaded grenade launcher attached. So take the guns of the trade feature with a grain of salt.

One of my favorite Nick Cage movies.

B. Merritt already wrote an excellent review on the story, so Im not gonna go into that. Instead, Im going to touch the fact that this movie, sadly, lost all of its bonus content during the transition from DVD to Blu-ray. Granted, the bonus content wasnt exactly mind-blowing either, but the clips of the cast and crew talking about this production were still very nice. Since this is actually my favorite movie, and considering the massive space that a Blu-ray disc has, I assumed that along with the improved HD video and audio quality, there might be more extra material. Unfortunately, not only is there no such added content, but the bonus content found in the DVD version of the film, has all been completely removed. All of it. 100% gone. Instead, the only bonus content is a trailer of a few Lionsgate movies coming to Blu-ray. Wow, how thrilling... I didnt rate this with 5 stars, due to the fact that they removed the bonus content that had already been included in the DVD, which is stupid, since a DVD can store much, much, much less space.

The case came broken.

This movie wastes all the potential of a great story. Horribly mis-cast, Nicolas Cage just doesnt have the gravitas to play a gun dealer. Hes often up-staged by lesser character actors who do a great job. The story begins in NYC with Cages character realizing he can make money selling guns. From there its off to the races as he makes ever bigger deals, including some with his uncle who happens to be a general in the Ukraine, when the Soviet Union collapses and theres tons of guns, tanks, and helicopters to be had for the price of a bribe. Cage drags along his addict of a little brother as hes pursued by a determined interpol agent who shows up from time to time. Cage frequently escapes in the most absurd ways. Theres the typical love interest, again, wasted potential and story time. Most amazing is that this movie comes from the same director as Gattaca and The Truman Show. Clearly the man knows what hes doing. One has to wonder, what was he thinking, making this piece with a good actor but in the wrong role? Save your money and petition for a re-make with heavy duty people who can carry the heavy load of a gun runner risking it all. The only saving grace is the first few minutes as you see bullets being made. One of the best opening title sequences ever. After that…. yawn and giggle.

This is such an informative and educational movie but such a fantastic movie. Nicolas Cage nails this part 100%. Jared Leto is very good and also Ethan Hawke. Its only of those movies that you dont want to miss a minute of. Nicolas Cage is unbelievably talented. He could play any part. And he has.

Eye-opening look at the arms race as told through the eyes and experiences of a fictional yet seemingly well researched arms dealer. Lord of War would make an interesting addition to any university Political Science class curriculum. Also, this movie was definitely worthy of being added to my personal movie collection.