Lord Of War

[Pas]

Go see this I wanna know if it's good  

[modage]

i will see this for cage, but the reviews have been strange. ebert and roeper raved about it but a lot of critics are trashing it.

[killafilm]

Overall it's a meh.

I agree.

The movie seemed good and all.  I think the pacing was a bit off, it could have been a bit shorter.  I thought Nic Cage was solid in the movie. His character is just a bore.  He doesn't take any sides, which hurts the drama when shit goes down.  And it's a bit preachy w/out taking a side.  A lot of facts about gun running are just spewed out by characters.  What was up with the druged up sequence in Africa?  

In short: C+

[Gamblour.]

i will see this for cage, but the reviews have been strange. ebert and roeper raved about it but a lot of critics are trashing it.

It's a strange movie. Funny but not a comedy. Political but apathetic. Weird. The story is great but the script is bad. Very cool moments however.

[Sal]

I appreciated the gunrunning lessons but they could have been put to better use if Yuri was educating his brother instead of the audience.  At least we wouldn't feel like the voice overs were just simple devices.   And then once he could be educated we wouldnt have to put up with senseless scenes (spoiler) like his death at the end.  Even if he remained a drug addict (which I felt was cliche as hell) we could view Yuri from his brother's disenchanted eyes which would also lend itself to his distant, droning character that nobody cares about except his wife and son.  I thought the wife was a particularly bad actress.  But what a MILF, jesus christ.   The INTERPOL plot was nice and Hawke was great as usual.  One of my favorite scenes was the timelapsed disembowelment of the airplane because it paid off the funny introduction to its demise by Yuri.  I enjoyed the opening credits as well...always a fan of how things are made and distributed because it totally lends itself to cinema.  And the final thing I enjoyed and wanted to see more of was the painting that Yuri bought so his wife could feel like a semi-accomplished artist.  Brilliant stuff.  spoiler end

But with all of this I feel like the biggest blunder was that the script just wasn't up to par with the story.  And that's a shame because I dont recall seeing a film about gunrunners before.  But the degree of authenticity with this kind of subject matter has to be taken up a few levels, out of this James Bond bubble where russians drink vodka and important men are distinguished by the way they dress.  There was a moment in the film where I actually wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a drama.  That maybe, just maybe, the movie was designed to make fun of these types of movies.

[Gold Trumpet]

This film reminds me of my criticism of Apocalypse Now. Cinematically stunning, but dramatically stiff as the film details Sheen's journey into a "heart of darkness" through the trials and tribulations of war as interpreted by 70s pop culture (from surfing to Playboy bunnies.) The story was always too clever to dig at its subject, let alone stand up to Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

With Lord of War, the same story feels like it is being told, but with an update. Cage discovers his own heart of darkness, but he is not defeated financially at the end. The revelation is that those who bring justice also operate at his level. It's very timely.

Entertaining enough, but like its predecessor, stiff dramatically.

[The Perineum Falcon]

I believe it was said earlier:
This movie was... meh.

SPOILER

Ugh, I'm so tired of people getting a conscience at the end and dying senselessly.

[Kal]

I really liked it. I think the most important thing that everyone forgets is that the guy is real. Not everything in the movie is real, but most of the facts are (like the fact that he was russian, his father an orthodox jew, and I think that the story of the brother and the wife being a model is also true). If I am not mistaken, the guy lives now in Miami.

Cage was very good, and although it could have been shorter, I thought it was very well like that. I enjoyed it a lot.

[The Perineum Falcon]

I really liked it. I think the most important thing that everyone forgets is that the guy is real.

Well, it's hard to forget that when it's stated at the very end of the movie.

And that really didn't make it any more enjoyable.

[killafilm]

I think the most important thing that everyone forgets is that the guy is real.

I remember reading that the character was a composite of multiple gun runners.  

This film reminds me of my criticism of Apocalypse Now.  Cinematically stunning, but dramatically stiff...

I don't see how you could possibly compare the two.  LoW presents real facts and situations about an ongoing war(?).  While A.NOW was an adaptation made to comment on a war that was over.

Except for the opening shot and a few others I wouldn't call LoW 'cinematically stunning.' And the acting is no where close to the greatness of Apocalypse Now.

[Gold Trumpet]

This film reminds me of my criticism of Apocalypse Now.  Cinematically stunning, but dramatically stiff...

I don't see how you could possibly compare the two.  LoW presents real facts and situations about an ongoing war(?).  While A.NOW was an adaptation made to comment on a war that was over.

Except for the opening shot and a few others I wouldn't call LoW 'cinematically stunning.' And the acting is no where close to the greatness of Apocalypse Now.

Would you say LoW really presents the facts straightword in an honest adaptation or would you say it takes a true situation and molds it into its own drama? I'll say the latter. As much as I believe the LoW situation, I doubt Cage's story really is the whole truth. Its the whole movie. I'll happily compare both films.

As for Apocalypse Now, it has great actors in it and wants to be a great film, but it faults in every department. Robert Duvall, maybe the very best for me in all of film, really only plays a caricature and never gets beyond that interpretation. Martin Sheen felt flat to me. Marlon Brando, another legend, does well enough but pushing the character to myth without any semblance of torment felt like the point was being missed.

Cinematically, though, yes I agree. LoW doesn't hold a candle stick to Apocalpyse now did cinematically.

[killafilm]

Would you say LoW really presents the facts straightword in an honest adaptation or would you say it takes a true situation and molds it into its own drama? I'll say the latter...

As for Apocalypse Now, it has great actors in it and wants to be a great film, but it faults in every department. Robert Duvall, maybe the very best for me in all of film, really only plays a caricature and never gets beyond that interpretation. Martin Sheen felt flat to me. Marlon Brando, another legend, does well enough but pushing the character to myth without any semblance of torment felt like the point was being missed.

Cinematically, though, yes I agree. LoW doesn't hold a candle stick to Apocalpyse now did cinematically.

True situations.  Like Niccol grabbed a bunch of stories from multiple 'runners' and molded them all  around one character.  So yeah we agree there.

I see where you're coming at with Apocalypse Now.  I just love the film.  I feel the craziness that went into the production of the movie Really shows up, and that seems like a perfect fit for a movie about Vietnam.  Brando as myth works for me, the whole movie is building up to his destruction.  I don't think there has been a 'War Film' like it, and I doubt that there will be.  I put it right up there with the Godfather Films of the 70's as part of Coppola's greatness.

[ShanghaiOrange]

if anything it was a subpar Goodfellas, right down to it's crappy, obvious use of pop music ("Cocaine" while people use cocaine, "Money" while he's making money, the great but chronically overused "Hallelujah" Jeff Buckley version and "Young Americans")

Anyway, I didn't give a shit about this movie after that sweet second shot.

[Pas]

Overall it was entertaining but could've been so much more.

And what Shangai said about the music is true.

It's okay.

[modage]

Title: Lord of War
Released: 17th January 2006
SRP: $30.98

Further Details
Lions Gate Home Entertainment has kindly sent over some artwork for a new two-disc special edition of Lord of War which stars Nicolas Cage, Bridget Moynahan and Jared Leto. The set will be available to own from the 17th January, and should set you back around $30.98. A single-disc version will also be available, priced at $28.98. Extras on the two-disc include a director commentary, a Making a Killing: Inside the International Arms Trade featurette, a Making of Lord of War featurette, a Weapons of the Trade feature and deleted scenes. We should point out that the extras are subject to change. Artwork is below: