I really enjoyed Lord of War - a very astute telling of the story of arms dealers in recent history. Nicholas Cage is perfect for the part and does a terrific job as usual. Director/writer Andrew Niccol goes 3 for 3 and is batting a thousand (after his previous S1M0NE and Gattaca) - all excellent! Very direct, yet ironic tale of the lack of ethics in modern man/society.

4 out of 5.

Interesting film. I'll be honest, from the trailer, it looked good, but not quite something I would rush out to see. But, with a lack of choices (Nicolas Cage film or PG-13 slasher, hmm...), I ended up seeing Lord of War. It was a little different from what I had pictured. I kinda expected an action flick. Not a full-out, non-stop action movie, but atleast some, with some comedy. There wasn't any of the action, but I had a good time anyways. I guess it's more of a satire, actually. It's a smart film, but at times, it can kinda lose your attention. It's not a fast movie, but what helped it a lot is Nicolas Cage and the cast. Fine performances from him, Jared Leto, and Ethan Hawke, among others, but Cage especially. He plays the bad guy, technically, but you just can't help but like him so much in the movie. The movie is not only smart, but at times, quite funny. It sends a message throughout the film. The ending of the film is just so good, you'll like the film based on that, if not the rest. It could have been a little shorter, as it did lose your attention a few times, but overall, a solid film. B-

Just what I was expecting - I knew this wasn't an action film, but was a satire instead. Still, it wasn't a very good one. The message of the movie could not had been more plain had the title been 'guns are bad'. It seemed more like a Michael Moore film than a Nicolas Cage one. For that reason alone, it was only mediocre. There was no real story arc, no exposition, climax, denouement. Just an alternating dose of comedy and horror (yes, horror) that really doesn't apply to anything. Still, the strong performances and interesting characters made it at least average.

I really liked the movie alot and it really has a powerful message about guns and it totally takes the term "guns dont kill people but people kill people" to a new meaning. The movie does remind me alot of elements from movies like Blow and the Insider. And all across great performance from Nic Cage, Jared Leto and Eamonn Walker as the ruthless dictator of Libya.

A-

Wow, this is probably one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. Yes, there is some INCREDIBLE style in this (the second camera shot in the movie has to be up there with my all time favorite single camera shots), but the substance is there and then some. Personally, I found it brilliant how the film steers you into it's black humor, only to pull a fast one and show the relevance of it all. This is easily the most powerful movie I've seen all year, and along with one of Nicolas Cage's absolute best performances (I think it's his best aside from Adaptation, although for the record that's one of my five favorite movies of all time) is definately not a film that will leave my head anytime soon. A

Surprisingly very good. Good performances by Jared Leto and cage. The second half of the movie is excellent. I'm glad that my friend dragged me to this movie.

A-

agreed, my grade is an A- as well

The first half is very good, but then it got tedious and repetitive and way too preachy. And a lot of unnecessary voiceovers. More than once I said myself "please, I got your point, stop feeding me as if I don't know anything about this world." Simply too heavy-handed. My grade kept dropping as the movie went along. The story is also too conventional. I can predict what's going to happen to Cage's character and his loved ones way ahead of the time.

B-/C+.

C

It's a well-intentioned film, but its ultimately a pretty big misfire. Follows the Goodfellas/Blow formula down to the letter, just replace "mafioso" or "drug dealer" with "arms dealer." Seemed kinda lazy for a filmmaker who seemed to want to make a large statement (which he certainly didn't accomplish).

Bridget Moynahan's character was underutilized to the point where I wondered "Did they even pay her for something this insubstantial?"

The last 3 minutes or so were effective.

B-

Bit of an identity crisis with this one. On one hand, it seemed like it wanted to be an action movie, but it ultimately just couldn't get there. Instead it was some sort of of long political biopic, it just didn't grab my attention as much as I thought it would. Cage also gives one of his worst performances in some time IMO. That part where he was yelling in his phone on the boat was absolutely dreadful, I thought he was going to break out and say "Just joking guys, gotchya! Ha!".

But yeah, not a bad-made film. It's not dreadful.

I thought it was kind of lame that the main point of the movie was to illustrate that *gasp* arms dealers are bad and immoral.

Not that bad of a movie, but I just didn't get much out of it.

C

I enjoyed it, I'm always a fan of Cage, this and the weather man were nice additions to his filmography. It at some times was very interesting, and very entertaining for me.

B+

B+


I am certainly in the lovers camp for this one. Admittedly, it was not as great as it could have been. It had the potential of becoming a masterpiece. It still ended up as a very well-made movie and one of the most poignant ones I have seen in a long time. It certainly seems like 2005 was a year of "films with political messages" with this one, Crash, Syriana, The Constant Gardener, Munich, Good Night, and Good Luck and several others. Lord of War stands out as one of the best of them and the one that really brings its point home very well. I don't think that the message of the movie was that arm dealers are bad, at least it was not only its single message. The end of the movie with Cage being set free makes that pretty clear.

What I loved about the film was how well it presented its message to the viewer and yet never got preachy. Movies not always manage that (see North Country). It is a very poignant and important movie, even moreso nowadays than ever before. Nicholas Cage delivers a good performance, but Jared Leto as his drug-addicted, but good-hearted brother is not any worse, surprisingly. Eamonn Walker and the guy who plays his son both deliver fine performances as well.

The movie is spiced with some nice black humor throughout and Cage's sarcastic voicover comments are quite enjoyable. The movie manages to shift its focus within seconds from being amusing, to hitting you quite hard. Some scenes (like the one of the girl asking Cage whether her arm will grow back) are quite haunting.

The movie is also quite stylish. The second sequence in the film (the bullet production and its fate) is incredibly shot.

Overall, the movie follows the already generic Blow forumla, but it does it in a good way. I admit, at times it just drags and I am sure it could have been made a bit shorter. Moreover, I thought Depp delivered a better performance in Blow than Cage did in Lord of War. All in all, however, this is a well-meant, thought-out and slightly ironic film that carries an important message without ever trying to hammer it inside of the viewer's head. I am glad the movie found great success on DVD.

Did see Lord of War. Gets an excellent 9/10 from me. So far one of the big suprises of this year. To bad it did so poor at Box Office. You should definately go and see it.

Gives you the message without the normal good/evil Hollywood crap scheme.

9/10

A great film that avoids the obvious and makes its point without being too overly preachy. Cage and Leto are fantastic.

B+

After I saw it in theaters I really loved it. But now I don't remember anything special beside the opening sequence and Cage's awesome performance. B+

I freaking love this movie.

More should see this film. The more I think about it, the more I like it.

Well that was a huge surprise. Its was great and pretty honest, with some good performances!

B+

yes, This film was a huge suprise for me to, and the performances were great.

I really enjoyed this

A-

Just watched this tonight on Showtime, and realized just how good this movie is. It's by far Nic Cage's best movie of the last 10 years. Definite must see.

It's a shame that Andrew Niccol still doesn't have any other films in the pipe except that Dali bio...

much better than I was expecting. Although not spectacularly acted (I'm not sure Nicolas Cage was the right man for this role), the movie itself is very well-made, coming across as a mixture of "GoodFellas" and a modern-day war movie. I wasn't a big fan of the romance they threw in there, but everything else about the story was intriguing. It's a shame so few people saw this -- it must've been kinda expensive.

B+

Much better than expected. An underrated gem. Grade A