Guns Don't Kill People, People With Guns Do

Rating: 9/10 (11 March 2006)

In the modern era of warfare, nothing has been more important than a good firearm at your side. Thus, the gun runner was born. The film "Lord of War" tells the story of one such man, Yuri Orlov (Nicholas Cage), a Ukrainian refugee living in America who decides to sell weapons for a living.
The opening of the film begins with you the viewer following the path of a bullet from the factory to the battlefield, an interesting vantage point. The story moves rather quickly, staring in the late '70s with Orlov trying to make it in suburban Brooklyn, New York. Progressing throughout the '70s and '80s, the film really picks up speed after the Soviet Union's fall in 1991, and continues on right up until modern times.
The acting is what you would expect for a film such as this, good, but not great. Cage is easily the stand-out actor in the film, although Ethan Hawke does a good job as well. But in this film, acting was the smallest part of what made this film great.
The story alone is worth at least a rental. All of it is based on actual events, stories, and actions that are played out every day across the world. This film isn't necessarily an entertainment piece, but more of one in which you would learn something in the process. Its something Americans should know about, on both sides of the isle. As a politically active conservative, I was well aware of what was going on in the film, but it did a good job of further expanding upon what I already knew. The DVD's second disc also contains a good documentary about the gun runners, I recommend watching that as well.
If you like your films with a bit of political background, this is one of the best we have seen in years. Although it might not suit everyone's taste, it's worth a watch. 9/10