Lord of War

Thematically interesting, full of clever observations and excellent directorial ideas, but so genre-bending that it's hard to believe. Andrew Niccol is a smart filmmaker who knows how to captivate the audience and sell his product. Unfortunately, in Lord of War not everything works perfectly. It alternates between sharp satire and dramatic storylines, only to be followed by a patchwork of family melodrama about the meaning of life, doing the right things, and not doing the wrong ones. Additionally, there is an excessive simplicity and corner-cutting in some details. For example, we don’t get to know how Yuri climbed up the ladder so high, where he suddenly got all the contacts, and how he could always easily outsmart authorities. The scenes with the plane disassembly are undoubtedly brilliant, but unfortunately, the whole film is emotionally lacking any impact, and the pace is gripping also sporadically. (05/09/2006)

At a time when the most profitable business is terrorism, such artistic experiments are very necessary. Andrew Niccol has once again proven himself to be a perceptively intelligent filmmaker who knows very well what he is talking about. Lord of War doesn't tell anything new, but with a great deal of irony it glosses the current international situation, full of military conflicts, especially in third world countries, and makes a lot of insightful and pertinent observations ("There's nothing more expensive for an arms dealer than peace." [...] "All right, forget it. I'll reroute the shipment to the Balkans. When they say they're going to have a war, they keep their word!”) It's just a pity that the film sometimes slips unnecessarily into family melodrama. Five years ago I had already given up on Cage, but lately he seems to have resurrected, going from one interesting role to another. Carry on. (02/03/2006)

Evil wins and Cage is back in form! This film very realistically portrays the life of an arms dealer who ruthlessly cashes in on social movements and political violence. The pace is brisk, the visuals are breathtaking and the plot is excellent! Thrilling, violent, ironic, stylish and very good! (05/01/2014)

An originally approached topic which is intriguing and, most importantly, cleverly and successfully combines chilling scenes with an ironic, jet-black-noir satirical detachedness. Of course, here and there, faults are to be found, but the positives easily outweigh them and mainly this is the type of picture which, in addition to entertaining, force you to think and it remains with you long after - which means a lot. (14/01/2006)

Nicolas Cage has appeared in many good movies. Nicolas Cage has appeared in good movies. Nicolas Cage has appeared in bad movies. Nicolas Cage has appeared in many bad movies. And he has also appeared in absolute nonsense. "Lord of War" falls into the category of good movies and it is thanks to Nicolas Cage's performance, who is great both as a narrator and as the main character. His voice is just right to make you believe everything happening on the screen. And there is a lot happening. However, I must say right at the beginning that the film tries to be overtly gritty, it wants to shock, but it is not such a masterpiece in that sense. "Lord of War" is a story about a man who essentially worked his way up from nothing to become one of the best arms dealers. You might think it's a dream job. Lots of money, occasional action, beautiful women, different corners of the world, but it's not that easy. What about your families? What about the woman you have dreamt of? And what about your conscience? Can you deal with all the violence you enable? Is it enough to tell yourself that you are not the one pulling the trigger, that you are not actually a killer? More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/10/prach-uspesna-pokracovani-animaku.html (01/03/2013)