Lord of War Blu ray 2005

Based on actual events, this black comedy drama stars Nicholas Cage as international arms smuggler Uri Orlov. The story follows Uri from his humble beginnings as a Soviet immigrant in 1970s Brooklyn and peaks with his involvement in selling off the stockpiled arsenal of post Cold War Ukraine to among other top clients the sadistic African dictator Andre Baptiste, Sr. Eamonn Walker. Jared Leto co stars as Uri's little brother Vitaly, whose conscience and a burgeoning cocaine problem get in the way of business. Ethan Hawke is good as a sanctimonious Interpol agent with a vendetta against Uri, but the film's biggest dose of onscreen gravitas comes from Walker, whose Baptiste seethes with a heavy, serpent like malevolence. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol, the film makes fine use of the brisk stream of consciousness narration style that Martin Scorcese brought to the true crime genre with 'Goodfellas' 1992, and a near constant flow of action and classic rock songs that ensure a speedy, riveting ride through three decades of global carnage. Cage, who coproduced, lets his patented oddball magnetism slowly change polarity, until viewers realise they've been led into a moral quagmire by falling for his self delusory spiels about supply and demand, making this one of the bravest and most jet black comedies of its decade.