Lord of War

Un film qui ne m’a absolument pas captivé, ni touché, ni intéressé en quoi que ce soit. Nicholas Cage qui voyage pendant deux heures au cœur de conflits militaires et son sale trafic d’armes avec, çà et là, une prostituée dans une chambre d’hôtel ou encore Jared Leto en mode toxico… Non, ça ne suffit pas à faire de Lord of War un film de qualité. Le message du film équivaut à beaucoup de blabla pour pas grand-chose. Les seuls éléments brillants, c’est Ethan Hawke et Bridget Moynahan. À oublier vite fait ! (16/02/2009)

A thriller like Dexter's scalpel or the blade of Zorro's sword. The film, which is based on an excellent script, loosely follows the fortunes of the real-life "hero", the international trader Viktor Bout, who started operating in Angola and made his fortune primarily through arms supplies to West African dictatorships and pseudo-democracies. It is not important that the film trader, brilliantly played by Nicolas Cage, differs from his model in many details and more significant aspects (Bout's family background was completely different, and he was a man who rose to prominence as a citizen of the Soviet Union and as an instructor in the Soviet Army operating under friendly regimes). Many of the anecdotes depicted in the film did not happen to him, but they have a very concrete basis in real clashes between smugglers and Interpol. The screenwriter essentially collected a series of true stories, dressed them up, added some dark sarcastic lines, and handed them over to the director, who made a thriller based not on the depicted action but on the attractiveness of the subject matter and the suspenseful life story of one adventurer. The opening shots resemble Fincher's directing style, as the viewer follows the "life" of a bullet from its birth in an undisclosed arms factory, and its journey to the client until it ends up in the middle of a mercenary's forehead. The film doesn't give the viewer anything for free, and even in moments when the viewer laughs, it will also send a chill down their spine from what is depicted on the screen. The main character is a businessman who subordinates everything to his business and is proud to be number one in his industry, regardless of the bloody trail he leaves behind. Overall impression: 100%. (29/11/2008)

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)

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)