Lionsgate has given Lord of War a great treatment with releasing this lesser known Nicolas Cage film onto 4k. With a stunning new transfer and audio mix, this will be worth the upgrade for fans of the film, or a great buy for first time viewers.
“Chance leads Yuri Orlov to discover his one talent – illegal arms dealing. With his brother’s help, he reaches the top of his trade, supplying anyone whose check clears. His skills and quick wits bring him everything he’s ever wanted – and help him elude a persistent Interpol agent. But at the peak of his prowess, he discovers his customers might demand more than he can give…and those he’s trying to protect could become deadly liabilities.”
The film opens as we’re introduced to Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage), a gunrunner who makes no qualms about his ethics when it comes to selling guns to anyone who wants them. Growing up in Little Odessa in New York after migrating from the Soviet Union, Yuri worked at his family’s restaurant with his brother Vitaly (Jared Leto). After witnessing a mob hit at a restaurant across the street, Yuri realizes that the gun business is something that will always have customers and thus heeds his true calling. Starting off smalltime, Yuri’s natural charisma and salesmanship allow him to go far very quickly. He enlists the help of his brother to break into the larger markets, and also to keep an eye on him due to his self-destructive nature, but finds it harder to accomplish given the attitudes of experienced gunrunners in the field such as Simeon Weisz (Ian Holm), who brushes off Yuri’s business proposal. Despite the setback, Yuri finally gets a break when he works with members of the U.S. military in selling abandoned arms that were left when troops were recalled. Still not satisfied with his earnings, Yuri wants to go more illegal in his arms trading and travels worldwide selling his wares, attracting the attention of Agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke) who vows to take down Orlov at all costs. Yuri has everything he’s ever wanted, except the woman he grew up infatuated with from his neighborhood, Ava Fontaine (Bridget Moynahan). In an elaborate scheme to impress her, she falls in love with Yuri who gives her a lavish lifestyle. After getting married, Yuri keeps his true profession a secret from her, but as thing begin to topple down around him and Jack Valentine closing in, Yuri must make a choice as to what’s more important, his business or his family.
Lord of War in my opinion is one of Nicolas Cage’s best films, coming out in the decade long stretch at the height of his popularity, his role as Yuri Orlov embodies characteristics of several real-life gun runners with the film being based on true events. His character says right off the bat he isn’t going to make excuses about his conduct, and as an audience you do find it hard to empathize with Yuri as his philosophy of arming people for self-defense and hope that his guns are never fired outweigh the moral implications of his profession. Despite his ideology, Yuri does have moments of growth and change, and you’re excited to see the journey he takes. How they made a character with such an evil profession so likeable is hard to believe, but I found myself wanting him to outwit the government agent and get away with his smuggling activities. The character of Yuri is written extremely well, and thanks to a voice-over narration that is surprisingly effective, we know all his inner-most thoughts and how his mind works.
The film itself is a commentary on not only gunrunning in general and the war-torn parts of the world that are being exploited, but also about the hypocrisy of the wealthiest countries, ours included, that participate in this as well, openly and covertly. It’s a brutal but probably not surprising message that can’t be better illustrated than the amazing opening sequence in which we see the life cycle of a bullet, from the production process, shipping, all the way to the use, which finds its target: an innocent child in some African nation. These are poignant themes that aren’t talked about very much in news outlets or even film, further evidenced by the fact the film could not find any type of backing in the United States. Whether it’s out of sight, out of mind, or just not on the collective radar, it’s still a moving film about the atrocities of war-torn countries that manages to take you on an incredible journey along the way.
Nicolas Cage gives a phenomenal performance, pre-crazy period in his career, and in a film where he’s got most of the dialogue and does voice-over during the entire thing that’s pretty important. He succeeds at a difficult role where the protagonist is more of an anti-hero throughout, still making the audience care about him in some way. Jared Leto also plays his character very well, which despite his constant drug habit is a lot more sympathetic toward the people who are being killed by what Yuri is doing. The direction, writing, cinematography are all outstanding which all come together to make one great film.
Video
Lord of War is presented in 2160p 4k Ultra High Definition Widescreen 2.40:1 featuring Dolby Vision. This new 4k transfer shows marked improvements over the Blu-Ray, particularly tonal, as the dynamic meta data changes to make each scene look the best it can. Aside from some noticeable grain in a few sequences, most of the picture is going to be very detailed and clear. The transfer brings out the best in the brilliant brights and deep darks that 4k is best known for, making this a great upgrade for fans of the film wanting to see it at its best.
Audio
The audio is presented in Dolby Atmos, one of the highlights of the disc. Being a film about gunrunning, one would expect a lot of gunfire, and you’d be right. This sounds fantastic on this mix, providing some full sounds from the surrounds and clear dialogue from the center channel. There are great moments of Dolby Atmos sound with helicopters and planes flying overhead, making full use of the new technology. The soundtrack for the film is also impressive, boasting some great classics of the era as the film progresses from the late 80’s to the 90’s.
Special Features
There aren’t any new extras on this disc, but they’ve all been included dating back to the DVD release which are:
- Deleted Scenes
- “The Making of Lord of War” Featurette
- “Making a Killing: Inside the International Arms Trade” Featurette
- Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Andrew Niccol
Lord of War doesn’t get the attention it deserves, but Lionsgate ensures it survives onto a new format with this fantastic 4k release. It’s Nicolas Cage at his most sanest, which some may argue isn’t his best, but the film delivers on so many levels it’s worth picking up.
