If you are looking for a good title for your new Samsung player, “Lord of War” is one of the best titles currently available on the format.
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Nicolas Cage is an interesting Hollywood star. He is noteworthy for many types of roles. One set of films that the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola is know for, and perhaps his most common type of performance, is that of an action hero. "The Rock," "Con Air," "Face/Off," "Windtalkers," and "National Treasure" are just a couple such films. The second type of film Cage does particularly well is that of the loner. "Leaving Las Vegas" is a perfect performance. Nicolas Cage also has no problem portraying shady characters on the wrong side of the law. "Matchstick Men," "Kiss of Death" and "Gone in 60 Seconds" are a couple prime examples. "Lord of War" is more of the shady Nicolas than the action hero Nicolas or the loner Nicolas. The role of Yuri Orlov is a great shady character that is on the fringe of society and there are guns involved to provide a little action. This wide range of Nicolas Cage proves to be the greatest asset for "Lord of War" and the role almost seems written for Cage.
My personal preference when it comes to watching a Nicolas Cage film is to lean more towards roles where the actor is portraying either a villain or a shyster. I have never really thought of him as being a great action hero, but I love to watch him get out of a tight spot or a situation where he has no morale right being in. It is always interesting to see how he is going to avoid the authorities or perhaps a nastier fate. "Lord of War" finds Nicolas Cage at his shadiest best. He is a gun runner who specializes in buying used arms from the Russian Military and sells them to the highest bidder. The highest bidders, of course, tend to be more ruthless and shadier than Cage´s character Yuri could ever dream of being. The worst of these customers is a Liberian warlord, Andre Baptiste Sr. (Eamonn Walker), who will test the limits of Yuri´s morality.
Yuri finds himself on the top of the world with his arms dealing. He uses subterfuge to seduce and ultimately marry the woman of his dreams (Bridget Moynahan). He lives an extravagant life that is initially beyond his means, but eventually can afford what even the richest of men cannot. All is not perfect. He is followed by a clever and driven Interpol agent (Ethan Hawke) that will not stop until he is behind bars. His life with his wife and child are a lie as he must keep secret the true nature of how he obtained his riches. His younger brother Vitaly (Jared Leto) is crippled by a cocaine habit that was fueled by various means of payment for Yuri´s guns and prohibits Vitaly from being Yuri´s right hand man and partner in crime. Where Yuri excels is at running guns. He has a much better chance of securing a humungous deal for AK-47s than he does at keeping his personal life in any sort of organized state.
"Lord of War" is an entertaining film that provides a nice vehicle for Nicolas Cage. The rest of the cast is equally impressive in their performances. Ethan Hawke is good as Jack Valentine and stands up well next to Cage. Leto is the emotional contrast to Cage´s cold and calculating demeanor. The three lead actors allow "Lord of War" to rise from being a mediocre film to being a good film. Eamonn Walker, Bridget Moynahan and the rest of the supporting cast are solid as well. They story is engaging. I´m certainly not an expert on gun running and I don´t have any inkling on the validity of the plot. Certainly, some of the situations seem a little over the top, but the more unbelievable they are, the more entertaining it is to see Nicolas Cage try to weasel out of them. I love military films and even though "Lord of War" is not a military film per se, but there is enough guns, weaponry and military speak to keep us Tom Clancy fans happy.
Video:
"Lord of War" is presented in 2.40:1 widescreen. Early Blu-Ray titles have been hindered with inconsistent picture quality. Lionsgate titles have been hindered by an odd ´stutter´ in the picture. From doing a little research, it appears there is a chance the Samsung BDP-1000 is the reason for this stutter. The jury is still out on whether or not this is an problem with growing pains and Blu-Ray mastering or something that I hope will be rectified with a firmware upgrade on the Sammy. With the Samsung currently being the only option to enjoy the film on a home theater setup, the stutter needs to be mentioned. "Lord of War" is riddled with this stutter and it was much more prevalent on this film than any of the other Lionsgate titles. It can be distracting at times as the picture appears to jump. Thankfully, these are not the blackouts that Sony has seen and they are very quick. It is still a better option than what HDTV films I can watch through Comcast.
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[release]19117[/release]