A 2005 political crime thriller, Lord of War was written and directed by Andrew Niccol, starring Nicola Cage. It was released in the United States on September 16, 2005. In this movie, Cage plays the illegal arms dealer with similarities to Russian arms dealers Viktor Bout and Leonid Minin. Lord of War was officially endorsed by human rights group Amnesty International for highlighting the trafficking of weapons by the international arms industry.
The movie is told in flashback, starting in 1982 and ending in the completion of the opening scene. The film grossed $9,390,144 on its opening weekend. After its 7-week release it grossed a total of $24,149,632 on the domestic market in the US, and $48,467,436 overseas.
One review stated “…the poison arrows of satire that writer-director Andrew Niccol aims at international arms dealing and the great powers that let it happen for their own gain — the U.S. dangles prominently on Niccol’s hook — are frustratingly scattershot.” Cage, playing Yuri Orlov follows a typical rags-to-riches course, quite similar to that of the drug lord played by Johnny Depp in ‘Blow’ in 2001. According to Niccol, Yuri is based on five actual gunrunners. One reviewer commenting on this says, “Lord knows there’s enough plot here for five movies.”
This movie was not backed by single US studio instead international finances were secured for the making of it. Interestingly, one scene using a line-up of tanks had to be notified to NATO, lest they assumed the start of a real war. The music composed by A.R. Rahman ‘Bombay Theme’ was originally created for ‘Bumbai’ (1995).