LORD OF WAR (DVD Review) - 26/8/06

The Region 2 (UK) Limited Edition of last year's 2005 release came out as a 2-Disc Set with Special Features and is also available on Region 1 (USA). The film starts with a really annoying advert for a Mars bar - Why? It then starts properly with a mocked-up Home Shopping Type TV Channel Ad for the AK-47 rifle which is quite chilling - It's only at the end of this that you realise that it is actually an advert pushing the admirably work of Amnesty International and that the film hasn't even started yet? From this point on it gets absolutely horrific from the opening scene with Nicolas Cage's back to the camera standing on a carpet of millions of spent bullet casings mixed with live ones as it starts off like a video game and ends with real people being killed. It documents the true life events of a man with no moral compass who set's about his every day job of trafficking weapons and arms to anyone who can pay; with no compunction about what they do with these, and dredging the depths of humanity with no cause or concern for anyone around him. The further you get dragged into this hell the worse it gets as you keep getting drawn back to the fact that this man helped commit genocide several times over around the world and most governments helped him do it - Money talks eh? Acting also as a Producer on this film we get a very different view of Cage the actor this time around with no easily distinguished "good guys" or "bad guys" which most certainly for most of this film make's for very thought provoking and uncomfortable viewing which is even more laid bare in the film's Special Features. Feature Runtime: 116 Mins Approx. Sound: Dolby 5.1. Subtitles: English Hard Of Hearing (Feature Only). PAL - Colour. Widescreen Version: 16x9 (Original Aspect Ratio - 2.35:1) Rating: 15. Momentum Pictures 2005/2006. MP475D1SV/ISBN # 5060049147758. SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentary, Making Of Lord Of War, Featurette - Making A Killing: Inside The International Arms Trade, Nicolas Cage Interview & Cast/Crew Interviews with Deleted Scenes and Trailers.