After hearing on arfcom it was an anti-gun movie I vowed never to spend money to see it.I was then handed a free pass for two to the premier about an hour later so I said what the hell maybe its not as anti-gun as they said it is.
The start of the movie follows a single round of ammo from a factory somewhere in Eastern Europe to Africa where it is used to split the head of some teenage boy who is fighting in a street battle.
The film basically covers the life of a young russian imigrant in the USA from 1982 to present day and his developement into a gun runner.While there is a good amount of dark comedy in the movie that is mildly funny its basically a foreign film that in the end says we are all doomed to be evil and the US is the biggest evil in the world.
In one scene Nicholas Cages father is excited about the collapse of the USSR and that there will now be religous freedom in the former USSR,but Cages character says thats what he's hoping for (since Religion is the root of War) since its good for the gun trade.While the movie is chalk full of AK's and alot of shooting its obvious this is an anti-gun,anti-us,anti religion lovefest.
They do go out of there way to trash several other countries for guns sales as well but in the end the gun runner is saved from proesecution by a high ranking US Army offical who uses cage for arms supplied to conflicts that the US can't  supply themselves.
They claim at the end of the movie that its based on real events but offer no proof or references.
It's semi entertaining and there are funny scenes but this in what it is,Brady Campaign drivel.
The best scenes where the warehouses full of Russian arms but I'm sure they were plastic props.

Thanks for going behind enemy lines for that great recon!

BigDozer66

Bastards!  I KNEW it was an unauthorized biography of me!  I'll sue!



Hi there folks.  My name's Duke.  Do you like Glocks, kids?  Everyone likes Glocks...

Who knows, after seeing that movie maybe the Libs will HAVE to arm themselves for protection. Mu ha ha ha!

I had heard it was loosly based on a real arms dealer, but I can't remember the name.

Quoted: The best scenes where the warehouses full of Russian arms but I'm sure they were plastic props.

A lot of the filming took place in Africa.  Real guns were cheaper than props, so the driector/crew bought 3,000 AK's from a local arms dealer.  After the filming was done, they sold the guns for a loss.  Happy birthday to whoever picked those up, they probably clocked in at less than a hundred bucks each.

Thanks for saving me some $$$.

I had doubts with Cage costarring with weapons.  Nothing good could come from that.

Quoted: A lot of the filming took place in Africa.  Real guns were cheaper than props, so the driector/crew bought 3,000 AK's from a local arms dealer.  After the filming was done, they sold the guns for a loss.  Happy birthday to whoever picked those up, they probably clocked in at less than a hundred bucks each.

They were sold only because they didnt have the budget to cut the guns up.

Kharn

I'm checking it out tonight as well, and with a free pass.  We'll see how it does.  

I have problems reviewing movies I see for free, because most (more recently only some) are worth at least what I pay for admission.  $0.00

Quoted: Quoted: A lot of the filming took place in Africa.  Real guns were cheaper than props, so the driector/crew bought 3,000 AK's from a local arms dealer.  After the filming was done, they sold the guns for a loss.  Happy birthday to whoever picked those up, they probably clocked in at less than a hundred bucks each. They were sold only because they didnt have the budget to cut the guns up. Kharn

Indeed.  I seriously doubt they didn't have it somewhere in the budget to have a grip smash the recievers with a sledge (course, with an AK I doubt it'd make much difference).  They didn't even dump them.  So what did the great anti-gun director do?  Sold some guns.  What a friggin hypocrite.

Quoted: I had heard it was loosly based on a real arms dealer, but I can't remember the name.

Victor Bout. He's a Russian arms dealer with a fleet of Russian cargo planes and trades in a lot of things, not just guns. Diamonds from war-torn west Africa, cut flowers, drugs, guns.....anything and everything.

www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/sierraleone/bout.html

Michael Mann was going to make a movie about him, but decided to do a Miami Vice movie instead.  My guess is that some other movie-types decided to "steal" his idea and make their version instead.  Michael Mann certainly would have made a better, less fictionalized version.  Something like The Insider.

Quoted: Victor Bout. He's a Russian arms dealer with a fleet of Russian cargo planes and trades in a lot of things, not just guns. Diamonds from war-torn west Africa, cut flowers, drugs, guns.....anything and everything. www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/sierraleone/bout.html

If the gun-grabbing Libs get their agenda through, we know who to call! Yes Viktor, yes, the good stuff, you give good price, yes?

Quoted: Quoted: The best scenes where the warehouses full of Russian arms but I'm sure they were plastic props. A lot of the filming took place in Africa.  Real guns were cheaper than props, so the driector/crew bought 3,000 AK's from a local arms dealer.  After the filming was done, they sold the guns for a loss.  Happy birthday to whoever picked those up, they probably clocked in at less than a hundred bucks each.

wouldn't that make the director and his crew illegal arms dealers...?

Yeah, they will go in the same cell as the CNN guys who straw purchased the .50BMG from across state lines.......

so, how would you rate it a a movie?

Quoted: Quoted: Victor Bout. He's a Russian arms dealer with a fleet of Russian cargo planes and trades in a lot of things, not just guns. Diamonds from war-torn west Africa, cut flowers, drugs, guns.....anything and everything. www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/sierraleone/bout.html If the gun-grabbing Libs get their agenda through, we know who to call! Yes Viktor, yes, the good stuff, you give good price, yes?

I'd rather put a bullet in Bout than buy guns from him.

He's supplied guns to some very nasty people.

Quoted: wouldn't that make the director and his crew illegal arms dealers...?

Yes. If the movie was intended to criticize gun runners then they're hypocrits.

I got a chuckle out of the line in the print ads for the film...
Someyhing like...

"There is one firearm for evey 12 people in the world.... The question is.. How do I arm the other 11?"

Quoted: I got a chuckle out of the line in the print ads for the film... Someyhing like... "There is one firearm for evey 12 people in the world.... The question is.. How do I arm the other 11?"

I would like to arm about 1 in 12 people in the world.  
That money could get me my own private island then 1 in 6 people in the world would be armed.

Personal islands are chick magnets from what I hear.


That's a good line by the way, my favorite

Quoted: Bastards!  I KNEW it was an unauthorized biography of me!  I'll sue! img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/MolonLabe/G35.jpg Hi there folks.  My name's Duke.  Do you like Glocks, kids?  Everyone likes Glocks...

I likey glocks, can I have one Mister?

oh it gets worse, this guy sold the tanks that they used to make the movie to libya.  WTF?

Quoted: Quoted: A lot of the filming took place in Africa.  Real guns were cheaper than props, so the driector/crew bought 3,000 AK's from a local arms dealer.  After the filming was done, they sold the guns for a loss.  Happy birthday to whoever picked those up, they probably clocked in at less than a hundred bucks each. They were sold only because they didnt have the budget to cut the guns up.

So, in other words, his money is more important than his beliefs?

Interesting.

Quoted: so, how would you rate it a a movie?

I would not spend my money on it but if it was a rental that someone else paid for I would check it out for the arms and the action.
I would give it a fair rating excluding the gun and us bashing.
Tim

What do you think about the potential of it being a guilty pleasure movie, like rooting for DeNiro's character in HEAT?  Would it be enjoyable if you root for the Nic Cage character?  

Quoted: What do you think about the potential of it being a guilty pleasure movie, like rooting for DeNiro's character in HEAT?  Would it be enjoyable if you root for the Nic Cage character?

I could see that to some extent but not nearly as likeable as Deniro due to sleeze factor,in Heat Deniro wanted no conflict until his hand was forced and he had to kill,although Cage doesnt kill personally(except once,sortof) he litteraly sells guns to thugs who are waiting for them to wipe out women and children detained in a camp.There are some times he is likeable when he's playing cat and mouse with ethan hawkes interpole character.He basically shows interpole as dimwits throughout the film.
I dont think its a bad movie but with the directors open admiration for Michael Moore and detest for the US I wouldnt pluck too much down to see it.

C'mon, how can you not love the trailer?

They say there are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation.  That's one gun for every twelve people on the planet.  My only question:  How do we arm the other eleven?

And think about it:  If there's only 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation, over half of them belong to 25% of the American public!  

Woohoo!

Told ya.

Boy I must be a genius to have figured that one out...

I read that when they wanted REPLICA ak-47's they found it was cheaper to buy the real thing.  Hence, they weren't in the USoA when they did this.

According to Andrew Niccol, the filmmakers worked with actual gunrunners in the making of the film. The tanks lined up for sale were owned by a gunrunner who had to have them back to sell to another country. They used a real stockpile of over 3,000 AK-47s because it was cheaper than getting prop guns. The gunrunners were more cooperative and efficient than the studio or the crew.

Quoted: Quoted: The best scenes where the warehouses full of Russian arms but I'm sure they were plastic props. A lot of the filming took place in Africa.  Real guns were cheaper than props, so the director/crew bought 3,000 AK's from a local arms dealer.  After the filming was done, they sold the guns for a loss.  Happy birthday to whoever picked those up, they probably clocked in at less than a hundred bucks each.

On a related note, I read this week that the price of an AK47 in Gaza (formerly Israel) just dropped to a new low @ $1,300 each. link to story

I know Gaza ain't sub-Saharan Africa, but the price quote was interesting to say the least.

I honestly do not beleive it was anti-gun.  It seemed more anti gun smuggling to third world countrys.


I mean think of the scene where the agent (ethan Hawke) is sitting with Nicolas Cages wife in the apartment.  He says "the illegally purchased guns used to kill your parents where bought from a man just like your husband, an illegal arms dealer."

Just my take, but it seems many of us are to blinded by their hatred of everything that isnt in line with what they want or how they think.

Kind of like the dems and gun grabbers........