Lord of War is a 2005 film written and directed by Andrew Niccol and starring Nicolas Cage. It was released in the United States on September 16, 2005, with the DVD following on January 17, 2006 and the Blu-ray Disc on July 27, 2006.

Cage plays the antiheroic protagonist, an illegal arms dealer with a striking similarity to Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. It is also believed that he is based at least partially on billionaire commodities trader Marc Rich . Eamonn Walker's character (André Baptiste Sr.) is believed to be based on former President of Liberia Charles G. Taylor.

Plot

The movie begins with Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage) matter-of-factly stating, "[t]here are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That's one firearm for every twelve people on the planet. The only question is: How do we arm the other eleven?" The opening credits follow the journey of a bullet, from a munitions assembly line in the Eastern bloc, to the head of a small African boy.

The rest of the movie is told in flashback, starting in the 1980s and ending in the completion of the opening scene.

Through voiceover, Yuri Orlov describes how he first became an arms dealer. Yuri and his family came to the U.S. from Ukraine when he was a young boy. His family pretends to be Jewish for favorable immigration conditions. His family owns a restaurant, which is useful, "because people are always going to have to eat." After Yuri sees a Russian Mafia boss kill his two would-be assassins, he decides to provide another necessity: guns.

Before beginning his career in earnest, he approaches Simeon Weisz (Ian Holm), a seasoned arms dealer, at an arms convention with a business proposal. Weisz turns him down, dismissing him as an amateur. He partners up with his brother, Vitaly (Jared Leto), and begins selling arms. Yuri keeps his multiple identities and paperwork in a security container. He starts small and begins selling M-16 rifles that the US Army left behind from the 1982 Lebanon War.

As he grows, Yuri (through voiceover) tells of his first incident with Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke), a dogged Interpol agent who cannot be bought with money. The first encounter in the movie is when Yuri is on the ship Kristol smuggling a shipment of weapons, including M16s. He gets a call stating that the authorities have been tipped off; Yuri changes the ship name to the Kono and uses a French flag turned sideways to seem like a Dutch flag, and the first encounter with Jack Valentine smoothly plays out in Yuri's favor.

During his latest business deal with a Colombian drug lord, Yuri is paid in cocaine instead of cash. Yuri objects and is shot in the heated exchange. He hastily agrees to the deal and leaves in a taxi with the load of cocaine. Vitaly is unsure of what to do next and asks Yuri what to do. Yuri answers by saying "let's celebrate." They both end up snorting cocaine, but Vitaly becomes addicted, and Yuri takes him to a rehabilitation center. From then on, Yuri conducts the arms business alone. Shortly after this episode, he begins to court Ava Fontaine, a successful model. After booking a fake photo shoot for $20,000 and the entire hotel for $12,000, they marry and later have a son.

Yuri's Rules

Orlov has four rules in Gun Running.

1. Never get shot with your own merchandise.
2. Always have a fool-proof way to get paid.
3. Never pick up a gun and join your customer.
4. Never go to war. Especially with yourself.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org