Lord Of War True Story Who Nicolas Cages Character Is Based On

Lord Of War True Story: Who Nicolas Cage’s Character Is Based On

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Lord of War stars veteran actor Nicolas Cage as a prolific international gunrunner named Yuri Orlov. Is Orlov based on a real person from history?

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Lord Of War True Story Who Nicolas Cages Character Is Based On

Warning: the following contains SPOILERS for Lord of War.

Lord of War’s Yuri Orlov, played by the incomparable Nicolas Cage, is based on a notorious real-life international arms dealer. Alongside films like Thank You For Smoking and Up In The Air, 2005’s Lord of War was part of a trend of movies from the 2000s which dissected the ins and outs of highly lucrative, anti-social, and destructive professions. 3 years before the release of the MCU’s seminal Iron Man, Cage’s portrayal of Yuri Orlov introduced audiences to a charismatic global war technocrat with much to gain and even more to lose. However, despite his larger-than-life onscreen persona, Cage’s performance is actually rooted in reality.

As Yuri Orlov tells viewers during Lord of War’s surreal prologue, “There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That’s one firearm for every 12 people on the planet. The only question is: how do we arm the other 11?” This compelling premise has led to one of Nicolas Cage’s most memorable movie roles. In Orlov’s quest to put weapons into every able-bodied pair of hands in the world, Cage shines in portraying a key player in the international theater of modern warfare.

Lord of War’s Yuri Orlov is based on several real international arms dealers from recent history, chief among them being the notorious Viktor Bout. Many of the details from Orlov’s life in Lord of War were directly lifted from the allegations surrounding Bout’s personal life and illegal activities, the connections implied by these allegations, and Bout’s own testimonies during his trial. Soon after the release of Lord of War, human rights group Amnesty International not only praised but even endorsed the movie because of how it shines a spotlight on the global illicit arms trafficking industry – represented by protagonist Yuri Orlov.

Merchant Of Death: The True Story Behind Lord Of War’s Yuri Orlov

Lord Of War True Story Who Nicolas Cages Character Is Based On

If the allegations against him are true, Viktor Anatolyevich Bout was an even more successful smuggler than Narcos: Mexico’s Amado Carrillo Fuentes. However, instead of cocaine, Bout’s primary products were firearms and ammunition. Based on multiple intelligence reports, eyewitness accounts, confessions, and paper and money trails collected by several law enforcement organizations, Bout used his African air freight business Air Cess to become the most prolific gunrunner in the world from the ‘90s to the early 2000s. This earned Bout the nicknames “Sanctions Buster” and “Merchant of Death,” as he was particularly adept at getting around UN arms embargoes in order to supply various armed groups in countries such as Angola, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, the Congo, and Liberia. Bout also allegedly supplied weapons to war criminal and former president of Liberia Charles Taylor during the First Liberian Civil War in the late ‘90s, which is referenced in Lord of War when Orlov works with Liberian president and warlord Andre Baptiste (Eamonn Walker).

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Another thing that Viktor Bout had in common with convicted Mexican drug lords is that he used legitimate businesses and activities to cover his tracks. In fact, Air Cess has also provided air freight services to the United Nations as well as the French, American, and African governments. He even provided support towards freeing Russian hostages when law enforcers negotiated with the Taliban during 1995’s Airstan hostage crisis. Even after a United Nations report on forged documents related to a large export of weapons by a Bulgarian company linked Air Cess to gunrunning activities in 2000, Bout and his associates have maintained that not only is he a legitimate businessman, but an ecologist and environmentalist who believes in saving the rain forest.

Although Bout’s case isn’t as publicized as the U.S. war on drugs, his exploits as a gun runner not only inspired 2005’s Lord of War, but also led to investigative journalist Douglas Farah to write the book Merchant of Death, which details Bout’s confirmed and alleged activities. After avoiding the law for almost 20 years, Bout was arrested in Thailand by the Royal Thai Police for terrorism charges in 2008, extradited to the U.S. in 2010, and convicted by a Manhattan federal court for aiding a terrorist organization and conspiring to kill U.S. citizens and officials in 2011. This led to Viktor Bout receiving a 25-year prison sentence, which he has been serving at the U.S. Penitentiary, Marion in Illinois since 2012.

What Lord of War’s Yuri Orlov Changed About Viktor Bout’s Case And Life Story

Lord Of War True Story Who Nicolas Cages Character Is Based On

While Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage is notorious for making bad movies, Lord of War is definitely not one of them. Apart from the fact that Cage has a striking resemblance to Viktor Bout, Lord of War also did a decent job of loosely adapting details from Bout’s life in order to craft a compelling semi-autobiographical tale. For instance, while Bout agrees with United Nations documents saying that he was born in Tajik on January 13, 1967, South African intelligence says that Bout is ethnically Ukranian, which was adopted by Lord of War as Yuri Orlov’s origin. Moreover, while Yuri worked closely with his younger brother Vitaly Orlov (Jared Leto) in the movie, in real life, Viktor was often accompanied by his older brother Sergei Bout.

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Notably missing from Lord of War is how Bout graduated from Russia’s Military Institute of Foreign Languages while allegedly serving as a soldier and translator for the Soviets during the heyday of the USSR, which is how he mastered several languages. While both Bout and Orlov have an uncle that used to be a Soviet general, Orlov’s Soviet ties ends there. Instead of being a former Russian intelligence and army operative who was supposedly discharged in 1991, Lord of War’s Yuri Orlov was a Ukranian-American immigrant, whose command of different languages was born out of the necessity to survive in the global arms trade during the ‘80s. These differences are understandable, as Bout’s real origin as a Soviet soldier would likely pull focus from his gunrunning empire and its ties to the U.S. government. Indeed, while there are stark differences between the careers and backgrounds of Viktor Bout and Yuri Orlov, the fictional Orlov’s path towards becoming the world’s most prolific gunrunner accurately reflects the vast bureaucratic, criminal, and political minefield that Bout navigated on his way to the top.

What Happened To Viktor Bout And Where Is He Today?

Much like many other convicted criminals whose exploits inspired movies and series, Viktor Bout is in prison. While Lord of War ends with Yuri Orlov evading authorities – as Bout was still at large when the movie was made – Viktor Bout has been in prison for about a decade, and is likely to remain incarcerated until the next 15 years. In December 2021, Bout opened an art exhibit at Russia’s Civic Chamber, featuring 24 drawings and paintings which he made in prison in the U.S. – sent to Moscow via Russian diplomats. According to Alla, Viktor Bout’s wife, putting out art is the only opportunity for Viktor to reach the outside world.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/lord-war-movie-true-story-viktor-bout/

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