Lord of War » Trivia (Movie)

The character of Andre Baptiste is loosely based on famous warlord, and ex-leader of Liberia, Charles Taylor.

When it was released on DVD in the United States, the studio accidentally released it in 1:66:1. The correct aspect ration is 2:35:1.

The jets seen on display at the Berlin Arms Show are Blackburn Buccaneers.

The character, Colonel Oliver Southern, is an obvious nod to Lt Col. Oliver North who was tried, and ultimately pardoned, for selling arms to Iran to raise money to support the Contra movement in Nicaragua.

Nicolas Cage's Yuri Orlov is largely based on the exploits of international arms dealer Viktor Bout, a former Soviet officer, who was finally arrested by Thai authorities in March 2008. Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death," was trying to ship arms to American agents in Colombia who were posing as Farc insurgents when he was apprehended. Currently languishing in a Bangkok prison where he awaits extradition by the US.

Yuri Orlov is a composite of five real arms dealers.

The helicopter that is taken apart by the mechanic just before Agent Valentine arrives is an Mi-24 Hind-A. It is distinguishable from later versions of the Hind due to the "greenhouse" cockpit. Later versions had two rounded canopies.

According to Andrew Niccol, the filmmakers worked with actual gunrunners in the making of the film. The tanks lined up for sale were real and belonged to a Czech arms dealer 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.

Monica Bellucci was originally supposed to play the role of Ava, but had to back out due to scheduling conflicts. The role eventually went to Bridget Moynahan.

The Berlin Arms Fair was filmed at the Thunder City airfield in South Africa. The two aircraft were an early Mk2 Buccaneer & a Hawker Hunter, both old timers in 82.

Before shooting the scene where tanks were lined up for sale, the filmmaker had to warn NATO, lest they think a real war was being started when they see satellite images of the set.

In an interview on the cable channel Spike, Director Andrew Niccol admits to becoming an arms dealer himself. There is a scene with 3000 AK-47s which the director bought for use in the movie and later resold (at a loss) because it was cheaper than getting 3000 props. He concluded that since he took a loss on the guns that he was not a very good arms dealer.

The Antonov An-12 airplane number 9Q-CIH filmed in the movie was owned by a Russian citizen Evgeny Zakharov. On January 8, 2005, the plane crashed at Bukalaza, Uganda; all six crew members were killed. The plane departed Entebbe airport with destination Kinshasa. It was reportedly carrying humanitarian relief items.

Kono, the name which the ship is changed to, is a diamond-rich area of Sierra Leone, name for a tribe that lives there.

When Yuri first enters the lobby of the hotel in Monrovia there are two men in front of the television and making comments about it. They are watching O.J. Simpson's murder trial, which places the action somewhere in October of 1995.