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| War, Inc. [Blu-ray] | ![War, Inc. [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-ScXLCR%2BL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Joshua Seftel
Actors: John Cusack, Hilary Duff, Marisa Tomei, Joan Cusack, Dan Aykroyd
Studio: FIRST LOOK PICTURES
Category: DVD
List Price: $34.98
Buy New: $17.74
You Save: $17.24 (49%)
New (24) Used (6) Collectible (1) from $17.74
Avg. Customer Rating:  36 reviews
Sales Rank: 8875
Format: Color, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Blu-ray
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 107
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.4 x 0.5
MPN: 12196
UPC: 687797121967
EAN: 0687797121967
ASIN: B001608QWC
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: October 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New. NO PENNSYLVANIA SALES. ALL PA ORDERS CANCELED.
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Product Description
First Look War, Inc. (Blu-ray) "War, Inc." is a politicalsatire set in Turaqistan, a country occupied by an American private corporation run by a former US Vice-President (Dan Akroyd). In an effort to monopolize the opportunities the war-torn nation offers, the corporation's CEO hires a troubled hit man, played by John Cusack, to kill a Middle East oil minister. Now, struggling with his own growing demons, the assassin must pose as the corporation's Trade Show Producer in order to pull off this latesthit, while maintaining his cover by organizing the high-profile wedding of Yonica Babyyeah (Hilary Duff) an outrageous Middle Eastern pop star, and keeping a sexy left wing reporter (Marisa Tomei) incheck.
Amazon.com
A wobbly mix of violence and sentiment, War, Inc. takes up where Grosse Pointe Blank left off. A conscience-stricken killer in the previous film, producer/co-writer Cusack now plays an international assassin. In Joshua Seftel's political satire, corporations operate like governments. In the volatile nation of Turaqistan, Cusack's hot sauce-addicted Brand Hauser sets his sights on Omar Sharif--the oil baron, not the actor (it's never clear why this is meant to be funny). As a cover, Hauser passes as the producer for an economic trade show with fellow operative Marsha (Joan Cusack) acting as his assistant. Trained by Southern smoothie Walken (Ben Kingsley) in his CIA days (depicted though flashbacks), Hauser now takes orders from an oily CEO (Grosse Pointe co-star Dan Aykroyd). Offing Sharif, however, turns out to be harder than expected. Hauser's obstacles include left-wing journalist Natalie Hegalhuzen (Marisa Tomei) and foul-mouthed pop tart Yonica Babyyeah (Hilary Duff, erasing innocent images of Lizzy McGuire). Cusack and his crew come up with a few clever ideas, but too many crass gags blunt their thesis about military contractors run amok. Pitched somewhere between Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove and Mike Judge's Idiocracy, War, Inc. registers as more of a miss than a hit. On the plus side, Cusack and Tomei have a snappy rapport; it's the more over-the-top performers who look out of place, especially Ms. Cusack and Kingsley, though the latter's deft turn as a boozy hit man in the overlooked You Kill Me almost makes up for this misfire. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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| Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...
 War Inc., Prophetic Flick on Corporate Warfare January 4, 2009
Well, John Cusack is in an other kooky flick that's take place in the not-so-distant future in an imaginary country called Turaqistan, of which has recently been defeated by contracted soldiers in the name of corporate greed. Like a reality trade show, Turaqistan is going to become the star of an international show in which it is rebuilt with the help of Tammerlane sponsorship. The protagonist is sent to the country under the cover of a contractor-producer for the major rebuilding show. But really he's an assassin sent to take out an Omar Sharif, the oil minister who attempts to nationalize certain pipe-lines that have yet to be constructed. This assassin, Hauser, is a bitter man, a lonely man, a man who found his wife murdered and his child kidnapped. Only the continuation of corrupt international corporate warfare will pay his bills.
Under his cover job, Hauser mostly chaperoned what was considered the Brittany Spears of Turaqistan. Yonika is a sexually obsessed singer who is future wife of the heir to the Turaqistan throne. Though Hauser is later exposed to her secret obsession with playing acoustic ballads. In English. This is somehow supposed to be more true and native to the woman. I didn't really buy it. Wouldn't she be speaking in her own tongue, using native instruments and styles? Maybe I'm just crazy.
There's also a journalist who protested the war and naturally hates Hauser. For some random reason Hauser grows an infatuation with the woman. Her character only serves as a plot-device to get the three characters into an abandoned manor for an interview with the singer, sponsored by Houser. Here, they are attacked by the fiance's entourage who are now shunned by the government for attempting to digitize Yonika's consummation on DVD. Really though, they were used as fodder by Hauser and Sharif so that the heir to the Turaqi throne remains blameless for such a scandal.
The entourage was a little ticked.
But most end up dead and the hands of Hauser.
There are a few more action scenes that involve the journalist's kidnapping and eventual rescue. Hauser confronting his boss in an almost wacky chase scene along with the revelation of Hauser's daughter. Turns out, she's Yonika. What a twist! This was kind of ridiculous since there is almost no evidence in the beginning or middle scenes that give credit to Yonika's American origin. Other than the fact that she doesn't know who her father is. Whoopdi do. Seems a little extravagant for a kidnapper, who turns out to be Hauser's old boss, to raise a random girl in a Mid-Eastern nation to blossom into sexy pop star and marry heir to the Turaqi throne, just to make things weird for Hauser.
But I digress.
This flick is somewhat witty in an all too frightful satire of American corporate imperialism, but it just doesn't pull off the moral/satirical message that it attempts to convey. The acting and protagonist set-up is so inclined to an older flick that War, Inc. might as well have been called Gross Pointe Blank II: Revenge of Dan Ackroyd. The general plot development seemed so random at times that I wasn't sure if I was watching a movie about victims of a Middle Eastern war or victims of the screenwriter's strike. Then there were the pity scenes. That's right, the scenes given to Joan Cusack because she happens to be related to John Cusack. Again, Joan plays an all too often pissy secretary and over-embellishes everything she says. Cut her off!
Likely Page Break
The overall satire was kind of ironic as well. Obviously it illustrates the growing concern of corporate greed on an international scale and man's obsession with pop culture. But a lot of action scenes are initiated by an entourage of dim-witted Mid-Easterners that must be pulverized by the white anti-hero, Hauser. A little too great white hope symbolism, though I do appreciate the insanity of the American troops out in the battle-field listening to metal as they spray bullets into an already war-torn city. Overall the ratio between exposing the wrongs of American imperialism and fundamentalist terrorism is pretty even.
The end of the movie was definitely something left to be desired. It's like they threw a bunch of annoyingly inconsistent characters into one big happy family after the whole daughter situation is discovered. I'm just glad that I saw a missile chase after their plane at the end. If only Joan Cusack's character was on it.
 Kinda Blah January 3, 2009
I loved "Grosse Point Blank" and "High Fidelity" with Cusack and "My Cousin Vinny" with Tomei. Didn't love this movie, though. Although the production quality was really good and the acting was decent, it just didn't work for me. It seemed like it was mixing too many genres and not doing any of them justice.
 What a strange & smart little movie December 31, 2008
I loved it. Take John Cusack, add 1 part Brazil and pour over Starship Troopers, and you've got a hilariously bizaare commentary on geopolitics and the industrial war machine.
Its dark, and I mean, almost navy. Its only downfall is its heaviness, and sometimes it and the metaphors are jammed down your throat a little too often, but the ensemble cast is actually phenomenal, with Ben Kingsley and even Hillary Duff doing a great job (I can't believe I typed that).
You will laugh, if you have a dark sense of humor and like smart comedy. This movie is very timely, with the rise of the military farming out their work to private security (who are portrayed to be the craziest of all the crazies in the movie). Its small wonder it tanked in the box office, but if you have a proclivity towards movies like Dr. Strangelove, you'll find this to be one of the better movies you watched this year.
 Big budget, great actors, potentially incendiary subject, surprisingly inept script. December 25, 2008
I certainly hope my video store doesn't double-charge me because it took me 6 days and several sittings to finish it. The comedy angle is certainly stale, the general endpoint of the "plot" becomes clear within the first 15 minutes and its cinematographic and soundtrack DNA is a derivative clone of better films like Full Metal Jacket (one scene's setup & music was clearly calling for "These Boots Are Made For Walking").
The issues it so clumsily attempts to address deserve a better airing than this. Yup, I "got" many of the references to real events. But nope, it's still lame. In fact, because it is so cheesy, it ends up doing its feeble best to discredit criticism of war-profiteering, political manipulations and the general ineptness of post-invasion Iraq occupation.
I wonder how people reading the script could possibly miss the thick layer of stupidity that so effectively negates its satire.
This Movie Has No Dividends December 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
War Inc. is a bad movie. John Cusack shouldn't have been allowed to have this much scene time.
Peter Hammond of the Box Office Magazine compares this movie to Dr. Strangelove. I didn't know anything about Hammond, but now I do know he is crazy.
The ONLY redeemable part of the movie is the idea of putting advertisements on battle tanks.
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