It stars Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Benicio del Toro, Demián Bichir, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch and John Travolta.

The film follows two marijuana growers, Chon, an ex-Navy SEAL, and Ben, who are best friends, as they confront the Mexican drug cartel that kidnapped their shared girlfriend.

Although Chon and Ben offer to hand over their network and get out of the business, the cartel wants their expertise and insists on a partnership.

They discuss the situation with Dennis, who tells them that Elena is facing the loss of her political connections in Mexico (foiling her efforts to move into the U.S.).

With help from Chon's Navy SEAL friends, he and Ben attack a cartel money convoy and kill seven of Elena's men.

Chon and Ben frame high-ranking cartel member Alex as an agent of Elena's rival, El Azul.

With Elena at their mercy, they arrange a desert meeting to exchange Ophelia and Magda at which snipers from both sides are in position.

At the meeting, Lado steals Elena's car and escapes as Dennis leads DEA agents with a helicopter to the scene.

Elena is sentenced to thirty years in prison, and El Azul and Lado create a new cartel called the Azulados.

The Los Angeles Times reported: "The estate's indoor pool was converted into a massive hydroponic marijuana farm for the film's production, with about 300 high-octane pot plants jamming the covert nursery.

[9] Other actresses considered to replace Lawrence included Amber Heard, Olivia Wilde, Lindsay Lohan, Teresa Palmer, and Abbie Cornish.

[13] Uma Thurman played Ophelia's mother, Paqu, but her scenes were cut due to time constraints.

The site's critical consensus is, "It's undeniably messy, but Savages finds Oliver Stone returning to dark, fearlessly lurid form.

[citation needed] UK film and music journalist Dylan B Jones praised it, claiming director Oliver Stone had found "a magic strain of sultry sex, frantically emotional turmoil, and glossily savvy action sequences".

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars (out of four) and praised Oliver Stone's direction, saying, "Much of the fascination of 'Savages' comes through Stone's treatment of the negotiations, which involve percentages, sliding scales over three years, an ultimate payout, and other financial details that drugs have in common with big business.

With a lead villain seemingly ripped from the cover of Cosmo magazine, Stone's latest flick savagely disappoints.

According to the article, in a televised interview Oliver Stone made a series of unfounded and false assertions to justify his opposition to the War on Drugs, fueling a "dystopian narrative of Mexico" and feeding on the belief that the Mexican criminals are "invincible supermen.