Three Kings (1999)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

David O. Russell

Writers (WGA):

John Ridley (story)
David O. Russell (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 October 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | War

Tagline:

In a war without heroes they are kings

Plot:

In the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, 4 soldiers set out to steal gold that was stolen from Kuwait, but they discover people who desperately need their help.

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Kuwait | Iraq | Persian Gulf | Gulf War

Awards:

5 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

George Clooney	...	Archie Gates
Mark Wahlberg	...	Troy Barlow
Ice Cube	...	Chief Elgin
Spike Jonze	...	Conrad Vig
Cliff Curtis	...	Amir Abdulah
Nora Dunn	...	Adriana Cruz
Jamie Kennedy	...	Walter Wogaman
Saïd Taghmaoui	...	Captain Said (as Said Taghmaoui)
Mykelti Williamson	...	Colonel Horn
Holt McCallany	...	Captain Van Meter
Judy Greer	...	Cathy Daitch
Christopher Lohr	...	Teebaux
Jon Sklaroff	...	Paco
Liz Stauber	...	Debbie Barlow, Troy's Wife
Marsha Horan	...	Amir's Wife

Also Known As:

Spoils of War (USA) (original script title)

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic war violence, language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English | Arabic

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Brazil:18 | Italy:VM18 (tv rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:18A (Alberta) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 (w) | Hong Kong:IIA | Iraq:(Banned) | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #36912) | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

At the beginning of the film there's a disclaimer explaining that the strange look of the film was intended by director David O. Russell. The vibrant color is due to the fact that they used "Ektachrome" slide transparency film instead of standard film stock, and the "bleach bypass" process actually gave the prints a much deeper black. The silver halide is completely opaque, thus a "true" black. Leaving all of that silver on the prints resulted in a much higher cost for distribution however.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Right after Barlow gets the pressure relief valve installed in his chest, there is a shot of him crying over Conrad's dead body. Conrad is clearly still breathing.

Quotes:

[Maj. Gates stops the car after hearing an explosion]
Archie Gates: What was that?
Conrad Vig: I rigged the football with C-4, sir.
Archie Gates: Why would you do that?

Movie Connections:

References "The Simpsons" (1989)

Soundtrack:

If You Leave Me Now

we three kings be stealin the gold

Shouldn't it be four kings?

-During the first Iraq war four men discover a map in a man's bum that holds the secret location to Saddam Hussein's hidden gold and decide to steal it and make themselves filthy rich. During their journey they encounter everything from horrific tortures to a full explanation of how the human body works when a bullet hits it -The movie is based on a story by John Ridley and it was written for the screen and directed by David Russell. The script here is brilliant and shows Russell's brilliance at every turn. The lines the characters say are sharp, very real and at times laugh out loud hilarious. Even though it's a war movie he still manages to slip in some comedy and it works really well. the characters here are well developed and you just fall in love with all of them which was a pretty massive undertaking considering that they are about six main characters in the movie and somehow Russell didn't get lost in the shuffle or the pool of the cliché and just made each one different and original. The gritty and harsh DP work by Newton Thomas Sigel is also a treat in this movie. It's not as impressive as Kaminski's work in "Private Ryan" but still wonderful. It has this dry thirsty desert feel to it and makes you feel like the sun is in your eyes when you watch it. The sound design is also well done. The action scenes whiles brief does provide a nice surround experience. The bomb rumbles the woofers with intense ferocity and the bullets whiz by the surrounds quite nicely. The score is barely memorable but gets the job done and the production design is nicely done.

-This movie takes place during the first war in Iraq when the first Bush was president. The country wasn't sure what we were doing there and the news media was all over Iraq. Fast forward to now and things are still the same. We still have a war in Iraq, the country is not sure what the bloody hell we're still doing there and the slanted and heavily biased media is covering the hell out of it. Like father like son I guess. The movie is not necessarily about war though. it doesn't promote war nor does it try to make a case against it. The movie is about four men trying to get rich during the war and the problems they encounter whiles trying to find it. I'm an African and I've been hit with negative stereotyping so much that I've grown jaded to it. It's really annoying when someone looks down on you simply because of where you're from and tries to make you inferior which brings me to my point. This movie deals with stereotyping and gladly shows how ignorant and stupid it is. The characters in this movie thought all Arabs were as they saw them on TV but once they got to know them they found that they're much more and that leads to a very funny scene which just cracks me up every time i see it.

-George Clooney leads the underrated team of actors that make up this fine movie. he plays Major Archie Gates whose the most jaded of all the rest in the movie. he's a very smart man that knows what he's doing and seems to have a handle on what is going on. he doesn't want to be in Iraq so whatever enjoyment he can get whiles he's there he takes full advantage of, and that includes a horny reporter who wants a scoop and gets more than that to deciding to steal Saddam Hussein's gold. Clooney not only gives a fantastic acting job in this but also the best work of his career. Marky Mark plays Troy Barlow who is a young man in the war and has a wife with a newborn baby at home. When we meet him he is happy because he believes he is about to go home and eventually decides to help steal the gold because he wants enough money to provide for his newborn son. There is wonderful scene in which his character is tortured and rumor has it that the shock that was sent through his body was real and not acting. Marky Mark was so dedicated to the role that he offered his body to be tortured for this movie and that really is every filmmakers dream to have an actor that gives it their all in a movie. Rapper Ice Cube plays the religious Sgt. Chief Elgin who is basically the conscious of the group. He's like their father and lets them know when they're doing something silly and when they're doing something right and when they're doing something wrong. Ice Cube does a great job of not making you say that he's just some rapper in a movie but rather makes you say that this a fine actor giving a fine performance in a fine movie. Spike Jonze rounds up the four kings as the hyperactive kid that desperately wants to be Troy

-This is a great movie about war times and what men do during war. It's entertaining and fun hits all the right notes without any distortion.