Stream it now Three Kings 1999

 

Best Gulf War film I've seen. Great cast with brilliant character development. Brilliant ways of addressing some of the problems with war, the Gulf War and the gray areas that are sometimes unseen by public.

Best Gulf War film, also the last great film of the 90's.

Three Kings is a powerful war film about three army officers on the adventure of their lives. These three cadets are trying to bring back some hidden Iraqi loot they discovered from a map they retrieved from the anus of an Iraqi soldier. The film also depicts the overall goodness of these soldiers, who in helping complete strangers with many risks involved they are making the statement "In a war without heroes, they are kings." Which is a good tag line for the film. Written and directed by David O. Russell, the film emphasizes how much the war was more media than actual war itself. With some calling it the bloodless war, with the soldiers actually telling their majors that they wanted some action. Which is why in the first desert storm the same question rose again and again, Why did we invade Iraq? The main character, Major Gates, even tells his superior officer in the the first ten minutes of the film "Just tell me what we did here"; there was no reply. Russell also implies in his film that even in the tamest of wars, war is chaos.

Three Kings is the Trainspotting of war movies. Smart, witty and brutal

MARK WAHLBERG Shines in this type of film Like a comic is to comedy Wahlberg is to war Mission Type Flix..Three Kings revolves around 4 U.S. soldiers attempting to steal seized Kuwaiti gold bullion from the Iraqi bunkers..Things go awry on this mission great movie!!

A movie that begins on a sour note, swiftly finds a change of tone. The Harrowing tale of men who came to concore oil and riches, become unexpected hero's instead. It's a wonderful Gulf war movie that displays hardship, sentimentality and a new outlook on the misconstruded conflict in the middle east.

Three Kings is something of an oddity. I've never seen a movie take place in a (decently) modern war setting and yet be so satirical about it. It feels very strange at first, but provides plenty of laughter.
The whole premise of the film is that four soldiers (George Clooney, Ice Cube, Mark Wahlberg and Spike Jonze) uncover a map that leads them to Kuwaiti gold that the Iraq Army is claiming for Saddam. Being selfish, the soldiers hatch a plan to ride over and use the cease fire to run in and steal everything.
Obviously their plan sort of backfires, but that would give too much away. What ensues is a thrill ride of interesting musical compositions, some great acting and a few intense action scenes. This is all wrapped up in comedy that is incredibly dark and often time makes you question if you'll be going to hell just for laughing.
George Clooney really steals the show here. His ability to be menacing, funny and quite the action star all at once is unparalleled. He even gets to put the moves on Judy Greer in the beginning, so I guess lover can be added on to the list. His career before hand took him to all stops and Three Kings really just blends all the best parts about Clooney together.
Mark Wahlberg actually turns in a respectable performance in this movie. His usual dumb sounding voice and lack of etiquette really work well with his soldier status. He knows just about as much as the viewer does about the war (unless you're a war buff) and it brings his interrogation scene to a hugely dramatic payoff.
Ice Cube gets some good lines and has the right kind of mentality to make you believe he is a devoted Christian. Spike Jonze definitely nails the part of hillbilly very well, too.
The direction by David O. Russell should be complimented. There are many scenes where color is distorted or the sky is sped up and it really brings the drama of war front and center. Yeah this movie isn't the most accurate (or sensitive) representation of what war is, but you definitely can understand how a singular minute can feel like forever in certain situations.
The music, for the most part, is ridiculously catchy. A lot of repeated drum beats and synth work are mixed with techno style sounds to really drive your adrenaline levels up. The action scenes are some of the best pieces ever put to film because of it.
The only real problem I sort of have with the movie is how it ends. Half way through the movie, the characters gain a conscience. While that is well and good, the movie doesn't really close on a bit of reality. Everything just works out, which is completely insane for what happened during the movie.
I also have to make mention of how worthless Nora Dunn's character is. Yeah she coincidentally helps the heroes, but her character does not contribute much to the movie other than curse words.
Even with that, Three Kings is a great film. It may not be the best war movie around or even a comedy that I could recommend to all, but George Clooney should be enough to seal the deal for questioning viewers.

Utterly brilliant. This film has comic and serious themes to it and they work well together. It is weighed down by the political theme of this film which has ruined other political satire. A must see

Intersting movie... took some turns I didn't expect. The whole view of internal organs was wild.

A social and political satire disguised as an action movie. This is one hell of a funny, wild ride.

Each of the lead actors turns in a great performance under David O. Russell's assured direction. George Clooney's acting weaknesses are kept to a minimum, Mark Whalberg proves he's got some real talent, Spike Jonze is hilarious, and even Ice Cube demonstrates that he is more than capable.