Three Kings (1999)
Genre:
War / Action / Adventure / Comedy / Drama (more)
Tagline: In a war without heroes they are kings
Plot Outline: In the aftermath of the Gulf War, 4 soldiers set out to steal gold that was stolen from Kuwait, but they discover people who need their help. (more) (view trailer)
User Comments:
Funny, shocking, thought provoking and honest.
(more)
User Rating:
7.4/10 (30,056 votes)
Also Known As: Spoils of War (USA) (working title)
MPAA: Rated R for graphic war violence, language and some sexuality.
Runtime:
114 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English / Arabic
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Sound Mix:
DTS / Dolby Digital / SDDS
Certification:
Argentina:16 / Australia:R / Canada:18A / Chile:18 / Finland:K-16 / France:U / Germany:16 (w) / Hong Kong:IIA / Iraq:(Banned) / Norway:15 / Portugal:M/16 / Singapore:PG / Spain:18 / Sweden:15 / UK:15 / USA:R
Trivia:
Sayed Moustafa Al-Qazwini, who plays an Iraqi defector that sells Major Gates cars stolen from Kuwait, was in real life tortured and kicked in the eye by Saddam's forces, forcing him to go blind in one eye. Like many advisors and extras in the film, he is an actual refugee from Iraq.
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User Comments:
1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful:-
Funny, shocking, thought provoking and honest., 25 March 2000
Author:
Gemma Dearing from Southampton, England
A film for anyone who ever relishes the triumphal note of western war
films,
who gets carried away by the moral high of being on the winning side. For
those who saw the good in the Gulf War, saw how many people America helped
and was proud to live in the Western world.
Three Kings is an anti-war film. Its opening scenes are not the
declaration
of war, but soldiers celebrating its end. Then coming to grips with its
consequences.
Of course, Saddam Hussein is depicted in the customary role of the villain,
but then so is George Bush whose abandonment of the Iraqi people he had
called to rise against Saddam is illustrated with examples of human
suffering - emotional as well as physical.
Don't get the idea that this is a bleak and 'worthy' film, in many ways it
is, but it does it with such style and black humour - that forces you to
laugh even while being disgusted or perturbed - that it is eminently
watchable. But still edgy, I was pleased to see one couple walk out
(though
they might just have gone to the toilet, who knows, I was absorbed by the
film and didn't pay enough attention).
Director, David O Russell, ensures that the film never gets carried away
with action scenes - bullets have consequences (good and bad) even when
fired by an all-American soldier. There is some stunning cinematography.
Particularly shocking to me was when Iraqi soldiers fire at a tanker.
Nothing's more shocking than the unexpected and dramatically understated (I
didn't see the trailer, though I believe that scene was actually in
it).
There are some interesting cinematic devices in the film. The next time
that sepsis comes into conversation I'm sure anyone who has seen the film
will call to mind scenes of a bullet travelling through the body. I've
seen
less violent films than some people, but have been swept away by their
power
many times - become blasé about bullets and cinematic death. I've seen it
all too often before to care about nameless victims that stand in the way
of
the power, wit, and understanding of the hard-bitten, long-serving soldier,
wielding a justice in the shape of a gun.
Russell claimed to make every bullet count in the film, and in one
memorably
calm scene of confusion and crossfire, he certainly does. The style of the
film however doesn't detract from its content. Three Kings doesn't have
pretensions of addressing difficult issues by showing the manly, serious
face of George Clooney looking a little concerned after killing a few dozen
of the enemy. It has intelligent dialogue and moving scenes of
confrontation between the opposing ideologies of the Americans and their
'allies' and 'enemies' alike.
Not the best date movie in the world. Funny, shocking, thought provoking
and honest, 8.5/10.
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