Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1775 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-04-18
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Bulgarian, English, Romanian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 114 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A confident hybrid of M*A*S*H, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and Dr. Strangelove, Three Kings is one of the most seriously funny war movies ever made. Improving the premise of Kelly's Heroes with scathing intelligence, it explores the odd connection between war and consumerism in the age of Humvees and cellular phones. Writer-director David O. Russell's third film (after Spanking the Monkey and Flirting with Disaster) is a no-holds-barred portrait of personal conscience in the volatile arena of politics, played out by one of the most gifted filmmakers to emerge in the 1990s.

George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Spike Jonze (director of Being John Malkovich) play a quartet of US soldiers who, disillusioned by Operation Desert Storm, decide to steal $23 million in gold hijacked from Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's army. Getting the bullion out of an Iraqi stronghold is easy; keeping it is a potentially lethal proposition. By the end of their mercenary mission, the Americans can no longer ignore war-time atrocities, and conscience demands their aid to Kuwaiti rebels abandoned by President George Bush's fickle war-time policy. This is serious stuff indeed, but Russell infuses Three Kings with a keen sense of the absurd, and the entire film is an exercise in breathtaking visual ingenuity. Despite a conventional ending that's mildly disappointing for such a brashly original film, Three Kings conveys the brutal madness of war while making you laugh out loud at the insanity. --Jeff Shannon

Video Description
DVD Special Features

2.35:1 Anamorphic
Dolby Digital 5.1
Commentary by director David O. Russell
Commentary by producers Charles Roven and Ed McDonnell
David O. Russell's Video Diary
Behind the scenes documentary, "Under the Bunker"
Featurette, "Tour of the Iraqi Village Set"
Featurette, "An Intimate Look at the Acting Process with Ice Cube"
Stills gallery
Theatrical trailer
Subtitles

Synopsis
David O. Russell makes his entry into the major studio big leagues with this electric war dramedy. The charged script, based on a fictional story by John Ridley, is a sly reworking of KELLY'S HEROES that concerns four Gulf War soldiers who discover a map that potentially leads to an enormous stash of gold bullion. Russell gives his actors a chance to shine with roles that step outside of the usual cinematic cliches and enable them to create humanistic, believable characters, resulting in one of 1999's most exciting, original and underrated motion pictures.

Customer Reviews

Very Good
This is a fantastic film. It shows both sides of the story as much as any movie can. It shows the greedy Americans and the sick cruel Saddam regime.

What strikes me the most is how, I guess you could call them 'politically correct' reviewers, have come here talking about this being an "anti-war film" or a statement against America. In my opinion these individuals only pay attention to what suits their point of view. This film shows both sides; the helplessness of the Iraqi civilians being slaughtered by Saddam's army, and the American government's greed for oil which means they readily abandon the Iraqi people after promising to back them in their rise against Saddam. This is not anti-war, this is pro-war; but pro-the right kind of war i.e.: where Saddam is toppled and the painful long job of rebuilding a post-war country is seen all the way through.

If you've watched the film and you don't get this review, then watch the film again

Brilliant film-making
I'd never heard of Mr Russell before this film, but he's a genius like Michael Mann and Quentin Tarantino.

This is a gripping film about the realities of the Gulf War, and at the same time an enjoyable comedy. Life is often absurd, and this film grasps how truly incongruous battle might be. There are some brilliant actors in this film and I love its uncompromising honesty.

I watched it a second time with the director's commentary, Mr Russell is an engaging personality and the DVD is both educational and highly entertaining.

I love United States of Freedom!
This movie rocks like a Humvee full of Kuwaiti bullion! From the incongruous soundtrack to the hyper-real colours to the fast forward/slow mo cinematography to the demonstration of the pathology of high-velocity bullet wounds, this film turns the traditional war movie on its head then puts it the right way up again. The surreal interrogation scene, centering on "Michael Jackson, The King Of Pop", is for me the jewel in a stolen crown of a film which has ALLEGORY running through it like a stick of Basra rock. If you like war films and have a brain you will love this film.