Three Kings (1999)

Despite looking very realistic in the way Three Kings was shot, it is built on a stupid, unrealistic premise. During a ceasefire four American soldiers try to steal gold from Saddam's troops for their own profit. I went in this movie thinking it was as a dark comedy in a war setting and I could suspend my disbelief for some laughs. *SPOILERS*Indeed, it starts off as a slightly comedic action movie a la Bad Boys: US Soldiers pull a secret map out of a prisoner's bottom, they crack jokes, drive around in a HUMVEE listening to Beach Boys, shooting at footballs. A female reporter bangs a major to get a good story. But then there are brutal scenes like a mother getting shot in the head in front of her daughter. And a rather dramatic scene where the meaning and cruelties of war are debated, while a soldier is getting tortured. Not a comedy after all?You could say that Full Metal Jacket also started off with a partially humorous first half before turning darker in tone. Whereas Full Metal Jacket competently tells a story about characters, we are left here with four cardboard main characters that have stupid arcs. At first they went in because... who would say no to a lot of gold? And in the end they completely forget that they ever were employed by the army and they want to do what is right (so that the film can claim having a bit of heart).The weirdest thing is, that it has still quite some entertaining parts. They go rogue, march into freed villages, yell at people who don't speak English, while a soundtrack of jazz drumming is playing in the background and creating an atmosphere of chaos. But you never quite get rid of the feeling of "What's going on?" You will think: I just laughed a couple of minutes ago when they faked the arrival of Saddam Hussein's limo and now I'm watching a soldier's lung collapsing?The editing and usage of soundtrack was actually the most outstanding about the film.

Hands down one of the most Original, Unique and enjoyable films I've ever seen. To take a harsh gritty story about greed, The politics of war and the deaths of woman and children and combine both the harshness with the right blend of comedy was genius and it was all played out on screen perfectly. The story was superb and you truly didn't know where it was going or what would happen next, Combine that with the fusion of sad, funny and awe moments and this is surely one of the most rare films you will ever see. Written, Acted, directed and edited superbly, A must watch for all film enthusiasts looking for a truly captivating, thoroughly enjoyable and memorable film.

At the end of the Gulf War, 4 soldiers acquire a map from the most unlikely of places and discover that this map may contain the whereabouts of some hidden gold close to one of their bases. The 4 men set out on a journey to find the gold, but this is less than straight forward and the 4 men encounter both danger and some unexpected assistance along the way.I haven't read John Ridley's novel (upon which this film is based), but it seems that Russell's has given Three Kings a very tongue-in-cheek feel - this is perfectly fine with me as I'll always prefer a serious film that's laced with humour as opposed to one that is deadly serious throughout its running time. The humorous tone that Russell adopts through most of the film serves it well and the camaraderie is top-notch between the likes of Clooney, Wahlberg and Ice Cube. Although I like serious films with humour thrown in I do think that filmmakers should be careful about how much humour is injected into a film - using war as a backdrop gives the film serious undertones and these undertones shouldn't be forgotten. I personally felt Russell may have overdone things slightly here, but I definitely felt it was a case of more being right than wrong. The soldier's camaraderie is a major strength and it's therefore a shame that Russell makes very little attempt to develop their characters - there is a little insight into Wahlberg's characters life, but nothing is afforded to any of the other characters. Had their characters been developed a little more then it probably would have made it easier to invest in them as people.Despite the picture having a generally humorous tone, Russell still manages to deliver the goods when it's time to get serious. The film has a very realistic feel to it which is probably helped by the fact that some real-life refugees were used in the film's production. I also noted that Mark Wahlberg was actually electrocuted in the scene where he is being tortured - you can't ask for much more realism than that!!! This is perhaps the reason that the film feels so realistic and despite seeming silly at times Russell also remembers to give it a sense of realism as well.Although war and politics play a part in Three Kings it is a film that is more about human values and common decency and whilst it does have some minor weaknesses its many strengths more than outweigh these weaknesses.

Confusing evolution of a relatively simple plot line. Lots of gratuitous violence and strong language. While there were plenty of Saddam's treasures hidden around the country and some GIs may have been tempted by their recovery, the story is essentially far-fetched and grim. A liberal political message, albeit uneven, runs through the dialogue and can be summed up as pretty naïve. Having spent several weeks in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and along the Iraqi border (in the oil fields) on business days after the conflict ceased in Spring 1991, I found the film basically unpleasant and of minimal entertainment value. Given the intensity of the action, it was hard to judge the individual performances by the key players. I would not wish to see this film again.